How to Serve Clients' Technology Needs in the Next 5 to 7 Years

What DO Clients Want? AND What Are You Going To Do About It?

2 What DO Clients Want?

• Accurate compliance work –Tax, Audits, Comps or Reviews • Bookkeeping, controllership or outsourced CFO – Client Accounting Services (CAS) • Business advice – Client Advisory Services (CAS) • BTW, CaaS (Client Accounting and Advisory Services) is a better term • Specialty – Family Office, Litigation, Valuation, Wealth Management • What do you think?

What About Randy?

• 40+ years of technology experience, top rated speaker for over 30 years • Top 25 Thought Leader in Accounting 2011‐2020 • 2004‐2020 Accounting Today 100 Most Influential in Accounting for seventeen years • Inducted Accounting Hall of Fame, Feb 2011 • Monthly columns on technology in CPAPractice Advisor • Published author of six books, From Hutchinson, KS • [email protected] or [email protected] • 620‐664‐6000 x 112

4 What About NMGI?

• NetCare –National CPA support services for total network management • NetRescue –Backup Appliances and web‐based backup • Boutique Technology and Business Continuity consulting • CPA Firm Technology Assessments, Paperless Consulting • Accounting Software Selection (ERP, BI, HR, SaaS, CRM) • Awards ‐ CRN top 100, MSPMentor top 100

About K2 Enterprises

• Provides live and on‐demand Continuing Professional Education (CPE) in 48 U.S. states and in Canada • Largest provider of technology‐focused CPE for accountants and financial professionals in North America • Services Offered • Live in‐person presentations (conferences & seminars) • Webinars • On‐site training • On demand self‐study materials • www.k2e.com for more information

6 K2 Enterprises Web Sites –No Tracking (75% of all web sites do!) • www.k2e.com ‐ CPE Info • www.CPAFirmTech.com –CPA Firm Info • www.AccountingSoftwareWorld.com –Accounting Software Info • www.TotallyPaperless.com –Paperless Info • https://www.youtube.com/user/K2Enterprises ‐ The K2 Enterprises YouTube channel with over 200 free technology training videos

Learning Objectives

Upon completing this session, you should be able to: • Create a transformative plan for your firm • Select remote technologies from a list • Differentiate between products that are ready to implement and those that need time • Differentiate between communication and collaboration tools • Create a remote work plan • Identify leading emerging technologies from a list that can help your firms and clients

8 Topics

• Client demands for new/enhanced services • Should your IT be hosted or on‐premises? • Legacy applications versus new generation solutions • Practice management • Workflow, scheduling & documents • Robotic Process Automation (RPA) • Business development • A Brief Introduction to Advisory

CPA.com Accounting Profession Megatrends, 2021

EXPECTATIONS Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

AI Cloud Services Responsible AI Machine Learning Remote Work Adaptive ML Solutions Data Lakes OCR Cloud Computing Private 5G IoT Predictive Analytics

Blockchain Crypto-Assets

Peak of Innovation Inflated Trough of Slope of Plateau of Trigger Expectations Disillusionment Enlightenment Productivity TIME

Source: 2021 CPA.com Identified Megatrends Plotted on the Gartner Hype Cycle Framework

11 Benefits To Innovators

Leading Edge – Emerging Technologies

Computing Physical World • Hardware & Technology • Quantum dots • Big Data / Data Science • 5G • Machine Learning (ML) • Lidar • 3D printing • Artificial Intelligence (AI) • Voice user interface (VUI) – Audio • Blockchain Intelligence (AI) • Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented • Cryptocurrency Reality (AR) • Robotics – SAM100 Bricklaying robot for • Cognitive Computing (CC) masonry construction • Bots – Facebook, bots • Drones and self driving vehicles (AVs) • CopyrightQuantum 2019, Randy Johnston,Computing Emerging Technologies (QC)

13 Steps To Leverage Transformative Technologies

Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Machine Learning (ML), And Artificial Intelligence (AI) • Microsoft Power Automate • Auto‐entry of expense reporting • XCM with Zoho Expense • Botkeeper • Zoho Intelligent Assistant (Zia), 10 years in the making • Crowe K1 Analyzer available from Thomson Reuters • Vic.ai • QuickBooks Online • MindBridge • Receipt Bank Streamline • See also session on workflow & automation, Emerging Technology

15 Review Question

Which of the following are emerging technologies? A. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) B. Machine Learning (ML) C. Artificial Intelligence (AI) D. All the above

Review Question ‐ Answer

Which of the following are emerging technologies? A. Correct. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) B. Correct. Machine Learning (ML) C. Correct. Artificial Intelligence (AI) D. Correct and the best answer. All the above

17 And How Do We Select Current and Emerging Technology Wisely? And That’s the $64 Million Dollar Question!

Client Needs Should Drive

Firm Business Plans And Client Client Offerings Offering • Gale Crosley suggests “Riches are in the niches” • Have you surveyed your client base? Firm Plans • What is not available in your market? • Can you offer this service profitably? • Can you learn from others in your Client Needs association? • What skills do you have internally? • What does your firm like to do?

