2001 Technologies, Applications and Issues Affect Service Delivery.

• Position: Brief Article

Regardless of the size or scope of a CPA's responsibilities or business intelligence, technology continues to affect and permeate the services delivered to clients, employers and other users of CPAs' services. Embracing and recognizing that technology is a standard -- and even a utility that supports business activities -- is vital for the profession to be able to advise and provide decision-making services.

A continued dependence on security and controls, remote connectivity, and the ability to conduct all types of business over the Internet highlights the AICPA's 2001 Top Ten Technologies, Applications and Issues affecting the CPA profession. The annual lists provide guidance and opinions involving various technologies, and are designed to increase awareness of how the issues and applications affect firms, companies, clients and customers.

Each year, a group of CPAs and consultants working in public practice, business and industry, government, and education gather for the Top Ten Technologies (T3) lab at the University of Arizona-Tucson. Applications, technologies, issues and emerging technologies are discussed and debated as to how they impact the CPA profession and the services provided to clients and employers.

One of the primary themes running through this year's lists -- and one that was included on the lists for the past several years -- is the assurance that data sent over the Internet is reliable, controlled and private. Lab attendees concurred that this is yet again a hot topic because it touches so many of the inherent tasks CPAs perform day-in and day-out, including preparation of financial statements, tax compliance and auditing.

Everett C. Johnson, CPA, a partner and international director of Enterprise Risk Services for Deloitte & Touche, has attended the lab since the early 1980s, and says "security" is one area the profession cannot escape because of its impact on even the most rudimentary engagement or service. Over the years, as the Internet morphed into a business utility, and advances in technology emerged, security stopped being limited to a paper-based environment. The way information is verified, for example, is extremely important when data is to be sent electronically.

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