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Date: July 25-26, 2023
Time: 8:30am – 4:30pm
Location: Virtual Conference via Zoom
| Full Event Eligible CPD Hours: 14 Course Fee: $785 PD Passport Valid: 24 credits | One Day Eligible CPD Hours: 7 Course Fee: $405 PD Passport Valid: 12 credits |
Summary
PD Nexus: Information Technology Insights 2023 strives to be the touchstone conference-style PD Day for members and organizations who want the best for the customers and clients. Each session – plenaries and breakouts – have been custom tailored to enhance the day-to-day working environment of professional accountants.
Keeping Your Edge - gain a wealth of insights to keep current with the latest in business technologies
The conference will provide you with the insights into what to watch for, as well as practical technology solutions for today’s busy accountants and business professionals. This year’s offering will present three streams of breakout sessions, along with four great plenaries.
Special Features
- Choose to attend one day or the full event
Full Event Registration Day 1 Registration Day 2 Registration
Nexus Day Agenda
Day 1 - July 25
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:20 am - 8:30 am | Welcome and Introductory Remarks |
8:30 am - 10:10 am | Tech Update What are my best technology choices, and how do I keep up? Explore emerging and evolving technologies important to accounting professionals. Cover the benefits and risks of adopting recent technologies, ranging from software applications to hardware devices. Learn how to develop a balanced technology strategy that includes current, emerging, and future technology choices for your firm or business. Key Topics
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| 10:10 am - 10:20 am | Break |
10:20 am - 12:00 pm | CPA Firm Update It’s an exciting time to manage a public practice accounting firm! In addition to technical knowledge in tax, auditing, and accounting, we need to understand data analytics and security options in an advisory context. Beyond that, we must manage the practice and people while profitably delivering excellent client service in a competitive environment for the owners. Explore significant trends and technologies for CPA firms which will help you understand your current and future choices. With such rapid change, what will your firm do? Key Topics
Now is the Time to Automate The term “automate” has been an industry buzzword for at least a decade. Yet, few organizations have embarked on successful automation journeys, leading to greater efficiencies, reduced errors, and happier team members. Discover how to crank up your automation projects and see first-hand how easy and effective automation can be. Learn how you can work with tools from Zoho, Zapier, and Microsoft to enable powerful routines that will allow you and your team to get more done in less time. Key Topics
Using OneNote More and Email Less OneNote is a fantastic application included in your Microsoft 365 subscription. Yet, it is underutilized and misunderstood most of the time. If you genuinely want to change how you work, embrace OneNote. Stop using Outlook as a filing cabinet for essential emails and move them to OneNote instead. If you share a OneNote notebook with others, you can stop emailing altogether within your group and use OneNote as your collaboration and reference platform. Key Topics
Although not mandatory, it is recommended that you have OneNote accessible during class. |
| 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm | Lunch Break |
1:00 pm - 2:40 pm | Collaboration - Portals, Payments, and Signatures Demand for excellent user experience is at an all-time high. But how do you solve for easy collaboration, compliance, and workflow? What features do you need to be effective? How do you integrate payments, eSignatures, and other technologies to make interaction convenient? Explore the necessary features, provide an overview of the best technologies for collaboration, and think through how to solve your business problems. Key Topics
Shredding Your Servers and Going Virtual Most small and mid-sized businesses are at least considering cloud-based suites for business management, performance management, and productivity. Unfortunately, many owners and accounting professionals need to learn the difference between using cloud-native tools, employing a managed service provider, and utilizing a desktop hosting provider. Explore the differences in the levels of service provided by these offerings, and some of the regulatory barriers which could create problems for your organization. Key Topics
Taking Another Look at PDFs We’re all familiar with PDF documents. However, it’s safe to say that most professionals use only a tiny fraction of their features. This is unfortunate, considering all you can do with PDF documents. Learn more about PDFs and how and why they should be a cornerstone technology in most organizations. Key Topics
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| 2:40 pm - 2:50 pm | Break |
2:50 pm - 4:30 pm | The Best Kept Secrets of Microsoft 365 Many organizations have implemented Microsoft 365/Office 365 at a basic level, but few have truly explored the breadth and depth of tools included with their subscriptions. Some less commonly known apps help you manage shared email boxes, create and use web forms, schedule appointments, trade shifts, create real-time closed captions, and translate presentations. Learn more about the hidden features in Microsoft 365 that you can use to level up your productivity. Key Topics
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Day 2 - July 26
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 8:20 am - 8:30 am | Welcome Back and Housekeeping |
8:30 am - 10:10 am | Ripped from The Headlines: Outrageous Tales of Cybercrime Remote work environments have created many new opportunities for cybercriminals and other fraudsters to exploit, and accounting professionals are some of the most commonly targeted individuals. Review case studies that examine actual criminal filings and news accounts to learn the actions you can take to limit your exposure to similar schemes. Key Topics
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| 10:10 am - 10:20 am | Break |
10:20 am - 12:00 pm | Accounting Solutions and Add-Ons for Small Businesses Working with a small business, you know that keeping the company’s finances in order is critical to success. While numerous software programs and tools are available to help you do this, they vary substantially in many significant aspects. We’ll look at the best accounting tools for small businesses and discuss the benefits of each one. This session covers accounting solutions that should work for start-ups and companies with up to $10 million in annual revenue. Key Topics
The Digital Home Your home is now the digital center of your world. Unfortunately, many new devices your family connects to your WiFi can create security risks and may make remote work and school less secure. Learn about devices, services, app suites for families, share files, organize photos, manage passwords, and keep your home secure. Explore new tools to help you stay safe and make the most of your time away from the office. Key Topics
Top Ten Outlook Tips Using Outlook for email management is routine for most business professionals these days. Unfortunately, using this tool for so long may cause some to perpetuate bad practices and habits when working in Outlook. Discover ten valuable tips to take you to the next level of your email and work management.
