Exploring the A-B-C-D of the Digital Age and Their Impact on Accounting

Donny Shimamoto

This session with start with a quick look at how Artificial intelligence, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, and Data governance are impacting the accounting ecosystem supporting transaction recordation and financial reporting. Then we’ll dive deeper into how to identify opportunities for automation, whether with traditional programming, robotic process automation (RPA), or machine learning. We’ll close out with a look at how the role of the finance team leader will change and the skills needed to be successful in the near future.

How Accountants Ensure Business Resiliency for the Next Pandemic

Donny Shimamoto

Learn how core accountant skills like risk management and financial planning & analysis—and their supporting technologies—and our core competencies of ethics and objectivity, play critical roles in driving better business decision-making.

8 Keys to Tax Automation & Outsourcing

Donny Shimamoto

Tax season seems to get worse every year. Last-minute changes to the tax code, delayed tax software updates, workload compression, and a shortage of experienced tax professionals continue to exacerbate what is already a grueling season for many accounting firms. Client fee pressures force firms to figure out how to get more productivity out of their existing staff while not burning staff out and maintaining a high staff engagement level.

Yet, some firms have been showing strong growth and even increased work-life balance. We interviewed a variety of these firms to see if we could identify the secret to their success. Attend this session to learn how these firms are bucking the general trends and achieving growth and increased profitability

Advanced Pricing Methods® to Improve Firm Profitability

Michelle River

Learn how to improve the profitability of your firm by using pricing and positioning techniques that allow you to convey your services’ worth, more effectively scope your projects, and manage customer expectations about price adjustments as scope changes. As you apply the principals you’ll learn in this course to define and present your solutions to buyers, you’ll discover how often buyers upsell themselves when they feel more in control of their purchases. The results are improved confidence in your worth and much stronger client relationships.

How Tax Preparers & Accountants Increase Their Profitability Using Lean Six Sigma

Donny Shimamoto

Tax return preparation is increasingly becoming a commodity. Automation can help reduce the level of manual work required for return preparation. However, if you automate a “bad process,” you still won’t see an increase in profitability or improved client service. Tax practices should apply Lean Six Sigma (LSS) before automating their tax workflows to optimize processes and automation while remaining in compliance with professional standards.

The D&I Business Case: Understanding the Link Between Diversity & Performance

Jina Etienne

Diversity is more than a “people” thing. There is increasing evidence and data linking diversity to financial performance. A McKinsey study links racial and ethnic diversity to improved financial returns – as much as 35% above national industry medians. A Deloitte study showed that diverse companies had higher cash flow per employee. Yet, the connection between diversity, inclusion and performance can feel elusive.

Join us for a conversation to help lay a foundation for talking about, engaging in, and working through D&I in your firm. In this session, we will explore questions like: What do we really mean when we say “diversity” AND “inclusion”? How should we be talking about D&I in our firms? We will explore the implications of D&I within firms and across the accounting profession and draw connections between statements of commitment to D&I, leadership intention, firm culture, and organizational performance.

Proven Strategies to Leverage Automation & Outsourcing to Reduce Your Accounting/Tax Workload

Donny Shimamoto

Busy season seems to keep getting busier. Last-minute changes to the tax code, delayed tax software updates, workload compression, and a shortage of experienced accounting professionals continue to exacerbate what is already a grueling season for many accounting firms. Client fee pressures force firms to figure out how to get more productivity out of their existing staff while not burning staff out and maintaining a high staff engagement level.

Yet, some tax and bookkeeping firms have been showing strong growth and even increased work-life balance. We interviewed a variety of these firms to see if we could identify the secret to their success. Attend this session to learn how these firms are bucking the general trends and achieving growth and increased profitability.

How Automation and AI are Enhancing Management Accountants

Donny Shimamoto

Headlines abound saying that Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) will eliminate the need for accountants. In reality, RPA and AI provide an excellent opportunity for accountants to automate more routine procedures and focus on delivering more value-added insights to help improve an organization’s performance or risk mitigation. Conversely, the use of AI can also have some adverse results if not managed properly. Accountants must be aware of these risks and work to ensure that the proper controls are in place to manage an organization’s operational and financial risks associated with automation and AI. Learn more about these technologies and their implications to the skills and knowledge needed to be an effective management accountant.

Winning Tax Season with Better Workflow & Capacity Management

Frank Stitley

Win next tax season by optimizing workflow in your practice using tactics from the project management and Lean Six Sigma worlds.  Experience hands-on lessons from “The Relentless CPA” to create your ideal workflow and optimize your capacity to delight clients with better service. 

Win the next tax season by optimizing workflow in your practice using tactics from the project management and Lean Six Sigma worlds. Utilize these technique to compute your tax season capacity.

Using Technology to Enhance Employee Engagement in a Hybrid Work Environment

Donny Shimamoto

Texting, emails, instant messaging, and virtual meetings have all been accused of harming our ability to build relationships with coworkers and managers. The rise of remote work and hybrid work also reduces a manager’s direct visibility of an employee’s disengagement and a manager’s ability to employ traditional informal coaching via a lunch meeting or chat by the watercooler.

Luckily a new class of human resources software focused on “employee engagement” provides a structured way to translate things like appreciation, 1-on-1s, management by walking around, and other in-office management techniques into the virtual world—and it’s affordable by small organizations too. Attend this course to get to “play with” and experience these leading-edge tools that can help you to gain visibility into where your teams are excelling and struggling, and spot issues before they become problems. Virtual employee engagement can help you to improve productivity and decrease turnover.