Cloud technologies available to the accounting profession have matured in sophistication as has the adoption by firms. The data is showing the influence on how practitioners are working, a rise in the service level of what they are producing and affecting the very vision owners have of their practice. Erik Asgeirsson, President, CEO, CPA.com, Inc., will discuss these trends and the impact they are having on firms and the client relationship.

1. Maturing of the
Cloud & How It
will Impact You
Erik Asgeirsson
CPA.com President and CEO
August 20, 2014

2. CPA.com is a subsidiary of the AICPA
• Empowering CPAs and Businesses For the
Digital Age
• Provides marketing & technology services to
the AICPA
Erik Asgeirsson
President and CEO, CPA.com
• Industry leader with over 20 years of
experience leading technology organizations
• Consistently recognized as one of Accounting
Today’s “Top 100 Most Influential People”
• BS Electrical Engineering, George Washington
University, and MBA in Finance, NYU Stern
School of Business

3. Agenda
• Pace of Change
• It Starts with WHY
• How to Work in the Cloud
• What are the New Deliverables

4. The Second Industrial Revolution - 2010
“The full implications of the new
machine age are going to take at
least a century to play out.”
- Erik Brynjolfsson, MIT Professor,
co-author NY Times Bestseller
“The Second Machine Age”
Source: TED Talk (Feb. 2013)

5. Cloud
specialization
Smart Phones
24/7 connectivityintegration
SaaS
technology
Healthcare Reform
tax code
regulations
mandates
Big Data
online
portals
innovation
client collaboration
Practice
management
streamlined
paperless
process
security
marketing
branding
real time
growth
web-base
B2B
culture revolutionary
staff
sales
consulting
training
research
software
CPE
results
education
connectivitysoft phone
networking
outsourced CFO
clients
events
information
creative
extended services
procedure
analytics trusted advisor
mobile
right clients
niche
solutions

6. Growth of Cloud Computing
And Many Others
Small Business
Has Moved to the Cloud
Network growth:
>150% last year
$150M recently
raised
QuickBooks® Online
500K users
Paychex Equity Investment
Efficiencies saving 90
minutes per employee
per day
$45M recently raised
Providing cloud-based
solutions for accountants
since 1999

7. What does this mean
for your practice?

8. Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle
Top Ten Most Viewed Ted Talk:
What is
your WHY?

9. Key to defining your
value in these
disruptive times
Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle
Top Ten Most Viewed Ted Talk:

10. CPA.com’s Why
Empowering CPAs and
Businesses for the
Digital Age

11. What is your purpose?
Trusted Business Advisor
compliance
partnership
support
trust
information exchange
BIG data
business insight
innovation
technology
reporting
growth
security

12. Hype Cycle for
Emerging Technologies - 2013
Source: Gartner’s 2013 Emerging Technology Hype Cycle
Cloud
Computing
Technology Trigger
TIME
VISIBILITY
Peak of Inflated Expectations
Slope of Enlightenment
Trough of
Disillusionment
Plateau of Productivity
Big Data

13. Moore indicates that we have
crossed to early majority…
CHASM
Helping Firms With
Adoption Curve
Firm Solutions
CPA
Profession

14. How are you
working?

15.  Focus on what they do
best
 Increased speed to
market innovation
 Solutions designed in
open API formats
 Multi-platform support
problematic
 Focus on one vendor
eco-system
 Innovation is tied to
building a better
integrated eco-system
 Closed loop systems
 Integrated approach
makes support easier
Best of Breed vs. Suite
Best of Breed Suite

16. Widespread Adoption:
The Great Equalizer
Top 100 Top 500
Small Firms

17. Copyright © 2013 American Institute of CPAs. All rights reserved.
Challenges for a digital practice
Maribel Torres-Pinero, CEO & Director of Client
Accounting Services at Lumix CPAs and Advisors
Strategies for getting started and
furthering a digital practice
Victor D. Puchi, CPA, CGMA Partner, Director of
Accounting Services, Eide Bailly, LLP
Opportunities for a clients and
the firm
Nicole M. Ksiazek, CPA, Senior Manager, Fesnak &
Associates, LLP
17
Trends and Strategies for Today’s Digital
CPAs from Successful Practitioners

18. Strategy for Getting Started
• Develop service offering
• Differentiation from your current offerings
• Same service, different platform is not likely to work long-term
• Be more consultative in nature
• Secure Key Stakeholder Buy In
- Need executive leadership completely behind the plan
- Develop communication strategy to entire firm
• Identify Transition Plan
- Personnel
- Training
- Timing
• Develop Pricing Model
Victor Puchi, CPA,
CGMA, Eide Bailey

