From Greg's Head

I’m pleased to announce that PKF Texas’ Consulting Solutions team was recently named to Accounting Today’s 2009 Technology Pacesetters list. 

We are excited and honored to be recognized by Accounting Today as a 2009 Technology Pacesetter. The PKF Texas Consulting Solutions team works hard and focuses on the quality of service for our clients.  

 Through our corporate social responsibility efforts, the Microsoft Dynamics NAV solution software and collaboration with technology incubators, PKF Texas is committed to the technology and emerging markets in Houston and internationally.  We are proud to recognize innovation in Houston through the Fast Tech 50, Houston Technology Center, Rice Alliance and Houston Angel Network. 

The Technology Pacesetters list honors value-added resellers (VARs) that carry accounting software as a central part of their product line. I think it’s important to note that the criteria for this award was not revenue based.  The criteria did include innovation, vendor awards, leadership, and contributions to the field and general reputation.  I’m glad to see that Accounting Today recognizes that numbers shouldn’t be the focus of the award.  If a company takes the steps necessary to succeed in the areas evaluated to become a Pacesetter, the numbers/revenue will follow. 

PKF Texas is a five year Microsoft Certified Gold Partner and is a reseller for Microsoft Dynamics NAV. 

The 2009 list featured 50 companies from across the country. PKF Texas was also named to Accounting Today’s VAR 100 list in April 2009.  The Technology Pacesetters list appears in the November 16 – December 13, 2009 issue of Accounting Today.

Posted In Tecknowledgy Comments Permalink

Note: Running Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on KPRC 950AM. Audio files can be found on the PKF Texas - Entrepreneur's Playbook® page of the PKF Texas website.

In Jim Collins book Good to Great the concept of Level 5 Leadership is discussed.  And while Collins can identify the traits of a Level 5 Leader, he indicated that in his research, he wasn’t able to identify how to develop Level 5 Leadership within an organization.  That’s a pretty strong statement from a highly respected author on the subject of “Leadership”.

Recently, I introduced you to some concepts of Leadership that I have come to understand as Conscious Business.  Conscious Business was written by Fred Kofman who I believe has developed a framework for the development of leaders within any organization.  Over the next few weeks, I will share with you some of the concepts discussed in Conscious Business that I believe can help any business owner, manager or CEO begin a program of leadership development within your organization.

Previously we have covered the concept of being a knower or a learner.  Today I would like to introduce another concept of leadership that I believe is important to success in today’s every changing environment.   This concept is known as being “response-able”.  Or, otherwise being a known as “player” versus playing the “victim” to events that happen to you.

This concept is exactly as it sounds.  Taking responsibility for your own behavior, irrespective of what environmental forces you face.  I will leave a small tidbit with you, if you are late for a meeting because of another meeting running over, or, arriving late for a meeting because of traffic, and you didn’t notify the party you are running late to meet, you have taken the role of playing the victim.

As we continue our journey through Conscious Business, I hope many of you will comment on the concepts we offer for your consideration.

Posted In PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook® Comments Permalink

Accounting Web recently covered Barry Schimel’s keynote speech and the Thompson Reuters Annual Users Conference.  Schimel is the president of BizActions and author of several books on profitability.

Schimel made three key points in his speech that are good pieces of advice for any business owner. 

1. Clients should be viewed as people, not numbers
2. Technology is required to consistently communicate timely value-added ideas and strategies to clients
3. Strategy and process are key to profitability.

His points may seem simple and obvious, but too many times business owners start to lose sight of the simple things. 

As we near the end of the year, it’s a good time to take a step back and look at your business with an objective eye.

• Are we providing value to our clients?
• Does my team have the tools they need to be efficient?
• We’ve survived the economic uncertainty of 2008 and 2009.  What did we do right?  Where can we improve for 2010?

I’ve written before about now is the time to be getting back to basics, and I think this will continue into 2010.  

PKF Texas recently published more than 50 of the most popular PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook scripts as a book.  Visit www.pkftexas.com/publications for more information.
 

Posted In Observations Comments Permalink

We’ve done several Entrepreneur’s Playbooks based on leadership and I think it’s an area where pretty much everyone from staff to owner can take the time to improve upon.

AccountingWeb recently featured an article by Mark Walsh, a specialist in leadership, stress management, and time management training.

