The CPA Site Solutions blog makes for some great reading, but have you ever wondered where we go to get news and information in regards to the accounting industry?

Today we’re going to show you a few of our favorite sites.

The CPA technology advisor is the Grandfather of accounting tech news sites.

The CPA Technology Advisor

Granddaddy of this gang is the CPA Technology Advisor. I seriously love this site. For one thing, they’ve always been very kind to CPA Site Solutions. While they no longer offer their coveted comparative product reviews they still offer quality reviews on accounting related products and services. They are updated regularly and offer news for and about the accounting industry.

The Proressive Accountant provides a great alternative to it's older brother. It's a fun site, and extremely good looking.

The Progressive Accountant

Another great site is called The Progressive Accountant. The Progressive Accountant allows it’s contributors to indulge in a lot more editorializing which makes it more fun and controversial.

Being a somewhat stodgy conservative old fellow I prefer the CPA Technology Advisor, but I read both and I’m the first to admit that the The Progressive Accountant is better looking, and more importantly it provides invaluable insights into differing points of view.

This is a blog, not an Ezine. If you're looking fo a quick fix this site is a great way to stay informed without having to pick through too many articles.

The Tech Gap

There is one man who was instrumental in the development of both these sites. His name is  Greg LaFollet and his blog is TheTechGap.com. Greg is a guy that just loves accounting and technology, and his blog keeps it simple. One of the problems with blogs is that it’s so hard to keep it full of content that most bloggers compromise the quality of the content to keep them dynamic. Not Greg.  He only updates it when he has something important to say and he only prints articles that he feels adds to the quality of his site so it’s a perfect addition to your morning feed reader. It’s the truth according to one of the smartest guys in the business.

I regularly visit all three of these sites, and they are GREAT resources. I wouldn’t hesitate to vouch for the accuracy and integrity of any of them.

Using online tools can increase productivity, has the potential for more collaborative efforts, and more. Even if all of that is true there can be some hesitation as the majority of people try to make online tools part of their daily routine. Here are some tips on how to make it easier to have your firm and clients working with online tools on a regular basis.

The online tools that are at your disposal if you have an accounting web site with CPA Site Solutions include; shared documents, shared calendar, task list, team wiki, instant messenger, firm portal, client portal, the vault, and more.

A Firm User View of the Portal

Sell the benefit. It may seem obvious once you start using things like online documents, shared calendars, and project management tools of the benefits to each. Break it down for both your clients and other firm members and you can sell the benefit of time savings, ease of use, portability, and collaborative elements.

An obvious example is using the vault that comes with any website hosted by CPA Site Solutions to exchange documents with clients. It is easy to see the time saved when you don’t have to drive to the location, waste time getting documents via the mail, or risk sending them via email.

Provide training. The more you can make people feel comfortable using the resources offered the easier it is to make the transition. There are tutorials offered that show just how to use the portal system, email marketing, and more. On the blog if you click on the website tools category you get a number of helpful hints and suggestions on using online tools and more.

There is a tutorial specifically showing how to upload documents to the vault. Look for some video in the future geared specifically towards training from your clients perspective.

Confirm security. This used to be of number one concern for most people. In fact though the portal uses 14 full layers of security and so is far more secure than any office or home setting.

If you are moving your firm to a paperless office for some of the productivity benefits and otherwise, getting some to use online technology can be half the battle. When you sell the benefit, provide training, and confirm the security used it can help bridge the transition.

Have your own story on using online tools for your accounting firm? Send a comment and share with other readers. Hint: if your comments are used in a future post that links to your accounting firm’s website there are some search engine benefits that follow.

Our design team has completed another batch of new site designs for Gold or Platinum level clients. You now have over 250 Site Designs available for your website. Click the links below to see the full-size samples of these new site designs.

Design 471315 Gold	Design 272316 Gold
Design 444317 Gold	Design 498318 Gold
Design 870319 Gold	Design 398320 Gold
Design 689321 Gold	Design 199322 Gold
Design 522323 Gold	Design 350324 Gold

Give your site a new look at no cost by switching to one of these, or any other web site design. All you need to do is give us a call, and we’ll make the site design change for you very quickly.

These new designs are available in a rainbow of colors, but if none of them are quite right for your firm, or you’d just like a unique design to match your unique firm, give us a call.  Our designers will work with you to create a custom website design.

The CPA Site Solutions design team is already hard at work on new custom designs, so keep an eye out here for the next announcement.

Have any comments regarding these or any other of our website design templates? Give us a comment we would love to hear from you.

