The Accounting Podcast

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Show Notes

• 00:52 -- Welcome to our first guest co-host, Rachel Fisch!
• 01:36 -- We got another review! Leave us a review and we’ll read it on the air.
• 02:32 -- Visor, the $99 app-based online tax service, did NOT have a great busy season. David’s got all the sordid details in a detailed LinkedIn article.
• 20:16 -- …and after all that, David didn’t even get to chat with Claudell :(
• 23:30 -- Zoom raises IPO price and could begin trading with a $9B valuation
• 27:16 -- Online tax filing on the rise, retail on the decline, data finds
• 30:03 -- Pilot, the AI accounting service, raises $40M
• 35:26 -- Eide Bailly is acquiring a data analytics service
• 37:41 -- IRS releases 6-year plan to modernize aging computer systems
• 40:14 -- Is the CPA license losing its lustre? (upcoming free virtual roundtable)
• 45:37 -- Educating the next generation of leaders

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Find us on Facebook and, if you like what you hear, do us a favor and write a review on iTunes.

Sponsor

• Xerocon: http://cloudaccountingpodcast.promo/xerocon

Show Notes

• 00:53 -- Thanks for the reviews! Give us a review on iTunes and we’ll read it on the air.
• 01:51 -- The house passed a bill permanently banning the IRS from creating its own free online tax preparation software. Here’s the coverage in Huffington Post, Business Insider, and ProPublica. For the history on IRS-assisted tax prep and the arguments for and against, listen to Planet Money #760: Tax Hero.
• 08:43 -- As cashless stores grow, so does the backlash — this time in Miami.
• 12:44 -- Can you believe that educators are still teaching people how to use Quicken for business accounting? Here’s a keeper: “Using Quicken for farm and ranch accounting”
• 14:46 -- Xero's out with a new look for their invoicing feature, which now includes auto save and a nifty application of artificial intelligence for coding transactions
• 16:24 -- Canopy released their new mobile app.
• 17:38 -- TaxJar now integrates with NetSuite via SuiteTax, demonstrating their move upmarket in the wake of the SCOTUS Wayfair decision.
• 18:31 -- Thanks to Caleb Jenkins for posting a screenshot of the beta “Receipts” feature in QuickBooks on Twitter. Take a look here.
• 20:20 -- Here’s an update on the QuickBooks Online Advanced free upgrade period. Also, Blake has a hack so you can avoid ever paying for more than 250 accounts or 40 classes/locations.
• 27:19 -- How many CPA firms permit flexible and remote work? Find out as Blake details stats from the 2018 Anytime, Anywhere Work Survey by ConvergenceCoaching.
• 29:49 -- A 2-year Stanford study found that people are significantly more productive when working from home. Watch the TED Talk or read the article.
• 33:59 -- People have a reason to be paranoid when it comes to smart speakers. It turns out Amazon workers are listening to what you tell Alexa.
• 37:26 -- In China, the Communist Party under Xi Jinping is asserting ever greater ideological control over the population — this time with the help of an app.

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Find us on Facebook and, if you like what you hear, do us a favor and write a review on iTunes.

Sponsor

• Xerocon: http://cloudaccountingpodcast.promo/xerocon

Show Notes

• 03:32 -- We got another review! If you like what you hear, do us a favor and leave a review on iTunes.
• 04:00 -- Intuit is creating 200 to 500 jobs at a new “prosperity center” in the small city of Bluefield, West Virginia.
• 06:16 -- A new study says the top benefit employees want is unlimited paid time off (PTO), putting that benefit ahead of wellness plans, phased retirement programs, paid sabbaticals, and free or subsidized on-site services.
• 08:13 -- So given that employees want unlimited PTO, how many CPA firms offer this benefit? According to a 2018 survey, about half of major firms (75+ CPAs) have stopped tracking vacation time. For firms with fewer than 75 CPAs, fewer than 1 in 5 offer unlimited PTO.
• 11:06 -- Here’s what accountants and bookkeepers can learn from taxi companies evolving to compete with Uber (as the profession will likely have to evolve to compete with integrated software + services competitors such as QuickBooks Live). For one thing, the taxi companies finally have apps.
• 16:50 -- CryptoTrader.Tax now integrates with TurboTax. The software combo will automatically crunch the consumers' capital gains and losses numbers and generate the necessary tax documents including the IRS form 8949.
• 18:25 -- David recommends every cloud firm owner read Ryan Lazanis’ article “Cloud Accounting Security for Your Firm” — a good follow on to Cathy Iconis’ blog about how to go about creating a virtual bookkeeping company.
• 19:21 -- This past week at SuiteWorld, NetSuite announced a new, free benchmarking and research service for NetSuite customers called Brainyard. The company says it will eventually leverage twenty years of  anonymized NetSuite user data to provide benchmarking.
• 24:51 -- Over the past 14 years, California has spent close to $1B on an accounting system that still doesn't work. Let that sink in for a moment.
• 28:56 -- Californians might feel better knowing that Canada’s homegrown payroll system cost about the same amount and still doesn’t work, either. 
• 30:07 -- Blake shares details about FloQast’s new product, FloQast Matching, an AI-powered automated matching engine for high volume account reconciliations.
• 35:44 -- This guy is why accountants on Twitch totally needs to be a thing.

