Presenter: _______________________________ Section: ____________________________
Topic: ___________________________________ Completed by: _______________________
Literacy in Speaking:
- to make an oral presentation to one's class
- to communicate in a manner that allows one to be both heard and understood
- to convey one's thinking in complete sentences
All elements
present
Most elements
present
Some elements
present
No elements
present
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
All elements
present
Most elements
present
Some elements
present
No elements
present
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
TOTAL NUMBER OF POINTS:
35 - 40 = A 29 - 34 = B 23 - 28 = C 17 - 22 = D 10 - 16 = F
Total Score __________
Volume (Presenter can be easily heard by
all. No gum, etc.)
CONTENT
Introduction (Presentation begins with a
clear focus/thesis.)
Topic Development
PPT Slides
a. Presentation highlights key ideas and
concludes with a strong final statement.
a. Presentation includes all elements
necessary to fully cover the topic.
b. Presentation is clearly organized. (Material
is logical sequenced, related to thesis, and
not repetitive.)
c. Presentation shows full grasp and
understanding of the material
a. Strong design including use of pictures,
avoids complete sentences, meaningful
connection to topic.
Conclusion
Delivery (Presenter doesn't rush, shows
enthusiasm, avoids likes, ums, kind ofs, you
knows, etc. Uses complete sentences.)
SPEAKING SKILLS
Eye Contact (Presenter keeps head up,
does not read, and speaks to whole audience.)
Posture (Presenter stands up straight,
faces audience, and doesn't fidget.)
ACCTG. 390W - PRESENTATION RUBRIC
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Journal of Accountancy
From "writeup" to right profitable
For CPAs, the silver lining in the cloud could be a gold mine in client accounting services.
BY JEFF DREW
March 31, 2013
CPA firms for decades saw little upside to providing basic accounting services to business clients.
Bookkeeping and other “writeup” activities required extensive data entry and document transfer that
chewed up manhours but did not require much specialized knowledge. Client accounting services
(CAS) were seen as commodities that brought with them depressed hourly rates and a risk of costly
errors. It simply made more sense, not to mention money, for CPA firms to focus on highermargin tax
and audit work.
It is a testament then to the transformative power of technological and market forces that CAS is now
being touted in some circles as the future of public accounting. The digitization of financial data and the
evolution of cloud computing, broadband connectivity, and mobile devices have made it possible for
accounting firms and their clients to access critical information and applications from virtually anywhere
at any time. This has set the stage fo.
1. Presenter: _______________________________ Section:
____________________________
Topic: ___________________________________ Completed
by: _______________________
Literacy in Speaking:
- to make an oral presentation to one's class
- to communicate in a manner that allows one to be both heard
and understood
- to convey one's thinking in complete sentences
All elements
present
Most elements
present
Some elements
present
No elements
present
4 3 2 1
2. 4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
All elements
present
Most elements
present
Some elements
present
No elements
present
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
4 3 2 1
TOTAL NUMBER OF POINTS:
3. 35 - 40 = A 29 - 34 = B 23 - 28 = C 17 - 22 = D 10 - 16 = F
Total Score __________
Volume (Presenter can be easily heard by
all. No gum, etc.)
CONTENT
Introduction (Presentation begins with a
clear focus/thesis.)
Topic Development
PPT Slides
a. Presentation highlights key ideas and
concludes with a strong final statement.
a. Presentation includes all elements
necessary to fully cover the topic.
b. Presentation is clearly organized. (Material
is logical sequenced, related to thesis, and
not repetitive.)
c. Presentation shows full grasp and
understanding of the material
a. Strong design including use of pictures,
4. avoids complete sentences, meaningful
connection to topic.
Conclusion
Delivery (Presenter doesn't rush, shows
enthusiasm, avoids likes, ums, kind ofs, you
knows, etc. Uses complete sentences.)
SPEAKING SKILLS
Eye Contact (Presenter keeps head up,
does not read, and speaks to whole audience.)
Posture (Presenter stands up straight,
faces audience, and doesn't fidget.)
ACCTG. 390W - PRESENTATION RUBRIC
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Journal of Accountancy
From "write-up" to right profitable
For CPAs, the silver lining in the cloud could be a gold mine in
client accounting services.
5. BY JEFF DREW
March 31, 2013
CPA firms for decades saw little upside to providing basic acco
unting services to business clients.
