What we sell is between our ears.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * CAROLYN SECHLER, 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. , HEADS A 14-MEMBER virtual office workforce (three employees are full-time) that serves 300 clients in several states and countries. Team members are from firms having strategic alliance agreements with hers and work on a project basis. CPA services include bookkeeping bookkeeping, maintenance of systematic and convenient records of money transactions in order to show the condition of a business enterprise. The essential purpose of bookkeeping is to reveal the amounts and sources of the losses and profits for any given period. , write-up, tax returns and financial statements, while the consulting niche spans a range of interrelated in·ter·re·late tr. & intr.v. in·ter·re·lat·ed, in·ter·re·lat·ing, in·ter·re·lates To place in or come into mutual relationship. in management advisory and IT services. * INSTANT MESSAGING Exchanging text messages in real time between two or more people logged into a particular instant messaging (IM) service. Instant messaging is more interactive than e-mail because messages are sent immediately, whereas e-mail messages can be queued up in a mail server for seconds or IS THE BASELINE TOOL that lets a scattered virtual team communicate throughout the day. Using it to send files is faster than e-mail. Impromptu meetings bring four, five or six people into one chat area. Staff and clients must have high-speed access. Sechler works with CPAs in other states whom she has never met. * BEING ACCESSIBLE ONLINE STRENGTHENS TIES with clients, circumvents crises and lets the firm find out early about new consulting opportunities. * CLIENTS LEARN HOW TO CONDUCT MEETINGS ONLINE--with or without a video component--and to use tools that upload and download data and share software in real time. In NetLedger, which talks to Excel, overseas clients can look at what's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. as someone is doing the books. * A PRACTITIONER WHO WANTS TO GO VIRTUAL should be realistic about balancing how much money he or she wants to make against how much time he or she wants to put into it. Ballpark figures for a computer and additional hardware, high-speed access, a basic tax package and current accounting software add up to about $10,000. * A WORK-FROM-HOME MANAGER MUST HAVE good leadership skills and be able to supervise projects and people when he or she can't see them. In any kind of business, Sechler advises, if someone likes to do the marketing, then let him--or her. Planning, agility, trust and communication are the components critical to the success of a virtual office. Carolyn Sechler, CPA, performs traditional and consulting services in a virtual realm. CPAs considering a technology niche or even a total revamping of their work/life-styles can learn a lot from Carolyn Sechler, CPA. "I made an effort to be clear about who my client was going to be and who the people on my team were going to be," she says. In serving nonprofits and high-tech startups, Sechler stays true to her firm's mission and vision--"to make a difference and work from the heart"--while firm revenues have grown 10% to 15% per year. "If there seems to be a way to do something faster and easier, I try it," Sechler says, "so I always attributed my affinity for computers to laziness. I built microcomputers when I was in college, and I wasn't afraid of them the way some traditionalists are." From such instincts her practice has evolved to include IT and management advisory consulting in addition to standard CPA services. Now Sechler heads a 14-member workforce, both core staff and contractual alliances, that serves 300 clients from a virtual office spanning several states and two countries. LEVERAGING TECH EXPERTISE Early in Sechler's career, a job as a bookkeeper and stints at several accounting firms exposed her to professional problems she used a computer to solve--back when small and midsize firms didn't consider technology even an option. But she already was a sole practitioner when she came across a computer that had a 2,400-baud modem: "I bet there's something I can do with that, I said." Because a big chunk of her business was in health care, she used the modem to get connected to a Jefferson City, Missouri “Jefferson City” redirects here. For other uses, see Jefferson City (disambiguation). Jefferson City is the capital of the State of Missouri and the county seat of Cole County. , electronic bulletin board called Doc in the Box. "I wanted to see how I could differentiate myself," she says. "The bulletin board gave me up-to-the-minute information about an innovation in orthopedic surgery Orthopedic Surgery Definition Orthopedic (sometimes spelled orthopaedic) surgery is surgery performed by a medical specialist, such as an orthopedist or orthopedic surgeon, trained to deal with problems that develop in the bones, joints, and ligaments just as I was coming up against a big firm for business from an orthopedic surgery group. I got the engagement, and it was an epiphany Epiphany (ĭpĭf`ənē) [Gr.,=showing], a prime Christian feast, celebrated Jan. 6, called also Twelfth Day or Little Christmas. Its eve is Twelfth Night. : Information is power." She got modems for both her home and office and created the first CPA Web site in the world in 1994. "At that time, all I could get was a home page," Sechler says. "Then I registered www.azcpa.com and every other state plus cpa.com--back when you didn't have to pay for domain." Writing and speaking on technology followed. It kept her inspired, and it was a way to communicate and to leverage more time and technique. "The publicity brought me to the attention of a larger