19 Level One Steps To Develop An Innovative Offering • Discuss common client needs with peers • Do market research throughout the process • Proactively schedule client discovery meetings to ask about their needs. Schedule one or two meetings per week • Determine how many other clients have similar needs • Create a menu of services and a fee schedule • Approach some of the clients with the new offering • Refine the offering after completing 3‐5 engagements • Market the offering inside your client base and then externally

Vision Of Current CPA Firm Technology

Large Publisher Small Publisher • Legacy Tax –ProSystem fx Tax, • AccountantsWorld UltraTax CS, Lacerte • Drake, ProSeries, ATX • Suite • Best of Breed • Wolters Kluwer (CCH Practice • Doc.It, Conarc iChannel Management, CCH Scan, CCH Engagement, CCH Document) • TPS, OfficeTools, Practice Engine • Thomson Reuters (Practice CS, • CaseWare FileCabinet CS, Engagement CS) • ShareFile Portal • QuickBooks desktop and Online • SurePrep, GruntWorx • XCM • Checkpoint Edge (was RIA)

21 Technology Choices –A Vision To Come

New Single Publisher App Suites New Best of Breed Applications • Wolters Kluwer CCH Axcess • CPA.com • Wolters Kluwer CCH iFirm • Dynamic Audit Solution (DAS) • OnPoint PCR • Thomson Reuters Onvio • .cpa top level domain • Intuit ProConnect Tax • TPS Cloud Axis • CaaS tools (accounting/advisory) • RPA tools • Next Gen Portals

.CPA Domains

• CPA.com has been awarded the “top level domain” (TLD) for .CPA • So instead of registering BFTCPA.com, Brian can now have just bft.cpa • And his e‐mail can be [email protected]! • Limited to CPA credential holders only (AICPA membership not required), registration will be around $225/yr., 2‐4 letters more • CPA license verification will be required of all registrants • Final registration will take place in early 2021 • More information: https://www.cpa.com/dotcpa

23 CPA Firm Tech ‐https://www.cpafirmtech.com/

Changing Client Demands

25 Client Demands

• Ease of interaction –portals/e‐signature • Client accounting services (CAS) • Client advisory services (CAS) • Or both accounting and advisory (CaaS) • Sales tax/SALT • Audit methodology changes • Key performance indicators (KPIs) and analytics

Ease Of Interaction ‐ Portals & PBC

Portals and client communication management tools (PBC/chat interaction with clients) • Doc.It • CCH Client Collaboration • cPaperless • Suralink • Many more products have support for tracking prepared by client (PBC)/request lists

27 Ease Of Interaction‐ E‐Signature

• CCH (OEM‐Assure Sign) • Right Signature (Citrix ShareFile) • DocuSign • CPA SafeSign • Adobe Sign • Thompson (OEM) • Zoho Sign (but cannot use with 8879) • Hello Sign (but cannot use with 8879)

Client Accounting Services (CAS)

• What are your services? • May include write up, bank reconciliation, F/S prep, A/P processing and disbursement, AR processing and payment posting, payroll processing, payroll tax pricing, HR/benefits management, insurance administration, and GL reconciliation • If you’re providing CAS (CPA firm), it's important to focus on vertical markets instead of horizontal solutions • New competitors to CAS ‐ H&R Block (Wave), KPMG Spark • Core software system and add‐ons covered in another session

29 Client Accounting Services (CAS)

• Data extraction from receipts, invoices, checks, and bank statements ‐ If accountants are keying these transactions, you likely have missed opportunities to automate, delegate, or outsource this work • Auto Entry (now part of Sage) • Botkeeper • Receipt Bank • Xero Hubdoc • Zoho Zia • Microsoft Project Cortex (Aka.ms/projectcortex) • May also be able to do some of this with other services

Client Accounting Services (CAS)

