General Sessions

The Six Unstoppable Trends Shaping the U.S. Economy
G10:Weds, 8:15AM – 9:30AM
Dr. Barry Asmus has been named by USA Today as one of the five most requested speakers in the United States. As a Senior Economist for the prestigious National Center for Policy Analysis, Dr. Asmus does more than just speak on policies; he is actively involved with their implementation. In this presentation, Dr. Asmus will articulate the six unstoppable trends that are shaping the U.S. Economy. These trends are Demographics; Population Growth; Inflation levels; Taxes; Productivity; and Globalization. He will also focus in on Asia, and how it is poised to be the powerhouse of the 21st century.

The Future of Small Business and What it Means for Your Practice
G15:Weds, 9:45 AM – 10:45 AM
Steve Blundell, CPA, Senior Manager Vendor/Partner Relations, Intuit Inc.
It’s no secret that small business greatly impacts the world of accounting. Attend this session to get a glimpse into the future of small business and learn what it means for your practice today and tomorrow. We’ll take you through three trends that Intuit, in conjunction with the Institute of the Future, learned from recent studies about the small business environment over the next decade. Following each trend, we will discuss how these forward-looking ideas can be translated into things you, the accounting practitioner, can start thinking about now to prepare for the future.

What's New in QuickBooks for 2008
G17: Weds, 10:45 AM – 11:30 AM
Shane Hamby, QuickBooks Group, Customer Advocate, Intuit Inc.
Learn what’s new in the QuickBooks family of products.

The Digital Tax and Accounting Office
G20: Thurs, 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Gregory L. LaFollette, CPA.CITP, President & CEO of Accounting Technology Resource Network and Executive Editor of The CPA Technology Advisor
You know you need to move toward a less paper, more digital office, but where to start? Hardware? Software? Process? Who? What product? What to do first? What works — and what doesn’t? Learn from the guy who’s been on all sides of this issue–practitioner, vendor, consultant, trainer and journalist. We’ll cover a case study of a hypothetical small firm going from all-paper to almost all digital while everybody lives to tell the tale!

Accounting Software Market Overview and Technology Update 2008
G27: Thurs, 9:45 AM – 11:15 AM
Randy Johnston, Executive Vice President and partner of K2 Enterprises and Network Management Group, Inc.
What ’s new in the area of accounting software? The short answer is plenty! If you thought 2007 had big changes, wait until you see what 2008 has in store. This session is designed give you an overview and updated information on the accounting market and what will happen to your practice in the coming year. Randy will help you make practical decisions about the best technology investments and what to be leery of. How will you manage your migration to Windows Server 2008, Office 2007 and Vista? What are the pitfalls we have found? You can learn on your own, the painful way – or let us explain what you need.

The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Business Growth
G30: Fri, 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM
Steven Little, "The Business Growth Expert"
Today, businesses interested in growth are looking to improve their customer relationships to increase sales, lower costs and maximize profits. Short on theory, long on practical advice, Steve examines how today's most successful organizations are transforming the way in which they acquire and retain customers. Through concepts such as "touches," "telepathy" and "timebombs," this no-nonsense discussion will help your group build customer-centric processes that lead to sustainable growth.

Awesome QuickBooks Add-ons for 2008
Weds, 11:45 AM – 12:30 PM
Douglas Sleeter, Founder and President, The Sleeter Group, Inc.
L10: Special Lunch Session*
The Sleeter Group’s annual awards recognizing Awesome Add-ons for QuickBooks. Each year Doug Sleeter picks a few of his favorite Awesome QuickBooks Add-on software programs. An annual favorite session you will not want to miss.

Consulting Tools and Best Practices

These sessions present the actual nuts and bolts of the software tools and best practices, presented in a series of tracks and sessions, explained by some of the best and brightest in their respective areas. Understanding how software tools, operating systems, and related technologies work together to create an overall system is critical to succeeding in the accounting software consulting business. In addition to several technology sessions, you will get sampling of the new products and services available to supercharge your practice. You'll walk away with valuable skills, techniques and product updates that apply across multiple industries.