firm. It wanted the technology I could bring them, and I merged my practice with its." For two years she was one of five partners running a 40person CPA operation. In the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of being acquired by American Express American Express (NYSE: AXP), sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a diversified global financial services company, headquartered in New York City. The company is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler's cheque businesses. , one of the partners told her he didn't see a place for technology in accounting. Sechler had generated a lot of new business, wired everybody in the office to communicate both internally and externally by e-mail and was developing client Web sites, but the partner didn't think the firm could sell technology. "He said, `You really need to be at your desk to be effective as an accountant'" she recalls with a laugh. "I'd been writing articles on why we should be virtual. So I decided rather than be bought out I would leave there and walk the talk. I took the entire practice--then about 200 clients and my assistant--and went home," she says. "Family and life-style were just too important." HOME SWEET HOME In the five years since that decision, Sechler has managed her practice from home. The team of her virtual office has grown from two people to 14, of whom three are full-time employees. The rest of her team is contractual, based on strategic alliance agreements with firms having specialized knowledge of nonprofits and technology startups. Work is distributed on a project basis. "We establish an hourly rate for the work, I explain the project, we agree on a fee based on number of hours and we set a due date," she says. Employees earn the equivalent of "street" rates for comparable positions. Team members work their own schedules. Deadlines and budgets must be met and quality maintained, but the rest is up to them. "Our firm attracts high-caliber people who love the nonprofit and high-tech areas, as well as the freedom offered by this arrangement." Instant messaging is the firm's baseline tool that makes it possible. "We've used ICQ ("I Seek You") A conferencing program for the Internet from Mirabilis, Tel Aviv, Israel (www.icq.com). It provides interactive chat, e-mail and file transfer and can alert you when someone on your predefined list has also come online. software--it's free--since its inception. We've got a "buddy list A list of colleagues, workgroup members, friends, etc., that you might wish to communicate with via instant messaging. See instant messaging. " running all the time that lets our team communicate throughout the day. I can send a quick message or send files to any of them by instant messenger AOL's instant messaging service. See AIM and instant messaging. , which is faster than e-mail. We have impromptu `conversations' that bring four, five or six of us into one chat area. "I meet with my core staff of four (three besides me) on ICQ every two weeks," Sechler says. "At 9 A.M. we all tune in---and we can archive the chats. What's the point of making people go anywhere when they can be comfortable?" Sechler works with CPAs she has never seen in Alabama, Nebraska and North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. and also in British Columbia British Columbia, province (2001 pop. 3,907,738), 366,255 sq mi (948,600 sq km), including 6,976 sq mi (18,068 sq km) of water surface, W Canada. Geography . In any kind of business if you've got somebody who likes to do the marketing, you want that person to do it, Sechler says. "The practitioners I work with rely on me as a rainmaker Rainmaker An employee of a brokerage firm who brings a large amount of wealthy individuals or corporations to the brokerage firm's client base. Notes: Rainmakers are usually compensated very well for their efforts (or connections). and to manage projects. I interact with the clients to keep the communication going and they keep the research going so we have good leveraging tools. I act as air traffic controller, so to speak. "When I see some weakness--whether it's in the technology, a client or the business plan--I go out and find what we're going to use next to solve it. We act as beta sites for a lot of software, particularly ASP developers, and we've beta tested for Intuit and e-Ledger. I write about my findings." The firm doesn't recommend software that hasn't been tested in-house for a few months, she adds. "The team handles most of the rest, such as preparing returns and the analytical work. I still prepare and issue some returns, but primarily I review the others' work. CPAs on the team also review returns and financial statements. I'm happy to let them, but I can step in and do it if needed. And I have" she says. PER DIEM per diem adj. or n. Latin for "per day," it is short for payment of daily expenses and/or fees of an employee or an agent. CFO See Chief Financial Officer. The firm's clientele consist primarily of nonprofit organizations and technology entrepreneurs. Since entrepreneurs need venture capital and nonprofits need venture partners in the form of grantors, they share similar professional needs. Sechler's management advisory services advisory services advisory services provided to the public, in their capacity as owners and managers of animals, are an important part of veterinary science. They may be provided by government bureaux, by commercial companies who deal in pharmaceuticals or animals or animal dovetail dovetail (dov´tāl), n a widened or fanned-out portion of a prepared cavity, usually established deliberately to increase the retention and resistance form. with information technology consulting Information technology consulting (IT consulting