One of the easiest ways to customize your accounting firm’s website with CPA Site Solutions is by taking an existing design style and tweaking it. This is cost effective and, because your using a design that is proven to work, there is a lot less time in getting it up and running.

Website Design 256 from CPA Site Solutions

As in previous posts it all starts with the existing web site design. This time it is style 256 which incorporates a great feature by having a set of pictures that change over a number of seconds.

Dufek & Co. took website design 256 and made it their own by having the website colors match those on their business card and logo. When the colors are identified with the existing logo this sort of recognition can add a nice welcoming effect.

Dufek & Co.

The custom designer then incorporated images that Dufek & Co. wanted to use within the header area. Rather than customizing with just one image on the top, as most designs have, there are multiple images changing about every 8 seconds.

Since these images take up the top corner area they provide an overall interest to the eye without being dominating or distracting to the user. The overall effect between the colors and images is one of personalization from the first few moments a visitor comes to their website.

The last touch that Dufek & Co. requested was the addition of video onto their homepage. Positioned well and with the right controls video can be a great addition.

The designers positioned the video to the right, making it a size that fit with other elements on the page. The video is nice but short so the user doesn’t loose interest and when a user clicks on the video they can stop it from playing if they want. Just as with music you should always make sure the user has a choice if media is playing or not.

Not to disappoint with the personalized look of their web site, Dufek & Co. made sure to have unique content within their Welcome, About Us pages and more. This unique content makes sure they stand out not only to the user but also to search engines as well.

Thinking about having a custom design for your own accounting firm’s website? Call 800-896-4500 and talk to a designer about the options available, you may be surprised at the low cost involved for changing an existing web site design.

Ever wanted a good task list manager that could be managed from anywhere? Here is a way to use either the calendar and/or task list that are included with the Workteam Collaboration Suite that comes with any accounting web site hosted by CPA Site Solutions as an efficient task manager.

The Workteam Collaboration Suite is powered by Google Apps and has all of the great functionality and ongoing development behind it.

The task list. Using the task list is easy enough and Google offers a great overview of this feature. Once you have created a task list there are some handy actions available such as emailing or printing your task list.

Emailing a list or printing makes it easy to collaborate with other users as you get things done each day. Even so using the task list alongside the calendar gives you even greater flexibility.

Task List Alongside the Calendar

The calendar adds even more. Google also has a great section on how to set-up and use calendars. Here are some features to highlight:

View your task list alongside calendar. While viewing your calendar you can click on Tasks and it comes up to the right of your calendar. This makes for quick access without being in the way and an easy way to plan your appointments alongside your immediate to-do list.

Tasks with due dates. When you have a task list with a due date it shows in your main calendar area under My Calendars labeled as Tasks. This way you can see tasks in your calendar area and check them off when done.

Making custom calendars. Although you automatically have a calendar of your own you can also create any number of custom calendars. If you haven’t created a custom calendar before you can go over Google’s help section on the setup.

The custom task calendar. Once you have a grasp of how the custom calendars are created, create one called something like Daily Tasks (obviously you can call it whatever you would like). You can then add tasks to the particular day you need to do them on.

The benefit of this type of setup is that you can create reoccurring tasks that the regular task list doesn’t allow. Check this help section on how to create reoccurring tasks within the calendar if you are unsure.

You can have the tasks show with your regular calendar, view it by itself or have it hidden until you need it. There is a lot more flexibility with sharing because you can share the whole calendar. The whole month can be viewed or by day so you can get a quick overall and then specific view of what you have to do.

Don’t have the Workteam Collaboration Suite but want to know more? Give an account manager a call at 800-896-4500 to see about the benefits offered or email support@cpasitesolutions.com with any questions.

Every accounting web site hosted by CPA Site Solutions can be optimized as the Content Manager is designed to be Search Engine Optimization friendly. Properly executed SEO generally requires more resources than most small accounting firms are able to part with. Here is some advice on the process if you are considering it.

World Wild Web-Watch Out For SEO Claims

As a rule Pay per Click advertising is much more cost effective and offers a much higher ROI (Return On Investment). If you do hire an SEO firm be very careful about which one you choose. There are a LOT of scammers in this business.

There are a lot of companies that do SEM (Search Engine Marketing). The best way to start your search for a good one is to go to www.google.com and type in “search engine optimization” and “SEO”.

Any result on the first 3 pages of either search is likely a great one. Anyone on the first 8 pages is darn good, and anyone on the fist 15 can pretty much get the job done for a small local accounting firm.

