Intuit is offering a ‘miniaturized’ version of their QuickBooks Connect conference held during the fall of 2014. This ‘local’ QuickBooks Connect training provides you with the opportunity to future-proof your practice. This FREE local event is designed to help prepare your practice for a shifting business world. It’s packed with expert speakers, targeted sessions and important networking opportunities. Participants can earn up to 5.0 CPE credits and walk away knowing how to adapt their practice today so that it thrives tomorrow!
The conference is being held Wednesday, January 7, 2015 from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm at the Omni Hotel, 1 W. Exchange Street, in Providence, Rhode Island.
Topics include:
Future-proofing your practice (Speaker: Alison Ball)
- The future is here now—with 2020 just 5 years away, it won’t surprise you that certain trends will impact your practice, your clients and your ability to hire. What will surprise you is how fast these trends are occurring. Learn 4 specific things you can do NOW to help position your firm for the future, and thrive.
Panel discussion: How are you delivering value in your practice? What do small businesses want from their accountant?
- This panel discussion with 3 business owners from Providence will cover what small businesses need from their accountants, and examine how well accountants are currently delivering on those needs. Learn practical things you can do now to ensure that your clients remain loyal in the face of increasing competition from next-gen firms.
Building a cloud practice (Speaker: Barry MacQuarrie)
- This session will introduce you to best practices for transitioning to the cloud, and why a cloud-based practice is essential to compete in the future. You will learn about new technology and staffing practices to help move your practice online. Learn from someone who has done it and lives it every day.
Design for delight: What does your practice of the future look like?
- Take what you’ve learned today and, in groups, brainstorm what the perfect practice might look like for you! Innovation Catalysts from Intuit® will help you apply the ideas discussed so far, and build out the elements and processes you might need to incorporate to thrive now and in the future.
Running an efficient practice: Building out your own ecosystem (Speaker: Dawn W. Brolin)
- This session will introduce you to a practical approach to selecting and using different applications to work more effectively in your own practice. Discover different solutions that can be put together to solve common non-value-add time sinks and help you think differently about software overall. Some of the applications covered will include TSheets, Bill.com, UniData for QuickBooks® Desktop, Tallie and LivePlan.
Choosing and converting clients to an online service model (Speaker: MB Raimondi)
- This session will cover how to choose the best clients to serve with online software while not risking the relationship with your current Desktop clients. Learn best practices for evaluating client needs, and what additional software is available to help you maximize your own efficiency.
The firm of the future: Creating and capturing value (Speaker: Ron Baker)
- This session will introduce the business model change of Value Pricing. Many of us still bill for time. However, customers want to buy outcomes now. This session will cover how to transition from hourly billing and transactional work to Value Pricing, where you add tangible value with everything you do.
About the Speakers:
Ronald J. Baker is a radio host, author and the founder of VeraSage Institute—the leading think tank dedicated to educating professionals internationally. He has been appointed to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountant’s Group of One Hundred, a think tank of leaders appointed to address the future of the profession, and has toured the world spreading his value-pricing message to over 120,000 professionals.
Barry MacQuarrie, CPA, Consultant, combines his knowledge of accounting and technology to provide consulting services focused on cloud accounting solutions. His areas of expertise include cloud accounting apps, process improvement and technology management.
Dawn W. Brolin, CPA, MSA, specializes in accounting, taxes, Cloud Solutions, Not-For-Profit Solutions, payroll options, merchant service options and other company-related operations and technology solutions. Named one of the “Top 40 Under 40” by CPA Technology Magazine as well as “Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting” three years running, Dawn is known for her energetic, hilarious presentation style—and for “leaving people better than she found them.”
MB Raimondi, CPA.CITP, is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor, also holding certifications for QuickBooks Online, Enterprise and POS. She has used QuickBooks since the DOS version and QuickBooks Online since its inception, and has been teaching QuickBooks nationally to both end users and accountants/consultants since 1999. Her practice focuses mainly on QuickBooks consulting and training, specializing in strategizing, researching and installing 3rd party add-ons and conversions to QuickBooks from other accounting software.
Heather Satterley specializes in Accounting Systems design, implementation and training and has been helping clients and other accounting professionals learn and use QuickBooks since 1998. She is an Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor for both desktop and online and was named a 2014 Top 100 ProAdvisor by Intuitive Accountant magazine.
Alison Ball leads Global Influencer Programs for Intuit’s Accountant & Advisor Group. A former practicing accountant, her passion is helping accountants and bookkeepers in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and India be more successful via sharing best practices globally. During her ten-year career at Intuit she has held various roles including launching the Trainer/Writer Network, managing the relationships with the Big 7 CPA Societies and opening up the accountant channels in the UK. She was recently named as one of the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Public Accounting for 2014 by CPA Practice Advisor for her work across geographies in connecting influencers.
Ray Barlow leads a team of Strategic Account Managers, Product Specialists, and Inside Account Managers for the Accountant & Advisor Group at Intuit. The Accountant & Advisor Group was formed in August 2013 with a complete focus on accounting firms. His team partners with firms for a common cause: the success of the small to medium-sized businesses. He is responsible for providing accountants with the products, programs and services needed for their own success while actively recommending Intuit solutions to their small business clients in the U.S.
For More Information or to Register for the Free Conference, see the conference website.