or business and technology services) is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives. . She shows clients how to operate their organizations more effectively within the context of budget, tools, software, labor and other resources. She does strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. with boards of directors and teaches the leadership the basics each year: how a nonprofit is formed, how to read the financial statements, tax returns and other compliance issues. The firm builds an annual mutual agreement for requested/required services (who will do what by when), which includes unlimited e-mail and phone support for an annual fee. It presents 12 invoices with the agreement. Sechler says, "Our billing process is minimized, our cash flow is smooth, and the client is paid in full on the delivery of the tax return and related products." The firm reviews the arrangements annually and revises them as needed as needed prn. See prn order. . The firm's CPA services include bookkeeping, write-up, tax returns and financial statements, while the consulting niche spans a range of interrelated management and IT services. Although traditional CPA services are core, clients learn to use technology to stretch their dollars, Sechler says. For example, a great deal of business travel is avoidable, and her cost-saving tips to clients include: * How to conduct meetings online, with or without a video component. * How to use tools such as www.placeware.com, which allows data uploading and software sharing in real time. "We teach our 300 clients independence, but we give them support because we're here online. They can see the results. Many clients are on instant messaging with us and are comfortable about saying, `Carolyn, you're online right now. Could you answer a question for me?' What we're selling is between our ears--not in some fancy office." Being accessible online keeps Sechler on top of things so that fewer crises develop, and the frequent communication lets the firm find out early about new consulting opportunities. IF THE CLIENTS FIT Potential clients who want to know how to structure their business may consult with Sechler on whether their organization makes sense as a nonprofit. If it's concentrating on making a difference rather than making money, it probably does, she says. "We decided we really wanted to work with people we believed in. We choose our clients carefully--just as they carefully choose us," Sechler says. "We make sure their mission fits with what we want to do." Sechler encourages employees to challenge procedures and policies and to examine any new policy, product or procedure to make sure the firm can clearly explain what's in it for all parties, and why a change is being made. When a special issue or problem arises, someone on the team researches it and prepares a "white paper" that goes to all affected clients. The papers are archived on the firm's Web site. Throughout the year the staff reviews clients, new or existing, for suitability to the practice and will refer them elsewhere if they're not a good fit. Sechler remembers two clients who weren't sure they wanted a professional accountant without a proper address. They worried about what people would think. Ultimately, the clients--one was a law firm and the other a consultant--had Sechler teach them how to convert their organizations to telecommuting telecommuting, an arrangement by which people work at home using a computer and telephone, transmitting work material to a business office by means of a modem and telephone lines; it is also known as telework. . "They said, `Wait a minute, the service is still the same. The return is still right. And the advice is good. I guess nothing really is missing.'" TOOLS THAT MAKE IT WORK Because the firm's staff is not housed in the same building, it doesn't have to worry about networks, but both staff and clients must have high-speed access. "That's one of the things we've had to tell everybody to use. In some cases, we went to cable modem cable modem Modem used to convert analog data signals to digital form and vise versa, for transmission or receipt over cable television lines, especially for connecting to the Internet. about four years ago," says Sechler. "Its speed and access were unsurpassed at that time." In areas where cable is not available, the firm now uses DSL DSL in full Digital Subscriber Line Broadband digital communications connection that operates over standard copper telephone wires. It requires a DSL modem, which splits transmissions into two frequency bands: the lower frequencies for voice (ordinary as an alternative. Of the accounting packages available as ASPs, Sechler prefers NetLedger (www.netledger.com). Funded by Oracle, it's "basically a QuickBooks living on the Web," Sechler says. "My clients and I can look at the accounting at the same time anytime--in some cases while one of our firm's bookkeepers with access at a different level prepares the monthly activity." A user can set an astonishing a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. number of levels of access. "I can have the treasurer look at everything, or everything except payroll, or write a check but not make deposits. There are many areas where we can make the rules," Sechler says. "It costs just $10 per user per month to use NetLedger, and there is no charge for the subscribing CPA. I explain to my clients, `You can go out and buy a $5,000 Software package--or pay $i0 a month for this.' For clients relying on grantor An individual who conveys or transfers ownership of property. In real property law, an individual who sells land is known as the grantor. grantor n. or contribution money, it's a great opportunity." An expensive package may have a few