Accounting Services‐Bookkeeping Management Services‐Controllership

• Timekeeping • Payables processing • Payroll • Receivables processing • HR, benefits & workers comp • Banking and payments management • Employee expenses • Data integration and workflow • Document Management • Forecasting • Document Gathering • Reporting • Tax compliance (PR, Sales, Income) • KPI

31 KPIs And Analytics

• Power BI/Microsoft Power Platform • Used by XCM, Taylor Software (ProStaff) and CCH (CCH Axcess Data Insights) to create dashboards. Integrates with Thomson Reuters GoFileRoom and FirmFlow, as well as Microsoft 365 and many other tools • Also integrates with other applications ‐ but reporting out of QB, Xero, and others is no longer a fait accompli • Qlik Sense • Zoho Analytics • Jirav • Banner Analytics • Sage Intelligence • Others?

Sales Tax / SALT

• Add‐on for calculations • Filing returns • Advisory opportunities in light of economic nexus and the Supreme Court’s South Dakota v. Wayfair decision

33 Audit Changes

• Expected changes in methodologies to incorporate 100% testing of populations; ASB changes will be needed • First gen tools for this are ACL, IDEA; powerful, used by specialists and not used by all of the audit team • Second gen tools for this are tools like TeamMate Analytics and ActiveData (simplified testing tools, accessible to everyone)…

Audit Changes (Continued)

• Third gen tools that are more advanced solutions are Inflo, Validis+Valid8, and MindBridge AI • Data extraction from accounting/ERP software is standardized and automated (e.g. CCH Audit Accelerator, Validis, Inflo), with data flowing out in a consistent layout • Many of these tools (like Inflo, Mindbridge, and Valid8) use a wide range of tests based on auditor‐ranked criteria to identify the unusual/risky items in a data set • Expect significant changes surrounding nature, extent, and timing of the work, which we believe will expand to continuous auditing in the intermediate to long term

35 Review Question

What US Supreme Court decision allowed states to implement economic nexus and tax sales from out of state sellers, thus changing how sales tax can be levied across the country? A. Marbury vs. Madison B. South Dakota v. Wayfair C. United States v. Nixon D. Miranda v. Arizona

Review Question ‐ Answer

What US Supreme Court decision allowed states to implement economic nexus and tax sales from out of state sellers, thus changing how sales tax can be levied across the country? A. Incorrect. Marbury vs. Madison established judicial review of the constitutionality of a law B. Correct. South Dakota v. Wayfair established the right of states to collect sales tax from sellers who are not located within their borders and have no employees there. C. Incorrect. United States v. Nixon established limits on what can be covered by the president’s claims of executive privilege and made those claims subject to review by the courts. D. Incorrect. Miranda v. Arizona requires law enforcement to advise those arrested by the police of their rights, including the right to remain silent and the right to counsel from an attorney.

37 Hosting Or On‐Premises?

Hosting Or On‐Premises?

• Outages in 2019‐2020 ‐ the bad guys are getting better faster than the good guys • CCH Axcess, CETROM, Intuit, Thomson Virtual Office, iNSYNQ and Summit Hosting each had outage incidents between May 2019 and the present • Just being in the cloud doesn’t ELIMINATE downtime –some will occur regardless • Strong, credible hosting companies for legacy applications from providers with experience hosting these tools: • AbacusNext • Ace Cloud Hosting • CETROM • Right Networks • Thomson Virtual Office CS

39 On‐Premises

• Requires upfront and on‐going hardware costs • Larger firms will have lower cost and higher performance • Can be maintained by Managed Service Providers or in‐house • Can be recovered quicker during an outage • Has physical risk based on your office and location

Legacy Vs. Next Generation Solutions

41 Legacy Vs. Next Generation Solutions

• CCH Axcess and IntelliConnect • Thomson Reuters • Onvio • Checkpoint • AICPA/CPA.com and CaseWare for Dynamic Audit Solution (DAS) • Other “best in breed” cloud‐native solutions • AccountantsWorld • Canopy

CCH Axcess And IntelliConnect

• New CCH Axcess Client Collaboration tool • New CCH Axcess Audit tools in the cloud (CCH Axcess Financial Prep, CCH Axcess Knowledge Coach, and CCH Axcess Engagement) • CCH Axcess IQ includes new guidance on cryptocurrency taxation and compliance, and also mines your Axcess Tax database for planning engagement opportunities

43 CCH Axcess And IntelliConnect

• Deprecation of on‐premises ProSystem fx Document 12/31/2021 • Expectation is that those users will switch to CCH Axcess Document • Has migrated all Axcess customers to Microsoft Azure in three different data centers that are active/passive • Three regional groups of clients, mirrored backup data centers for each group

