As CPAs increasingly work away from the traditional office environment, it is imperative they be provided access to the firm’s information technology resources. Whether they are working at home or at a client site or traveling outside the office, remote access technologies have evolved to the point where anyone with an Internet connection can communicate via email, enter time and expense information, and access firm applications and resources as securely as if they were in the firm’s office.

The first step in evaluating remote access options is identifying users, the applications they will need and their areas of operation. Most firms will need to accommodate a variety of user profiles, including the road warrior, the out-of-office communicator and the remote-site. Road warriors are traditional auditors and consultants who carry laptops and all applications with them to work at client sites. Their needs include the ability to synchronize data and email as well as access firm research and resources. While they usually work in metropolitan areas, their area of coverage often extends into rural areas with minimal communications infrastructure. The out-of-office communicator usually has a desktop as their primary computer, but would like to be able to access email and Outlook for calendar and contacts when away from their work area. These users tend to prefer handheld devices such as personal digital assistants (PDA), most of which today also incorporate digital cellular capabilities for communications. Finally, the remote site is usually a somewhat immobile environment which might be a satellite office or individual working from home. Once the infrastructure is in place on the firm’s network, all maintenance is performed on that server, leaving only minimal maintenance and support for those users accessing it from remote sites. 

Making a connection
The next step is to evaluate Internet connection options for firm user profiles; there are a variety of solutions ranging from physical broadband connections to wireless providers. Most remote sites such as homes and satellite offices are fairly static in nature, so having a dedicated broadband connection will provide adequate bandwidth to be able to access firm applications and resources. A typical DSL or cable connection will cost under $100 per month and would usually provide bandwidth of 384Kbps or more. While clients sometimes may provide an auditor with a broadband Internet connection, it is expected that security concerns of IT personnel will make this option more difficult to obtain. For those clients where the auditor will be onsite for a significant period of time, some firms have gone so far as to have their own broadband connection installed within the client site for the duration of the engagement. Finally, the traditional phone line, while very slow compared to broadband connections, is a last resort option for firms working in extremely remote areas and which have a remote control or remote access application, which is discussed further, later in this article. Many firms that mandate daily time and expense continue to use dial-up connections, which are usually managed with a centralized firmwide account, such as EarthLink or MSN.

While physically wired connections have been the most reliable and robust in the past, the advent of WiFi and broadband wireless connectivity has expanded the area in which remote users can work without being physically tethered. Many core downtown areas, as well as public hotspots such as hotels, libraries and coffee shops, provide WiFi access that allow laptop users to connect while they are within range of the connection (usually within 300 feet). Most laptops purchased in the past few years have WiFi capabilities either through a wireless PC card installed after a laptop was purchased or through an internal wireless chip set that can access WiFi. Websites such as WiFiMaps.com and JiWire.com provide locations where WiFi access is available today. To extend the range of coverage beyond these WiFi hotspots, broadband wireless access provided by the traditional cellular phone companies is starting to gain acceptance.

Broadband digital cellular from providers such as Sprint or Verizon cover very large geographic areas and can offer acceptable transmission speeds to connect laptops or PDAs to the firm’s infrastructure. While a traditional cellular phone connection transfers data at 19Kbps, the latest generation of broadband cellular works regularly in the 100Kbps to 700Kbps range, which is adequate for transferring most files and accessing firm applications. This capability can be added to a laptop by inserting a Broadband Wireless card or attaching a broadband cell phone with special software. Widespread acceptance and implementation has been hampered by cost, as such a connection usually costs just under $100 per month.

Accessing firm networks
Once an Internet connection has been established, there are a number of tools that facilitate secure access to the firm’s network. For a small number of individuals, Windows XP Remote has the ability to connect and process information on their office computer, similar to the way products such as PCAnywhere did a number of years ago. For more than a handful of users, it is recommended that firms use a more robust application such as Citrix or Windows Terminal Server (WTS). While WTS only runs true Windows applications, Citrix has the capability to run non-Windows program such as Linux, Macintosh and mainframe applications fairly effectively. As the majority of accounting applications today are Windows-based, there has been a trend in the past year for firms to go with WTS when they replace their communications server, rather than to maintain their Citrix licenses as well.

Citrix and WTS require a dedicated server and licensing, which can typically handle 25 concurrent users at one time. Another strong benefit of the Citrix/WTS environment is that all applications are maintained on one server, which can reduce the support time for firm IT personnel, both on workstations within the firm and with remote users.

While many remote workers tend to use laptops for emails and remote work, a growing number are using hybrid PDAs/phones that combine the best features of their personal information organizer with their cell phone. Devices such as Blackberrys, Palm Treos and Microsoft SmartPhones give remote users full access to Outlook capabilities and allow them to browse Internet websites and talk with clients. Many of these devices now incorporate access coverage to multiple cellular standards and by 2006 will start to include WiFi options, which can take advantage of the much faster WiFi transmission speeds.

Security
With remote usage comes remote responsibility to protect and secure access to the firm’s infrastructure. Firms should require the use of screensaver passwords on laptops and security codes/locking keys on all phones/PDAs to minimize the risk of inappropriate access in the event a device is lost or stolen. In addition, for users in static sites, it is imperative to ensure those users have a personal firewall and up-to-date antiviruses in place to minimize the risk of the firm’s information resources being exposed to a hacker who may gain access to an employee’s home computer.

The ability to have CPAs work any place, at any time, and access firm resources is a reality today. As remote access options are evolving rapidly throughout the country, firms should annually review options for connectivity and area of coverage.

About the author: Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA, CITP is president of InfoTech Partners North America Inc., a consulting firm working exclusively with CPA firms on their internal technology utilization and their transition to a digital or “less paper” environment. He can be reached at roman@itpna.com.

 This article is reprinted with the publisher's permission from the CPA Practice Management, Forum a journal published by CCH INCORPORATED. Copying or distribution without the publisher's permission is prohibited. To subscribe to the CPA Practice Management Forum or other CCH Journals please call 800-449-8114 or visit www.tax.cchgroup.com.

 

Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA, CITP is President of InfoTech Partners North America, Inc. which works exclusively with CPA firms to implement today’s best practices as they transition to a “less paper” or digital environment.