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CPA2Biz, the recently launched web portal, aspires to meet the technology and business solution needs of both CPAs and their clients. An outgrowth of the AICPA Vision Process, CPA2Biz is intended to provide particular assistance to small CPA firms and their clients. The initiative, still in its startup phase, is one that will bring together the resources of the AICPA, participating state CPA societies, and several other heavyweights, including Microsoft, Thomson, and Aon. It will contribute to the public perception of the e-CPA and could have significant consequences on more traditional CPA services.
What Is CPA2Biz?
The CPA2Biz overview describes the site as "an easy, safe, and secure way to take advantage of technology without having to be a technologist." The web portal has two units: a professional services division, to offer technological and technical resources to CPA firms themselves; and an applica tion solutions division, to offer web-based business solutions to clients of CPA firms. The former is largely intended to provide CPAs with the products and services previously provided by the AICPA, including professional standards and continuing edu cation. Although the professional services division has much to offer in terms of convenience, it cannot match the wideranging implications of the application solutions division.
Application Solutions: Background
Whether a CPA signs on with CPA2Biz or one of the pre-existing application solution providers, it appears inevitable that the e-CPA of the future will be expected to provide value by
* assisting in the selection and integra tion of accounting solutions,
* helping the client or employer become "e-enabled," and
* providing real-time advice and service through monitoring and proactive interaction.
Accounting applications-from the basic general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory control, and tax applications to enterprise resource planning software-are nothing new. It has been noted, however, that companies often underutilize the technologies to which they have committed significant resources. In some instances, the momentum of growth or magnitude of change has been the obstacle. Other problems commonly encountered by users include gaps in technology cal knowledge and unmet needs for other types of information not provided by their current applications.
Web-accessible, hosted accounting services have stepped into this void. During 2000, application service providers (ASP) increasingly focused on online accounting applications and services for...