Client Collaboration Technologies
101: Weds, 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM
David Cieslak, CPA.CITP, GSEC Principal, Arxis Technology, Inc.
Today’s business environment requires that you get more done in your day and are able to rapidly respond to your customers needs. Traffic, distance, office hours, remote office staff and out-of-town business travel are all barriers to a productive work day and efficiently servicing your customers. This session will explore enabling communication technologies that will allow to side step these barriers and become more productive. Learn step-by-step how many of these tools can be used to remotely access your customer systems, transfer files, share data and make formal presentations. Information will be provided that will allow you to select the right tool or tools for your business.

QuickBooks Troubleshooting and Data File Analysis*
102: Thurs, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Joe Woodard, President, Creative Financial Software
In this session, we'll drill in to some of the more technical mysteries of QuickBooks and the difficult problems presented by client data entry errors. We will discuss both data file setup errors and data entry errors and we’ll present methods for quickly locating both types of errors. We will discuss the most common types of errors made by QuickBooks users as well as some of the more rare and difficult to handle issues that arise from time to time. This session is designed for QuickBooks consultants as well as for tax preparers who need to salvage as much reliable data as possible from QuickBooks files for income tax preparation. *Session repeats on Friday.

QuickBooks Integration - Explore the Possibilities
103: Fri, 2:35 PM – 3:50 PM
Chuck Vigeant M.Ed., Founder, Accountigrate, LLP
Third party applications and custom developers use the Intuit Software Development Kit (SDK) to integrate their solutions and move data in and out of QuickBooks. However not all integrations adhere to the best practice rules. In this session we explore:
• What the SDK can and can’t do
• The three keys to a proper QuickBooks Integration
• 10 common integration problems and how they can be avoided
• How to determine if a third party application adheres to best practices
• 12 things you need to know about custom integration projects for your clients – in “plain English.”
We will also examine a simple integration by walking through each step of a sales import project; participants will be encouraged to interact at each stage of the process. This session is designed for ProAdvisors who evaluate third party products or who engage custom developers for their clients. Learn about the SDK without the “geekspeek”.

Networking Best Practices - Installing and Configuring the Network for Multi-User Environments
104: Fri, 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM
Mario Nowogrodzki, CPA.CITP, CEO Mendelson Consulting
Andrew Abrams, Founder & CEO, Technology In A Box, LLC
The most effective accounting software consultants have strong skills in the IT area. This session presents several best practices for setting up, configuring, and maintaining networks for your accounting software clients. This session will help you understand the best network environment for each of several client situations. Learn to configure the  network and the QuickBooks database server to achieve the best performance on the network. Also, this session will discuss hosted application servers (ASPs), and how they can help you deploy QuickBooks and other applications across multiple locations (anytime/anywhere access), and how to effectively work with clients remotely.

Networking Best Practices – LANs, WANs, Servers and VPNs
105: Thurs, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Andrew Abrams, Founder & CEO, Technology In A Box, LLC
Mario Nowogrodzki, CPA.CITP, CEO Mendelson Consulting
Discover the different implementation scenarios and best practices for networking. In this session, you’ll learn the differences and similarities between Microsoft Small Business Server and Windows 2003 Server. We’ll clearly explain Peer-To-Peer, Client/Server, Terminal Server, and VPN technologies so you’ll know when and how to use them. See live examples and understand how and when they apply to your office and to clients’ businesses.

QuickBooks Data File Management - Tools to Shrink Files
106: Fri, 1:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Leslie Capachietti, Principal, Automated Financial Solutions, Inc.
In this session you’ll learn how to diagnose and fix QuickBooks data file issues resulting from an incorrect set-up, data file damage or simply a large file size. You’ll learn ways to work with your client’s list information outside of QuickBooks (to make corrections or modifications) and what you can do to help your clients maintain the “health” of their QuickBooks data files. We’ll also introduce you to a variety of time saving third party tools that will help you easily remove unwanted transactions from a large or improperly maintained QuickBooks data file or, if necessary, help you start a new data file by transferring selected list and transaction data from one QuickBooks data file to a new one. If you’ve got clients with large or rapidly growing data files or with chronic list and data issues, you won’t want to miss this session.

