The Accounting Podcast

Show Notes00:08 -- We got some reviews! Please do us a favor and give us a review on iTunes.02:08 -- Might tax season be extended to make up for the partial Federal government shutdown? Two house Democrats have introduced a bill to extend the tax-filing deadline by 5 weeks.03:51 -- Now you can track your team’s labor costs in QuickBooks Projects.05:08 -- New limits in QuickBooks Online are causing some angst for ProAdvisors. Research from APQC suggests that Intuit set the limit on accounts in the Chart of Accounts too low. Also, the messaging by Intuit as to why they implemented limits seems rather disingenuous. 11:54 -- The State of Louisiana accidentally double refunded about 66,000 taxpayers, resulting in about $26 million in overpayments the state is working to claw back. 14:25 -- Speaking of problems caused by software, those Boeing 737s might be crashing due to a delayed software update.17:05 -- Why is Blake so concerned about Botkeeper and the failure of many tech startups serving the accounting profession to disclose the offshoring of client data? Because as a listener pointed out, the Internal Revenue Code forbids disclosure of tax return information, which could include bookkeeping data, to anyone outside the firm without express written consent. There are even potential criminal penalties. 22:51 -- Is Gappify another Botkeeper? The firm claims to have built an AI bot called “Alan,” but it looks like they’ve got accountants in Manila doing the same work.25:34 -- According to a survey from London venture capital firm MMC, 40 percent of European startups that are classified as AI companies don’t actually use artificial intelligence in a way that is “material” to their businesses.29:02 -- Canopy, the tax practice management software developer, laid off nearly half its staff, despite just a few months ago expanding into a huge new headquarters while saying it planned to double in size. Here’s the post by the CEO and founder, Kurt Avarell, on LinkedIn.32:13 -- David recommends anyone following the Canopy story read The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz.33:50 -- A fun and enlightening conversation ensued on Twitter after Accounting Today published an article called “Why is your firm worth less than you think?” that makes no mention of technology. "Partners at CPA firms are often surprised to find out that the recommended value for their owner’s interest is less than their notions of what the practice would be worth in a sale." Here's why a firm may be worth less than you think. https://t.co/NS5Ld3V1pT— Accounting Today (@AccountingToday) Get in TouchThanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!

Show Notes00:10 -- Top 50 Women In Accounting 2018 — Practice Ignition — The winners ranked among the highest on an “anonymised scoring system which took into account the communication of professional and community achievements.” Check out Madeline Pratt’s Facebook Live panel discussion with nine of the winners which is also available on the Finding Fearless podcast.02:48 -- Intuit Expert Connections — Intuit ProConnect — Thanks to one of our listeners for sending over a link to this “still in concept phase” offering for tax professionals. The idea, according to Intuit, is to help you “easily find and hire Intuit-screened accounting professionals to support your practice with temporary or in-season help.”07:43 -- Report Suggests Congress And IRS Should Give Taxpayers More Time To File In 2019 — Forbes — It’s not your imagination: It really is a different kind of tax season. It’s so different that the National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF) is calling on Congress to extend the tax filing season.10:12 -- Metric of the Month: Number of Accounts in the Chart of Accounts — CFO — While there is no precisely right or wrong answer in terms of how many accounts an organization should have in its COA, this metric provides some guidelines.15:42 -- Facebook’s Workplace reaches 2M paid users, targets SMBs — ComputerWorld — Workplace by Facebook, the company's enterprise-focused collaboration offering, has seen strong growth since its launch in 2016. Will we see more accounting firms adopt the corporate internal social network in 2019?20:06 -- Remote control? Over half of accountants say they can ‘work smarter’ from home — Xero Blog — 53% of respondents to a South African survey claimed they could perform their duties more effectively if they were allowed to do so from beyond the office — but 75% are based in the office and only 13% work from home.22:01 -- Nationwide, BlueVine partner on small business lending — Fox Business — Nationwide has partnered with BlueVine to bring small business lending to its customers. 23:20 -- Funding Circle Reveals Plans For Canada Launch — PYMTS — The company issued a press release Thursday (March 7) announcing it will add Canada to the list of jurisdictions in which it operates, which currently include the U.S., U.K., Germany and the Netherlands.23:42 -- PayPal Hits £1B UK SMB Lending Milestone — PYMTS — The company said in a statement that the total amount of funding advanced to firms was up 60 percent, reaching that £1 billion tally in 2018, and that more than 37,000 businesses have tapped into its working capital offerings, which debuted five years ago. 24:02 -- Square Capital head: We are leveraging data to extend credit to small businesses that lack access to traditional loans — CNBC — Jim Cramer sits down with Jackie Reses, the head of Square Inc.'s Square Capital, to discuss how the lending arm is helping businesses that have trouble getting traditional loans.27:18 -- When You Should Hire a CPA or Tax Pro — The Wirecutter — The New York Times owned publication says, “Working with a tax preparer who takes advantage of tools such as cloud accounting and apps that allow you to securely send documents and electronically review and sign your return can save time and trips to their office.” You read that right — cloud accounting gets a mention in a consumer oriented review site!31:30 -- Certify Merges With Chrome River In $1B Deal — PYMNTS — Under the terms of the deal, K1 Investment Management will own a majority stake in the combined business. 33:22 -- Wave acquires Canadian SME account provider Every — Fintech Futures — Software firm Wave has acquired Every, a Toronto-based fintech that provides business accounts and debit cards to SMEs.34:02 -- Why FLEETCOR Bought Nvoicepay — PYMNTS — The Nvoicepay acquisition means FLEETCOR will expand its existing card payment processing capabilities to include automated accounts payable transactions for a range of payment methods, with a broader focus on modernizing the AP process overall.Get in TouchThanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!