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Find us on Facebook and, if you like what you hear, do us a favor and write a review on iTunes.

Sponsor

• Xero: http://cloudaccountingpodcast.promo/joinxero

Show Notes

• 00:52 -- We got some more iTunes reviews! Leave us a review and we might read it on the air.
• 02:09 -- New usage rules for Intuit's popular accounting software could mean some customers will need to move to a pricier plan. And some entrepreneurs say it's one tweak too many.
• 06:26 -- The next "QuickBooks With Live Bookkeeping" test is up and running. Say bye bye to Claudell... and meet David! He's a "bookkeeper 17 years." The price has now doubled from $200 to $400/month. What's included in the new test of QuickBooks Live? Listen to find out.
• 15:50 -- Cathy Iconis lays out the basics of what you need to do to start your own virtual bookkeeping business. It’s a lot!
• 18:59 -- Companies that use Box.com as a cloud-based file hosting and sharing system might be accidentally exposing internal files, sensitive documents, or proprietary technology.
• 21:30 -- Here’s a how a scammer used phishing emails to steal over $100 million from Google and Facebook.
• 25:32 -- Zapier tested options for screen recording software ranging from minimalistic three-button windows to complex apps overflowing with tools, priced from free all the way up to several hundreds of dollars.
• 30:34 -- No matter what anyone tells you, we’re not ready for the massive societal upheavals on the way thank to artificial intelligence.

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!

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Show Notes

• 00:08 -- We got more reviews. Thank you! Give us a review on iTunes and we’ll read it on one of our weekly shows.
• 01:43 -- A survey revealed that you’ll get the best results from a blog post if you spend six hours working on it.
• 03:57 -- QuickBooks Live is now official — details on Intuit’s official Firm of the Future blog include the fact that Intuit has already hired 10 Boise-based ProAdvisors as part of the QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping team. 
• 09:07 -- A survey by the IMA suggests that the gender pay gap is closing for management accountants.
• 10:57 -- A 2018 survey shows that mandatory busy season Saturdays are on the decline at CPA firms, but a shocking number still require their staff to work weekends. 
• 12:11 -- Meanwhile, 8 percent of CPA firms will hire “anyone who is breathing,” according to a survey of AICPA Engage 2018 attendees. Could there be a correlation?
• 13:21 -- If you want to have a better busy season experience, stop pointing the finger at clients and start asking your team how you can facilitate a better process that makes it easy for clients to get you what you need.
• 16:59 -- The cashless debate continues! LA Eater asks, “Restaurants Are Going Cashless. Is It Always Best for Business?” Meanwhile, Philadelphia has already banned cashless stores, citing discrimination, and San Francisco is mulling its own ban. Gene Marks says you’re crazy if you reject any form of payment.
• 22:09 -- Facebook admitted that it stored hundreds of millions of user passwords in plain text for years, potentially enabling thousands of its employees to access them.
• 26:34 -- Here’s a rundown of upcoming accounting and bookkeeping training shows and conferences in 2019, plus all the ones David and Blake will be attending.
• 28:51 -- When you’re booking your accommodations this upcoming conference season, consider the Rodeway Inn. They’ve got the best hotel WiFi, according to research.

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!

