Whether you do business online or on Main Street – the “Amazon Laws” will likely have an impact on your business.   For years, online retailers have been exempt from collecting sales tax in states where they didn’t have nexus (a physical presence that tied them to the state such as a store, warehouse, or salesperson).  However, it has been argued that this has caused an unfair advantage over local brick and mortar stores, since they can’t offer the same competitive prices as their online counterparts.  It has also been seen as a lost revenue stream for cash-strapped states that are trying to make up for budget deficits…

Source: Traditonal Financial Systems: A Long Winding Road to Nowhere by Intacct.

The business world today is highly competitive, collaborative, and distributed. In order to gain a sustainable advantage, every stakeholder must make intelligent decisions based on real-time information. Companies rely on their financial systems to provide them with real-time, actionable, and relevant data that will help them build, plan, define, measure, and drive performance.

Traditional financial systems typically lack the analytic functionality to support the intelligence needs and speed of business most companies operate. This lack of real-time information hinders management’s ability to apply their knowledge and leadership to its fullest extent, and stunts employee contribution.

Are your clients operating globally? If the answer is yes, then read on…

Most of my clients have an international controller, as well as a CFO and controller for their US operations and many of them are asking, “How are you going to support us globally?”

In a short amount of time, the world has become a very small community with cloud software being used in almost all areas of business. One of the many cloud solutions we offer is Intacct accounting software, which can be implemented regardless of location, in a matter of 10-12 weeks. That brings us to a new consideration. Since more of our customers are implementing cloud-based solutions throughout their international operations, how do we effectively support everyone through the implementation process, when clients have accounting teams in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, India, and Europe?…

An article from AccountingTechnology, by Jeremy King shared common psychological barriers to moving to the cloud and how a cloud-savvy advisor can help you overcome these psychological barriers.

We’ve observed a number of psychological barriers to the cloud. What’s more, these same barriers exist with their advisors, including management consultants, investment bankers, private equity groups, outsourced CFOs and attorneys. Many advisors don’t have a good working knowledge of the cloud, let alone its benefits and risks.

For most, moving to the cloud means that instead of maintaining their own hardware and software programs in-house, they are outsourcing those functions to someone else and accessing them via a Web browser.

In many ways an annual budget serves its purpose, which is to say that operational and financial targets are set up, with financial incentives for achieving results.  Annual budgets also provide an organization with a renewed emphasis on its direction for the next 12 months and identify key objectives for each period. But what if your business changes?

What happens when the market has a major correction or your competitive landscape is completely different than you anticipated, just after the ink dries on your plan?  What value does your organization get from comparing actual results to an obsolete plan?  The key point of having a plan in the first place is not necessarily to be accurate, but rather to guide the management team in making better decisions and to ensure the organization is going in the right direction.

A good plan should be judged by how successful it is in providing early warning or early opportunity indicators.  For this reason, many companies have begun to abandon the traditional annual plan and rely on rolling forecasts, what-if scenarios and more dynamic planning techniques that provide better guidance on what the future holds.

To learn more about this concept, join us for an upcoming webinar on April 30^th on Best Practices for Budgeting & Forecasting or e-mail me directly for further information.

By Bryan Rogers, Senior Manager of CFO Advisory Services at Armanino LLP.

In an article, The Anatomy of a Best-in-Class Multi-Entity Financial Management Systems, Intacct shares how the features of a modern, cloud-based financial management system can alleviate the challenges associated with operating a multi-entity, global organization.

Operating a multi-entity, global organization without a flexible financial management system can be an expensive venture, riddled with add-on software tools, manual processes, poor visibility, and high labor costs.

A modern, cloud-based financial management system can alleviate many, if not all, of those worries and leave your organization well-informed, operating in real-time, and functioning efficiently. To achieve this feat, however, the solution must encompass a tremendous breadth and depth of functionality, including…

Intacct recently interviewed Lindy Antonelli, consulting partner at Armanino LLP and founder of the Cloud Accounting Institute for their Industry Insights blog series. Topics such as migrating to cloud accounting systems, integration, and cloud security were discussed. Continue reading to see the full interview.

A recent survey from Bill.com shed insights into how more than 510 CFOs and finance managers across multiple industries who have automated their payables and receivables process are using mobile technology for business financial transactions.  Survey respondents consisted of CFOs (46%), controllers (36%), and financial managers (18%). Overall, the study discovered that a majority of financial professionals are moving to conducting business via the cloud and mobile devices. Below we will share key findings from the 2013 study.

Are you looking to upgrade your accounting system? Do you want to move to the cloud? Armanino McKenna, along with the Cloud Accounting Institute, is now offering a free 30-day trial of Intacct cloud accounting software. No risk, no obligation, and no credit card required. Is Intacct right for you?

Intacct solutions can support the unique company needs across a variety of industries including, accounting, faith-based, franchises, healthcare, hospitality, nonprofits, professional services, software and SaaS, and wholesale distribution.

In addition, Intacct offers game changing, feature-rich, cloud-based financial management and accounting applications that streamline and automate finance operations at thousands of companies worldwide—from fast growing organizations graduating from QuickBooks to large, publicly traded corporations.

The free 30-day Intacct trial will include a personalized sample company where you can:

• Enter and save information into your sample company
• Try out our top features and functionality, see actual reports and dashboards, and view videos on specialized features
• Invite colleagues to join in the experience

Registration for the free trial is quick and easy. CLICK HERE to begin and see for yourself why over 6,000 companies have chosen Intacct.

The Cloud Accounting Institute is now conducting its second annual cloud Benchmark Survey on Cloud/SaaS solutions software usage.

The survey will examine how accounting and financial management professionals use cloud technology or Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions. In addition, the survey will shed insight into what accounting and financial management professionals expect from cloud technology. Click here to take the survey.