A software product call Chrometa is about to change all of that. I have recently been using this software on the office computer to see just how well it automates the process of capturing the time I spend on projects and services. As we all know, it is difficult for accountants to manage the capture of time manually, and we have developed all sorts of mechanisms for trying to do a good job at capturing the time we spend, especially the billable time. Many times, however, the manual system breaks down when we get busy. When we get to the end of the day, we have forgotten the smaller 15-minute phone calls and emails with clients that occurred throughout the day. As a result, we fail to enter this time into our time and billing system.

Enter Chrometa! This software tracks what you open on your computer and records the time you spend working on it. For example, as I type this article, Chrometa is working in the background on my computer keeping track of the time I spend on the project. It appears in the list with the title of the document next to the amount of time I spent typing and editing the document. Right now, Chrometa has recorded 10 minutes of time working on writing and editing the first three paragraphs of this article.
Chrometa tracks everything you do on your computer as well as when you are away from your computer. If you go help a colleague, when you come back and start using the mouse or keyboard again, Chrometa will prompt you with a window asking you if you were in a meeting, at lunch or on the phone. You can select one of these options and/or add some descriptive text to the prompt and then log the entry. This can be edited later if you wish or, if you have accurately described it initially, it provides a reminder about the 10-minute phone call you had with a client or how long you took to help that colleague.

The software tracks automatically every software application you launch on the workstation and every window that is open. Through preferences, you can eliminate items that are less than an amount you pick so the 10 seconds that you had an error message on your screen will not show in your list. You can also categorize software you use so it lists the items under a particular category. For example, you can put all the email together in a category. It will track your accounting software and the clients you are accessing as separate line items. It will also track the opening and closing of clients within the software and record the time you spend on each depending on how the accounting software manages the change of clients.

The software will even track time spent connected to remote applications such as Citrix Published Applications or Terminal Services Remote programs. The software knows when you launch a particular application that is not located on your computer, and it tracks the time you were in that program. The software is not as robust with Microsoft’s Terminal Server Remote programs as it is when using the same application on the workstation. It will not always be able to detect the switch between clients in this environment and record it for you. However, for those of you who use Citrix, it will detect the client changes in the software and will record those changes for you depending on how the accounting software performs these changes. One of the nice features in Citrix is that it will detect some of the switching that you do between parts of the application such as going from the chart of accounts to the trial balance. This tracking process within accounting software on a remote machine is not always 100 percent accurate, but it does detect some of these changes within the accounting software and records them for you as separate line items. While some may consider this a failing, I do not because it is very difficult to monitor something happening on another machine especially when your software is not running on that remote machine. The fact it can capture a large amount of what you are doing on a remote machine when the software is not even installed on the remote machine is very impressive for any product.

Switching back and forth between open software is very flawless and unnoticed by the user. The software simply stops the timer on the now inactive item and starts recording the time on the newly active item. Chrometa will simply sum up the time you were working in each application, email or document when bouncing back and forth between several different items.

At the time I wrote this, the most recent product release was 2.0.1.7. The developers are continuing to work on the product, and in the few months that I have been using it they have had three enhancement releases. The software is very solid, does not seem to cause any problems on the workstation when being used, runs in the background except when you are reviewing information it has collected and, best of all, it provides you with a complete history of everything you did in a given day. You can even go back and review previous dates. The software costs $99 per user and includes free email and phone support. The company does not have multi-user pricing but will discuss pricing for multiple users upon request.

With all the great features Chrometa does have, it will not replace the process of entering your time into the time and billing system. Chrometa does not integrate with any time and billing software and will not replace the processes for entering time into these systems. Chrometa is a tool to help you capture automatically the things you work on each day and ensure accuracy in capturing all time spent working. It eliminates the time you spend having to manually track what you are working on during the day.

This product has proven to be very simple and easy to use, and it allows me to do less manual tracking of the things I do every day on or near my computer and spend more time getting work done. I can review the captured activities at the end of the day to ensure I am capturing all the time I spent working on client and non-client related work. The software is a handy tool to add to our time tracking processes to make accurately capturing time automated and much easier. Give it a try by downloading the trial from the Chrometa website and see if it is as helpful to you as it was to me.

Before determining the best option for a firm in purchasing a new computer, let’s clear up a misconception that is very prevalent as it relates to 64-bit operating systems, which runs on 64-bit hardware. Many people are under the impression that older software designed for 32-bit operating systems will NOT run in a 64-bit operating system. This is not true. The 64-bit operating system has backwards compatibility and will generally run 32-bit software without difficulty. There are always exceptions to this, of course, and some software will not run on a 64-bit system. Part of this is because of changes to the operating system for other reasons such as UAC, for example. Bottom line: You do not have to shy away from buying a 64-bit hardware if you are concerned about running 32-bit software. NOTE: The above also applies to running a 32-bit operating system like Windows XP on a 64-bit processor. This is not a problem.