Show NotesIn this episode, Blake and David discuss:Intuit catches 'credential stuffing' attack on TurboTax account — Accounting Today — The software provider recently alerted Vermont that a cybercriminal had gained access to a state resident's account. How did they do it? Because the customer had used the same password on another site that got hacked. The lesson: Use a different password on every site! How do you do that? With a password manager.Intuit Inc. (INTU) CEO Sasan Goodarzi on Q2 2019 Results - Earnings Call Transcript — Seeking Alpha — Can you believe it? A question about QuickBooks Live made it into the latest Intuit earnings call! The analyst from RBC must have seen the conversation online about what QuickBooks Live means for ProAdvisors. We’re proud to have broken the story on the Cloud Accounting Podcast, and good job everyone in making sure that this “test” didn’t fly under the radar. In short, Sasan Goodarzi, CEO of Intuit, likes what he sees from the test. That doesn’t surprise us considering he and his predecessor were both bullish on TurboTax Live, a very similar service.David also highlights the following quote from Goodarzi earlier in the call:This strategy is a continuation of Intuit's 10-year transformation led by Brad from a North American desktop company to a global cloud company. As we advance our strategy, we're taking steps towards becoming an AI-driven expert platform. Let me unpack what I mean by an AI-driven expert platform. It's a platform where we and others solve the most pressing customer problems and deliver awesome experiences. It's about significantly accelerating our application of Artificial Intelligence, which progressively learns from the large datasets across the platform, and delivers the benefits customers seek with speed, and it's about solving the largest problem customer's face, confidence, by connecting them with experts on our platform.What ProAdvisors are Saying about QuickBooks Live — Insightful Accountant — Here’s the feedback from the wider ProAdvisors community based on three online “town halls” hosted by Joe Woodard with official Intuit participation. One stat in particular that caught our attention — 51% of attendees saw QuickBooks Live has having a negative future impact on Intuit’s relationship with the accounting profession, while only 30% saw a positive impact.Interestingly, the Intuit representative said he regretted not communicating Intuit’s test to accounting professionals. However, that contradicts what we’ve told by a ProAdvisor that Intuit held a secret webinar for 75+ top ProAdvisors informing them about QuickBooks Live in late January. These ProAdvisors were unable to speak publicly because they were under NDA, which may explain the unusual silence from some in the community who would typically be all over such a story.Whatever you think about the whole incident, David highly recommends everyone read The Cluetrain Manifesto, available online for free. What Intuit ProAdvisors can learn about QuickBooks LIVE from the GoDaddy Pro launch — Medium — Ned Dwyer sees significant parallels between the test of QuickBooks Live and the “Do It With Me” program he helped to create at GoDaddy for customers who needed assistance creating their own websites.JPMorgan's Dimon: Square innovated where we should have — American Banker — The CEO of the nation's biggest bank gave the fintech props for revolutionizing payments and then building off its success to provide a whole range of services to small-business clients.Air On The Side Of Real Time With Abacus Corporate Travel Booking — Abacus Blog — Abacus Travel combines seamless travel booking with the power of real time expense reporting.Are Job Switchers Earning More? — Korn Ferry — Even in this record-low unemployment market, companies have been keeping salaries in check. But new government figures suggest that those who jump ship are starting to get around that.Get in TouchThanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!