Bookkeeping and other “writeup” activities required extensive
data entry and document transfer that
chewed up man-hours but did not require much specialized kno
wledge. Client accounting services
(CAS) were seen as commodities that brought with them depress
ed hourly rates and a risk of costly
errors. It simply made more sense, not to mention money, for C
PA firms to focus on higher-margin tax
and audit work.
It is a testament then to the transformative power of technologic
al and market forces that CAS is now
being touted in some circles as the future of public accounting.
The digitization of financial data and the
evolution of cloud computing, broadband connectivity, and mob
ile devices have made it possible for
accounting firms and their clients to access critical information
and applications from virtually anywhere
at any time. This has set the stage for the development of cloud-
based software packages that allow
CPAs and clients to work from a shared database of the client’s
essential financial data. Cloud-based
software automates or otherwise greatly reduces the manual lab
or associated with transactional
accounting functions, opening the door for CPA firms to offer o
utsourced CAS in a scalable model
capable of serving many clients and generating a steady stream
of revenue and profits (see Exhibit 1 for
a list of services commonly included in CAS offerings).
6. “CAS clients are like an annuity for a firm,” said Michael Smith
, CPA/CITP, a McGladrey partner who
helped build an outsourced accounting business for the firm.
The business potential of CAS is bolstered by increased demand
from small companies and nonprofits
for outside help with accounting functions. In addition, manage
ment teams are seeking higher levels of
industry-specific knowledge to navigate increasingly complex c
ompetitive and regulatory environments.
These factors have sown the seeds for a fertile CAS market that
some CPA firms already are
harvesting. Steve Chaney, CPA, has leveraged cloud computing
and market specialization to build a
California-based accounting firm that serves 300 churches and f
aith-based nonprofits. Chaney &
Associates enjoys what its founder calls an “endless” supply of
work and high profit margins thanks to
monthly fees that range from $1,000 to $8,000.
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Other practitioners, including several who participated in panel
discussions at CPA2Biz’s inaugural
Digital CPA Conference in December, report monthly fees as hi
gh as $15,000 per client and hourly
rates of as much as $800 for advisory and project work.
How can CPA firms launch a cloud-based outsourced accountin
g practice and develop it into a
profitable line of business, either as the main focus of a firm or
as a complement to tax or other
services? This article provides direction drawn from a road map
developed by technology author and
business consultant Geoffrey Moore and also offers insights fro
m practitioners who have blazed the trail
in this area.
THE FOUNDATION FOR CAS
A trio of mega-trends has laid the groundwork for the growth of
CAS, said Moore, who interviewed
dozens of CPAs while researching Accounting Services: Harnes
s the Power of Cloud Computing, a
white paper he developed for CPA2Biz, the AICPA’s technolog
y and marketing services subsidiary.
Moore describes the three forces as follows:
Digitization. For accounting firms, this refers to the move from
paper to paperless. The availability of
financial information in digital form makes it possible to run cl
9. oud-based applications that swiftly process
business data and identify, analyze, and report key process indic
ators for management. In this and
other ways, the cloud breaks down barriers to productivity and r
educes the limitations of size, granting
small companies and firms access to computing power previousl
y reserved only for large enterprises.
Virtualization. The connectivity enabled by cloud computing an
d mobile devices has removed
geographic barriers, meaning that CPAs no longer have to be ph
ysically present to connect with clients.
Technologies that allow for real-time communication and collab
oration over the internet have made it
possible for accountants to work with people they have never m
et in person. Along the same lines,
technologies such as Skype, WebEx, smartphones, instant messa
ging, email, and a host of internet-
based applications make it possible to have virtual workforces
who can work from virtually anywhere
provided they have an internet connection.
Transformation. This refers to a shift from generalization to spe
cialization that has been taking place
among small businesses for the past two decades, Moore said. B
usiness has become so complex and
specialized that business owners and management need advisers
who understand the unique
characteristics of their industry. Cloud and business intelligence
applications make it possible for CPAs
to provide advice based on real-time information streams. “The
ability to provide business intelligence
from a quick analysis of data is a miracle,” Moore said.