In most cases, if you have purchased a new computer in the past two years, that system probably contains a 64-bit capable processor. A 64-bit capable processor means that the processor can run a 64-bit operating system. You might have a 32-bit operating system such as Windows XP, but the system is capable of being upgraded. Generally, systems purchased before 2007 are not capable of running a 64-bit operating system. The best way to determine if the system is capable of running a 64-bit operating system is to have your IT consultant go into the system BIOS and obtain the processor model number. Using this number on the manufacturer’s website, you should be able to find the various charts that indicate whether the processor is a 64-bit capable processor.

So what makes the most sense for new computer purchases for an accounting firm? New computer purchases made in 2010 and beyond should be purchased with processors that are fully 64-bit compliant. In most cases, this is any of the processors on the market today. I will soon post another article on Intel’s newest processors containing the new QPI technology (the processors that should be purchased in new computers are the i3, i5 and i7 processors). While there are some minor differences between each of these processors, in most cases the i5 and i7 processors will be the ones to focus on putting in new systems for accounting firms.
As firms purchase new hardware, purchasing 64-bit hardware and operating systems is the best option for a firm today. The reason for this is that the 64-bit hardware with a 64-bit operating system will have the longest life when purchased. There is no reason that a new computer purchased in 2010 with a 64-bit operating system can’t last for six to eight years running modern software. At $1,500 to $2,000 for one of these systems, the average annual cost would be around $250 per year. A fairly reasonable price when amortized out over the average seven-year life of a $1,750 computer.

64-bit computing is here, and new equipment purchased today should be fully 64-bit for both the hardware and the operating system. As with any upgrades, check with your software providers to make sure you understand the issues, if any, of running the vendor’s software package in a 64-bit environment. In most cases, there are absolutely no problems. But for those of you still using DOS based 8-bit software, you might have a problem using that software in a 64-bit environment.

Microsoft pulled a fast one when it took a photo of an African-American man and changed the person’s color to White. Plain and simple, this was a huge no-n0, and did not go unnoticed by the bloggers who pounced on Microsoft for inappropriate ethical behavior. Advertising Age was one of new news media to report the story; the altered photos are included in the story.

Although the fact that Photoshop can change skin color is a huge, separate discussion in itself, I think the larger story is whether  Microsoft thought the stunt might go unnoticed. It’s not how stupid MS thinks we are; it’s how invisible the company think we might be.

I once knew a guy who regularly got together with his buddies to watch movies just to find the mistakes. Although I’m quite sure no one spends a great deal of his or her time trying to find mistakes, anyone publishing content - online or in print - can rest assured knowing someone will notice!

Adobe Acrobat Standard is NOT to be confused with Adobe Acrobat Reader.  I have found various people and firms which have confused the freely distributed Reader software as the same as the standard version.  I have even had some users so unfamiliar with the advanced features found in the standard version that they have mistakenly uninstalled the Standard version and installed the limited reader software on their computers instead.  The reader is used exclusively for viewing PDF documents.  It has a very limited feature set and does not allow for the creation of new PDF files.

The standard version is the entry level version which most public accounting firms should consider purchasing.  There is also a Professional version but this version is overkill for most accounting firms since it is designed primarily for creating PDF files from CAD/CAM drawings and other graphics files.  The Standard version provides the ability to create a PDF file, add annotations and text comments to a document, add security and digital signatures to a PDF file, and various other features.

While the PDF format patents have expired, you can find many other PDF making programs on the market today.  These programs will create PDF files just like Adobe Acrobat Standard but generally cost much less than a full Standard version of Adobe Acrobat.  While these other third party software applications may create a PDF file, most of them do not have the full set of features available in Adobe Acrobat Standard.  While they may have some, none of them have all the features.

Adobe Acrobat 9.x is a good solid upgrade for firms using an older version of the software.

So, will you upgrade?

Windows 7 is important because it is actually what Windows Vista should have been.  Microsoft has taken Windows Vista and polished it with a very nice shine.  I started working with Windows 7 when the Release Candidate became available in May 2009.  I have been testing since this time various applications and so far have found no issues with any of the programs I use.  Windows 7 even has a much improved compatibility tool – which I have not yet used by a colleague has – with great success running older applications.  He loaded an older copy of Peachtree Accounting in this mode and it worked just like it was on Windows XP.  While I have not completed testing every application in our office that we currently use on Vista, I will be doing so in the coming weeks in preparation for rolling Windows 7 out to all our employees in place of Vista.

Some of you may be wondering why we are planning to move off of Vista.  It is not because Vista has performed poorly for our firm.  It has actually performed very well for our firm reducing significantly system reboots and other issues that would cause XP to hang.  The reason we are moving is because Windows 7 has memory optimization and performance enhancements which will make the software we use run better than on Windows XP or Windows Vista.  While some accounting firms have been reluctant to adopt Windows Vista, Windows 7 should not produce the same reluctance.   Windows 7 is a solid performing operating system better in my opinion than Windows XP and Windows Vista and should be adopted before tax season on new systems and those systems which would support an upgrade to Vista.

Will your firm update?