Show NotesThis episode is sponsored by Veem, the easiest way to send money internationally. Sign up today and earn 10,000 VeemBack points on your first transaction.**Restrictions apply. Visit the Veem website for details.This bonus episode of the Cloud Accounting Podcast features an extended interview with Enrico Palmerino, CEO of Botkeeper, and his technical director Justin DoBosh. The interview was recorded via Facebook Live on Friday, March 1. It was organized by Cloud Accounting Podcast co-host David Leary to address outstanding questions from our previous coverage of Botkeeper on this podcast as well as an article Blake Oliver published entitled “It’s not a bot — the truth about Botkeeper, the Google-funded, AI-powered “bookkeeper replacement.” We sent Botkeeper a list of questions in advance and also asked them to make a demonstration of the artificial intelligence in action. At the beginning of the interview there is a brief demonstration of a  Botkeeper “bot" that codes transactions in the QuickBooks Online general ledger. If you would like to see as well as hear the demo, watch the Facebook Live recording here.  Get in TouchThanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page! 

Show NotesThis episode is sponsored by Veem, the easiest way to send money internationally. Sign up today and earn 10,000 VeemBack points on your first transaction.**Restrictions apply. Visit the Veem website for details.Recap of Botkeeper coverage and fallout, new questions, and the ethics of disclosing offshoring(00:53) In the previous episode, Blake and David discussed an email from Botkeeper CEO Enrico Palmerino to the firm’s accountant & CPA partners. In the email, Enrico revealed that Botkeeper, which Enrico has claimed is an artificial intelligence powered “full bookkeeper replacement… a robo-bookkeeper," also employs offshore accountants in the Philippines. Blake’s subsequent public questioning on Twitter led to legal threats by Enrico against Blake and his employer. Enrico has now agreed to join Blake and David for a public Facebook Live session on Friday, March 1 at 2 pm Pacific — Like our Facebook Page to get notified when we go live to try and figure out what’s going on at Botkeeper once and for all. (04:09) Blake digs into the Botkeeper website, press coverage about the firm, the CEO’s public statements, and review sites to try and figure out what exactly Botkeeper claims to be, how well it discloses the offshoring operation in the Philippines (hardly at all, apparently) and how Botkeeper’s representations of itself publicly differs from information provided by Botkeeper partners as well as Enrico's own words in an interview with Blake on Monday, February 18. (13:22) A Botkeeper CPA partner provided what they claim is a screenshot of a Botkeeper agreement that states client data will be processed in the United States. The CPA also says that no mention was made of a Botkeeper Philippines offshore operation during the sales process. (15:18) Why does this matter? Because the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct requires that any member (CPA) must obtain "reasonable assurance that third-party service providers have appropriate procedures in place to prevent the unauthorized release of confidential information to others,” and they may not able to do this if Botkeeper is not forthright about its offshoring of data and/or labor. Avalara Acquires Artificial Intelligence Technology and Expertise from Indix(18:39) Avalara announced it has acquired Indix’s AI technology and expertise, with comprehensive product descriptions for more than 1 billion products sold and shipped worldwide. Avalara intends to use the Indix AI to maintain and expand its already massive tax content database, which includes international product codes and classifications; taxability rules; exemption conditions; tax holidays; jurisdictions; boundaries; tax rates; thresholds and registration, compliance, and return preparation and filing requirements. Intuit Second Quarter Revenue Increased 12 Percent Led by a 38 Percent Rise in Small Business Online Ecosystem Revenue(19:41) David share’s Intuit’s latest earnings report, which shows very strong growth in the Small Business and Self-Employed Group led by their Online Ecosystem. Matt Paff pointed out that Desktop revenue is still growing, which David suspects may be due to a shift to the subscription model for these uses. Sasan Goodarzi highlighted on Twitter how Intuit is focused on “building an AI driven expert platform." New limits on users, accounts, classes, and locations in QuickBooks OnlineWhen were these rolled out? First I've seen on a client. @IntuitAccts Did these limits used to exist and just weren't as explicitly stated? pic.twitter.com/sag1poRabn— Lorilyn A Crum (@LorilynCrum) February 21, 2019(23:07) Some ProAdvisors are surprised by usage limits that have been rolling out since the announcement of QuickBooks Advanced. Lorilyn Crum shared a screenshot showing new limits on billable users, chart of accounts, and classes and locations. Users who exceed these limits will have to upgrade to QuickBooks Advanced, which is priced at $150/month. Perhaps Intuit’s earnings are up also because they’re squeezing more money out of existing customers? Tide Launches Omnichannel, On-Demand Laundry Service(27:48) Tide is introducing Tide Cleaners, an on-demand dry cleaning and laundry service, at 1,000 locations across the country. David thinks this is really similar to Intuit’s shift from a developer of software to a platform for accounting services with QuickBooks Live. For more on QuickBooks Live, listen to Episode 59.Continuing Coverage of QuickBooks Live(29:43) Patti Scharf, CPA and co-founder of Catching Clouds, shares her thoughts on QuickBooks Live.Etsy Payment Error Creates Banking and Havoc for Sellers(33:05) Online marketplace Etsy suffered a payment error that resulted in large amounts of money being withdrawn from sellers' bank accounts and charged to their credit cards. Get in TouchThanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!