In his article, his main point is that great leadership doesn’t come from books.  You have to actively practice being a leader.  He says, “Practice is a conscious, directed activity, so simply being a manager for many years does not necessarily mean you are practicing.”

I think this is an interesting concept.  It goes along well with being a “Learner” as a leader versus being a “knower” leader.  Walsh lists several other key ingredients that good leaders have: emotional intelligence, embodiment, mentoring, and individuality.  Being a leader isn’t about reading books, says Walsh, it’s about doing.

What steps have you taken to become a better leader?  How does your team respond to your leadership style?  What has it meant to your business?

Posted In Observations Comments Permalink

Note: Running Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on KPRC 950AM. Audio files can be found on the PKF Texas - Entrepreneur's Playbook® page of the PKF Texas website.

With the current economic climate, many companies either need to find a buyer or want to prepare to sell when their industry’s market makes an upturn. How does a company prepare for a sell event so that they are rewarded with the highest price for their company?

One way to prepare now is to perform a sell-side due diligence review. This process is designed to allow current management to continue to focus on day-to-day operations while outside professionals perform agreed upon procedures on your accounting and operations records and reports.

Your financial records must be in a condition that potential buyers can quickly understand financial information and operations reports.

Accuracy and transparency are key when buyers are evaluating your company and preparing an offer. Buyers want to ensure the quality of their purchases and develop a business plan and financial model that produces a significant return on their investment.

This type of review is designed to uncover potential concerns or anomalies that you will either want to correct or make the buyer aware of during the initial discussions.  Because when it comes to willing buyers you never know when they may be knocking at your door. 

For more information about sell-side due diligence engagements, visit www.PKFTexas.com/RTP.

Posted In PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook® Comments Permalink

Russ Capper's interview with this year's Fast Tech 50 winner, Michael Kearney, president & CEO of Deep Flex Inc., is now posted to the BusinessMakers Radio Show website. 

Michael discusses how Deep Flex was able to acheive a staggering 3,000% growth and how their type of pipe works for oil companies.

You'll also hear from some familiar voices, Walter Ulrich - CEO of the Houston Technology Center, Bill Arend - Regional Manager for Oracle, Phil Morabito - CEO of Pierpont Communcitations and myself. 

Thank you to everyone who made this year's Fast Tech 50 a huge success!

Posted In Tecknowledgy , In Our Community Comments Permalink

Note: Running Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on KPRC 950AM. Audio files can be found on the PKF Texas - Entrepreneur's Playbook® page of the PKF Texas website.

We are all aware of the economic downturn in the past 2 years. It is especially troublesome for those 70.5 years of age that are required to sell off portions of their portfolios held in retirement accounts to fund Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). In early 2009, Congress passed a provision to relieve the RMD requirement for 2009 so that these taxpayers could wait for the market to recover. However, many taxpayers were unaware and withdrew their RMD early in the year. Fortunately, there are a few tax saving strategies available for those taxpayers in the next few weeks.
 
1. RMD Roll Over Provision
The new provision, which expires shortly on November 30, 2009, provides a means to rollover 2009 distributions into an IRA without having to include it in your 2009 taxable income and without RMD penalties.

2. RMD Transfer To Charity
Taxpayers subject to RMD’s may transfer up to $100,000 of IRA funds to a qualified charity by December 31, 2009 without including the withdrawal in taxable income or being subject to charitable limitations as long as it is a direct transfer from the financial institution. 

Be sure to speak to your accounting service provider about these timely tax provisions.  Tax updates from PKF Texas may be found at www.pkftexas.com/taxnews.

Posted In PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook® Comments Permalink

Gary Boomer, accounting industry guru, recently wrote about the 1% Advantage in his Inside Views column for Accounting Today.

He challenges CPA firms to commit an additional 1% of revenue to the technology budget.  He advises focusing the additional investment on workflow, processes and training.

This is exactly the same type of investment PKF Texas encouraged in our R3 (Retool, Retrain, & Retain) Entrepreneurs Playbook tips and Leading Edge magazine article.

The better you train your team, the more efficient they are and the more capacity they have.  Boomer cites a Gartner Research study that reports for every hour of training, firms gain five hours of increased capacity.

He makes the point, and I agree that it doesn’t make sense to invest in technology and not train your people.  Training of any kind is an investment, not an expense. Training your staff also shows you care about your human capital; the staff plays an important part in the quality improvement and long-term success.