NOT RIGHT FOR EVERY FIRM
10. Not every accounting firm is suited to offer cloud-powered CAS
. Firms that audit publicly traded
companies can run into problems with SEC and PCAOB regulati
ons related to the offering of consulting
services. Firms that perform audits only on private organization
s must be careful to offer CAS only to
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non-attest-level clients or risk impairing their independence. Fo
r more information, see the AICPA Code
of Professional Conduct, Section 100, Independence, Integrity,
and Objectivity, and Interpretation No.
101-3, Nonattest Services.
Jennifer Katrulya, CPA/CITP, CGMA, provides CPAs with train
ing on how to develop a cloud-enabled
CAS business line, both through her firm, the Connecticut-based
Business Management Resource
Group (BMRG), and through her role as the founding writer and
lead facilitator of CPA2Biz’s two-day
CAS training workshop. Katrulya recommends to her students th
at they assess the profitability of their
audit and attest engagements and consider whether it would mak
e their firms more money to drop audit
and convert their attest clients to CAS clients. For firms with s
mall to midsize clients, CAS can be “a lot
more profitable” than audit engagements, Katrulya said, though
that’s not the case for firms with large
audit engagements.
11. CPA firms considering a foray into CAS also need to consider w
hether such a move makes sense for
their clients and for their firm’s culture. Some firms are better o
ff sticking with core tax and audit
offerings or operating in a niche that caters to clients who don’t
want to deal with the hassles of
converting to a paperless tax system. “There will be some small
set of firms that will succeed by saying,
‘We’re never going to use digital, ever,’ ” Moore said. “But the
growth of the market will be in the digital
domain.”
SELLING CAS TO STAFF AND CLIENTS: CHALLENGES AN
D BENEFITS
Firms that want to launch a cloud-based CAS business must obt
ain staff and client buy-in. With staff,
firms may emphasize the work/life benefits that can come when
a firm moves to an all-digital, cloud-
based platform, Smith said.
“Some of our staff have family responsibilities that interfere wit
h work hours,” he said. With cloud-based
applications and data, “it’s much easier to work remotely,” he s
aid.
With clients, firms can speak to the increased efficiencies and r
educed errors associated with the
automated financial reporting and data transfer possible in a pap
erless, cloud-connected setup. Other
benefits to the client include:
Lower costs. Small companies can outsource their accounting fu
nctions for less money than it would
cost to staff a full-time accounting department.
12. More time to focus on running their core business. With the CP
A firm handling the accounting
recordkeeping, business owners can devote their attention to im
proving operations and pursuing new
market opportunities.
Instant access to key performance indicators. Many firms provid
e KPI dashboards giving
management a real-time view of the company’s essential financi
al metrics.
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Access to expert advice. Outsourced accounting departments oft
en provide experienced CPAs, many
with industry-specific expertise and management-accounting kn
owledge, to supply financial and
strategic advice in a consulting role. Many firms term these type
s of services as virtual or outsourced
CFO, but those names can be misleading because the “virtual C
FO” provided by the accounting firm
usually does not work full-time hours with the client or perform
all of the duties associated with the CFO
position (for more, see the sidebar, “The Reality of Virtual CFO
”).
THE ROAD MAP TO CAS
In his white paper, Moore lays out a four-stage process to devel
oping a high-value CAS business.
Following is a tour of the plan’s key parts.
13. Stage One: A Necessary Evil
Even with technological advances, there’s only so much efficien
cy CPA firms can provide in write-up,
an area Moore terms “a necessary evil.” To maximize the value
they can offer clients, CPAs should
specialize in an industry or business segment, as Chaney has wit
h faith-based nonprofits and Katrulya
has with venture capital firms.
Firm leaders should pick a business segment they and their staff
are passionate about, but they also
must be careful to pick a niche that can provide enough business
for the firm to survive. The target
segment, or industry vertical, Moore writes in his white paper, s
hould be “big enough to matter” but
“small enough to lead” and also should fit well with the firm’s r
eservoir of skills and expertise. Firms can
add other niches at a later date. Katrulya’s BMRG serves medic
al, legal, and nonprofit clients in addition
to venture capital firms, but the firm limits its CAS offerings to
those four “verticals.”
“Industrybased expertise is critical,” Katrulya said. “Expertise
is what we sell.”
Along with selecting a niche, firms must have some baseline tec
hnology in place before venturing into
CAS. Most important is having an online system of record that i
s available 24 hours a day, seven days
a week to both clients and CPAs working from any location. “T
here are two reasons to want to have a
common system of record,” Moore said in an interview. “One is
to have the bookkeeping happen in a
single place so that you never have to copy an entry from one sy
stem to another system, particularly a
14. manual copy. That’s kind of the kiss of death in this system.”
