2001 Technologies, Applications and Issues Affect Service Delivery.

Regardless of the size or scope of a CPA's responsibilities or business intelligence, technology continues to affect and permeate the services delivered to clients, employers and other users of CPAs' services. Embracing and recognizing that technology is a standard -- and even a utility that supports business activities -- is vital for the profession to be able to advise and provide decision-making services.

A continued dependence on security and controls, remote connectivity, and the ability to conduct all types of business over the Internet highlights the AICPA's 2001 Top Ten Technologies, Applications and Issues affecting the CPA profession. The annual lists provide guidance and opinions involving various technologies, and are designed to increase awareness of how the issues and applications affect firms, companies, clients and customers.

Each year, a group of CPAs and consultants working in public practice, business and industry, government, and education gather for the Top Ten Technologies (T3) lab at the University of Arizona-Tucson. Applications, technologies, issues and emerging technologies are discussed and debated as to how they impact the CPA profession and the services provided to clients and employers.

One of the primary themes running through this year's lists -- and one that was included on the lists for the past several years -- is the assurance that data sent over the Internet is reliable, controlled and private. Lab attendees concurred that this is yet again a hot topic because it touches so many of the inherent tasks CPAs perform day-in and day-out, including preparation of financial statements, tax compliance and auditing.

Everett C. Johnson, CPA, a partner and international director of Enterprise Risk Services for Deloitte & Touche, has attended the lab since the early 1980s, and says "security" is one area the profession cannot escape because of its impact on even the most rudimentary engagement or service. Over the years, as the Internet morphed into a business utility, and advances in technology emerged, security stopped being limited to a paper-based environment. The way information is verified, for example, is extremely important when data is to be sent electronically.

"One of the technologies that's important in the digital signature process and electronic audit trail is something called `public key encryption,'" Johnson says. "This allows somebody to sign an electronic document in a certain way so it can be proven that the person actually did sign it, and what it was that they signed has not changed."

The 2001 lists include topics familiar to many CPAs, and even a few that are a bit futuristic. For example, XBRL, or eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is included in the third most important application -- business and financial reporting -- as a key standard to how data is reported and examined.

Timely and informative updates on all 35 applications, issues and technologies, along with commentaries and explanations, can be found at www.toptentechs.com.

A 10-minute video, "AICPA Top Technologies 2001 Highlights" (No. 889581hiCPA01), has been prepared containing helpful hints and recommendations from some of this year's lab participants. It is available free of charge (there is a shipping & handling fee of $6.50 member, $8 non-member). Contact the Member Satisfaction Center for a copy.

Top 10 Technologies

1. Security Technologies

2. XML (eXtensible Markup Language)

3. Communications Technologies -- Bandwidth

4. Mobile Technologies

5. Wireless Technologies

6. Electronic Authentication Technologies

7. Encryption Technologies

8. Electronic Authorization

9. Remote Connectivity Tools

10. Database Technologies