Ask the QuickBooks Expert Lab
107: Fri, 1:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Joe Woodard, President, Creative Financial Software
This interactive lab is your chance to get your specific QuickBooks questions answered by Joe Woodard. Bring your toughest questions and troubleshooting challenges and we’ll work through the issues with you and the audience. Bring your hardest questions and client issues to this "lab" session where Joe will answer as many issues as time allows. Bring your laptops, sample reports, and specific questions so everyone can learn from your questions and hear the answers.

Technologies and Trends

Stay up to date on new technologies and trends across all industries. Learn how Windows VISTA will affect your clients in the coming year, and how trends in networking, hosted applications, web applications, and security will change how you work with clients and what you'll recommend for their internal systems.

International Versions of QuickBooks
201: Fri, 2:35 PM – 3:50 PM
Andrew Holmes, CA, CEO, Accounting Cycle, Former Intuit Product Manager
QuickBooks has a strong customer base in the US, Canada and the UK. In each of these markets the product has been localized to meet the tax, accounting and language needs of that country. In this session we will review the differences and the similarities between the QuickBooks products that are sold in each country. Canadian and UK advisors will benefit by seeing some of the latest features in the US product that will make their way into their local versions of the product. For US advisors, the review of these products will assist them in servicing international clients. The session will look at the core differences in the sales tax area, multi-currency and payroll as well as identify the latest US improvements in the Centers, Accountant's Copy and Database.

Securing Your Information in an Insecure World
202: Thurs, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
David Cieslak, CPA.CITP, GSEC Principal, Arxis Technology, Inc.
Every organization needs to protect its computer systems from external and internal threats. A keen awareness of the various threats, knowledge of how to anticipate and prevent problems, and strategies for recovering from security breaches are all key aspects to safeguarding an organization's information assets. This session is designed to provide an introduction to information security fundamentals and explore the essential steps needed to harden and protect an organization’s systems from attack. Whether you’re new to information security or a more experienced network administrator looking to cover all the bases, this session has something for everyone. Topics will include: Firewalls, routers and IP strategies, viruses, worms, trojans and other malware, password management and resource sharing, e-mail, file sharing and chat program vulnerabilities, intrusion detection and incident response, spam filtering.

E-Money - The Future of Payments on the Internet
203: Weds, 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM
David Kvederis, President and CEO Bankserv, Former Chairman of the Board of the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA)
A cornerstone of American commerce is how consumers and businesses make payments among and between themselves with confidence that the systems will always work properly. Billions of credit card, debit card, Fedwire transfers, direct deposit and direct debit transactions are processed annually with little thought given to how these systems work. They seem to never change but they are changing. This session will provide an overview of the nation’s payments systems and how they are evolving by employing new technology. Questions will be explored such as “why can’t I use my debit card on the internet?” and “why does it take a week to send money overseas?” and “will credit cards ultimately replace every other form of payment?” Finally, the speaker will give a forecast as to what payment systems will look like for small businesses in the not distant future. Exciting new technologies will be covered including “contactless” payments, biometric access and mobile phone technologies.

Windows Vista*
204: Weds, 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM
Randy Johnston, Executive Vice President and partner of K2 Enterprises and Network Management Group, Inc.
Microsoft’s newest operating system has arrived, so now what? While Vista promises more stability and security and provides better performance compared to previous versions of Windows, there are potential pitfalls that you must be aware of before upgrading or migrating to Vista. In this session, learn about the new features of Vista and how to reap the benefits of using them; best practices for upgrading and migrating to Vista; and specific upgrade considerations, including potential hardware and software conflicts. With Vista, Microsoft promises “WOW”…this session prepares you to take advantage of all that Vista has to offer. *Session repeats Friday.

