I’ve been quite busy over the last couple of months, but unfortunately, I don’t have a lot which I can show you, the gentle reader of this blog. A listing of some of the writings I’ve worked on in the last few weeks is as follows:
- “Reinventing Electronic Payments”, Tennessee CPA Journal
- “Digitizing the Shoebox”, FreshBooks Blog
- Three conference sessions for the ~27 state CPA society technology conferences run by K2 Enterprises:
- The Second Annual Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey, which should be out soon from CPA Trendlines. This one is a beast – around 200 pages of tables, figures, and analysis – but there’s a lot of good information which I wish I had when I was inside a CPA firm.
- I’ve previewed some manuscripts which others will be publishing soon (sorry, the authors are secretive)
I also have been meeting with software publishers and reading voraciously preparing for this year’s tech conferences and seminars, which start for me next week in Philadelphia, and take me around much of the continental US this year.
I hope you’ll plan to attend the 2015 @AICPA Practitioners/TECH+ Conference in Orlando June 7-June 10th. You can save an extra $100 w/code TAC http://pstech.cpa2biz.com/
I share articles which I find interesting on Twitter – I’m @BFTCPA. Some of the stories I’ve been following include:
- Microsoft released preview versions of its next version of Office for Windows and Mac this week. I’ve tried them both, and will be writing about them in the near future.
- Don’t forget that Windows 10 will come out later this year. I’ve been participating in the Technical Preview (beta test) for some time, and will have more to report later.
- There’s a new interface, called USB Type C, which is taking the tech market by storm – what CNet thinks you need to know is here. Also, Gizmodo opines that the NSA will love the USB-C charging cables…
- Apple showed off their latest watch, and announced a new Macbook ultraportable. In other news, actress Anna Kendrick has determined that the $10,000 version of the Apple Watch represents “the new gold standard in douchebag detection.”
- In a power grab, our “friends” at the FCC released new rules which regulate broadband internet as a public utility. <sarcasm> (Because we all know that the US Federal Government and public utilities are thriving hotbeds of competitive innovation, and are not places where your dollars go to die.) </sarcasm> The best part – the Wall Street Journal reports that FCC Chairman can’t tell you what the critical “general conduct rule” means.
- Not to be outdone, the FCC’s Canadian twin, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, issued its first fines under the “Canada Anti-Spam Law”, or CASL – CAD $1.1 million to a corporate training company for allegedly sending e-mail without the recipients’ consent or a properly functioning unsubscribe mechanism. (Now if they can just help those poor suffering nieces and nephews of deceased third world government officials get their money back.)
- We’re seeing more companies calling for measurable performance from their social media efforts – this CFO article is a good example.
I’m sad to see that The Sleeter Group has sold to Diversified Communications, but I know it was an offer which Doug and Sherrill couldn’t refuse. Congratulations, and we hope to continue to work with you in the future.
Be careful out there, people. I look forward to seeing many of you on this year’s journey.