 Show NotesThis episode is sponsored by Veem, the easiest way to send money internationally. Sign up today and earn 10,000 VeemBack points on your first transaction.**Restrictions apply. Visit the Veem website for details.Is Botkeeper singing a different tune? In November 2018, Botkeeper raised $18 million from Greycroft and Gradient Ventures to use AI and machine learning to automate bookkeeping. Following the VC round, founder and CEO Enrico Palmerino told Accounting Today in December 2018 that Botkeeper is “a full bookkeeper replacement; it’s a robo-bookkeeper.”Yet according to an email forwarded by a Botkeeper accountant partner (who uses the service on behalf of clients), Botkeeper may not be quite as robotic as it claims. Listen in to the latest episode for all the details.Follow up on QuickBooks LiveXero’s commitment to bookkeepers — Xero.com — Keri Gohman, President of Xero Americas, says “At Xero, our choice is clear: technology can only succeed when it improves human relationships. We believe people innovate – technology doesn't.”Intuit is exploring bookkeeping, and it’s not a bad thing — Accounting Today — Cathy Iconis says, “I think there is another view that people are ignoring - QuickBooks will actually increase the market for bookkeepers. Yes, we will have to compete and differentiate ourselves from QuickBooks, but I wouldn’t mind a few more million small businesses to fight over.”How you respond to Intuit's "live bookkeeping" shows where your firm is going — LinkedIn — Karen Reyburn says “You're now being pushed to be really, really clear about how you're different… This will push you to focus on the clients, and what they actually need.”My Thoughts On Intuit's Live Bookkeeping Offer — Mark Wickersham — Mark Wickerham says, “My view on Intuit’s new test is that it hasn’t changed anything for those in the profession who are forward-thinking and willing to change. Machine learning and artificial intelligence is getting better. We already know that. We knew we needed to change our services because of the technological advances in our profession. Intuit’s experiment has just given us more immediacy to alter our service.”Lorilyn A Crum on Twitter — Lorilyn Crum says, “The term bookkeeper needs to go away... instead rebrand as an accounting technician or accounting operations."Bookkeepers: Is the Death Knell upon us in 2019? — Melanie Power — Mel Power says, ““With the introduction of cloud accounting, and further technology advancements around artificial intelligence and machine learning within the accounting vendor and ecosystem... the labour intensive process is reduced to almost zero. The truth of the matter is, there is NO value for highly skilled bookkeepers in doing data entry work when we have all of the tools available to do the job FOR us.”IRS internal controls around refunds are a jokeTampa man reported income of $18,497; IRS sent him a refund check for $980,000 — CNBC — By now, you may know that withholding a lot of income for taxes will result in an eventual refund. However, a Florida man pushed the envelope and claimed that he paid the taxman $1 million in taxes on less than $20,000 in wages.That’s one expensive accounting textbookRare medieval accountancy book expected to sell for $1.5m — Financial Times — Christie’s will auction Luca Pacioli’s Summa de Arithmetica, a compendium of everything known at the time about mathematics, but also a practical, how-to guide to succeeding in business that is the first written record of the system of double entry accounting.Blockchain to speed up international transfers at JP MorganJP Morgan is rolling out the first US bank-backed cryptocurrency to transform payments business — CNBC — Engineers at the lender have created the "JPM Coin," a digital token that will be used to instantly settle transactions in its wholesale payments business.Bill.com + AMEX — How it worksFinally, thanks to Stephen Brown for pointing us in the right direction when it comes to the new American Express Vendor Pay by Bill.com. This is a service on the American Express website available to American Express Business and Corporate Card® Members only. Customers will be able to pay vendors via virtual cards for free. ACH and check services also will be available for a per transaction fee.Down Under newsReckon Shifts Strategy In MYOB, Xero Rivalry — PYMNTS — Reckon has reportedly decided to pull out of the market of accounting software marketed directly to small businesses. Instead, the company is working with the Institute of Public Accountants to white label its solution.Thanks for listening! Do us a favor and do any of the following:Leave a rating and review on iTunesLeave a rating and review on StitcherLeave a recommendation on FacebookGet in TouchLet us know what you think — follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page!Listen