Innovations in Online Bill Payments
205: Fri, 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM
René Lacerte, Founder, PayCycle and CashView, Inc.
Industry veteran René Lacerte will review how online bill payment (OBP) works, and why consumer usage has skyrocketed while business use remains stagnant. While highlighting innovations that will change this paradigm, we will discuss the three big reasons why businesses have not adopted OBP, why they should and how the coming changes will affect the accounting profession.

Web Shopping Carts
206: Weds, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Doug Blackburn, PDG Software
As the Internet continues to fuel the “always on” and “on my time” mentality of online shoppers, your clients are discovering how important it is that they offer their customers the ease and convenience of ordering online. Of equal importance is that your client leverages the tools available to them to streamline the tasks involved. But where do you start? What features should your clients look for in an ecommerce solution? How important is it that a merchant’s web store integrates with their existing business systems? What if the merchant has an existing system that doesn’t? This session will offer insight into some of the options available that can both simplify your client’s day-to-day procedures and help them avoid costly errors, allowing them to focus on expanding their business’s presence within the ecommerce marketplace.

Reporting and Analytics

Perhaps the one area that should be first in the minds of accounting software consultants and software developers is the area of developing efficient, meaningful, and accurate financial reports. Unfortunately, quite often the reports are an afterthought, and if the systems are not set up well in the first place, reporting is at best difficult, but at worst impossible. Several developers and consultants have gone to great lengths to tackle the challenges surrounding reporting and analytics. Come learn from the combined experiences of the top experts and developers in the reporting and analytics area.

How to Profit and Gain Client Loyalty Through Financial Statement Analysis
301: Fri, 1:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Gregory L. LaFollette, CPA.CITP, President & CEO of Accounting Technology Resource Network and Executive Editor of the CPA Technology Advisor
Accounting firms all across the country are turning to technology tools in their quest to maintain and build client loyalty. A relatively new genre of software and services has emerged to assist them. This presentation takes a high-level look at “financial statement analysis,” examines the reasons for and against offering the service, reviews the products most often used, and helps participants make solid decisions about adaptation.

Chuck Vigeant’s Custom Report Development Lab
302: Fri, 9:20 AM – 10:40 AM
Chuck Vigeant M.Ed., Founder, Accountigrate, LLP
This lab session allows participants to bring their own laptops and learn about Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), QuickBooks Data Structures, and how to use ODBC with Excel to create custom reports from QuickBooks data. We’ll explore how the ODBC driver works, what you can and can’t do and how to extract data from QuickBooks using ODBC. We’ll create several real word reports within Excel and provide finished examples you can take home for further practice or implementation with clients.

Business Development

Whether you are just starting out, or ready to take your business to the next level, set the stage for success. You'll benefit from the experience of successful professionals who will reveal tips and techniques that will ensure your success in the lucrative market for accounting technology consulting.

Professional Services Consulting - Tracking Labor Costs and Setting Billing Rates
401: Weds, 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM
Leslie Shiner, MBA, Principal, TheShinerGroup
Whether you set your own billing rates, or help your clients set theirs, it is crucial to understand and measure the true costs of labor. Determine all costs that should be included in a fully burdened labor rate and used to set billing rates. Discover ways to track and account for billable and non-billable time. Learn how to use tools such as zero dollar checks, shadow payroll and actual payroll to create accurate costs. Analyze different allocation rates to not only cover overhead costs, but improve your profitability.

Market and Selling Yourself, Your Firm, and Your Services*
402: Fri, 2:35 PM – 3:50 PM
Leslie Shiner, MBA, Principal, TheShinerGroup
Why are some consultants very busy and others always begging for work? Learn different methods to grow your practice and your business. Learn the secrets of building long-term relationships. Uncover ways to focus your practice to achieve increased billing rates and better client quality. Discover ways to market on a small budget, explore business opportunities, and ask for referrals. We will analyze the advantages and disadvantages of working on your own as well as becoming part of a larger firm. *Repeated from Wednesday.