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| 12:00 pm - 12:50 pm | Lunch Break |
12:50 pm - 1:40 pm | Accounting Solutions: Mid-Market Many businesses are being held back by legacy solutions. Instead, Software as a Service (SaaS) has transformed many mid-market companies. In this new world of cloud-based, workflow-enabled, data-centric, and connected solutions, you can solve existing and future business problems in new ways without being bogged down by paper-centric environments. Exlore integrated and ERP solutions that should work for businesses in the $10 million to $1 billion range. Key Topics
Simplifying and Economizing Your Tech Stack All business professionals need access to the necessary technology to help them perform their jobs efficiently and effectively. Yet, no one should overpay for their tech stack. Learn valuable tips to help you simplify and economize your technology stack and avoid the risk of overpaying for your tech tools. Key Topics
Six Essential Teams Features The mad scramble to remote work and utilize apps like Teams has been trying for most organizations over the past couple of years. With a rush to install and no time to plan, Teams is vastly misunderstood and underutilized in most organizations. Go beyond the remote meetings aspect and learn how to optimize efficiency, communication, and workflow with Teams. Key Topics
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| 1:40 pm - 1:50 pm | Break |
1:50 pm - 2:40 pm | Kicking It Up a Notch with KPIs The adage, “what gets measured, gets managed,” has never been more true than it is today. Explore different kinds of KPIs and learn how to find data and use tools like Microsoft Excel and Power BI to measure performance. Identify the benefits and drawbacks of using KPIs in management philosophies like holacracy to make it easier for employees to know in real time where they stand. Key Topics
Protecting yourself from ransomware requires more than just anti-virus software. Additional technology protections are necessary. Business continuity, legal and regulatory, and cybersecurity insurance considerations should all be a part of your risk abatement strategy. Determine if your current level of ransomware protection reduces your risk to an acceptable and identify ways to ensure that you are protected. Key Topics
Although Windows incorporates the OneDrive app, you may not have configured it correctly for your specific needs. Using the OneDrive app and the related Cloud storage service to their fullest potential means you can access your files when and where you need them. Learn best practices for taking full advantage of OneDrive. Key Topics
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| 2:40 pm - 2:50 pm | Break |
2:50 pm - 4:30 pm | Ten “Must Know” Features in Excel Most business professionals have used Excel for years, often without the benefit of any formal training. However, not knowing or using key features in the application leads to inefficiencies and errors. Discover how you can become more efficient and effective with Excel! Learn ten critical features that can help you get more work done in less time and improve your accuracy. Key Topics
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Connie Clark, started Mission Computers Inc. in 1991. Having taught for 30 years and over 20,000 students, Connie offers a lot of experience to her clients.
Noted for her great flexibility and ease of adapting to any classroom/training situation, she brings great leadership and motivation skills to her learning environment. She relates easily to people and makes their comfort and learning her number one goal. Connie is passionate about helping people manage and organize their information so they get results and increase their efficiency and effectiveness.
Randy Johnston is a partner at K2E Canada Inc, and a nationally recognized educator, consultant, and writer.
He has over 40 years of experience in Strategic Technology Planning, Accounting Software Selection, Paperless, Systems and Network Integration, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning, Business Development and Management, Process Engineering and outsourced managed services.
Tommy Stephens maintains professional memberships with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Georgia Society of Certified Public Accountants. In 2003, Mr. Stephens affiliated with K2 Enterprises and in 2007 he joined the firm as a partner.
To date, he has lectured nationally on subjects such as internal controls for small businesses, technology strategies, computer hardware and software applications, tax strategies and compliance, and financial accounting standards and applications. Tommy resides in Woodstock, Georgia where, in addition to his association with K2 Enterprises, he provides consulting services to small businesses and CPA firms.
Past Participant
“I loved the options for breakout sessions. This allowed some flexibility to customize the PD to make the entire day engaging and relevant to my preferences.”
“Very relevant topics and practical reference materials and techniques to implement.”
“All of the sessions were useful. It was excellent professional development. I was impressed with how seamless the virtual part was.” “This was just what I needed. Thank you for putting on this topic!”