How CPAs manage computer technology.CPA (Computer Press Association, Landing, NJ) An earlier membership organization founded in 1983 that promoted excellence in computer journalism. Its annual awards honored outstanding examples in print, broadcast and electronic media. The CPA disbanded in 2000. firms spend an average of $2.67 per chargeable hour on computer technology, which includes hardware, software and training. That amounts to about 3.5% of gross revenues and $2,053 per employee. This information comes from a survey of CPAs, many from an industry group, the Accountants' Computer Users Technical Exchange (ACUTE). Yet despite the fact that so much money is being invested in technology, few CPA firms really manage it. For example, only 22% of the firms surveyed took the time to develop a long-range plan for how they will computerize com·put·er·ize tr.v. com·put·er·ized, com·put·er·iz·ing, com·put·er·iz·es 1. To furnish with a computer or computer system. 2. To enter, process, or store (information) in a computer or system of computers. their offices--what hardware and software they will buy--which indicates that, instead of planning where they want their level of computerization com·put·er·ize tr.v. com·put·er·ized, com·put·er·iz·ing, com·put·er·iz·es 1. To furnish with a computer or computer system. 2. To enter, process, or store (information) in a computer or system of computers. to be some years ahead, they probably make purchases on an as-needed basis. Clearly, that's a mistake. Such lack of planning indicates money is being wasted and computer technology is not being put to its best use. The survey also discloses that while most CPA firms prepare income tax returns for individuals and businesses using batch or interactive processing, some CPAs still do the job the old-fashioned way-on paper: about 6% do individual income tax returns, 14% do business tax returns and 35% prepare financial statements manually. Batch processing (1) Performing a particular operation automatically on a group of files all at once rather than manually opening, editing and saving one file at a time. For example, graphics software that converts a selection of images from one format to another would be a batch processing utility. is used by 63% for individual income tax preparation, 34% for business tax processing and 43% for financial statement preparation. Of the firms that use interactive processing, 57% use it for individual tax returns, 73% for business returns and 54% for financial statements. Some 39% of the firms that don't use interactive processing intend to switch to it by the 1993 filing season, 47% intend to switch for business income tax processing and 34% plan to switch for financial statement preparation. Although minicomputers are giving way to personal computers, the minicomputer (1) An earlier medium-scale, centralized computer that functioned as a multiuser system for up to several hundred users. The minicomputer industry was launched in 1959 after Digital Equipment Corporation introduced its PDP-1 for $120,000, an unheard-of low price for a computer in market is still substantial. IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) has the lion's share of the minicomputer market; 50% of the respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. have the IBM S/36, 19% the IBM AS/400, 10% the IBM S/34 and 8% have various other IBM models. Other brands total 13% of the market. |
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