CRM for You and for Your Clients
403: Weds, 2:05 PM – 3:20 PM
Alain Legrand, CEO, Legrand CRM Software
You’ve probably heard the acronym CRM, but what does it really mean for you and why should you tell your clients about it? In this session, we will demystify CRM. We’ll highlight the tangible benefits of various functions in CRM and will show you why CRM should be at the centre of the growth strategy of any business. Understanding what CRM can do puts you in a position to add significant value to your clients, which in turn will help you grow your own business. We’ll provide several practical scenarios where CRM can provide significant improvement to the day-to-day running of a business.

Industry Solutions

Every industry has its own vocabulary, methods and processes specific to the business. Industry experts will share insights from their vast experience to help you navigate through many of the solutions in the marketplace. We will focus on five industries; Construction, Manufacturing, Not-for-Profit, Professional Services, and Retail. In each of these sessions, we will drill down on the specific challenges, questions, and gray areas that are indigenous to these industries. You'll walk away with practical, usable tips that you begin to use immediately in your practice.

Becoming an Expert Construction Consultant
501: Fri, 1:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Leslie Shiner, MBA, Principal, TheShinerGroup
There are over 350,000 contractors on QuickBooks. Yet, most contractors do not understand how to run their business using QuickBooks. Learn the five tools you need to master to become an expert consultant to specialize in this unique industry. Explore the specific needs of the contractor who uses QuickBooks. Understand how to job cost and measure gross margin. Learn the difference between Markup and Margin. Learn about Work In Process (WIP) and why is it so important for contractors. Understand the meaning behind construction specific issues such as retention, cost to complete, progress billing, and T&M jobs. Explore the tools built into QuickBooks specific for construction. Learn to speak “construction” to communicate to these clients and make yourself an invaluable asset to their company.

Wholesale, Distribution & Manufacturing Solutions – Expectation of Mid-Market Clients
502: Fri, 1:15 PM – 2:30 PM
Ron Souder, President, Alterity, Inc.
As the small businesses in your client base grow and mature and as the traditional small business accounting products gain presence and credibility in the mid-market space, it is important to understand how expectations differ between the small business owner and the management of mid-market businesses. This session will discuss these differences, why they exist, the product features that address them and the consulting opportunities that arise from them.

Non-Profit Update
503: Fri, 2:35 PM – 3:50 PM
Anna Sheets, CPA, Accounting Made Simple
Whether you have one or hundreds of Not-for-Profit clients, you know they require diverse solutions. Not only is it imperative to know the accounting tricks of the trade, but NFPOs test your dexterity as a Software Consultant. Often the biggest question is where to draw the line between accounting and management solutions. This year we will demonstrate solutions that enhance QuickBooks, Peachtree, MAS and other software products to serve the NFP community. We will also share answers to the most Frequently Asked Not-for-Profit Questions. And we will have our updated advice on best practices for handling in-kind donations, programs, grant funds, restrictions, and allocations.

Compliance Issues

With the cloud over past corporate scandals, and increased scrutiny of financial systems and reporting, compliance issues need to become more top-of-mind for software consultants. It's no longer enough to install a system, train the users, and leave. The successful consultants scrutinize the systems and internal controls to ensure compliance with Sarbanes Oxley and other tax and reporting laws.

Internal Controls for Your Clients – The Sarbanes-Oxley Impact
601: Fri, 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM
Kevin Kimball, Associate Professor, Brigham Young University
Imagine that you were recently hired to perform a full QuickBooks installation at one of your small to medium-sized clients. You already know QuickBooks and you already know your client, but do you know SOX (i.e. the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)? Many owners of small to medium-sized private companies mistakenly believe that SOX is irrelevant to them as they are not currently publicly traded. Although it is true that “non-issuers” are not legally subject to SOX regulations, current best practices related to internal controls are being pushed down to private companies through two main avenues: 1) their current and future funding sources 2) their external auditors. The purpose of this session is to summarize the ramifications of SOX internal control requirements on non-issuers and to help you increase your ability to provide internal control consulting services to your clients.

