How to Put Computers to Work in the CPA Office: New Trends in Software and Hardware Are Making Technology User-Friendly

Consider this scenario: A CPA is writing a letter to a client about the client's financial condition. He needs data that must be found and assembled by a database and then fed into a spreadsheet for analysis. Instead of turning off the word processor, the CPA clicks a mouse to pause the word processing function. He then clicks it again to activate the database. In a few moments, he gathers the necessary numbers and, with another click of the mouse, transfers them to the spreadsheet. While the spreadsheet is crunching the data, he clicks back to the letter, adding a few more paragraphs. Then he returns to the spreadsheet with another click and "grabs" the answers and clicks them into the letter. Rather than mail the letter, he again clicks the mouse, locates the client's FAX number in his electronic card file and the computer transmits the letter to the client. He clicks the mouse again, evoking a practice-management program and the billable time spent on the project is recorded. While this is occurring, the computer is recording incoming phone messages or electronic letters sent by clients, which the CPA can read, hear, or store for future use whenever he wishes. As a final step, he again clicks the mouse to evoke his partners' current calendars to determine the best time for all of them to get together to discuss the client's business. After calculating the periods when all are free, the computer sends a query on the dates to each. When it receives confirmations, it records the date in each partner's calendar. At the end of the month, the computer calculates the client's charges and prepares an invoice. All that, and more, is available with computers. And the user does not have to be particularly savvy about this technology to do all these things. THE NEW FRIENDLY WAVE What's a CPA to do if he or she wants to use the new power of computers but is uncomfortable with such technology? Many in the computer industry are addressing that concern. New trends and developments are helping accountants get on the computer track with as little pain as possible. One trend is the wider application of such user-friendly software as pull-down menus. With them, first-time users often can start working with a program without even reading the software manual. Another big help is context-sensitive help, which also is gaining favor among software designers. New users need only touch a help key wherever they happen to be stuck while working in a program. Instantly, a help window appears on the screen that has been tailored by the software to address the place in the program where the user is stuck. In short, software designers are realizing a user shouldn't have to understand what's going on inside the computer to get it to work effectively. Let's take a closer look at some of these developments to see how CPAs can use these tools-but without learning more about them than they really need or want to know. OPENING WINDOWS Two developments make the scenario described above possible. One is a software package called Windows. The latest version, Windows 3.0, was introduced last year by Microsoft Corp. The other is the mouse, a hand-size device with buttons that directs the computer's cursor and, with a click of a button, can issue a software command. Windows leaps beyond the traditional way users issue commands to a computer. Instead of requiring that an order be typed, Windows enables users to navigate the computer maze with a road map whose way stations are represented by miniature pictures, called icons. Each represents a different computer function: database, spreadsheet, word processing, etc. By clicking a mouse, a wide assortment of program tools can be called up. In computer jargon, this is called a graphical user interface (GUI). With the click of a button, data can be located, displayed and rearranged, files can be examined or deleted, numbers can be calculated and analyzed, reports can be printed or transmitted to remote computers, phone messages can be recorded or routed-and much more. …