Show Notes

• 00:08 -- We got some reviews! Please do us a favor and give us a review on iTunes.
• 02:08 -- Might tax season be extended to make up for the partial Federal government shutdown? Two house Democrats have introduced a bill to extend the tax-filing deadline by 5 weeks.
• 03:51 -- Now you can track your team’s labor costs in QuickBooks Projects.
• 05:08 -- New limits in QuickBooks Online are causing some angst for ProAdvisors. Research from APQC suggests that Intuit set the limit on accounts in the Chart of Accounts too low. Also, the messaging by Intuit as to why they implemented limits seems rather disingenuous. 
• 11:54 -- The State of Louisiana accidentally double refunded about 66,000 taxpayers, resulting in about $26 million in overpayments the state is working to claw back. 
• 14:25 -- Speaking of problems caused by software, those Boeing 737s might be crashing due to a delayed software update.
• 17:05 -- Why is Blake so concerned about Botkeeper and the failure of many tech startups serving the accounting profession to disclose the offshoring of client data? Because as a listener pointed out, the Internal Revenue Code forbids disclosure of tax return information, which could include bookkeeping data, to anyone outside the firm without express written consent. There are even potential criminal penalties. 
• 22:51 -- Is Gappify another Botkeeper? The firm claims to have built an AI bot called “Alan,” but it looks like they’ve got accountants in Manila doing the same work.
• 25:34 -- According to a survey from London venture capital firm MMC, 40 percent of European startups that are classified as AI companies don’t actually use artificial intelligence in a way that is “material” to their businesses.
• 29:02 -- Canopy, the tax practice management software developer, laid off nearly half its staff, despite just a few months ago expanding into a huge new headquarters while saying it planned to double in size. Here’s the post by the CEO and founder, Kurt Avarell, on LinkedIn.
• 32:13 -- David recommends anyone following the Canopy story read The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz.
• 33:50 -- A fun and enlightening conversation ensued on Twitter after Accounting Today published an article called “Why is your firm worth less than you think?” that makes no mention of technology. "Partners at CPA firms are often surprised to find out that the recommended value for their owner’s interest is less than their notions of what the practice would be worth in a sale." Here's why a firm may be worth less than you think. https://t.co/NS5Ld3V1pT— Accounting Today (@AccountingToday) 

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!

Show Notes

• 00:10 -- Top 50 Women In Accounting 2018 — Practice Ignition — The winners ranked among the highest on an “anonymised scoring system which took into account the communication of professional and community achievements.” Check out Madeline Pratt’s Facebook Live panel discussion with nine of the winners which is also available on the Finding Fearless podcast.
• 02:48 -- Intuit Expert Connections — Intuit ProConnect — Thanks to one of our listeners for sending over a link to this “still in concept phase” offering for tax professionals. The idea, according to Intuit, is to help you “easily find and hire Intuit-screened accounting professionals to support your practice with temporary or in-season help.”
• 07:43 -- Report Suggests Congress And IRS Should Give Taxpayers More Time To File In 2019 — Forbes — It’s not your imagination: It really is a different kind of tax season. It’s so different that the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) is calling on Congress to extend the tax filing season.
• 10:12 -- Metric of the Month: Number of Accounts in the Chart of Accounts — CFO — While there is no precisely right or wrong answer in terms of how many accounts an organization should have in its COA, this metric provides some guidelines.
• 15:42 -- Facebook’s Workplace reaches 2M paid users, targets SMBs — ComputerWorld — Workplace by Facebook, the company's enterprise-focused collaboration offering, has seen strong growth since its launch in 2016. Will we see more accounting firms adopt the corporate internal social network in 2019?
• 20:06 -- Remote control? Over half of accountants say they can ‘work smarter’ from home — Xero Blog — 53% of respondents to a South African survey claimed they could perform their duties more effectively if they were allowed to do so from beyond the office — but 75% are based in the office and only 13% work from home.
• 22:01 -- Nationwide, BlueVine partner on small business lending — Fox Business — Nationwide has partnered with BlueVine to bring small business lending to its customers. 
• 23:20 -- Funding Circle Reveals Plans For Canada Launch — PYMTS — The company issued a press release Thursday (March 7) announcing it will add Canada to the list of jurisdictions in which it operates, which currently include the U.S., U.K., Germany and the Netherlands.
• 23:42 -- PayPal Hits £1B UK SMB Lending Milestone — PYMTS — The company said in a statement that the total amount of funding advanced to firms was up 60 percent, reaching that £1 billion tally in 2018, and that more than 37,000 businesses have tapped into its working capital offerings, which debuted five years ago. 
• 24:02 -- Square Capital head: We are leveraging data to extend credit to small businesses that lack access to traditional loans — CNBC — Jim Cramer sits down with Jackie Reses, the head of Square Inc.'s Square Capital, to discuss how the lending arm is helping businesses that have trouble getting traditional loans.
• 27:18 -- When You Should Hire a CPA or Tax Pro — The Wirecutter — The New York Times owned publication says, “Working with a tax preparer who takes advantage of tools such as cloud accounting and apps that allow you to securely send documents and electronically review and sign your return can save time and trips to their office.” You read that right — cloud accounting gets a mention in a consumer oriented review site!
• 31:30 -- Certify Merges With Chrome River In $1B Deal — PYMNTS — Under the terms of the deal, K1 Investment Management will own a majority stake in the combined business. 
• 33:22 -- Wave acquires Canadian SME account provider Every — Fintech Futures — Software firm Wave has acquired Every, a Toronto-based fintech that provides business accounts and debit cards to SMEs.
• 34:02 -- Why FLEETCOR Bought Nvoicepay — PYMNTS — The Nvoicepay acquisition means FLEETCOR will expand its existing card payment processing capabilities to include automated accounts payable transactions for a range of payment methods, with a broader focus on modernizing the AP process overall.