Advanced Sales Tax Issues
602: Weds, 2:05 PM – 3:20 PM
Geni Whitehouse, CPA.CITP, CSPM, Founder, Even a Nerd Can Be Heard
Anyone who has ever been subjected to a Sales Tax Audit will tell you that it is an experience they don’t want to repeat. Attend this session to learn how technology can help minimize the impact of recent changes in sales tax enforcement, collections, and rates. Your clients will be happy to know that you have solutions that reduce the hassle of complying with sales tax requirements while keeping the auditors at bay.

Product-Specific Breakout Sessions

The best consultants invest in themselves, and in their knowledge of a broad range of products and solutions. Also, successful consultants perform detailed analysis of their client's needs before recommending any particular product or solution. To help you research the top products in the marketplace, we've added several product-specific sessions where you can see these products in action. You'll learn about several products and services that can help you streamline your clients' business processes as well as make your consulting practice more efficient. Learn directly from the product developers how you can prequalify leads and learn best practices for properly implementing these products and services.

BillQuick Software – Time and Billing Solutions
701: Thurs, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Will Breiholz, General Manager, BillQuick Software
Learn why BillQuick is the #1 rated Time & Billing Solution. BillQuick delivers a dramatically streamlined method for invoicing, tracking time and expenses and engagement management. It offers real-time analysis tools to track realization and utilization, meeting the requirements from one-person offices to larger, network-based organizations. Easy to use and flexible, BillQuick is the perfect time and billing solution for all service industry professionals. BillQuick integrates seamlessly with all of the top accounting software programs, including QuickBooks, Sage’s Peachtree and Microsoft Office Accounting.

Fishbowl – Inventory Management Solutions
702: Weds, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Grant Kimball, VP of Marketing, Fishbowl Inventory
Learn about how Fishbowl Inventory resolves many of the needs of QuickBooks clients who have advanced inventory tracking needs. We’ll give a demonstration of the main features of Fishbowl and how Fishbowl integrates with QuickBooks. You’ll also learn about the Fishbowl Inventory VAR program and how you can work directly with Fishbowl and The Sleeter Group in serving your client base.

RealTime Bookkeeping Building and Managing a Virtual Bookkeeping Practice
703: Fri, 9:20 AM – 10:40 AM
Robert Chandler, President and CEO, ManageComm, Inc. and RealTimeBookkeeping.com
This session will show how we built a profitable “virtual bookkeeping practice” servicing over 350 clients across 18 states from a single location with 4 bookkeepers on staff. For practitioners looking to generate ongoing revenue through the provision of active bookkeeping services who also wish to maximize their ability to undertake consultancy work, this session will explain the technology and process platform available to do so profitably and effectively. Remote Access, the Paperless Office, and Automated Workflow will be covered as well as how to increase operating efficiency at the same time as billing higher rates.

PayCycle – Increasing Profitability with Payroll
704: Weds, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Julie Lubetkin, Marketing Director, Accounting Professionals Program, PayCycle, Inc.
Payroll is a new revenue stream for many accounting professionals. It is an important option to offer to clients. This session will explore some of the challenges accounting professionals face when offering payroll services to clients. In this session you’ll learn: • What to look for in a payroll service • What marketing techniques are effective • How to price the payroll offering to boost profitability

Softrak – Adagio FX Financial Statement Design
705: Weds, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Andrew Bates, President & CEO, Softrak Software
See how Adagio FX can automate your month end financial statement creation, producing presentation quality statements formatted exactly the way you need. In this session, you'll see a live demo of the software and learn how to create budgets, department and prior period comparatives – adding company logos and highlighting unusual variances. For your clients who are outgrowing their QuickBooks solution, find out how Adagio by Softrak is the next logical step to meet their needs.

Peachtree Product Training– An Introduction
801: Weds, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Mike Savory, Senior Product Manager, Peachtree
Small businesses need your help when taking their first step at accounting for all of their business finances. Attend this session to learn the basics of Peachtree Accounting and see how it will help your clients. Accounting can be made easy with chart of account setup, invoice and PO generation, payroll, reporting, and more. Get a better understanding of the Peachtree product line, its feature set, and how you can help your clients get up and running quickly with Peachtree.