19. Strategy for an Established Digital
Practice
• Refine your Approach
• Vertical Specialty?
• Sales/Consulting Approach
- Improve your inquiry techniques
- Align offerings with pain points
• Grow Your Services
• Incorporate other cloud vendors to improve efficiencies
• Customization/Integration
• Grow Your Talent
• Business consultants
• Project managers
• Developers
Victor Puchi, CPA,
CGMA, Eide Bailey

20. Repurposing clients
• Do my clients fit the new
model?
• Will this client appreciate
the value?
• Recommendations:
• Inventory clients
• Setup demos for clients
Repurposing staff
• Performing different tasks
• Communicating the value
Challenge for Getting Started
• Recommendations:
• Understand each staff’s
strengths and weaknesses
• Leverage staff strengths
• Continuous training for staff
- Identify the trailblazers
Maribel Torres-
Pinero, CPA, Lumix

21. Challenge for an Established Digital
Practice
Technology Adoption Client Adoption of Technology:
• Lack of understanding
• Accept not all clients will fit the
new model
• Unable to use it
• Offer training on WebEx and
YouTube
• Clients need continued presence
• Be patient
Maribel Torres-
Pinero, CPA, Lumix

22. Challenge for an Established Digital
Practice
Technology Adoption Staff Adoption of Technology:
• Resisting the adoption of the
technology
• Coaching from trailblazers
• Address tendency to pace the
cow path
• Needs of the firm changing
and the staff are not
progressing
• Maintain a culture of excitement &
challenge
• Accept not all stall will fit
• Best fit: flexible, curious,
innovative
Maribel Torres-Pinero,
CPA, Lumix

23. External
• Better client experience
• Giving clients what they
need, not teaching them
accounting
• Deepens relationship with
the client
How to Make the Most of
the Opportunity
• Ask clients:
• What they want to see
• What will help them
• Minimize client interaction
with the technology
systems
Opportunities for Digital Practice
23
Nicole Ksiazek, CPA,
Fesnak Outsourcing, LLC

24. Internal
• Consolidate to 1
platform
• Ease of working on multiple
clients
• Staff pushing to get clients
on 1 platform
• Senior management can
work on higher level
service
• Able to push more work to
lower level staff
How to Make the Most of
the Opportunity
• Train staff well on the new
platform
• Involve staff in
transitioning clients
• Equip staff with
knowledge on transition
process for proper
expectation setting
Opportunities for Digital Practice
24
Nicole Ksiazek, CPA,
Fesnak Outsourcing, LLC

25. WHAT are
you providing?

26. Client Expectations are Evolving
Digital CPA
Transactional
Workflow
Using technology to
support transaction
processing
Build digital
workflow and
standardization in
processing
The operating model
of the
DIGITAL TRUSTED
BUSINESS ADVISOR
It’s not just about technology!
What is your strategy?

27. Key Drivers of the
Movement to the Cloud
A New Era of Capabilities:
• Collaboration
• Business Intelligence
• Anytime, Anywhere Access
• Scalable, More Efficient

28. New Compilation & Preparation Standard
• Exposure draft period ended May 2, 2014
• Key Driver: Cloud Computing has made it difficult to
determine who has prepared financial statements
• New Compilation and Preparation Standard would
provide a bright line between accounting services
and reporting services
• New Financial Statement Preparation Standard
• Would not require you to consider whether you are independent
• Would not require a report – even when f/s are expected to be
used by 3rd parties

29. Copyright © 2013 American Institute of CPAs. All rights reserved.
29

30. Empowering CPA’s
in a Digital World

31. “What globalization was to the
economic debates of the late 20th
century, technological change is to
the early 21st century.”
- Lawrence H. Summers, Charles W. Eliot
University Professor at Harvard University
Source: Andrew McAfee’s Blog,
The Business Impact of IT

32. Questions &
Answers
#DigitalCPA

33. Available Resources
“Roadmap to Profitability…” Workshop
• Atlanta; October 22-23, 2014
White Papers
• “Harness the Power of the Cloud” by Geoffrey Moore
Case Studies on Key Verticals
• Not for Profits, Franchises, etc.
Interviews with Thought Leaders
• www.YouTube.com/user/CPA2BizVideo
Digital CPA Webcast
• September 18, 2014 2-3pm ET
New Digital CPA
Webcast Series

34. December 8-10, 2014
Gaylord Resort & Convention Center
Washington, D.C.

35. Digital Driven World
For Firms & Clients