{"id":18744,"date":"2016-02-05T00:43:09","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T05:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2016\/02\/technology-and-the-internet-cloud-have-altered-the-shape-of-accounting-practices.html"},"modified":"2017-11-08T13:37:47","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T18:37:47","slug":"technology-and-the-internet-cloud-have-altered-the-shape-of-accounting-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2016\/02\/technology-and-the-internet-cloud-have-altered-the-shape-of-accounting-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Technology And The Internet 'Cloud' Have Altered The Shape Of Accounting Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"accounting\n<\/div>\n
\nJonathan Rutnick, founder of Rutnick &
\nCo. PC in Clifton Park, surrounded by staff.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

BY JILL NAGY<\/p>\n

Green eyeshades and sharpened pencils are
\nthings of the past for today’s accountants. They
\nare more likely to deal with QuickBooks in the
\ncloud. And they rarely see their clients face to
\nface, although they may be in daily communication
\nwith their business data.<\/p>\n

They also have to guide clients through an
\nincreasing thicket of government regulations.<\/p>\n

Kelly Reinhart of Reinhart & Associates LLC
\nin Saratoga Springs, recently restructured his
\nbusiness operation completely so that clients pay
\na fixed monthly fee for needed services, instead
\nof paying by the hour or task. Each client’s workload
\nvaries from month to month, he found, but
\nthey balance each other out.<\/p>\n

Clients “enjoy having one fee,” he said. If they
\nhave a question, they can ask it without worrying
\nabout the time clock ticking away. He feels that
\nhis business is “growing by leaps and bounds,
\nreally skyrocketing” because of the change.<\/p>\n


\nFor the past five years, he has largely communicated
\nwith clients through their accounting
\nsoftware. QuickBooks, which began as a way for
\nnon-professionals to do their own bookkeeping,
\nhas morphed into shared software that both clients
\nand accountant can access. Reinhart’s said
\nhis clients each have a version of the software sitting
\n“in the cloud.” They enter data and Reinhart
\naccesses it to prepare reports and documents
\nas needed.<\/p>\n

Laurie Stillwell of Laurie A. Stillwell CPA LLC
\nin Saratoga Springs uses a similar system, encouraging
\nher clients to use QuickBooks Online.<\/p>\n

“I can pop in on whatever I need,” she said. “As
\nlong as they are current, we are on the same page.”
\nFor example, clients report sales tax collections;
\nStillwell collects the data to prepare their
\nreports and returns. They record income and expenses
\nand Stillwell can pull out what she needs
\nto prepare income tax returns and W-2 forms.<\/p>\n

“We’re a long way from the old green bar
\npaper,” Stillwell said. “I’ve tried to basically do as
\nmuch as I can electronically,” she added, noting
\nthat she uses encrypted email, PDF files and the
\nlike. She also can work from anywhere.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Rutnick, president and founder of
\nRutnick & Co. PC in Clifton Park, seeks to have a
\ncontinuing relationship with his clients; no more
\npopping in during February or March with a
\npile of papers for an income tax return and then
\ndisappearing for a year.<\/p>\n

However, he is more concerned with guiding
\nhis clients through various compliance tasks, like
\nnew tax regulations, requirements created by the
\nAffordable Care Act, requirements for reporting
\npayments to subcontractors, tangible property
\nissues, and more.<\/p>\n

Stillwell agrees, pointing particularly to the
\nAffordable Care Act.<\/p>\n

“There is a lot to wrap your mind around,” she
\nsaid, “and it is a struggle for people busy running
\na business” to keep up with all of it. She helps
\nwith fairly regular emails and other information
\nfor clients.<\/p>\n

Generally, she sees more of a compliance burden
\non small businesses, “more so than in the 26
\nyears I have been in the business. You don’t have
\nto be General Electric to be dealing with these
\nissues,” she said.<\/p>\n

Rutnick sees an increasing role for technology,
\nparticularly income tax software.<\/p>\n

“We couldn’t do our job without it,” he said.
\nHowever, he cautioned, it is critical to have a
\ngood estimate of what a tax return should look
\nlike before entrusting the job to the software.<\/p>\n

“You need someone to look at it and understand
\nit before feeding the data,” he said.<\/p>\n

All three accountants see themselves as problem
\nsolvers and, even more important, problem
\npreventers.<\/p>\n

“The big thing is getting them to talk to you
\nbefore they engage in a major financial transaction,”
\nRutnick said, “Without good advice, they
\nwill shoot themselves in the foot.”<\/p>\n

He has the sense that the IRS is “leveraging
\nprofessionals” to do some of its enforcement
\nwork. He sees more responsibility–and liability–
\nplaced on accountants and other professionals,
\nto the extent that “it’s beginning to look
\nlike they work for the IRS.”<\/p>\n

He attributed the development, in part, to the
\nfact that the IRS has less funding available for
\nenforcement.<\/p>\n

All three accountants work with clients year
\nround, not just at tax time. Reinhart said his new
\nbusiness model encourages that continuing relationship.
\nIt allows him to consult with clients and
\nprovide them with information “in real time” and
\nhas led to an expansion of his consulting services.
\nIn fact, he no longer has any tax-only clients.<\/p>\n

“We act as the company’s accounting department,”
\nReinhart said.<\/p>\n

He said nonprofit organizations are “starting
\nto flock to us.” With their financial records in the
\ncloud, he has the financial information he needs
\nwithout having to rely upon board members to
\nprovide it.<\/p>\n

“Technology has done it all,” Reinhart said,
\n“It’s a different world than it was even five
\nyears ago.”<\/p>\n

Among the changes: few telephone calls;
\nmore email and text messages.<\/p>\n

“I am the busiest I’ve ever been and the earliest,” said
\nRutnick.<\/p>\n

For all three, it’s a volume of business they
\ncould not have handled with just pencil and
\npaper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan Rutnick, founder of Rutnick & Co. PC in Clifton Park, surrounded by staff. BY JILL NAGY Green eyeshades and sharpened pencils are things of the past for today’s accountants. They are more likely to deal with QuickBooks in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":25287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-accounting"],"yoast_head":"\r\nTechnology And The Internet &apos;Cloud&apos; Have Altered The Shape Of Accounting Practices - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2016\/02\/technology-and-the-internet-cloud-have-altered-the-shape-of-accounting-practices\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Technology And The Internet &apos;Cloud&apos; Have Altered The Shape Of Accounting Practices - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jonathan Rutnick, founder of Rutnick & Co. 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