Show NotesThis episode is sponsored by Veem, the easiest way to send money internationally. Sign up today and earn 10,000 VeemBack points on your first* transaction.*Restrictions apply. Visit the Veem website for details. Offer limited to one reward per account. Offer only applies to international payments, and only on standard exchange rates. USD to USD cross border payments are excluded. Qualifying payments must be $1000 USD or more. VeemBack Points will be added to qualifying accounts by April 19th, 2019. Terms and conditions subject to change at Veem’s discretion. Offer only good for US customers who have never sent a payment. This offer can not be combined with other offers. Offer Valid thru April 1st, 2019 23:59 PST.Bookkeeping is Dead: How Intuit Will Kill It for Good — Blake Oliver — Hot on the heels of TurboTax Live, Intuit is building an on-demand bookkeeping service called “QuickBooks Live" that will connect business owners directly with bookkeepers via video chat and screen sharing technology integrated directly into the QuickBooks application. Intuit is testing potential bookkeeping — AltAccountant Podcast — With Intuit/QuickBooks (and other software companies) testing the demand for bookkeeping services built-in the subscription.... some interesting questions to think about. What if the need for manual bookkeeping was replaced by software company? What would your business look like if you had to provide valuable services and “bookkeeping” as we know it ceased to exist? Is Intuit® Building the 'H&R Block®' of Bookkeeping? — Insightful Accountant — Joe Woodard provides his personal perspective and recommendations for bookkeepers on the QBO-Attached Bookkeeping Service Intuit is considering offering its users. inDinero Acquires mAccounting in Move to Transform the Outsourced Accounting Industry — PRWeb — inDinero, leading accounting and tax software for growth businesses, acquired outsourced accounting and tax firm mAccounting to fuel their next phase of growth. FreshBooks matures accounting offering — Enterprise Times — FreshBooks has started the year with several update, including the introduction of double entry accounting and bank reconciliation. KPMG shutters small business accounting unit — AccountingWEB — KPMG has confirmed that it will close its small business accounting venture after just five years in the market. American Express and Bill.com Introduce Vendor Pay — Bill.com — American Express and Bill.com announced a strategic partnership with a new offering: American Express “Vendor Pay” by Bill.com. Get in TouchThanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page! SubscribeApple PodcastsGoogle PlayStitcherSpotifyPocketCastsOvercastPlayer.fm

Show NotesA new bank feeds process – simpler, faster, and more secure — Xero Blog — Now, to connect a new bank feed you can download a pre-populated application form in Xero with information about your organisation and bank account details. Simply sign and date the form, scan and upload it back into Xero and they'll take care of the rest. Dropbox Buys HelloSign To Improve Document Workflow — PYMNTS — Dropbox, the cloud storage company, announced Monday (Jan. 28) that it has acquired HelloSign, an easy-to-use eSignature and document workflow platform.DaySmart Software Acquires PupKeep — BusinessWire — DaySmart Software, the leading provider of business management software supporting small business growth, today announced it acquired PupKeep, a pet services cloud software company. The acquisition will allow DaySmart to expand its pet services offerings to incorporate daycare, boarding, kenneling and training into its existing grooming salon and mobile pet grooming software. Stripe Raises $100M On A $22.5B Valuation — PYMNTS — Stripe has raised $100 million in venture capital funding from Tiger Global Management, boosting the digital payment company's valuation to $22.5 billion. Small-business banking is about to get a whole lot better — American Banker — Big data and artificial intelligence will allow banks to do more for small businesses, former SBA head Karen Mills argues. This Time Humans Triumph Over Robots As They Take Back Hotel Jobs — NPR — A Japanese hotel that became known as the "world's first robot hotel" three years ago is powering off many of its robots. It turns out that guests prefer humans to handle their requests. The ‘Hybrid’ Skills That Tomorrow’s Jobs Will Require — WSJ — Jobs that tap both technical and creative thinking will be likely to pay well—and resist automation Don’t Worry About Absenteeism: Leadership Expert — CFO — "Presenteeism," or not being engaged on the job, is a far more costly problem for employers than absenteeism. SubscribeApple PodcastsGoogle PlayStitcherSpotifyPocketCastsOvercastPlayer.fm