CCH Axcess – The Accountant’s Indispensable Platform

Applications Suite Platform

. Tax

. Practice Workstream Financial Prep . Workstream

. Document Practice CCH Axcess CCH Axcess iQ Common Client . Portal & Staff Data . Audit

. Business Intelligence Portal 45 Tax

Document

45 Thomson Reuters Onvio And CS Suite

• Two different outages for some Virtual Office CS and GoFileRoom users with a major outage over the weekend of January 10‐12, 2020 • Many users reported slow performance from Dec 30 through January 15 • GoFileRoom and FirmFlow now integrated with MS Power Platform (MS Power BI, Power Automate (Flow), and MS PowerApps) • Onvio Firm Management to include passive time tracking tool • Announced that they will launch an early test of their Onvio 1065/1120/1120S applications with 5 states each for this tax season • Onvio 1040 should have all 50 states next tax season

Thomson Reuters Onvio And CS Suite

• We believe that TR has seen the reluctance practitioners have had on the CCH Axcess platform and has set expectations that Onvio Tax adoption will be slow • TR is planning to build integrations from Onvio next gen solutions into UltraTax CS and other legacy tools so UltraTax is usable with Onvio without switching tax software • Launched Onvio Advisory and created Practice Forward program to mentor accountants on advisory services –offerings, product development, sales, and delivery

48 Thomson Reuters Onvio

CPA.com / CaseWare

• CPA.com has taken an equity position in CaseWare, signaling that they believe they will be in business for a long time • Prep/Comp/Review (PCR) and Dynamic Audit Solution (DAS) are all based on the CaseWare Cloud • We expect some exits from the CPA.com suite of solutions in the middle of 2020, which will likely create space for more new solutions • CPA.com has a program which funds innovative technology startups who wish to serve the profession through an annual pitch competition

52 Intuit

• Right Networks bundled hosting plans for Lacerte and ProSeries users providing an option for hosting in firms with fewer than 10 people • QuickBooks 2020 launched; expect QuickBooks 2021 this summer • QBO adds job costing/job reporting to Plus, Advanced • Intuit adds QuickBooks Online Live, a service to help businesses set up their books in QBO –which has not been popular with some • Focus on artificial intelligence (AI) for classifying bills to accounts within the application • More efforts to increase direct sales to end‐users and lend money to individuals and businesses through Turbo and QuickBooks platforms

Intuit

• QBO Advanced ‐ $150/mo., up to 25 users, plus users must switch to this if they exceed 5 users, 40 classes/locations combined, or 250 G/L accounts • Intuit has promised double‐digit revenue increases on desktop QB despite a declining user base => expect significant price increases going forward • New QBO features include: • Google Sheets integration • Batch transactions: Batch checks and expenses • Workflows • Cash flow • Revenue Streams • Custom roles

54 Sage

• Stronger emphasis on cloud solutions such as Sage Intacct, Sage People, and Sage Business Cloud suite of cloud‐connected services • Stronger integration of Microsoft 365 Business with Sage 50cloud and other platforms • Acquisition of AutoEntry gives them a toolset for automating data extraction from invoices, bills, statements, and other documents • Sage Business Cloud strategy “cloudifies” many of the legacy apps under a shared services platform which provides bank feeds, Sage People integration, and add‐on services

The Dead Pool –Software End Of Life

General CPA Firms/ Industry • Office 2010, Office 2013/2016 for • Engagement CS, ended 9/30/2020 Mac, all ended 10/13/2020 • QB 2016 for Mac, 5/31/2019, • Windows 7, ended 1/14/2020 doesn’t work on MacOS Catalina unless you pay extra or sign up for Azure Win Virtual Desktop Service • QB 2017 (PC), ended 5/31/2020 • Windows Server 2008 SP1/SP2, • On‐prem CCH Pfx Document, ends ended 1/14/2020 12/31/2021 (move to Axcess) • Acclivity AccountEdge for Mac, no • Adobe Acrobat XI, already dead support for MacOS Catalina (has • Adobe Acrobat DC (2015) support 32‐bit code, Catalina needs x64) ended 4/7/2020

56 Practice Management

General Thoughts On Practice Management

• We hear of many firms who are dissatisfied with their practice management solution Time & Billing • First generation solutions were usually simply time and billing

applications Business Workflow • Second generation apps included Development/CRM some DMS integration and perhaps workflow • Third generation solutions incorporate many different aspects Document Scheduling/Calendar of the practice, so not all solutions Management System are created equal

60 TPS ‐ Keeping It Simple ‐ Sensible

• Powerful –able to handle the needs of firms from small (5‐10) to mid‐ sized firms (30‐60) • Workflow in TPS is based on the premise that Firms want to know 4 things: 1. What Work (Jobs) are coming up or due? 2. Is the job in? (has the client brought in the information) 3. Who is Working on it? 4. What Stage is the job at? • The employee's one task is to advance the job by simply changing its status!