The second reason to have a common system of record is that it
provides a place where the CPA firm
can use online business intelligence tools to analyze company d
ata and provide actionable intelligence
to the client. This can lead to more strategic discussions betwee
n the firm and the client. “That’s a very
high return on having a common system of record,” Moore said.
The other baseline technology to have in place is a single, cloud
-based point of exchange for all
documents between the CPA firm and the client, Moore said.
Stage Two: Establishing the Practice
Establishing a CAS practice requires the development of a clien
t roster. Many practitioners presenting
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at the Digital CPA Conference emphasized the importance of sta
ndardization in client development.
CPA firms that standardize software and processes can build or
use templates to set up clients in a
fast, repeatable process. Blue Bell, Pa.-based Fesnak and Associ
ates requires all of its new clients to
use the Intacct web-based accounting and financial platform, sai
d Nicole Ksiazek, CPA, a senior
manager and cloud accounting practice leader at Fesnak. ( Edito
r’s note: Intacct is one of a handful of
cloud-based applications offered through the CPA2Biz Trusted
15. Business Advisor program, and Chaney
and Ksiazek have served as facilitators for CPA2Biz’s two-day
CAS training workshop.)
A CAS client roster is composed of two types of clients, existin
g and new. With existing clients, it’s
essential to select the right ones to transition. Not all clients are
suited for a digital, CAS setup. In those
cases, firms can either transition the client to another CPA firm
or maintain the current relationship
parameters with the client—
a viable option at firms that offer other services in addition to C
AS.
As for the clients that firms decide to move to the cloud, there a
re a number of approaches practitioners
can take. Some at Digital CPA recommended starting with a lar
ger client, which is less likely to push
back on pricing issues. Others suggested that there are fewer he
adaches when transitioning smaller
clients.
Chaney recommends starting with the clients with whom you ha
ve the best relationship. He employed
that approach and didn’t lose any clients. “I launched our digital
journey with 75 clients,” Chaney said.
“The goal was to have 200 clients in five years. We hit it in one
year.”
For new clients, practitioners at Digital CPA recommended a thr
ee-phase process.
First phase. Conduct a client needs assessment. Firms charge be
tween $2,000 and $5,000 for this.
Christine Triantos, CFO and virtual business solution consultant
with Colorado-based accounting firm
16. Anton Collins Mitchell, said she uses her first meeting with clie
nts to ask them about the pain points in
their companies. This information is essential in determining wh
ether and how to proceed with a client.
Second phase. This consists of client on-boarding and migration
. Firms generally charge double the
first-phase costs for this part of the process.
Third phase. Once clients are set up and running, firms generall
y charge $1,000 to $5,000 per month
for CAS, though advisory and project work can push the fee sig
nificantly higher.
Upfront costs with new clients can vary based on firm philosoph
y and individual situations. McGladrey’s
Smith advises firms to use judgment on upfront costs. “We want
clients to have skin in the game, but
don’t charge too much,” he said. Fesnak and Associates has gon
e back and forth on what to charge,
according to Ksiazek, who said firms can absorb costs upfront a
nd make up the difference later. Other
options include spreading upfront costs over the course of the fi
rst year and offering credit.
Stage Three: Expanding the Practice
Accounting firms must leverage the power of virtualization to g
row their client and talent base. CPAs
need to use cloud-based business intelligence and data analytics
to detect patterns in their clients’
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companies that the clients have not yet discovered. For instance,
a CPA might develop a continually
updating chart visualizing the change in certain business metric
s over a period of time. When updated in
real time, the chart might identify an investment opportunity or
illuminate a cash flow problem that
requires quick action. In either case, the CPA should bring the i
nformation to the client’s attention.
“As a trusted adviser, you need to provoke the conversation,” M
oore said.
In addition, firms can turn CAS into a growth business by using
virtualization to be digitally present in
other cities and interact with clients without having to actually
be there. “That turns out to work very well
in vertical markets,” Moore said.
Moore lists four key principles for Stage Three:
1. Streamline your work flow processes to be location independ
ent.
2. Re-engineer your internal communications and collaboration
processes to support a virtual
organization.