more bells and whistles A slang English term for exceptional features in some product. In the computer field, it typically refers to functions in software that may be greatly appreciated by some users, even though they may not be necessary most of the time. to produce reports automatically, but by exporting data from NetLedger to Excel Sechler can customize reports so clients get what they want. "I've got clients with board members in many countries. NetLedger's been a great solution for our clients in Belgium, Budapest, Dublin, Melbourne and London because they don't have to wait for anything. I can have this moment's activity sitting in NetLedger when they decide they want to take a look at what's going on." Sechler also uses Office 2000, SuperForms, QuickBooks and Intuit's tax package called ProSeries, which QuickBooks talks to (see "Tools You Can Use," at right). "I can upload and download updates smoothly from the Web with it. The support's very good, and I like using it. It's been good to me. It's one of the few that were really doing a good job in the 990 area, which is for the nonprofits' tax return--a nonstandard non·stan·dard adj. 1. Varying from or not adhering to the standard: nonstandard lengths of board. 2. area. Not a lot of packages really support that area well," she says. CAN YOU JUST TRUST PEOPLE? To people wanting to emulate her approach, Sechler suggests that they make absolutely certain that they are self-motivated. "Be realistic about how much money you want to make balanced against how much time you want to put into it," says Sechler. "What are you willing to do? Are you willing to challenge a few of the rules?" Taking an accounting firm out of bricks and mortar A store (shop, supermarket, department store, etc.) in the real world. Contrast with clicks and mortar. and managing it from home challenged just about every convention, she says. For Sechler a distinct workspace has been a necessity. When she worked from a spare room in the house, she found it hard to quit for the day. In 1997 she bought a property with a guesthouse guest·house n. 1. A small house or cottage adjacent to a main house, used for lodging guests. 2. A bed-and-breakfast. , where her office now is. It's just enough separation, she says. When asked about the cost of getting started in an at-home CPA business, Sechler threw out some ballpark figures for a computer, additional hardware, high-speed access, a basic tax package and current accounting software. "For $10,000 you can get rolling Verb 1. get rolling - start to be active; "Get cracking, please!" bestir oneself, get cracking, get moving, get started, get weaving, get going begin, commence, set out, start, start out, set about, get down, get - take the first step or steps in carrying ," she says. Another important point, she says, is whether a candidate for a home-based business has good management and leadership skills. "Also, are you ready to deal with those times when people have problems and you have to get the work out no matter what because you promised the client? If you think you're just going to kick back," Sechler says, "it's not going to happen. In an office if people get sick, the work has to be redistributed re·dis·trib·ute tr.v. re·dis·trib·ut·ed, re·dis·trib·ut·ing, re·dis·trib·utes To distribute again in a different way; reallocate. Adj. 1. . Being in a virtual workplace doesn't change that." She recommends that a person considering basing any business at home think about how to deal with project management when he or she can't see people. "Are you prepared for that?" she asks. "Can you live with it? Can you just trust people? That's really it: If you can't trust people, this kind of arrangement doesn't work." Sechler welcomes any questions: Carolyn@azcpa.com. At press time there were 329 application service provider (ASP) business and finance programs available on the Web. Source: www.finapps.com. Tools You Can Use NetMeeting www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/download/ Online conferences and collaboration. ASP. Free, PlaceWare www.placeware.com Excellent tool for larger groups, online seminars and conferences. Pricing varies based on size of audience and frequency of use. CoWorking www.coworking.com Updates on telework See telecommuting. techniques and collaborative online tools. Gil Gordon www.gilgordon.com The guru of telework has tons of tips and techniques. NetLedger www. netledger. com Accounting ASP. $9.95 per user per month. QuickBooks Pro www.quickbooks.com Accounting software. $90 to $500, depending on user needs. Quicken Deluxe www.quicken.com Personal accounting software. $50. ICQ www.icq.com Instant messaging software for collaboration, communication and file transfer, Free. Yahoo groups www.yahoo.com Discussion groups, list servers, custom-moderated communities. Free. uReach www.ureach.com Unified messaging Having access to e-mail, voice mail and faxes via a common computer application or by telephone. For example, unified messaging may send faxes and digitized voice mail to a mail server that turns them into e-mail attachments. software, virtual fax and voice mail, file storage. ASP. $4 per month, Adobe Acrobat reader The former name of Adobe Reader. See PDF. www.adobe.com Reads messages sent in PDF (Portable Document Format) The de facto standard for document publishing from Adobe. On the Web, there are countless brochures, data sheets, white papers and technical manuals in the PDF format. format. Free. MICHAEL HAYES Michael Hayes may refer to:
See American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). . Official positions are determined through certain specific committee procedures, due process and deliberation. |
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