4 Key Lessons From Accountex USA 2016

Accountex USA 2016, which was earlier known as SleeterCon, is one of the most important conferences in the accounting world this year. Hosted in Las Vegas, the conference was held from 15 November to 18 November.

Accountex USA truly lived up to the expectation of the attendees, if not exceeding them. General sessions, exhibition by tech leaders, and various other events offered a wide range of learning for the accounting professionals and business owners.

In case you could not attend the event, we bring you some of the most gripping lessons that Accountex USA 2016 offered: 

1. The Future of Accounting

The conference not only discussed the innovations that are going to influence the accounting, but also talked about what these influences will be and how one can prepare for it. A general session on opening day by Dave Kerpen suggested the growing importance of social interaction for the accounting services and the practices that can be adopted to achieve better results.

Image: The four important words in social media, suggested by Dave Kerpen

Gail Perry‘s presentation on Social Media Real World Case Studio supported the rising importance of social network in the accounting world. Later in the conference, the how one can develop a system for picking up the right accounting technology was explained by Andrew Marder.

Preparations for new FLSA regulations and investor’s perspective on evaluating new accounting tech development were some of the other important futuristic discussions at the Accountex 2016.

2. Inevitability of Cloud

Currently, the cloud is a part of almost every discussion that has anything to do with technology. It has maintained the same role in the accounting arena for some time and it is still there – more persistent and trusted than ever. The conference had a number of speakers speaking on the impact of cloud on accounting.

Of them, Doug Sleeter‘s The Next Frontier in the Accounting Technology session emphasized on the adoption of cloud and mobile accounting among smaller businesses. The conference had a dedicated session on Cloud Accounting Face Off by Greg Lam, who explained various cloud-based accounting software, such as QuickBooks Online, Xero, Zoho Books, etc.

Image: Doug Sleeter presenting his session “The Next Frontier In Accounting Technology”

Randy Johnston‘s analysis on risk and rewards associated with hosted, on-premise and hybrid solutions was finely detailed. It wasn’t a mere usual comparison between the cloud and non-cloud accounting solutions as it was focused on finding the precise solutions for various accounting need.

The conference also had a session on explaining the better ways of shifting to the cloud solutions, especially targeted for the SMBs and modern businesses. Cloud computing also finds its mention in the general session on the top technologies to jump-start a business.

3. Improving Management Strategies

No matters how great tech solutions one deploys, the overall performance depends on the management and strategies. Debbie Rich-Walker presented an instructive session to guide on time management strategies. The session was precisely aimed at the working aspects of the accounting and finance professionals.

Image: Debbie Rich-Walker suggests the Time Matrix to help manage time

Along with that, practices for working with contractor and methods of shortening the budget process also earned appreciation from the audience. Joe Woodward came up with a learning session on achieving impactful leadership that is aimed at improving client relationship. Owning Your Brand session by Geni Whitehouse was a major highlight of the conference.

4. The Winners

Accountex USA 2016 had three awards on offer – Meridian Award, Practitioner Award, and User Favorite Award. These awards were presented by Accountex in the partnership with AccountingWEB and each of them served the different purpose.

Image: Ace Cloud Hosting received 2016 Accountex USA User Favorite Award for Best Application Hosting Provider

Meridian Award was presented to the vendors in the accounting technology space. Practitioner Award was aimed to appreciate the accounting firms and professionals for their meritorious services in their specific verticals. User Favorite Award was based on the voting from the accounting professional for the different categories, listed in Accounting Technology Ecosystem.

Ace Cloud Hosting won User Favorite Award in the Hosting category at the event and as celebratory token launched a special offer for the new users.