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!

Show Notes

In this episode, Blake and David discuss:

Intuit catches 'credential stuffing' attack on TurboTax account — Accounting Today — The software provider recently alerted Vermont that a cybercriminal had gained access to a state resident's account. How did they do it? Because the customer had used the same password on another site that got hacked. The lesson: Use a different password on every site! How do you do that? With a password manager.

Intuit Inc. (INTU) CEO Sasan Goodarzi on Q2 2019 Results - Earnings Call Transcript — Seeking Alpha — Can you believe it? A question about QuickBooks Live made it into the latest Intuit earnings call! The analyst from RBC must have seen the conversation online about what QuickBooks Live means for ProAdvisors. We’re proud to have broken the story on the Cloud Accounting Podcast, and good job everyone in making sure that this “test” didn’t fly under the radar. In short, Sasan Goodarzi, CEO of Intuit, likes what he sees from the test. That doesn’t surprise us considering he and his predecessor were both bullish on TurboTax Live, a very similar service.

David also highlights the following quote from Goodarzi earlier in the call:

What ProAdvisors are Saying about QuickBooks Live — Insightful Accountant — Here’s the feedback from the wider ProAdvisors community based on three online “town halls” hosted by Joe Woodard with official Intuit participation. One stat in particular that caught our attention — 51% of attendees saw QuickBooks Live has having a negative future impact on Intuit’s relationship with the accounting profession, while only 30% saw a positive impact.

Interestingly, the Intuit representative said he regretted not communicating Intuit’s test to accounting professionals. However, that contradicts what we’ve told by a ProAdvisor that Intuit held a secret webinar for 75+ top ProAdvisors informing them about QuickBooks Live in late January. These ProAdvisors were unable to speak publicly because they were under NDA, which may explain the unusual silence from some in the community who would typically be all over such a story.

Whatever you think about the whole incident, David highly recommends everyone read The Cluetrain Manifesto, available online for free. 

What Intuit ProAdvisors can learn about QuickBooks LIVE from the GoDaddy Pro launch — Medium — Ned Dwyer sees significant parallels between the test of QuickBooks Live and the “Do It With Me” program he helped to create at GoDaddy for customers who needed assistance creating their own websites.

JPMorgan's Dimon: Square innovated where we should have — American Banker — The CEO of the nation's biggest bank gave the fintech props for revolutionizing payments and then building off its success to provide a whole range of services to small-business clients.

Air On The Side Of Real Time With Abacus Corporate Travel Booking — Abacus Blog — Abacus Travel combines seamless travel booking with the power of real time expense reporting.

Are Job Switchers Earning More? — Korn Ferry — Even in this record-low unemployment market, companies have been keeping salaries in check. But new government figures suggest that those who jump ship are starting to get around that.

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!

Show Notes

This episode is sponsored by Veem, the easiest way to send money internationally. Sign up today and earn 10,000 VeemBack points on your first transaction.*

*Restrictions apply. Visit the Veem website for details.

This bonus episode of the Cloud Accounting Podcast features an extended interview with Enrico Palmerino, CEO of Botkeeper, and his technical director Justin DoBosh. 

The interview was recorded via Facebook Live on Friday, March 1. It was organized by Cloud Accounting Podcast co-host David Leary to address outstanding questions from our previous coverage of Botkeeper on this podcast as well as an article Blake Oliver published entitled “It’s not a bot — the truth about Botkeeper, the Google-funded, AI-powered “bookkeeper replacement.” We sent Botkeeper a list of questions in advance and also asked them to make a demonstration of the artificial intelligence in action. 