TPS Pricing

• TPS Cloud Axis is offered at 4 price points: • Free (single user only/limited functions) • Entrepreneur $10/user/month • Pro $15/user/month • Ultimate $20/user/month • TPS On‐Premise –pricing includes all features: • One‐time license fee ‐ $460 1st and $215 each additional • Annual support fees $120 1st and $85 each additional

68 TPS Pricing

• TPS continues to be the low‐cost option in a world of high cost alternatives ‐ The Sensible Choice • For years TPS has received outstanding client feedback on its support being responsive, knowledgeable and courteous

Automating Client Payments ‐ Solutions

• CPA Charge • QuickFee (which has the pay later feature) • Kotapay • Veem (good international, QBO) • VeriCheck • PaySimple (QBO integration) • BizPayO (interfaces to QBO/QBD) • Heartland Payment Systems • Global Payments • Tipalti (strong at international SWIFT as well as ACH, many integrations) • TelPay (Canada)

70 Workflow, Scheduling & Documents

Workflow And Scheduling

• XCM ‐ leader • CCH Axcess Workstream –growing • CCH iFirm • FirmFlow • Empire Suite • Office Tools Workspace • Doc.IT • Practice CS • Onvio Firm Management • QBO for Accountants

74 XCM Analytics And Dashboards

XCM Analytics And Dashboards

76 XCM Standard Analytics –Progress Report By Due Date

Optional Customized Analytics: Drill Into Your Data With A Click (Or A Touch)

83 Document Management

• Doc.It • CCH Axcess Document • CCH iFirm Documents • Thomson GoFileRoom • More?

Who Is Doc.It?

• Provide Document Management, Workflow & Web Portal solutions for Accounting Firms • Headquartered in Canada. Representatives in California, Florida and Washington • Established in 2001 • Product Development comes from users (accountants) & industry experts • Tax season –fluctuate license counts with seasonal staff • Serving accountants & tax professionals only • Represent 14,000 users, 500+ firms

87 What Is Doc.It Suite?

• Complete Suite of tools that can • Integration replace up to seven pieces of • CaseWare & CCH Engagement software to help you consolidate • Create searchable documents, edit applications, including: PDFs, manage due dates, etc. • Document Management • Auto‐filing from all Tax and Time and Billing applications • Workflow • Microsoft Office Suite • PDF Editor (can replace Acrobat) • Scan & Organize Tools with OCR • Unlimited award‐winning customer • Web Portal with PBC and Encrypted care, no charge for upgrades & no Link Emails long‐term contracts • E‐signature • On‐premise or hosted • Mobile App (Doc.It GO) • Cloud with MS Azure coming 2020

Three Package Offerings

Explore Connect Suite Main Simple Document Client Communication Full Featured Suite of tools Focus Management Portal Tools Main • Engagement Workspace • Engagement Workspace Explore + Connect and: Features • PDF Editor • Integrated Web Portal • Scan & Organize • Scan Tools • PBC Checklists • Workflow • Search • Encrypted Link Email • Auto‐filing • Reporting • eSignature integration • Secure Archive with • Doc.It Go – Mobile app retention management (optional) • Integration to CaseWare • Reporting and CCH fx Engagement

Price $21/user/month $16/user/month $26‐$36/user/month

96 Client Accounting Services

Client Accounting Services

• While the services offered within Client Accounting Services vary, they generally fall into three categories: 1. After‐the‐fact financial statement preparation. Also called “write up,” where the client has already written their checks, issued invoices, and taken cash receipts. A member of the CPA firm staff enters the data into a general ledger to produce a financial statement 2. Transaction processing. This is where the CPA firm issues invoices for a client, processes accounts payable and cuts checks (or processes electronic payments), processes payroll, pays employees, pays payroll taxes and more 3. CFO/Controller services. This work entails a higher‐level CPA (often a partner) meeting with the clients’ management on a regular basis to review financial performance and provide input to strategies to improve business