Peachtree Product Training - Why Would I Choose Peachtree?
802: Thurs, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Mike Savory, Senior Product Manager, Peachtree
Learn of Peachtree’s advanced functionality in: inventory, job costing, payroll, security and new capabilities of Peachtree 2008. As businesses plan for success, you can help them know where each dollar is going and how to make the most out of it. Establish an even tighter relationship with your customers by providing more guidance on financial management. In this session, you’ll learn some of the more advanced features of Peachtree and how these features make Peachtree the perfect product for many of your clients who are looking for more detail to enable better business decisions.

Sage MAS – Knowing When You’ve Outgrown your Current Accounting Application
803: Fri, 9:20 AM – 10:40 AM
Gerald Beaulieu, Director of Product Marketing, Sage Software
Make the move from off-the-shelf accounting to flexible Sage MAS ERP providing a wide array of financial, operational and business management solutions. Sage MAS is recommended by more CPA firms than any other product in its class. In this session, you’ll see a live demonstration of the power of the Sage MAS solution. See firsthand how this product can help your growing clients stay ahead of the curve with comprehensive, accounting, distribution, manufacturing and business intelligence applications.

ACT! Sales Automation Made Easy
804: Thurs, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Volker Vent, ACT! Product Manager
The most valuable asset a company has next to employees are its “customers.” Centralizing and managing key contact information in an electronic database is key to building strong customer relationships. In this session, you’ll learn how ACT! can help you manage contacts and companies, enter notes and history for each contact, send e-mail and mail merge to one or multiple contacts, and track sales opportunities or prospects. Plus, take this information with you onthe- go by syncing to handheld devices, or even access ACT! over the Web.

Personable – SourceLink Paperless Solutions
706: Thurs, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Benjamin Chou, President, Personable
Personable Inc will educate attendees on the benefits of automating their QuickBooks workflow. We will introduce our hosting solution and the advantages of using an ASP service. A live demonstration of how to use a QuickBooks hosting service will be available. Additionally, Personable will demonstrate how to go paperless in QuickBooks using our award winning document management solution, SourceLink. During our session we will have informative PowerPoint slides along with real time interactive demos. Benjamin Chou will host the presentation and give real case scenarios and how to implement internal control policies for specific transactions, for example, Accounts Payable/ Receivable.

Cabinet NG – Electronic Document Storage and Retrieval Systems
707: Thurs, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Jon Clark, Vice President of Sales, Cabinet NG
As a trusted advisor, you have the responsibility of guiding many of your clients' business decisions. One of the critical challenges many businesses face today is the need to identify a document management system that can help them realize the benefits of "paperless". Many factors will drive this decision process including the size and type of your clients' business. This presentation provides specific insights that will help your client match a system to their requirements and demonstrates how you can help them put together a successful plan of attack for getting rid of paper bottlenecks.

Legrand Software – Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Solutions
708: Thurs, 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM
Alain Legrand, President, Legrand Software
Using the scenario of “A Day in the Life of…” this presentation will show you how CRM can be of benefit in the daily activities of your business. We will cover typical activities such as new client enquiries, staff calendar scheduling, handling customer service issues, lead generation, processing of web leads, sales reviews, sales analysis and management reports, while highlighting the benefit of the tight integration between Legrand CRM and QuickBooks. Our aim in this presentation is to show you practical examples of how CRM can make a difference.

BankServ – Electronic Payments
709: Fri, 9:20 AM – 10:40 AM
David Keenan, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Bankserv
In an age of automation, “electronic payments” has emerged as a dynamic and growing field within the banking industry. Technological advancements in electronic payments, including the launch of remote deposit capture systems such as DepositNow, have brought efficiency to everyday small business by integrating payment and accounting tasks. In this session you will learn how small businesses have the capability to both improve cashflow, by eliminating deposit runs to the bank, and streamline check deposit and accounting procedures. The session will include a demonstration of how DepositNow runs within QuickBooks and Peachtree to simultaneously match outstanding invoices to scanned checks and update accounts receivable while depositing funds to any U.S. bank account. By the end of the presentation, you will hopefully see that DepositNow truly does open the door for an advanced level in remote deposits.