3. Engage your clients through digital channels and migrate you
r interactions online. This involves
the use of mobile devices, social media sites such as Twitter an
d YouTube, video services such
as FaceTime and Skype, and instant messaging services includin
g texting.
4. Extend your target market’s geographical boundaries while m
aintaining your focus on target
industry and core differentiation. This is where industry experti
18. se becomes more important than
location. As Moore writes in his white paper: “A faith-based ins
titution in Birmingham has more in
common with a sister organization in Boston than with a restaur
ant franchisee just down the
street.”
Stage Four: Deepening the Practice
As accounting firms spend more time working in client business
es and in specific industry verticals,
their CPAs will gain crucial experience and expertise in the issu
es of most importance to their clients. In
addition, firms should enable CPAs to attend industry conferenc
es and access other learning
opportunities to become experts in their field, Katrulya said. On
ce they achieve expert status, CPAs can
take on a trusted adviser role, one in which the CPA becomes m
ore of a strategic partner than a
technician, Moore writes in the white paper.
As a strategic partner, the CPA becomes an essential resource to
the business owner, acting as a
consultant and taking on special projects that address client-spe
cific issues and command high margins
because of the expertise required. One such project could involv
e a CPA helping to develop a five-year
financial model that forecasts the cash flow and tax implications
of an acquisition a client is considering,
said Smith, the McGladrey partner.
Other examples of project work CPAs can take on include:
Analyzing critical processes in the client’s business and potenti
ally re-engineering them to make
them more efficient or produce more timely and accurate financi
al information.
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Assisting a client with an international expansion. This could in
volve helping the client understand
international tax matters and develop policies and procedures to
deal with tax compliance issues.
Part of this process could include developing new accounting pr
ocesses to support currency
conversion and value-added-tax (VAT) reporting.
Doing projects for individual clients is “very valuable” work wi
th strong margins, Smith said, but it’s
difficult to scale up because it is so customized. Thus, Smith sai
d, firms cannot expect these types of
advisory and project services to make up more than a third of a
CAS business.
“There needs to be a mix,” he said.
From Katrulya’s perspective, the greatest long-term value of clo
ud-enabled CAS comes from the
development of turnkey accounting services that leverage the fir
m’s industry-specific expertise but are
standardized so that the process of delivering them is repeatable
across many clients.
“The key is the growth of the scalable portion,” she said. “What
we are being paid for is being a firm with
a plan.”
20. CONCLUSION
Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, president and CEO of the AICP
A, points to swiftly increasing complexity
as “the No. 1 opportunity and No. 1 threat” for accounting firms
. In the small business sector, radical
and rapid change in the business and regulatory landscape has s
pawned increased demand for
outsourced accounting departments and advisory services. This,
in turn, has created a significant
opportunity for CPAs willing to become experts in client industr
ies and to invest in technologies that
facilitate cloud-based communication and collaboration with cli
ents.
Long-term, profitable relationships beckon for CPAs who can le
verage digitization and virtualization to
provide timely, transformative business intelligence to small bu
siness owners. Does this mean that CAS
is the real deal for the future of public accounting? No one can s
ay for sure, but for several firms already
operating in the CAS space, their leaders already are seeing the
upside.
To view Geoffrey Moore talking about his road map to CAS, cli
ck here (/videos/technology-client-
services.html).
Exhibit 1: CAS: An Overview
A multitude of services can fall under the client accounting serv
ices (CAS) umbrella. Here is a quick
look at some of the major types of services.
http://journalofaccountancy.com/videos/technology-client-
services.html
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General accounting. This includes the monthly close process an
d general ledger maintenance.
Budgeting and forecasting. This can be customized as needed to
specific departments or
projects.
Reporting and analytics. This often calls for the development of
dashboards displaying key
performance metrics that the client’s management team can see.
Tax administration. Planning and return preparation.
Technology services. Helping clients choose the right software
and tweaking the applications so
that they integrate well with one another. Training clients and st
aff on how to use the applications.
Payroll. This process makes sure the client pays its employees.
Accounts payable. This function ensures the client is paying its
bills.
Accounts receivable. This covers everything related to the client
getting paid by its customers.
Source: Michael Smith, McGladrey.
The Reality of Virtual CFO
22. Many accounting firms offer virtual CFO and virtual controllers
hip services, but those names often don’t
reflect the true nature of the CFO and controller positions.