100 AccountantsWorld Accounting Power CAS • Provides integrated experience for clients and accountants • It is custom branded within with your firm logo and name • Most powerful cloud‐based CAS toolset in the industry • Supports job costing, bill pay, electronic checks, combined/consolidated financial statements and many other advanced features • The outside accountant is ALWAYS in control, and AccountantsWorld is ONLY available to practitioners, who license its use by their clients • No direct or indirect AccountantsWorld selling to clients for any reason! • Supports preparation of financials from Sage 50, QBO, QuickBooks Desktop, and CSA

101

Banks/Cr Cards (Data Feeds, Banks Outbound Stmts., Check Power CAS Images) (Payments) Alerts Ecosystem (E‐mail/SMS)

Client Portal (Info Requests, Delivery)

Accounting Website Cloud Power Relief Cabinet

Practice After‐the‐ Directory Relief Fact Payroll Listing Employees Income (HR/Payroll Portal) Tax Dashboards Payroll Software Relief

Payroll Tax (Workflow) Authorities

102 What Is Accounting Power?

• Accounting Power was created exclusively for accountants, to give accountants greater control over client accounting • Accounting Power was written from the ground up for the cloud • Accounting Power is a comprehensive, all in one system • Bookkeeping, write up, trial balance, professional financials and CFO tools all in one place

103

Cloud‐Based Unified Professional System

104 Bookkeeping Professional Module System •Banking •Write‐up •Sales •Trial Balance •Expenses • Financial Statements •Job Costing • Consolidations •Inventory • Alerts •AP • Client Management

104 Client Accounting Services

• CFO Tools • More Powerful Bank Feeds + Traditional Write up • Bill Payment Process • Checkbook IO for Bill Paying • Permissions • Review Work • Financial Statements • Easy Delivery to Your Clients

105

An Introduction to Advisory

115 What Is An Advisory Service?

Advisory is advising the client on strategic, operational, and other management issues such as: • Capital allocation (M&A, investment decisions) • Business succession and buy/sell structuring • Process automation and optimization • Management accounting, controllership, and CFO services • Business structure changes (e.g. tax planning) • Real‐time or forward‐looking reporting or forecasts • System recommendations and changes • Industry‐specific consulting and business practice analysis • Other strategic consulting services

116

What Is An Advisory Service? (Continued)

• Independence is generally impaired by these services • The idea is that you uncouple the creation of the operating and structural processes (which inherently creates value if done right) from the routine recurring compliance work which our firms have historically provided

117 Why The Rush To Advisory?

• According to one major vendor to the profession, traditional compliance work is projected to decline by 8.1% • Intuit has offerings to lend money based on QuickBooks data (reducing the need for reviews/audits, and has offerings to help clients with bookkeeping (QuickBooks Online Live) and income tax preparation (TurboTax Live) • Artificial intelligence and machine learning will automate many labor‐ intensive workflows • In the near term, low‐level tasks like classifying checks to accounts, assigning accounts to groupings, and extracting data from receipts/bills will be performed by automation • In the long term, more individuals will prepare their own tax returns, which will increase fee pressure significantly on the simpler returns

118

Why The Rush To Advisory?

• Advisory services require specialized knowledge accumulated from decades of industry experience • As Gale Crosley often says, “the riches are in the niches,” and firms who sell more than one business line to clients make it more disruptive to clients if they disengage from your firm • Clients want business advice from their accountants, but unfortunately, the accountants are often not specialized enough to be competent consulting on the client’s specific industry

119 Review Question

Which of the following application suites mentioned in the course is designed primarily for client accounting and client bookkeeping? A. AccountantsWorld Power Practice B. Doc.IT Suite C. TPS Axis Practice D. CCH Axcess

120

Review Question ‐ Answer

Which of the following application suites mentioned in the course is designed primarily for client accounting and client bookkeeping? A. Correct. The AccountantsWorld Power Practice suite is designed primarily for client accounting and client bookkeeping. B. Incorrect. The Doc.IT Suite is designed around workpaper management, engagement workflow, document recognition, document management, and PDF markup of documents C. Incorrect. TPS Axis Practice is designed as a practice management and workflow solution. D. Incorrect. The CCH Axcess product line is very comprehensive, but a client accounting/bookkeeping tool is not a core offering of the suite.

121 So Many Choices

• If you are a small firm • If you are a large firm • Satisfied with your applications? • Review audit options • Remote access provided for all? • Implement/review workflow • If you are a medium firm • For all • Revise your DMS implementation • Check portals and eSignature • Prepare for tax migration • Upgrade billing for current needs

122

Summary

• Change is accelerating • Client accounting & advisory services • Cloud or on‐premises? • Next generation cloud solutions are reaching the market • Hosting or on‐premises • Make 2020 your year to begin or continue your firm’s transition to your future business processes and business models

BEST OF LUCK!