Do you agree with Boomer’s challenge to invest more in technology?  If not, what alternatives would you suggest?
 

Posted In Observations 1 Comments Permalink

I'd like to wish a Happy Birthday to the United States Marine Corps.  The USMC has been protecting us since 1775, that's 234 years.  Thank you for your service and dedication!

Posted In Observations Comments Permalink

The magazine, The Week, has a sidebar feature each week called “Boring, But Important.” I’d file this entry under that category, but I would rename it, “Small, But Important.”  The U.N. International Telecommunications Union (ITU) just released a report that calls for setting a universal standard for phone chargers.

The ITU recommends phone manufacturers use the micro-USB charger.  It’s compact and more importantly, energy efficient.  Apparently if the manufacturers adopt this type of charger, the ITU expects a reduction of e-waste and the cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 13.6 million tons per year.

Manufacturers aren’t required to comply with the ITU recommendations, but several including Sony Ericsson, are making the change for their 2010 phone models.

Can you imagine a world where you don’t have a drawer full of chargers from phones you had 15 or even 5 years ago?  What other technology tools to you wish had a universal plug/charger/adapter?

Posted In Observations Comments Permalink

It’s an honor and a pleasure for PKF Texas to again serve as the Aggie 100 accountants. PKF Texas strongly supports the Mays School and its Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship here at Texas A&M.

Posted In In Our Community Comments Permalink

Note: Running Fridays in FromGregsHead.com, is a continuing series of tips brought to you by Greg Price. These run Saturday mornings during the BusinessMaker’s Radio Show on KPRC 950AM. Audio files can be found on the PKF Texas - Entrepreneur's Playbook® page of the PKF Texas website.

Recently, I introduced you to the leadership concept of being a “Learner” as opposed to being viewed as a “Knower”.  As part of my leadership class we studied this concept for quite a while as many of us were in our mid 40s to mid 50s.  As such, we are probably going to be in the workplace for a long time as the boomers start to retire in the next few years.  This will put us in contact with lots of young, eager, and passionate, but inexperienced workers.  The challenge is how to get them working with you at their optimal levels.

Here are some concepts for you to ponder as you challenge your own view of how others look at you as a leader:

1. In order to learn, ignorance “not knowing” is the starting point; yet to admit that we don’t know is a threat to our self-esteem and our public image.
2. Our culture appreciates knowledge (either real or apparent) more than it does a willingness to learn.
3. In order to create learning organizations, it’s necessary to allow ignorant organizations

Finally, people trust leaders who are “LEARNERS”, because they are confidence-based (vs. fear-based) and are authentic.

Ask yourself the following question:  “Do you love the truth more than you love your face?”

Posted In PKF Texas - The Entrepreneur's Playbook® Comments Permalink

Houston has a successful recipe for emerging market and high growth companies.  In our nine years of being the Presenting Sponsor of the Fast Tech 50 we see no drop off in the number of successful companies, and their entrepreneurial spirit.  In fact, a recent national magazine just rated Houston as the fourth best large city in America to “Start a Business”.  So what’s our “recipe for success” you ask?  Well, Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a recipe as; “A formula or procedure for doing or attaining something. And it defines success as: “A favorable or desired outcome”. So what makes up our “Success Gumbo?” 

Our emerging market Gumbo has lots of ingredients.  It starts with an attitude and a belief in yourself and your idea.  That baseline, is legacy DNA for Texans or transplanted Texans from as far back as our earliest settlers.  Then it starts with having the right infrastructure and support groups.  That infrastructure includes:  The Houston Technology Center (HTC); The Rice Alliance for Innovation and Technology; and support groups like The Gulf Coast Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (RCIC), and the Houston Angel Network (HAN).  All of these are providing forums for entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas and find financial investors and backers.  And the final receipt ingredient includes the various advisors and service providers who work with these young companies to stir and fold these ingredients so that our Gumbo comes together at the right time and the right temperature. 

The Class of 2009 will be one of the youngest we have ever had in our program. In comparing this year’s group of winners, it’s clear that they represent a much younger and still developing group of early stage companies.  They will have an impact on our local and national economy for many years to come, and they will add to the legacy of what makes Houston the top city in the country to start a business.  The threshold to make the list was 20.05% for 2009!  The average growth rate for this year’s group is a staggering 132.7%. 

