Get More Free Tips, Tools and Services At Our Web Site: www.cpatechgroup.com

CPA TECH INSIDER ™

“Insider Tips to Make Your Firm Run More Profitably” December 2015

“As an accounting firm partner or owner, you don’t have time or money to waste on technical and operational issues. That’s where we shine. We are your IT department!”

Michael Tompkins, CPA CPA Technology Group

December 2015

Cybercriminals Now Have A Bull’s-Eye On Small Business… Is Your Company’s Data At Risk? ...Page 1

Looking Forward to 2016 ...Page 2

Are You Using Social Media To Market Your Business? ..Page 2

Tossing Your Video Cam To The Wind ...Page 3

Real Leadership Is Power With People (Not Over Them) ...Page 3

On A Side Note… Could Your Laptop Battery Revolutionize The Way We Drive? ..Page 4

Inside This Issue…

In a December 2014 survey by the National Small Business Association, 61% of small businesses reported being vic-tims of a cybercrime within the past 12 months.

The average cost to recover from a cyber-attack skyrocket-ed from $8,699 per attack in 2013 to $20,752 per attack in 2014. And, of the businesses targeted, 68% said they’d been hacked more than once.

Experts agree, as cybercrooks become ever more sophisticat-ed, the threat to small busi-nesses is going to get worse before it gets better…

So what can you do to beat the bad guys?

Here are three common ploys used by hackers – and how you can fend them off:

Phishing – A really legitimate-looking e-mail urges you to click a link or open a file that triggers a malware installation on your computer.

Best Defense: Have an Acceptable Use Poli-cy (AUP) and train your staff to not open files or click links in an e-mail unless they’re certain who it came from.

Cracking Your Password –

Cybercriminals Now Have A Bull’s-Eye On Small Business… Is Your

Company’s Data At Risk?

Hackers can run programs 24/7 testing password combinations. The easier your password is to guess, the more likely it is they'll crack it.

Best Defense: Consider using a password manager that generates and stores tough-to-crack passwords. For extra security, use unique passphrases for fi-nancial accounts in case the manager gets hacked.

Drive-By Download – You visit what appears to be an innocent site; yet when you click, your device gets hacked – and you may never know it, until it’s too late.

Best Defense: Use a browser that updates auto-matically such as Firefox or Chrome. Internet Explorer users have been found to be most vulnerable to these attacks.

Unfortunately, these three examples are just a small sampling of the doz-ens of ever more ingenious ways cybercriminals are breaking down the doors and destroying unpre-pared businesses.

Save the Date for our upcoming Cybersecurity

Seminar for members of the San Antonio CPA

Society

Scheduled for February 3rd. More details will be provided in the January newsletter.

Get More Free Tips, Tools and Services At Our Web Site: www.cpatechgroup.com

December 2015 CPA Tech Insider

Are You Using Social Media To Market Your Business? Here’s Why You’re Likely To Be Wasting Time And Money On False Marketing Metrics

John Wanamaker is famous for saying, “Half of the

money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble

is, I don’t know which half!” With an ever-growing

number of sophisticated online tracking tools, you’d

think that wasting advertising dollars would be a

thing of the past. But, in fact, companies are wasting

just as much (if not more!) on online media and

advertising due to a number of factors, but mostly

because they’re confusing activity with results.

In business, the only thing we can take to the bank is

money – checks, credit card payments, cash and any

other forms of monetary deposits. Leading indicators

to revenue, as we all know, are paying clients (orders,

contracts, sales) and actual leads from qualified, genuinely

interested prospects. However, much of the social media

marketing I see is a heck of a lot of activity metrics (clicks,

followers, open rates of e-mail, visitors to a site, etc.) that

cannot be directly tied to generating a qualified lead, much

less cash in the bank; so, unless someone can directly show

me how an increase in Twitter followers turns into more

profit for a company, I’m not impressed. In fact, I believe

management of all the social media sites ends up taking an

enormous amount of time away from more productive lead

generation and marketing activities and opens the door for

Looking Forward to 2016

BY MICHAEL TOMPKINS

You made it! Tax season has ended for 2015…and is

now starting for 2016. Why do I say that? Tax season

isn’t just about return preparation; it’s about firm

preparation as well. Creating a world-class tax de-

partment that can provide personalized, user-

friendly services to every client and anticipate their

needs does not come without forethought.

We’re doing reviews with our clients now on what

can be improved for next season. We always say it’s

a good idea to keep a list during tax season of im-

provement ideas that can later be addressed for the

next season. Otherwise, it’s easy to forget once all

the craziness is over!

Some of the trends we’re seeing this year include a

move to cloud-based bill payment systems that al-

low you to get paid easier and faster, tax workflow

software that helps you stay on top of returns, and

migration away from on-premise email servers to

the cloud using services such as Office 365. If you’re

deciding to make any improvements to your practice

before busy season starts again, here are three best

practices for any change.

Ask why. Don’t implement a new technology solution just

because it’s new and shiny or you read a magazine saying

your firm must do this. There should be specific business ob-

jectives you stand to achieve by implementing a new technol-

ogy such as increased productivity, reduced risk and liability,

or cost savings.

Get everyone involved. Most changes to technology these

days are going to affect almost everyone in your firm. Don’t

make decisions in a vacuum; get your staff involved in the

changes. Not only will they have more buy-in, they may offer

insights they have from the trenches that you’re not aware of.