Caution is called for. There are some who promise high rankings but ultimately get sites removed from the index altogether because of their shady methods.

Not all SEO is safe. Some SEO’s specialize in ranking sites by deliberately breaking the rules. This is called “spamdexing”,”black hat”, “gray hat” or “high-risk” SEO. If you are caught using these techniques your domain name can be banned from the search engines. The people who use them are not usually forthcoming about the risks or even that they are breaking any rules.

As an accountant your reputation for integrity is vital to your relationship with your clients and prospects, and getting caught cheating the search engines could hurt you in ways that make getting a domain name banned look like a slap on the wrist. I strongly recommend avoiding any “get listed quick” schemes.

Whatever you decide it is your responsibility to make sure you are dealing with a reputable professional that’s being frank about his techniques. It is your responsibility to weigh any risks with the potential benefits and hire an SEO willing and able to do the job according to your wishes.

Here are a few tips to keep you out of trouble.

• Stay away from any company that markets by spam or cold calling. This is a huge red flag. Good SEO’s don’t need to drum up business. They have plenty of work.
• Don’t trust anyone who guarantees results. Nobody can guarantee position, especially for your competitive keywords like “accounting”.
• Google does not certify SEO’s. The only certifications that Google offers are in regards to a Google Adwords Professional.
• There are no companies with “special relationships” or “partnerships” with Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search, or Bing.
• Make sure that the SEO company you hire has done a good job getting his own site listed. If he can’t get himself on the search engines there’s no reason to expect him to be able to do it for you.
• Many SEO’s cheat, and this has gotten their sites (often along with many if not all of their clients) banned entirely from the search engines. These guys have to change domains/company names every time they get caught (every year or two). As a rule it’s best to avoid SEO’s who don’t have an established history of more than 3 years.
• SEO is hard work, there are no guarantees, no (ethical) shortcuts, and even the best SEO is going to need your help. It’s just too much work for one person to do. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you a bill of goods.

Don’t expect fast results. The best SEO will need a couple months to get your site rankings to climb into a noticeable position, and some factors can’t be optimized. For example: one of your sites ranking variables is it’s age. The older the site is, the better. No amount of optimizing is going to change your sites age.

There are a lot of good, honest SEO’s out there, but they are not always easy to find and they tend to be expensive because they are in such high demand. Expect to pay at least $500/month. The average is honestly closer to $1000.

JC Cooley and Company's Old Website Design

Using a previous website design with your current accounting firm can be a great blend of old and new. A previous post showcased a particular design that did just this. This post is another example that works well if you are considering having this type of custom website design.

Here is a web archive of JC Cooley and Company’s previous website. They liked the navigation, background texture (you can’t see it in the archive unfortunately) and colors.

After getting the background in place a custom designer worked to retain the overall look. That is how they came up with JC Cooley and Company’s new website design.

Cooley, CPA Firm's Custom Website Design

The custom designer updated the tabbed navigation with paperclips. When a user goes to a new page the paperclip in the navigation shows which page they are on.

The custom designer retained the overall color scheme of the old website. He then updated the website so that it can more easily be viewed with different sized monitors.

If your website design is older the process of blending together the old and new website designs serves as an update. There is a certain look and feel to this type of newer web site design that can give your accounting firm’s website a freshening up while still retaining some of the original flavor.

Does your accounting firm have an older style they want to blend with a current web site design? Call a custom designer at 800-896-4500 and talk through what you are thinking.

Have your own story about using an older website design? Write a comment to share with other readers.

As a Gold or Platinum member of CPA Site Solutions you get 2 hours of free site updating each month for your accounting firm’s website. This is something you won’t get with most other hosting companies, but your time is at a premium, so this service comes with any Gold or Platinum membership.

Here are some frequently asked questions regarding this type of service:

1. What do you mean by “Free Site Updating”?

As part of the “We Do it All for You” service, you can send almost anything – text, images, video, audio, and more to be incorporated into the content of the site. Anything can be created including custom forms, custom pages, alongside editing and adding to existing pages – provided that you provide the content!

2. What isn’t included?

Original content. You need to write original copy, or create original media to be used. Designers incorporate your content in a way that looks professional.

Custom design. The “We Do it All for You” service refers to editing the content of your website, but it does not include customization of your

The Elements of Your Site Design

Ready-to-Go Site Design. This includes the header, the site background, the page background, and the appearance of the navigation bar.  (The navigation links can be edited as desired.)

The elements that remain consistent across all pages are most likely part of the Site Style, and not editable. If you’re interested in changing your Ready to Go Site Style, or want to change part of your current style, you can do a website customization.