For instance, some firms use the terms virtual CFO and virtual c
ontrollership interchangeably despite
the fact that the two roles are “very different,” points out Jennif
er Katrulya, CPA/CITP, CGMA, the CEO
of Connecticut-based Business Management Resource Group (B
MRG) and the developer of training
programs for CPAs interested in adding cloud-based client acco
unting services (CAS) to their firms’
product menus.
Controllership services, by Katrulya’s definition, include most o
f the client accounting services
mentioned in the main article “From ‘WriteUp’ to Right Profita
ble.” At the higher end, these services
include preparing and sending out reports that provide clients w
ith the essential financial metrics of their
companies, as well as the development of key performance indic
ator dashboards.
Virtual CFO services can refer to controllership services in addi
tion to advisory or project work for
individual clients. Accounting firms sometimes allocate top-lev
el CPAs, usually partners or others with
management experience, to serve as a part-time CFO for a client
. These CPAs can offer clients value
by doing budgets, reviewing insurance policies, interfacing with
bankers, and managing and predicting
cash flow, but part-time CFOs lack the bandwidth to perform th
e full range of CFO duties, including
treasury, strategic, and day-to-day management; staff evaluation
; investor relations; oversight of
23. information technology initiatives; and deep collaboration with,
or direct oversight of, the human
resources department.
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“I believe a CPA firm's risk exposure will grow by holding out t
hese advisers to be CFOs, controllers,
etc., or de facto client management or executives when in fact t
hey are not performing the full range of
functions for such an executive position,” said Ed Schultz, CPA
, MBA, a partner at executive services
firm Tatum LLC who also serves as a JofA editorial adviser. In
his role at Tatum, which provides
executives who work on a contract basis with clients, Schultz ha
s held interim CFO and other senior
management positions for more than a dozen companies.
“There is a big difference between a real CFO and other senior f
inancial managers and one who kind of
‘gets it,’ and not every firm has the resources to have practicing
CFOs do this work,” he said.
Part-time CFOs also aren’t as available as full-time CFOs to ad
dress day-to-day executive leadership
and big-picture questions brought up in real time by senior man
agement, such as major expenditures
and merger-and-acquisition opportunities.
“There definitely comes a point where we recommend a full-tim
e CFO for our clients,” Katrulya said. “If a
24. client needs 20 to 25 hours or more per week from us … the nee
ds become such that it can’t be
standardized.”
In those situations, firms providing standardized CAS can partn
er with other firms that specialize in
supplying contract CFOs who have management accounting exp
erience and can focus on meeting the
client’s needs. BMRG has entered into such arrangements, whic
h Katrulya recommends as a good
option for firms just getting started with CAS.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Technological advances, most notably cloud computing, have m
ade it possible for accounting
firms to profitably provide outsourced accounting services. Clo
ud-based software applications and
shared databases have automated most of the manual data entry
and transfer that made “writeup” a
low-margin business.
Rapid change and increasing complexity in the marketplace are
driving up demand for
outsourced accounting services. Upper management teams at sm
all and medium-size companies
want to devote more resources to improving business and less to
handling bookkeeping.
A white paper written by technology guru Geoffrey Moore for A
ICPA subsidiary CPA2Biz lays
out a road map for CPA firms to launch and grow a cloud-based
outsourced accounting
practice. Moore credits three mega-trends—
digitization, virtualization, and transformation—for fertilizing
the field for client accounting services (CAS), a field that has pr
25. oved lucrative for a number of
accounting firms.
Cloud-based CAS is not right for every firm or every client. Fir
ms that perform audits could run into
regulatory and independence concerns. Firms considering a fora
y into CAS may continue to offer other
services, such as tax, but they should specialize their CAS pract
ice in an industry vertical.
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10/12
Firms that embrace cloud-based CAS must obtain staff and clien
t buy-in and make the
necessary technology investments. At a minimum, firms need a
shared online system of record that
is available to clients and CPAs at any time from any location w
ith an internet connection.
Moore’s road map consists of four stages. The journey starts wit
h recognizing that client accounting
services are necessary. The next stages cover how to establish, e
xpand, and deepen the practice.
CPAs who develop deep expertise in their industry vertical shou
ld look for opportunities to
provide strategic advice and business intelligence to their client
s. The goal is to move from a
compliance adviser to a strategic adviser trusted to execute high
-margin, customized projects for
clients.