During this past year we had over 390 companies express an interest in becoming a member of this exclusive club.  The Fast Tech 50 class of 2009 continues Houston’s tradition of technology excellence.  And they also bring to the forefront new and different stories of entrepreneurial success.  This year’s list of honorees includes; 20 first-time honorees, 15 two-time honorees, 7 three-time honorees, 3 four-time honorees, 2 five-time honorees and 3 six-time honoree.  Our five time honorees include:  RigNet, Inc. and ERGOS Technology Partners, Inc. And our six time honorees are: BBS Technologies, DataCert, Inc. and Triad Resources, Inc. What staying power!

During the past year we saw the on-going continuation of many successful technology events throughout the city.  The Houston Technology Center (including the Gulf Coast Innovation Conference & Showcase) and the Rice Alliance (including the highly success Rice Business Plan competition with almost $1million in prizes) held many forums for the start up community.   The Houston based Gulf Coast Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (RCIC) continues to do well.  We continue to hear from the State’s oversight group that the plans submitted from the Houston area are some of the most well received.

Qualifications

Let’s review the nomination and listing process.  To qualify for the Fast Tech 50, a company’s headquarters, or a foreign company’s US headquarters must be located in Houston SMSA region.  A minimum of 51% of the company’s consolidated net revenues must be involved in the original manufacture, design or development of technology products or delivery of services.  A nominee must have minimum net revenues of more than $200,000 in both years.  Rankings were determined on the revenue growth percentage from fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2008.

The nominees were asked to submit the following information:  nomination form; audited, reviewed or compiled financial statements or tax returns for 2007 and 2008; an overview letter; and background information on the company, its products and/or services.  Representatives from PKF Texas validated the information on the nomination form from the information packet.  The percentage of revenue growth was computed by comparing net revenues from 2007 to 2008.  During the past year we received over 360 nominations for the Fast Tech 50.   The organizations that made the top 50 places were then listed. 

Overview of the 2009 Fast Tech 50

Our Fast Tech 50 represents a wide variety of industries.  The industries represented by our award winners, and the number of entries by their area are as follows: Environmental Technology 3, Software 22,  Hardware 1, Hosting Facilities 2, Life Science 4, Technical/Consulting Services 6, eCommerce/Business Portals 3, Energy Technology Products 6, and Communications 3. 

Three of our honorees were started in the 1980s.  Eleven honorees were started in the 1990s.  Finally, thirty six honorees were started since 2000.   This group of honorees is by far, our youngest group of companies ever.  Hang on Houston; we’ve got some growing to do!

The local economic impact made by this year’s Fast Tech 50 is phenomenal!  When reviewing the entire 50 companies, an impressive overview quickly emerges.  These organizations are responsible for creating almost 3,094 jobs and over $600 million in revenues to our local economy.  No one industry dominates the Houston business climate anymore.  Our businesses are as diverse as our people and our cultures.

Nominations will be accepted for next year’s Fast Tech 50 listing by contacting the Houston Business Journal, PKF Texas, or any of the additional sponsors.  Organizations that are nominated will receive additional information and application packets during the spring of 2010. Congratulations to all of our honorees!  We look forward to seeing you in next year’s listing.

Posted In Tecknowledgy Comments Permalink

The numbers have been crunched, the envelope has been sealed and the final preparations for the FastTech 50 luncheon are being taken care of as you read this!

If you are in the tech community here in Houston, then you better be at the Hilton Americas Downtown on Wednesday for the 9th Annual Fast Tech 50 Awards.   It’s the can’t miss event of November!
 
This is the ninth year of our participation as the presenting sponsor and it will be the best event yet!  This is the third year we will be awarding one company the Paul Frison Accelerator Award.

If you don't have a seat you will miss out on the premier event for emerging and tech based companies in Houston. To register visit: http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/event/5417 or contact Lee Ann Semmel at lasemmel@bizjournals.com or 713-688-8811.
 
I look forward to seeing many of our friends at the luncheon.  A huge thanks to our sponsor group: the Houston Business Journal, FOX 26, Burnett Staffing, Employer Flexible,  the Houston Technology Center, Oracle, Phillips & Reiter, PLCC,  Pierpont Communications,  and the Rice Alliance.
 
I also want to shout out a personal thank you to my assistant, John Stephenson for doing such a great job behind the scenes working with me to get the rankings established.

Posted In Tecknowledgy Comments Permalink