At the beginning of the interview there is a brief demonstration of a  Botkeeper “bot" that codes transactions in the QuickBooks Online general ledger. If you would like to see as well as hear the demo, watch the Facebook Live recording here.  

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page! 

Show Notes

This episode is sponsored by Veem, the easiest way to send money internationally. Sign up today and earn 10,000 VeemBack points on your first transaction.*

*Restrictions apply. Visit the Veem website for details.

Recap of Botkeeper coverage and fallout, new questions, and the ethics of disclosing offshoring

(00:53) In the previous episode, Blake and David discussed an email from Botkeeper CEO Enrico Palmerino to the firm’s accountant & CPA partners. In the email, Enrico revealed that Botkeeper, which Enrico has claimed is an artificial intelligence powered “full bookkeeper replacement… a robo-bookkeeper," also employs offshore accountants in the Philippines. Blake’s subsequent public questioning on Twitter led to legal threats by Enrico against Blake and his employer. Enrico has now agreed to join Blake and David for a public Facebook Live session on Friday, March 1 at 2 pm Pacific — Like our Facebook Page to get notified when we go live to try and figure out what’s going on at Botkeeper once and for all. 

(04:09) Blake digs into the Botkeeper website, press coverage about the firm, the CEO’s public statements, and review sites to try and figure out what exactly Botkeeper claims to be, how well it discloses the offshoring operation in the Philippines (hardly at all, apparently) and how Botkeeper’s representations of itself publicly differs from information provided by Botkeeper partners as well as Enrico's own words in an interview with Blake on Monday, February 18. 

(13:22) A Botkeeper CPA partner provided what they claim is a screenshot of a Botkeeper agreement that states client data will be processed in the United States. The CPA also says that no mention was made of a Botkeeper Philippines offshore operation during the sales process. 

(15:18) Why does this matter? Because the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct requires that any member (CPA) must obtain "reasonable assurance that third-party service providers have appropriate procedures in place to prevent the unauthorized release of confidential information to others,” and they may not able to do this if Botkeeper is not forthright about its offshoring of data and/or labor. 

Avalara Acquires Artificial Intelligence Technology and Expertise from Indix

(18:39) Avalara announced it has acquired Indix’s AI technology and expertise, with comprehensive product descriptions for more than 1 billion products sold and shipped worldwide. Avalara intends to use the Indix AI to maintain and expand its already massive tax content database, which includes international product codes and classifications; taxability rules; exemption conditions; tax holidays; jurisdictions; boundaries; tax rates; thresholds and registration, compliance, and return preparation and filing requirements. 

Intuit Second Quarter Revenue Increased 12 Percent Led by a 38 Percent Rise in Small Business Online Ecosystem Revenue

(19:41) David share’s Intuit’s latest earnings report, which shows very strong growth in the Small Business and Self-Employed Group led by their Online Ecosystem. Matt Paff pointed out that Desktop revenue is still growing, which David suspects may be due to a shift to the subscription model for these uses. Sasan Goodarzi highlighted on Twitter how Intuit is focused on “building an AI driven expert platform." 

New limits on users, accounts, classes, and locations in QuickBooks Online

Did these limits used to exist and just weren't as explicitly stated? pic.twitter.com/sag1poRabn— Lorilyn A Crum (@LorilynCrum) 

February 21, 2019

(23:07) Some ProAdvisors are surprised by usage limits that have been rolling out since the announcement of QuickBooks Advanced. Lorilyn Crum shared a screenshot showing new limits on billable users, chart of accounts, and classes and locations. Users who exceed these limits will have to upgrade to QuickBooks Advanced, which is priced at $150/month. Perhaps Intuit’s earnings are up also because they’re squeezing more money out of existing customers? 

Tide Launches Omnichannel, On-Demand Laundry Service

(27:48) Tide is introducing Tide Cleaners, an on-demand dry cleaning and laundry service, at 1,000 locations across the country. David thinks this is really similar to Intuit’s shift from a developer of software to a platform for accounting services with QuickBooks Live. For more on QuickBooks Live, listen to Episode 59.

Continuing Coverage of QuickBooks Live

(29:43) Patti Scharf, CPA and co-founder of Catching Clouds, shares her thoughts on QuickBooks Live.

Etsy Payment Error Creates Banking and Havoc for Sellers

(33:05) Online marketplace Etsy suffered a payment error that resulted in large amounts of money being withdrawn from sellers' bank accounts and charged to their credit cards. 

Get in Touch

Thanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!