26. While consulting services are valuable with a lot of margin, the
y are not easily scalable. As a
result, firms in the CAS space should aim for a mix of consultin
g and turnkey CAS engagements.
Jeff Drew is a JofA senior editor. To comment on this article or
to suggest an idea for another article,
contact him at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or 91
9-402-4056.
AICPA RESOURCES
JofA articles
“Cloud Security Alliance Endorses AICPA SOC Report (http://ti
nyurl.com/bd5pvy5)”
“Cloud Adoption Brings Unexpected Costs, KPMG Survey Says
(http://tinyurl.com/aeq9lhq)”
“Most CPAs See Role in Helping Clients Adopt Technology, AI
CPA Survey Finds
(http://tinyurl.com/bxlhq4c)”
“Accounting Profession at Tech Tipping Point, Wolters Kluwer
Exec Says
(http://tinyurl.com/au2v34b)”
“Heads in the Cloud: Part 1 (/issues/2012/feb/20114580.html),”
Feb. 2012, page 20, and “Heads in
the Cloud: Part 2 (/issues/2012/mar/20114818.html),” March 20
12, page 34
JofA videos
27. “ ‘WriteUp’ Is Now All Right (/videos/technology-client-servic
es.html)”
“Managing Controls, Risk in the Cloud (/videos/managingcontro
lsrisk.html)”
“The Cloud: Security and Opportunities (/videos/cloudsecuritya
ndopportunities.html)”
Publications
http://tinyurl.com/au2v34b
http://journalofaccountancy.com/videos/technology-client-
services.html
http://journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2012/mar/20114818.htm
l
mailto:[email protected]
http://tinyurl.com/bxlhq4c
http://journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2012/feb/20114580.html
http://journalofaccountancy.com/videos/managingcontrolsrisk.ht
ml
http://journalofaccountancy.com/videos/cloudsecurityandopport
unities.html
http://tinyurl.com/aeq9lhq
http://tinyurl.com/bd5pvy5
6/9/2015 From "write-up" to right profitable
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11/12
Geoffrey Moore white paper (http://tinyurl.com/by7kt6y), Acco
unting Services: Harness the Power
of the Cloud (free PDF)
28. “Leverage Advanced Technologies, Achieve Business Goals (htt
p://tinyurl.com/bg2tw9o),” AICPA
IT Section editorial brief, August 2012 (free)
CPE self-study
IT: Risks and Controls in Traditional and Emerging Environmen
ts (#733520)
Service Organization Control Reports: What Companies and Cus
tomers Need to Know (#780279,
on demand)
Write-Up, Payroll and Other Accounting Services: Managing th
e Risks (#733763)
Conference
Practitioners Symposium and Tech+ Conference in partnership
with the Association for Accounting
Marketing Summit, June 10–12, Las Vegas
For more information or to make a purchase or register, go to cp
a2biz.com (http://cpa2biz.com/) or call
the Institute at 888-777-7077.
Website
Trusted Business Advisor 2.0 Resource Center (http://tinyurl.co
m/7y3sv84)
Private Companies Practice Section and Succession Planning Re
source Center
The Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) is a voluntary f
irm membership section for CPAs that
29. provides member firms with targeted practice management tools
and resources, including the
Succession Planning Resource Center, as well as a strong, colle
ctive voice within the CPA profession.
Visit the PCPS Firm Practice Center at aicpa.org/PCPS (http://ai
cpa.org/PCPS).
Information Management and Technology Assurance (IMTA) Se
ction and CITP credential
In an effort to better recognize and support the breadth of its me
mbers’ professional duties and
responsibilities, the AICPA has changed the name of the Inform
ation Technology Section to the
Information Management and Technology Assurance (IMTA) Se
ction. The IMTA division serves
members of the IMTA Membership Section, CPAs who hold the
Certified Information Technology
Professional (CITP) credential, other AICPA members, and acco
unting professionals who want to
http://cpa2biz.com/
http://tinyurl.com/by7kt6y
http://aicpa.org/PCPS
http://tinyurl.com/7y3sv84
http://tinyurl.com/bg2tw9o
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12/12
maximize information technology to provide information manag
ement and/or technology assurance
services to meet their clients’ or organization’s operational, co