The deft use of technology plays a huge role in a CPA’s success. The
MACPA Technology Conference exposes CPAs to new technologies, trains
CPAs to use specific tools well, and offers insight into strategic tech
planning for firms and industry businesses. The sessions to be offered
during this webcast are as follows:

8:05 – 9:05 a.m.

“NEXT STEPS” AND STUMBLE POINTS- MULTIPLE GENERATIONS DEALING WITH
INFORMATION OVERLOAD

Speaker: Karl Ahlrichs, The Business Learning Institute

Waves of technology are sweeping over us. At the same time, young
workers want to make a quick impact, the middle generation needs to
believe in the mission, and older employees don’t like ambivalence. What
should you know?

In these stressful times, how we adapt to technology overlaps with
generational and personal differences, all of which make it difficult to
create a “high performing” culture. In this fast paced and entertaining
session, Karl Ahlrichs will give you insight on generational issues that
may be causing problems, and some surprises on how technology fits into
the mix.

Karl is a nationally recognized expert on people issues in modern
organizations, with a technology background that includes programming,
network administration and system development.

9:10- 10 a.m.

LEAVING THE COMFORTS OF HOME: HOW I REALIZED QUICKBOOKS WAS HOLDING BACK
MY COMPANY AND MY CLIENTS

Speaker: Robin Thieme, CPA, CITP, Kensington Business Solutions, LLC

With Intuit QuickBooks becoming one of the most popular accounting
products for small businesses, Robin Thieme joined in,, developed a
proficiency with the software, and has been working with it primarily
for over the last 15 years. This comes after working with Great Plains
Dynamics, Solomon and a few other mid-grade software products in earlier
parts of her professional career. After hitting some roadblocks with
QuickBooks, and starting the transition from QuickBooks to Intacct, she
realized that this traditional tool had in fact been dictating rather
than facilitating her accounting practices and services – forcing
constant workarounds and limitations. In this presentation, Robin will
share her company’s journey, including some specific examples of the
roadblocks encountered and how Intacct addresses them.

10:10- 11:30 a.m.

LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY IN FINANCE

Speaker: Donny Shimamoto, CPA, CITP, CGM, IntrapriseTechknowlegies LLC

Designed for non-techies, this seminar will teach participants through
analyzing their current ecosystem of applications and systems. Attendees
will learn about:  The different components and business solutions
available to improve financial and other “back office” operational
functions. How to analyze what their application and data needs are and
how to use these to drive technology selection and definition of
functionality requirements. How to develop their “intraprise
architecture” and how to do trade-off analysis between broad solutions
and niche solutions to optimize their technology investment.

11:40 a.m.- 12:30 p.m.

QUICKBOOKS INTEGRATIVE ADD ONS & IMPORTING

Speaker: Tara Morgan Schinkel, CPA, Stewart Technologies, Inc. & Guest

1:30- 2:20 p.m.

MACPA CASE STUDY

Speaker: Greg Rittler, CPA, Blue Ocean Ideas

2:25- 3:10 p.m.

TECHNOLOGY ROI- MORE THAN JUST DOLLARS

Speaker: Donny Shimamoto, CPA, CITP, CGM, IntrapriseTechknowlegies LLC

Organizations who shift their thinking from technology spend to
technology investment are better able to obtain return on investment
(ROI) from funding technology-based initiatives. And ROI has both
financial and non-financial aspects to consider when planning a
technology project and evaluating its results. Attend this session to
learn how even small organizations can gain value by incorporating ROI
discussions into planning and executing their technology projects. Gain
access to practical tools to help ensure the success of your
technology-based projects.

3:20- 4:05 p.m.

CLOUD SECURITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT

Speaker: Steve Ursillo, CPA, CIA, CGNA, CFE, Sparrow, Johnson & Ursillo,
Inc.

4:10 – 5 p.m.

THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY AND TOOLS THAT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY IMPACT YOUR
COMPANY THROUGH 2017

Speaker: Gene Marks, CPA, The Marks Group PC

We’re looking at much change ahead. The next few years will bring big
changes in the way we do business and how we drive revenues. What
decisions should you be making now that will increase revenues and value
in the future? It’s not just Google, Microsoft and Apple who are leading
the wave. It’s Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. It’s about the right kind of
e-mail marketing. Using video to connect to your prospects. Taking
advantage of new voice, chat and text tools to generate leads. Using
mobile tools for search, payment and relationship building. And a few
tried and true sales processes that never go away. And of course there’s
the explosive growth of cloud based technologies, lead by Customer
Relationship Management. How are you touching your customers? Your
prospects? How are you making sure nothing falls through the cracks?
What workflows have you created to make sure customers never leave? How
are smart executives leveraging the latest services, applications,
devices and processes to maximize their revenues?