123 Technology Choices ‐ Appendix Hardware and software choices

124

Vision Of Current Mainstream Technology

Microsoft Apple • Windows 10 • MacOS • Microsoft 365 • Microsoft 365 • Intel Core i5‐i9 • Intel Core i5‐i9 (moving to AMD!) • Dedicated graphics upgraded • Dedicated graphics included • 16‐32GB of RAM • 8‐64GB of RAM • 128GB‐1TB of NVM Express Solid‐ • 128GB‐2TB of NVM Express Solid‐ State drive (NVMe SSD) State drive (NVMe SSD) • USB 3.1, HDMI 2.1 • USB 3.1, HDMI 2.1

125 Technology Choices –A Vision To Come

Software Hardware • Linux • USB4 • In the open source community you’ll • Wi‐Fi 6E often hear the phrase “free as in speech” or “free as in beer” • 5G (be cautious not all are equal) • Liberty/Libre (four rights) or gift • LEO • G Suite or Zoho One • Thin client/tablet/Smartphone • SaaS vs. installed apps • Standing desks • Progressive Web Apps (PWA) • New, larger monitors

126

T‐Mobile/Sprint 5G Spectrum Licenses

mmWave mmWave mmWave Ultra‐Short Ultra‐Short Ultra‐Short Range Range Range 24‐86 GHz 24‐86 GHz 24‐86 GHz Mid‐Range Mid‐Range Mid‐Range 2‐6 GHz 2‐6 GHz 2‐6 GHz Long‐Range Long‐Range Long‐Range 600‐700 MHz 600‐700 MHz 600‐700 MHz Combined Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies_in_the_US

127 5G Comparison Monthly, Hotspot monthly Cities with Mobile carrier Monthly, family/group Other fees individual allowance live 5G 10 Verizon Beyond Limited $85 for 1 line $50 per line for 4 lines Unlimited for 5G $10/mo. access fee

Verizon Above Limited $95 for 1 line $60 per line for 4 lines Unlimited for 5G 10 $10/mo. access fee $25 a month per AT&T Business Unlimited $165/2 lines to $490 for 21 (hotspot $90 for 1 line 20 GB phone; $150 for Preferred (no consumer) 10 lines only) mobile hotspot Sprint Unlimited $140 for 2 lines to $200 9 $80 for 1 line 100 GB Premium for 5 lines

T‐Mobile Essentials $30 for 1 line $30 per line for 4 lines Unlimited for 3G 6

T‐Mobile Magenta / $40 for 1 line $40 per line for 4 lines 3GB for 4G 6 Magenta Plus $50 for 1 line $50 per line for 4 lines 20GB for 4G

128

Security –Multi‐Factor Authentication (MFA)

• Cisco Duo • Kaseya Passly • Yubico YubiKey • Microsoft Authenticator • Google Authenticator • Zoho OneAuth

129 Passwordless ‐ Biometrics

• Added as a feature in Windows 10 • Facial recognition now common with Apple and Microsoft • Fingerprints also common with Apple, Google and Microsoft • Provides both convenience and security • Many systems can still be gamed • SQRL

• Passwords –what are they good for? –absolutely nothing! Say it, say it, say it! War, huh, what is it good for? Thanks to the Temptations

130

What Was Your Name Again?

Office 365 renamed Microsoft 365 on April 21, 2020

• Office 365 Business Essentials is now Microsoft 365 Business Basic • Office 365 Business Premium is now Microsoft 365 Business Standard • Microsoft 365 Business is now Microsoft 365 Business Premium • Office 365 Business is now Microsoft 365 Apps (for business) • Office 365 ProPlus is now Microsoft 365 Apps (for enterprise)

131 Microsoft’s Cloud Collaboration Center (CCC)

• Two purposes, according to Anja Ziegler, who manages the location • “put a face on the cloud”—giving customers an idea what Azure and the mirror worlds it powers • But more important, the room serves as a place for Microsoft employees to discuss how to reshape the cloud in response to legal changes in the data economy

132

Scanners ‐ Fujitsu fi‐7300nx

• Network scanner • Touch screen • PaperStream IP Net • Wireless, Ethernet, USB • $1995

133 Scanners ‐ Fujitsu fi‐800R

• Dual Path Mechanism with Return Scan captures hard cards, folded documents and passports up to 5 mm thick • Automatic Stacking Control, the stacker automatically extends when U‐turn Scan starts, then retracts when scanning is complete, returning scanned documents to the input tray to save space • $700