3. What if I need more than two hours a month?

Try out the service, you’ll be amazed at what professional designers can do with two hours! For 99% of accountants who use this service, two hours of content editing is more than enough.

If you feel that you are in the 1% who needs extra time for your site, talk to a designer at 800-896-4500 to discuss solutions to your design and content challenges.

“Organizations around the globe that deploy the most advanced Internet protocol-based collaboration technologies achieve more than twice the return on their collaboration investment and perform better than their less collaborative peers, according to a new Frost & Sullivan study released today.” –Study on Advanced Collaboration Tools.

Save time and collaborate effectively through sharing documents online. The Workteam Collaboration Suite included with any accounting web site hosted by CPA Site Solutions offers not only shared online documents but now also shared folders. Here is a breakdown on why and how to effectively use online documents.

Going paperless. Once implemented with using online documents, your firm is that much closer to becoming a paperless office. There are a few previous posts, about saving time and motivating clients, you might read for some ideas around using the Vault system to help towards becoming a paperless office.

Improve productivity. This isn’t just about saving paper as the study from the above quote points out, it can have a measured positive impact upon your firm’s productivity. The more you use tools such as live chat, teleconferencing, and online documents, the more effectively you collaborate with other members in your accounting firm, and the higher the performance.

Apart from being able to more effectively manage your work flow by meeting via teleconference, there is some real gain from getting people in your firm to collaborate via online documents.

Online documents. This shouldn’t be mistaken for a wiki or something like an internal web page (see a previous post on making and using a wiki). Online documents are very collaborative but still retain the ability to roll-back to previous versions and control who has editing rights. Although some wiki’s may have this ability also, online documents are much easier to use.

How it works. You can access your online documents through your email. Above the Workteam Collaboration Suite logo there is a link that is labeled as “Documents.” If you click on this you are taken directly to your online documents area.

Easily import Microsoft Word 2007. Once in the documents area you can create a new document, import a file such as Microsoft Word, a power presentation, spreadsheets and more. You can then edit these documents online from anywhere you have access to a browser.

Control access rights. You can decide who can edit a document (a collaborator) and who can just read a document (a viewer). That way you can share without the fear of just anyone editing your online document.

Previous versions. You can view your documents revision history and go back to a previous version. You can also create previous versions of a document by exporting the document to your local hard-drive.

See and chat with collaborators. Up to 10 people can edit a document at the same time or up to 50 people with spreadsheet. You can see in the bottom right corner of your screen who is making edits and, best of all, be able to chat with them.

This makes it that much easier to ask quick questions without any interruption to the current workflow. This saves time through in the moment feedback.

It also gives collaborators a space that might not be easily had through a formal meeting. There are some people who come out a lot more with creative ideas outside of a meeting. This gives everyone the freedom to express themselves for the project without the hindrance of getting in front of a group.

Templates. When creating a new online document there are many templates to choose from to get you started. This can save time if you just want to get a document with ideas up and running without having to think about the presentation.

Folders. The new folder system allows anyone to share groups of documents all at once. This is not only faster than sharing them one by one but is also easier to organize.

Using a system online keeps the flow of ideas from anywhere and at anytime. There is still a level of control available to those that need it while still retaining the collaborative element of a group dedicated to a particular project or idea.

Have your own story around using online documents? Send a comment and share it with other readers.

Jennings November Seminar at 10% off!

In a previous posting there was an offer for 10% off an October Jennings Seminar. As promised CPA Site Solutions is offering 10% off a Jennings Seminar for November. This time the topic is Federal Tax Update and is scheduled for November 30th.

Limited seating! The seating is limited so you will want to sign up early for this event. Be sure to test your system to make sure that you meet all of the system requirements.

Two credit hours! If you attend this event and answer 75% of the polling questions at the conclusion then you will get two credit hours for this event. You should have at least 1 year of tax preparation experience if you are going to attend.

To get your 10% discount: Be sure to use the code novcpasite during the checkout process to get the 10% discount.

Event Description. “Bob Jennings will review all the major individual and business tax through the week before the seminar, including law changes, court cases and IRS action. He will also, as time permits, discuss upcoming problem areas for the 2010 tax season.”

Jennings Seminars was founded by Bob Jennings CPA, CFP, CITP, a national and World renowned speaker. Jennings has published articles in such magazines as The Journal of Accountancy and The Practical Accountant along with authoring several accounting and technology seminar manuals.

If you can’t make this event look for another posting in November for a similar offer for a December seminar.