A profile in apps

When we asked the Top 100 Most Influential People candidates for 2011 to name their favorite apps, we expected to learn something interesting about technology — but we may have learned even more about the Top 100 as people.

To start, we were surprised at how many were clearly indifferent to the many mobile technologies available, remaining blissfully unchained to iPhones, Droids and the like. Still, more than enough listed their favorite app or apps for us to develop a composite picture of the typical influential technology user in accounting.

First off, they travel. A lot. The most commonly cited category of apps related to being on the road, starting with flight status apps like FlightAware, Flight Track Pro and Trip Tracker. They also like to use MapQuest and similar tools while away from home — and, with so many being accountants, it’s not surprising that cheap-gas finder GasBuddy was mentioned, too.

Second, they keep informed. The next largest category of apps cited involved news and news alerts, with The Wall Street Journal app taking the lead, along with those from The Economist, The New York Times, and (insert grain of salt of here) Accounting Today.

Third, they’re fans of social media, particularly Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, regularly checking tweets, status updates and the state of their networks, and using FlipBoard to bring it all together in one slick package.

Fourth, they’re anywhere/anytime types, with many using DropBox to access and share documents over the Web from wherever they happen to be, constantly keeping track of things with Evernote, using the Kindle app to keep up with their reading, and checking their e-mail on a variety of devices.

Finally, they’re not all that different from us: They use the Starbucks app to locate a badly needed cup of coffee, have barbecues with the On the Grill recipe app from Weber, check the Weather Channel app and WeatherBug to know what to wear, and secretly look at the ESPN Scorecenter and Scoreboard on their smartphones in meetings. And in case you’re wondering, they play Angry Birds just like the rest of us — that is, far, far, too much.

tee, Lehigh University; Board of Advisors, College of Business; member, Audit Committee ... Member, Accounting Advisory Boards, Rutgers University; Seton Hall University ... Member, New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce Cornerstone Group ... Chair, Audit Committee, Shiloh Baptist Church. Education: Lehigh University, 1977, MBA; 1976, BS Business & Economics. Personal: Born 1954, Washington, D. C. ... Married to Valerie ... One daughter.

Jim Turley

Global chairman and
CEO, Ernst & Young
With a decade in office,
Turley is the longest serv-
ing of the Big Four chiefs
— and the only one to head
both the U.S. and the international arms of a
firm, giving E& Y’s global leadership unparal-
leled integration.

Career Highlights: Chairman and CEO, Ernst & Young LLP, 2001-present; deputy chairman, 2000- 2001; New York area managing partner, 1998-2000; area managing partner for the Upper Midwest practice, 1994-1998; leader, entrepreneurial services practice, 1993-1994; client service, St. Louis, 1990- 1994; national director, client services and business development, 1987-1989; partner, 1987; joined, 1977.

Other Affiliations: Co-chair, The Russian Foreign Investment Advisory Council ... Chair, Governing Board, Center for Audit Quality ... Steering Committee, International Integrated Reporting Committee ... Chair, Catalyst organization ... Member, President’s Export Council ... Business Roundtable ... International Business Leaders’ Advisory Council for the Mayor of Shanghai ... Board, Boy Scouts of America; National Corporate Theatre Fund ... Trustee, Rice University.

Education: Rice University, Master’s and BA in Accounting.

Personal: Born 1955 ... Married ... One adult son.

John
Veihmeyer
Chairman and CEO,
KPMG

Under Veihmeyer, KPMG has stayed on the cutting edge on a number of fronts — launching apps to help users access its huge range of reports and to give college students career advice, for instance, and going “green” in a big way.

Career Highlights: Chairman, KPMG LLP, 2010- present; CEO, 2009-present; deputy chairman, 2005- 2010; chairman, KPMG Americas, 2007-present; board member, 2003-present; area managing partner — audit and advisory, Mid-Atlantic area, 2003- 2005; office managing partner, Washington, D.C., 2003-2005; partner-in-charge, Washington and Baltimore — audit, 2002-2003; area professional practice partner, Mid-Atlantic area, 1999-2001; partner,

1987; joined, 1977.

