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November 2019 Tech Update Newsletter

Robotic Process Automation

What Is RPA and Why Should I Care?

Many professionals have heard of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and have asked: What is RPA and why should I care? This is a fair question because the term “RPA” is a bit misleading. Further, many articles do not adequately describe how this technology can benefit accounting and financial professionals. Therefore, in this article, let us define and describe RPA so that you understand the benefits this amazing technology offers.

Excel's Easy to Use LARGE and SMALL Functions

Use Power Query to Split Data Into
Multiple Columns

Excel offers multiple ways to split data in a cell. Among these are the venerable Text to Columns tool, Flash Fill, and writing formulas that incorporate Excel functions such as LEFT, MID, RIGHT and LEN. However, the issue with Text to Columns and Flash Fill is that you must re-run these tools when new data is added – hardly a model of efficiency! As for the for the function-based approach, the formulas you create can be tricky, depending upon the data you need to manipulate. In this tip, you will learn how you can use Power Query to split data into multiple columns.

Bring Your Team Together

Microsoft Teams

Bring your team together with Microsoft Teams, one of the best additions to the Microsoft stack in years. In this post, we will discuss how to use Microsoft’s Teams application to organize workflows, communications, and document sharing for your workgroup, department, or organization. No matter the size of your team, having all your team’s information in one place, with complete integration into your Office applications, can dramatically improve teamwork and performance.

K2's 2020 Technology Survey to
Roll-Out in December

Each year, the team at K2 Enterprises reaches out to the accounting community via a survey. We use the results of the survey to determine what technology-focused learning sessions we should develop for the upcoming year. This year, we will publish the survey in December and we ask for a few minutes of your time to answer the questions posed in the survey.

How To Protect Yourself Against a

Phishing Attack

Phishing

How do you protect yourself against phishing attacks? You have probably heard about phishing in the context of the Internet. But in fact, phishing is older than the web itself. This password-stealing technique was first used over the phone. Hence the name that’s a portmanteau of “phone” and “fishing”, as in fishing for passwords or other information.

IRS

Accountants Must Renew PTINs Before December 31

All accounting professionals planning to file any federal tax returns and receive compensation for doing so must have a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). This requirement extends to all enrolled agents. PTINs expire annually, and if you currently have a PTIN, it will expire on December 31, 2019. Therefore, you must act on or before December 31, 2019 before preparing any tax returns in 2020.

K2 Enterprises Highlights November/December
Webinar Series

Throughout the remainder of November and December, K2 Enterprises is producing twelve webinars, providing technology-focused CPE opportunities to accountants and other business professionals. The topics for these sessions include coverage of Excel, technology tools, PDFs, and Office 365, among others. Specific dates and topics for these webinars are listed below.


November 26, 2019

  • K2's Client Accounting and the Outsourced CFO
  • K2's Tales of True Tech Crimes: Ripped from the Headlines
December 5, 2019
  • K2's Mastering Advanced Excel Functions and Formulas
  • K2's Data Consolidations and Combinations in Excel
  • K2's Introduction to Excel Macros
December 10, 2019
  • K2's Powerful Data Analysis with Power Pivot
  • K2's Introduction to Power Query
  • K2's Powerful Reporting with Cube Formulas
December 12, 2019
  • K2's Technology Update
  • K2's Accessing and Cleaning Data with Excel, Power Query, and Power BI
December 31, 2019
  • K2's Adobe Acrobat DC - Big Changes for PDFs
  • K2's Tech Tools and Gadgets for a More Efficient You!

You can obtain complete details for each session, including learning objectives and registration information by clicking the button below.

     

K2 Team Members On The Road In November 
and December

During the remainder of November and December, K2 team members are scheduled to deliver 165 in-person training sessions in 76 venues

across North America! A summarized schedule is shown below. We hope that you will be able to attend one or more of these sessions, and we look forward to the opportunity of serving you soon.