Top Technology Initiatives Case Studies 

How do you use technology in your firm or business?  

In today’s always-on accounting environment – as in all of our daily lives – technology is a primary driver that makes us more efficient and cost effective.

Just as there are many methods to interpret financial statements or prepare tax returns, there, too, are many ways to understand, implement and evaluate technologies.  

The AICPA’s 2008 Top Technology Initiatives survey results listed the most important technology initiatives affecting IT strategy, investment and implementation in organizations. Once again, for the sixth consecutive year, “Information Security Management” was rated as the most important initiative by survey respondents. Up from the #6 position in 2007, IT Governance was chosen as the second most important technology initiative – reflecting the market’s renewed emphasis on corporate governance and responsibility.    

As a professional working in accounting, the Top Technology Initiatives help you stay current on the latest technologies and provides guidance on prioritizing projects to better serve clients, customers and employers. However, no approach is cookie cutter and a template does not exist. Instead, the business marketplace relies on the expertise demonstrated by CPAs who serve as technology consultants, blending accounting methodologies with technologies and systems.  

Here are four profiles of CPAs in various forms of practice who each found different ways to evaluate the list to use or implement it in their organizations. 

Look out for our next InfoTech Update issue, the September/October edition where Scott H. Cytron will delve deeper into Information Security Management, the initiative of highest concern to our interviewees. They’ll share additional insight and Scott will demonstrate how the InfoSec Triangle and the concepts of confidentiality, integrity and availability may provide a strategic solution towards mitigating risk.

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