Other Affiliations: Co-chair, CEOs Against Cancer ... Member, Governing Board, Center for Audit Quality ... Board, Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy ... Advisory Council, Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business ... Business-Higher Education Forum ... Past member, SEC Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies ... Past chair, Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington, D.C. ... Past member, St. Mary’s College Board of Trustees ... Past member, Executive Committees, Federal City Council of D.C. and Greater Washington Board of Trade ... Board, Kennedy Center Corporate Fund ... Partnership for New York City.

Education: University of Notre Dame, 1977, BBA. Personal: Born 1955, Washington D.C. ... Married to Beth ... Three children.

Jennifer
Warawa

Senior director of
partner programs,
Sage North America
Warawa is largely credited
with helping make Sage
and its products important to accountants
as she continues to head up the company’s
efforts to reach this influential community.
On her watch, the Sage Accountants Network
has grown to almost 20,000 members.
Career Highlights: Senior director, partner pro-
grams, Sage North America, 2008-present ... Owner
and operations manager, Dreamscape Business Ser-
vices Ltd., 1995-2008.

Other Affiliations: Mentor, Young Adult Guidance Center ... Past board member, Courage for Youth Association ... Founder and past board member, Uptown Rutland Business Association ... Past member, Rutland Task Force.

Education: Okanagan University College, 1997. Personal: Born 1976, Kelowna, B.C. ... Married to Shane.

Twitter: @jennifer warawa

Jill Ward

Senior vice president
and general
manager, Accounting
Professionals
Division, Intuit Inc.
Responsible for develop-
ing products that help accountants be more
productive and serve their clients better,
Ward is Intuit’s face to the profession — and
its voice within the company.

Career Highlights: Vice president and general manager, Accounting Professionals Division, Intuit Inc.; vice president, Accountant Central; vice president and general manager, QuickBase; joined, 2001 ... President, Telespectrum Customer Care ... Senior vice president, Fidelity Investments ... Strategy consultant and manager, Bain & Co.

Education: Amos Tuck School, Dartmouth, 1998, MBA ... Wellesley College, BA.

Troy Waugh
CEO, FiveStar3
Waugh’s Rainmaker Acad-
emy workshops are a hot
commodity for account-
ing firms seeking to boost
value and the bottom line
in a tough economy. When not leading these
sessions, Waugh and his team have a steady
thought-leadership presence in print and at
practitioner events.

Career Highlights: CEO, FiveStar3 LLC, 1991-pres- ent ... Senior vice president, Jacques Miller, 1983- 1991 ... CEO, Advantage Companies, 1975-1983 ... Audit manager, Price Waterhouse, 1969-1975.

Other Affiliations: Author, Leading an Accounting Firm; Power Up Your Profits; 101 Marketing Strategies ... National Speakers Association.

Education: University of Southern California, 1973, MBA ... University of Tennessee, 1969, BS Acctg. Personal: Born 1944, Savannah, Ga. ... Married ... Two sons.

Blog: www.therainmakeracademy

Jack
Weisbaum

CEO, BDO USA
Weisbaum leads BDO into
its second century as a firm
with a strong reputation as
a great place to work for ev-
eryone from women to recent grads — and a
raft of awards to prove it.

Career Highlights: CEO, BDO USA, 2004-present; chairman and acting CEO, 2003-2004; partner and executive director of specialized services, 1982-2003 ... Partner, Benjamin Nadel & Co., 1968-1982; staff accountant, 1958-1968.

Other Affiliations: American Jewish Congress ... New York Institute of Credit ... B’nai Brith ... Brandeis University ... Hofstra University.

Education: Hofstra University, 1964, BBA. Personal: Born 1940, Bronx, N. Y. ... Married to Mary ... Three children, two grandchildren.

Geni
Whitehouse
Countess of
Communication,
Even a Nerd Can
Be Heard and
Brotemarkle, Davis

and Co.

Whitehouse has essentially brought cool to being a tech-savvy CPA. The self-professed “nerd” continues to leverage her years of experience at a variety of accounting and business software companies in training, educating and advocating proper communication and marketing to firms sorely lacking in these skills.