Define success. If you do implement a new technology,

how will you judge whether it was successful or not? Make

sure this is clearly defined beforehand. Implicit in that objec-

tive is that you must have a baseline for measurement before

starting the project. For example, if you’re looking to move to

cloud-based billing, how much faster do you expect to get

paid? How much time will it save your staff not having to con-

tinually follow-up for payment?

Change from technology upgrades is never easy. But, if you

arm yourself with the tips above, you’ll be on the right track

to a successful implementation and improving your firm.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4….

Get More Free Tips, Tools and Services At Our Web Site: www.cpatechgroup.com

December 2015 CPA Tech Insider

Shiny New Gadget

Of The Month:

Shooting the perfect video

for your firm just got easier,

thanks to a new flying

camera that’s smart enough

to follow you on its own. It’s

called the Lily flying camera,

and it breaks new ground in

ease of use. Just toss the

camera in the air, and it

starts shooting video. It can

follow or circle a subject

with ease. You just wear a

special wrist beacon. Lily

may be a cool toy, but it’s

also a great tool for your

business. Shooting video

from the air, hands-free,

quite literally means the

sky’s the limit on what you

can do. It also means you

can shoot great marketing

videos without having to

buy new gear. Just toss Lily

in the air, demo your

product and let Lily capture

stunning aerial footage for

you.

Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE, is president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea studio

dedicated to developing leaders in business and in life. Mark is an international best-

selling author and noted authority on leadership, team-building, customer service and

change. Mark is the author of 8 books, including the best seller The Fred Factor: How

Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary, which has sold

more than 1.6 million copies internationally. Learn more about Mark at

www.marksanborn.com.

Real Leadership Is Power With People (Not Over Them)

Everything we accomplish happens not just because of our efforts but also through the efforts of others. The biggest difference between people who manage others versus people who lead others is how they develop those under them. As all leaders know, untitled or not, leadership is power with people, not power over people. Do you build people up or tear them down? Encourage or discourage others? Try to be the hero, or make heroes out of those around you? According to researcher Tom Rath at Gallup, the No. 1 reason why people quit their jobs is lack of appreciation. Everyone wants to feel significant, to be recognized for what they do. It’s important to make people feel appreciated. It’s even more important to let people know there is someone who believes in them, so much so that he or she will not let them be less than they can be. The 3 C’s of Power with People: Character – Those who wish to influence others understand how important char-

acter is. When establishing character, it is critical to remember that the opposite of humility isn’t pride; it is self-absorption. Few people can lead or inspire others, at work or at home, when they are self-absorbed.

Competence – People who act as leaders exude competence – by their actions, by their appearances and in everything they undertake.

Connection – When we act effectively as leaders, those around us bond with us – not because of our position or title in the organization, but because of their rela-tionship with us.

Once you’ve developed these 3 C’s in your relationships with others, you will be capa-ble of leading. As a leader, titled or not, your job is to act as a thermostat, not as a ther-mometer. Industrialist Harvey Firestone said, “You get the best out of others when you give the best of yourself.” So give it your best. Leadership Action Points: Express your appreciation – To act like a leader, celebrate the success of those

around and under you as if it were your own. Ask others what motivates them – When was the last time anyone asked you

what motivates you? Don’t make assumptions about what motivates your team ei-ther.

Collaborate – When it comes to decision-making, the oft-used acronym TEAM is true: Together Everyone Accomplishes More.

Practice diplomatic confrontation – Rather than confronting the person, consid-er what behavior of his or hers needs to change. Confront the problem, not the per-son.

Tossing Your

Video Cam To

The Wind

Get More Free Tips, Tools and Services At Our Web Site: www.cpatechgroup.com

December 2015 CPA Tech Insider

On A Side Note…

Could Your Laptop

Battery

If you like hot cars and green tech, you may have started hankering for a Tesla as far back as 2008… Yet, aside from cool looks and speed, did you know the simple design edge that’s putting Tesla in the spotlight? Other car builders, like Nissan, GM and even Mercedes, have electric cars on the road. But they all use costly, high-tech lithium ion batteries. Tesla, on the other hand, simply uses the type of batteries you have in your laptop – thousands of them… With over a billion of these cells made every year, their design and pricing is driven by the same fierce competition that drives the consumer market. And if Tesla Motors can put a car on the road with enough battery life, they may just revolutionize the way we drive – like Henry Ford’s Model T did over a century ago.

to see.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting

that you should shut down all

social media sites and

marketing; there are

situations where it’s a very

smart and strategic part of a

business strategy. But, as my

mother would say, “Don’t

jump off a cliff just because

everyone else is.” Be sure that

whatever you’re doing online

in social media can be

measured and quantified to

tie in to key sales, service and

growth goals you have for

your organization, and do not

accept “getting our name out

there” as a sufficient result for

your marketing efforts.

customer service and PR failures.

For example, if you have a

Facebook fan page, you now need

to monitor it daily – even hourly –

for negative client comments,

which are now public for the

world to see, unfiltered and out of

context, instead of a client simply

e-mailing you their complaint,

where it can be addressed

privately. Further, clients will

assume they can message and/or

post their requests to your

Facebook page instead of going

through the proper channels; if

you fail to address their request in

a timely manner because it didn’t

go through your normal process

of handling such requests, you’ve

just created a customer service

failure that is open for the public

FROM PAGE 2...

CPA Technology Group

277 W. San Antonio St.

New Braunfels, TX 78130

(830) 265-4200

www.cpatechgroup.com

This firm is not a CPA firm.