134

Scanners ‐ Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500

• Fast start‐up • Image processing speeds • Feeding accuracy • Receipt guide • Streak reduction • ScanSnap Cloud • Silent operation • Pricing ‐ $495 retail, $399 street

135 CPU ‐ Intel

• Tiger Lake • Optimizations spanning the CPU, AI accelerators and discrete‐level integrated graphics based on the new Intel Xe graphics architecture and will deliver double‐digit performance gains, AI performance improvements, a jump in graphics performance and 4x the throughput of USB 3 with the new integrated Thunderbolt 4 • Xe‐based discrete GPU • 9th Gen Intel® Core™ S‐series (desktop) & H‐series (mobile) • Project Athena laptop initiative • Connected Standby and Lucid Sleep features implement fast wake, fast‐charging capabilities over USB Type C, adaptive Intelligence with features such as far‐field voice services and support for OpenVINO™, Wi‐Fi 6 and touch

136

Intel Unfixable Flaw

• Virtually all Intel chips released in the past five years contain an unfixable flaw that may allow sophisticated attackers to defeat a host of security measures built into the silicon • Flaw resides in the Converged Security and Management Engine • This feature implements the firmware‐based Trusted Platform Module used for silicon‐based encryption, authentication of UEFI BIOS firmware, Microsoft System Guard and BitLocker, and other security features

137 Best Processors 2020: The Best CPUs For Your PC From Intel And AMD • Best CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X • Best high‐end CPU: Intel Core i9‐9900KS • Best mid‐range CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X • Best entry‐level CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 2200G • Best gaming CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X • Best VR CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1800X • Best video editing CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X • Best performance processor: Intel Core i9‐9980XE • Best budget CPU: Intel Pentium G4560 • Best HTPC CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2400G

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Laptops – ThinkPad X1 Fold

139 VESA Certified DisplayHDR New 1400

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Wi‐Fi 6E, The Next Evolution Of Wi‐Fi 6

• Wi‐Fi 6E extended to the 6 GHz band and is an improvement on Wi‐Fi 6 • Wi‐Fi 6E will utilize up to 14 additional 80 MHz channels and 7 additional 160 MHz channels in 6 GHz for applications such as high‐definition video streaming and virtual reality • Wi‐Fi 6 (f/k/a 802.11ax) is an evolution of the 802.11ac standard for high device density • Wi‐Fi 6 uses 8x8 radios/antennas vs. 4x4 used in 802.11ac Wave 2, MU‐ MIMO and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), which allows more data to be transmitted over the same spectrum • Backward compatible with 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

141 Wi‐Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) • Has backward compatibility with WPA2, but this removes some of the benefit of the new standard’s features by allowing an attacker to use the older standard • Will deliver robust protection, even if you use a weak password • Has protections against brute‐force attacks which guess the password • Certified Product Finder: https://www.wi‐fi.org/product‐finder • Some of the latest 802.11ac (wave 2) devices from Cisco Meraki will get updates to make them compatible; other manufacturers haven’t committed

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Eight Wireless Trends For 2020

1. Wi‐Fi 6 products proliferate 2. Wi‐Fi 6E in 6 GHz 3. Evolving WPA3™ security 4. Wi‐Fi as infrastructure for mission critical applications 5. Wi‐Fi for ambient computing applications 6. Expanded Passpoint® deployments in public spaces 7. Wi‐Fi improves healthcare 8. Wi‐Fi Aware™ powers drones in the sky Replace old Wi‐Fi hardware with Mesh Wi‐Fi, it is time and more secure!

143 USB4: Everything We Know So Far

• USB Promoter Group recently announced that a new standard, “USB4” (official spelling lacks a space) • 40 Gbps Maximum Speed: By using two‐lane cables, some devices will be able to operate at up to 40 Gbps, the same speed as Thunderbolt 3 • Compatible with Thunderbolt 3 devices: Some, but not necessarily all USB4 implementations will also work with Thunderbolt 3 devices • Better Resource Allocation for Video “Alternative mode”: If you’re using a USB4 port to transport both video and data at the same time, the port will allocate bandwidth accordingly. So, if the video only needs 20 percent of the bandwidth to drive your 1080p monitor that’s also a hub, the other 80 percent will be free for transferring files from your external SSD

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Monitors ‐ HP S430c 43.4‐inch Curved Ultrawide Monitor

145 Monitors ‐ Espresso Displays

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