PDG Software – Shopping Cart Solutions
710: Fri, 9:20 AM – 10:40 AM
Karen Snyder, President, PDG Software As the top-rated ecommerce storefront provider for QuickBooks, PDG Software has made selling online easier than you ever imagined. Could you or your merchants benefit from an ecommerce solution that performs real-time synchronizations with QuickBooks or QuickBooks Point of Sale? This session will offer insight into setting up a PDG storefront and syncing it with a QuickBooks company file. We will demonstrate how merchants can save significant time and money and eliminate error prone duplicate data entry by choosing a solution that works directly with QuickBooks-- all without complicated manual imports or the need to purchase additional software.

Microsoft Office Accounting 2008 – New Features, New Opportunities
711 Fri, 9:20 AM – 10:40 AM
Bob Lewis, Sr. Marketing Manager, Accounting Professionals, Microsoft
Learn about the newest versions of Office Accounting. Discover how free Office Accounting Express is changing the accounting software landscape with more than 1.8 million downloads since its launch in late 2006. Learn how to leverage Microsoft in your practice to take advantage of these new opportunities. Also get an update on the award-winning Microsoft Professional Accountants’ Network.

Intuit Academy

Led by Intuit insiders, this informative track is designed to increase your proficiency with Intuit products, and help you serve your clients better. Sessions in this track will include an overview of Intuit's 2008 offerings for QuickBooks, Payroll, QuickBooks Billing Solutions, POS, plus growth opportunities with QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions and QuickBooks Merchant Services.

Top 5 Tips to Improve your Profile on the ProAdvisor Referral Database
901: Thurs, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Nancy Lee, QuickBooks Accountant Central, Group Marketing Manager, Intuit Inc.
Want the inside scoop on what works and what doesn't? Come and learn what small business owners are looking for in a ProAdvisor, so you can increase the effectiveness of your posting and attract more potential clients.

Top 100 QuickBooks Tips and Techniques*
902: Weds, 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM
Joe Woodard, President, Creative Financial Software
This session is designed for anyone who uses QuickBooks either for their clients, for their own offices, or both. Come and learn essential power user tips and tricks that are not included in the manual, as well as powerful reporting techniques to better harness the data in QuickBooks. We will cover in depth the top five power user tips, and the accompanying handbook will walk you through the remaining tips. *Session repeated on Friday 10/26

Setting Up the Right Business Entity for Your QuickBooks Clients
903: Weds, 2:05 PM – 3:20 PM
Deborah Sweeney, Director, Legal Affairs, Intuit Inc.
Understanding business entity types and the associated tax implications is critical in making business formation recommendations. Gain a greater understanding of the legal and tax details of partnerships, corporations and LLCs, and learn about alternative, simple methods for forming business entities.

Gaining Productivity Using Lacerte and QuickBooks Integration
904: Weds, 2:05 PM – 3:20 PM
David Kramer, Director of Product Management, Professional Tax, Intuit Inc.
Get a deeper look into Intuit’s line-up of tax and accounting products, and discover ways to maximize your productivity and increase your efficiency in your practice.

QuickBooks at Year End*
905: Weds, 12:45 PM – 2:00 PM
Amy Vetter, CPA.CITP, AV Accounting Services Inc.
Learn essential best practices to prepare client QuickBooks files for the tax return, year-end, and financial statement presentation. Find out how to efficiently locate and correct client errors. Realize ways you can reduce time spent on preparing data for tax returns and financial statements. Receive a year-end procedure checklist and understand the advantages of integrating QuickBooks data with Lacerte or ProSeries tax preparation software. *This session repeated on Friday, October 26th.

What’s New with Intuit’s Payroll Offerings
906: Thurs, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Roy Goldman, Director of Product Management, Payroll, Intuit Inc.
Oliver Helleboid, Vice President of Product Management, Payroll - Intuit Inc.
Learn what’s new for Intuit Payroll – Intuit Online Payroll, E-File and Pay, QuickBooks Desktop Payroll enhancements.