Show NotesAccording to a new pricing page on the QuickBooks website, Intuit is now offering QuickBooks software plus access to “real bookkeepers to help you manage your business” for between $210 and $350 per month.  Now QuickBooks customers can “Get valuable insights from unlimited one-on-one conversations with an experienced bookkeeper that knows your business.” How does it work? "A QuickBooks Bookkeeper sets up your books via live video chat and is available for you all year long.”  Blake and David discuss this breaking news and the implications for accountants, bookkeepers, and QuickBooks ProAdvisors, who are understandably concerned. In a response, Intuit has shared a feedback form for those in the community to share their thoughts. Get in TouchThanks for listening! Let us know what you think on Twitter. Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Also, to make sure you don’t miss any Cloud Accounting Podcast news, please like our Facebook page! SubscribeApple PodcastsGoogle PlayStitcherSpotifyPocketCastsOvercastPlayer.fm

Show Notes@davidleary @BlakeTOliver another case for unlimited PTO: female retention. I use 1/3 of my PTO on vacation, 1/3 on my sick kids 😷, 1/3 I hoard so I have paid maternity leave. Women have different PTO needs then men, when can we recognize that and come up with a solution?— Kelly Mann (@TheCPAMann) January 24, 2019Why we are calling for the definition of the word ‘accountant’ to be changed — Xero — Xero is calling for The Oxford English Dictionary to "change its out of date definition of the word ‘accountant’ to something that truly reflects what it means to be an accountant in 2019." Expensify This — Expensify — You have to see it to believe it. Expensify is out with a rap video about expense reports in advance of their big Super Bowl ad. Apparently EY’s ‘Program Mercury’ Is Hot Garbage and Some Folks Are Understandably Upset About It — Going Concern — Critics of EY technology have expressed concern that their submitted expenses aren't being paid, and blame EY's Program Mercury. Square's Newest Product Is Genius — Motley Fool — The Square Card, a free business debit Mastercard for Square merchants, gives its users access to funds as soon as they make a sale through their Square card reader. Intuit donates $2 million to U.S. Federal workers — Enterprise Times — As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility program, Intuit has announced the donation of $2 million to food banks supporting federal workers in the US. Fishbowl Adds Marijuana Tracking and Inventory Management — CPA Practice Advisor — Fishbowl now meets the tracking and inventory management needs of people and companies authorized to provide legal cannabis services and products among the increasing number of states who have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use. Avalara acquires alcohol compliance services provider — Accounting Today — Avalara has acquired the operational assets of Compli, which provides compliance services, technology, and software to producers, distributors, and importers of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Sage sells U.S. Payroll Solutions arm — Accounting Today — Sage, a U.K.-based provider of enterprise resource planning software, has sold its U.S.-based payroll outsourcing business for $100 million. The buyer is workforce management software maker iSolved, a portfolio company of tech-focused private equity firm Accel-KKR. Transforming the Government Shutdown into New Tax Business — Insightful Accountant — Is this year’s government shutdown one big hassle or one big opportunity? Well, probably a little of both. Find out how to turn it into an advantage for your tax firm. Keeping the CMA Relevant — Strategic Finance Magazine — The IMA says that, given the changing nature of the profession, the CMA exam should cover data analytics in more depth and also cover the digitization of the finance value chain. Why CPA Candidate Numbers Have Decreased: Part 2 — AccountingWEB — Stephanie Ng continues to explore decreasing CPA candidate numbers. The Big Tech Canary In The Faster Payments Coal Mine — PYMNTS — Karen Webster said the canary in the coalmine isn't about making payments move faster so much as sidestepping the "legacy incumbents" FIN says stand in the way. Metric of the Month: Finance FTEs Per $1B in Revenue — CFO — More finance organizations are finding that it’s better to have a smaller, highly strategic team than an army of workers focused on transactional activity. Get in TouchThanks for listening! Follow and tweet @BlakeTOliver and @DavidLeary. Find us on Facebook and, if you like what you hear, do us a favor and write a review on iTunes. Interested in sponsoring the Cloud Accounting Podcast? For details, read the prospectus.SubscribeApple Podcasts: http://cloudacctpod.link/ApplePodcastsSpotify: http://cloudacctpod.link/SpotifyGoogle Play: http://cloudacctpod.link/GooglePlayStitcher: http://cloudacctpod.link/StitcherOvercast: http://cloudacctpod.link/Overcast