Vol. 25 I No. 6 I June 2011

PAPERLESS IN PROGRESS P. 37
Our special report on strategies and tactics for the
long, slow process of reducing your ;rm’s paper use
CASE STUDIES: BIZ INTEL P. 24
How three ;rms turned their internal data
into tools for boosting business

accountingtoday.com

CREDENTIAL-MANIA P. 6
More and more CPAs are ;nding value
in adding extra professional designations

Waiting
for the
recovery

Nonpro;ts struggle with the economy, transparency, and new regulations

The economic climate, even in slow recuperation mode, still impedes the nonpro;t industry, leaving a footprint in both their ;nancial statements and the methods for reporting them.

“;e bottom line is that economic recovery hasn’t quite reached the not-for-profit industry,” said Judy Murphy, partner-in-charge of the Nonprofit Services Group for regional accounting and professional consulting ;rm RubinBrown. ;e ;rm recently released its annual Nonprofit Economic Outlook report, which surveyed 70 not-for-pro;t organizations in the greater St. Louis and Kansas City areas. “;is is not unanticipated

See NONPROFITS on 50

BY DANIELLE LEE

A NEW FIRM PARADIGM DEEPSKY ACCOUNTING TAKES A DIFFERENT APPROACH — TO EVERYTHING See page 10

New Sage CEO spells out challenges for brand

Former chief executive of French unit outlines plans to strengthen U.S. accounting channel

After spending the past five

months in the U.S. and ;ve weeks
o;cially at the helm of Sage North
America, chief executive Pascal
Houillon admits that he has his
work cut out for him at the giant
software concern when it comes
to increasing brand recognition —
particularly among the accounting
community.

In an interview with Accounting Today, Houillon was candid with his views of the company he now leads, as well as the challenges faced by the brand, products and channel as a whole.

Formerly CEO of Sage France,
Houillon came aboard Sage North
America in January, succeeding
Sue Swenson, who departed the
California-based company at the
end of March.

Houillon explained that since coming to the U.S., he has been familiarizing himself with key channel players and how the Sage product line and brand in North America are perceived. What stood out most, he said, was the stark di;erence in how Sage’s recognition level in the U.S. lags far

See SAGE on 51

BY SETH FINEBERG / IRVINE, CALIF.

Lessons from tax season

Communication was crucial in compressed 2011 ;ling season

Late legislation, a hold on e-;l- ing Schedule A returns and a later deadline for delivery of Form 1099s were among the factors that caused the past tax season to be more compressed than usual.

“Preparers received a lot of
client information later than in
the past,” said Greg Rosica, tax
partner at Ernst & Young. “Some
Form 1099 items didn’t get cor-
rected until later, and in some
cases there were several versions
of corrections.”
The Internal Revenue Service
Oversight Board, which released
its annual report to Congress in
mid-May, noted that the IRS has
been challenged in the past few
years to implement and admin-
ister many new tax provisions
intended to bring relief to taxpay-
ers feeling the e;ects of troubled
economic conditions.