2012 TOP NEW PRODUCTS P. 5
Our third annual listing of the best new and improved
accounting- and tax-related software tools
FIRMS GOING SOCIAL P. 24
CPAs share their successful forays into
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and more

ENTERING ACCOUNTING P. 26
Our reviewers test-drive the latest in
entry-level accounting software packages

Is this the year?

Many think 2012 will see a breakthrough on private standards

With proposals, counter-propos- als, resolutions and thousands of comment letters circulating over separate standards for private companies, the often-polarizing 30-plus-year debate appears to be finally nearing a decision in 2012.

October’s proposal by the Financial Accounting Foundation, calling for the creation of a Private Company Standards Improvement Council that would remain under the purview of the Financial Ac-

See THE YEAR on 36

BY BILL CARLINO

Which one is right for you? Begins on page 21

Firm admins: A secret source of growth

Their focus on execution and the back office frees partners up to pursue firm strategy

The general administrator role
takes many forms: office, human
resources, marketing or IT man-
ager; chief operating officer; firm
administrator — and even manag-
ing partner. But firms, especially
smaller ones, should consider a
consolidation of these operations
to save the necessary partner time
to grow their practices.
BY DANIELLE LEE

Tax pros brace for a deluge

Roth conversions, new forms highlight 2012 changes

With the filing season well un- derway, the IRS is estimating that more than 144 million individual tax returns will be filed this year — some 4 million more than last year — and it expects to receive most of them by the April 17 deadline.

Of last year’s tax returns, nearly 80 percent were electronically filed, and that rate is projected to increase substantially as more preparers (all those who file 11 or more individual returns) are required to file electronically.

“W-2s were out a little earlier than in prior years, and last year we couldn’t file Schedule A until mid-February,” said John Hewitt,

See DELUGE on 37

BY ROGER RUSSELL

“Every hour saved to a partner
amounts to 300 hours they could
bring the firm via billable work,”
said Janine Zirrith, firm adminis-
trator at East Brunswick, N.J., CPA
and consulting firm Wilkin & Gut-
tenplan. “It’s important to free up
the partners for things important
to the firm: growth, strategic plan-
ning and initiatives.”
Zirrith, who started with the
firm as an office manager shortly
after its inception in 1985, meets
every two weeks with the firm’s
managing partner, Ed Guttenplan,
to go over an agenda in which the
first items are “refreshers on how
we make sure we are both func-
tioning at our highest and best
use,” shared Guttenplan.