Majority of Small Business Owners See Value in HR and Regulatory Guidance from Trusted Advisors such as CPAs

NEW YORK (Sept. 7, 2016) – CPA.com and Paychex today announced an expanded program to help CPAs broaden their advisory role in human resources, an area that’s becoming increasingly difficult for small and medium-sized businesses to manage.

Businesses need the help, according to a survey of small business owners conducted this spring by Paychex. Some 44 percent of respondents agreed it was increasingly difficult to manage HR, twice as many as those who said it was not. And 61 percent said they would find it valuable if their existing trusted advisor –accountant, attorney or other consultant – offered additional guidance on HR and regulatory compliance.

CPA firms, meanwhile, are eager to broaden their role with clients, according to research from CPA.com. Developing new offerings that expand the value CPAs provide to existing clients was the top priority for firms in last year’s CPA.com Innovation in Public Accounting Survey.

Reflecting these trends, the Paychex Partner Program is designed to grow a CPA’s relationship with clients seeking guidance in payroll, retirement benefits, and now, thanks to the expanded program, human resource services. Through the program, CPAs refer clients to partner with Paychex, one of the country’s leading providers of HR and human capital management solutions, solidifying the accountants’ role as expert advisor and creating more strategic, higher-revenue consultation opportunities for CPAs.

CPAs who enroll in the program can offer their clients a suite of best-in-class services, including access to Paychex’s cloud-based platform, which integrates different offerings such as payroll, employee time and attendance, HR applications and benefits administration.

Additionally, CPAs and clients can connect to a host of flexible reporting tools to create comprehensive, customizable reports. CPAs and clients also enjoy anytime access to data and personnel information through industry leading mobile applications.

“From health care reform to new overtime rules to changes in the minimum wage, the HR landscape is evolving at a rapid pace,” said Andy Childs, Paychex’s vice president of marketing. “Keeping up with regulations requires expert guidance, and the Paychex Partner Program puts one of the most trusted advisors – CPAs – in the best position to serve clients.”

“Payroll, retirement and human resource administration are key components in the value equation of client accounting services,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “With the expansion of the Paychex Partner Program, we’re helping CPA firms move further into the advisory space, which we expect to be a growth area going forward.”

Paychex was the first member of CPA.com’s Partner Solutions lineup, and the two companies have a successful, decade-long partnership that designates Paychex as the preferred payroll, HR, and retirement services provider for AICPA members and their clients.

For more information about the Paychex Partner Program, visit www.cpa.com/paychex.

About CPA.com

CPA.com empowers CPAs and businesses for the digital age. The company offers a growing list of digital products and services that help firms succeed in practice management, client advisory services and professional development.

CPA.com is a subsidiary of the AICPA, the world's largest member organization representing the accounting profession. The company has its headquarters in New York City and offices in Silicon Valley, Calif., Dexter, Mich., and Durham, N.C. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) is a leading provider of integrated human capital management solutions for payroll, HR, retirement, and insurance services. By combining its innovative software-as-a-service technology and mobility platform with dedicated, personal service, Paychex empowers small- and medium-sized business owners to focus on the growth and management of their business. Backed by 45 years of industry expertise, Paychex serves approximately 605,000 payroll clients across more than 100 locations and pays one out of every 12 American private sector employees. Learn more about Paychex by visiting www.paychex.com, and stay connected on Twitter and LinkedIn.

CPA.com/AICPA Event on Dec. 5-7 to Have Increased Focus on Leadership and Practice Development

NEW YORK (July 20, 2016) – While technology is a vital tool, CPA firms also need to focus on leadership and practice development strategies to take full advantage of innovation. This year’s Digital CPA Conference, sponsored by CPA.com and the American Institute of CPAs, is designed to offer insight and resources to help firm leaders set goals, spot trends and identify strengths as they build their client accounting services practices.

A featured speaker at Digital CPA will be business strategist Daniel Burrus, who champions the concept of the “Anticipatory Organization,” one that can analyze long-term trends and move quickly to take advantage of opportunities that come from change. Burrus will discuss what it means to be an “Anticipatory CPA” at the conference, which will be held Dec. 5-7, 2016, at the M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas.

“This is the fifth year for Digital CPA, and we’ve really seen a maturation in the client accounting services space since we began,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “To reflect that, the conference has evolved, too. We have a greater emphasis this year on firm strategy and practice development, subjects that will give more future-focused firms an edge in the years to come and enable them to fully capitalize on today’s advanced technologies. That’s why our theme this year is ‘Taking the Lead.’”

Other speakers on the Digital CPA program include:

• Bob Bunting, CPA, principal of R.L. Bunting Consulting, former CEO of Moss Adams and onetime AICPA chairman, who will talk about growth strategies for CPA firms
• John Engels, founder and CEO of Leadership Coaching Inc., who will talk about the role leadership development plays in the future of CPA firms
• Neal Spencer, CPA, founder of Thrive or Just Survive consulting firm and former CEO of BKD, who will discuss the decision-making process

This year’s Digital CPA will be co-located with the fall meeting of the Information Technology Alliance, an influential group of CPA firm technology experts, vendors and value-added resellers. Members of the two conferences will be able to attend the others’ keynotes and networking sessions.

Credentialed media interested in attending the event should contact Jeff May, jeff.may@hq.cpa.com, for media credentials. For more information, visit digitalcpa.com

About CPA.com

CPA.com empowers CPAs and businesses for the digital age. The company offers a growing list of digital products and services that help firms succeed in practice management, client advisory services and professional development.

CPA.com is a subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the world's largest member organization representing the accounting profession, and operates such leading websites as the AICPA Store, AICPA.org and IFRS.com.

The company has its headquarters in New York City and offices in Silicon Valley, Calif., Dexter, Mich., and Durham, N.C. For more information, visit CPA.com.

Financial Document Exchange for Private Companies Honored by CPA Practice Advisor

NEW YORK (June 2, 2016) – RIVIO Clearinghouse, a financial document exchange for private companies, was the recipient last night of a 2016 Tax and Accounting Technology Innovation Award from CPA Practice Advisor, a leading publication for the accounting profession.

RIVIO was developed by CPA.com and Confirmation.com as a secure, online platform to control the flow of financial documents between private companies, CPA firms and lenders and investors. It helps prevent fraud and provides more sophisticated controls than existing delivery methods.

The Tax and Accounting Technology Innovation Award is meant to recognize “outside-the-box thinking in product development, breakthrough technologies, state of the art design and implementation, and cutting edge concepts that help accounting professionals and their clients be more productive and profitable,” according to CPA Practice Advisor.’

“We're delighted that our judges selected RIVIO Clearinghouse as one of the winners of the 2016 Innovation Awards,” said Gail Perry, the publication’s editor-in-chief. “This particular product is going to have a significant and positive ripple effect throughout the accounting profession.”

The award was presented at the California Accounting & Business Show & Conference in Los Angeles.

“We appreciate the leadership CPA Practice Advisor has shown in identifying technology trends in the accounting space,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “We think RIVIO Clearinghouse addresses a pressing marketplace need for source-validated private company financial information, and it’s gratifying when respected voices in the profession endorse that view.”

“We’re excited about the award,” said Brian Fox, president and founder of Confirmation.com. “It’s a great testament to the value of RIVIO to CPAs and their clients.”

RIVIO Clearinghouse Addresses Key Need of Bankers and Investors for Validated Data Sources

NEW YORK (May 3, 2016) – CPA.com and Confirmation.com today announced the launch of RIVIO Clearinghouse, which delivers CPA source-validated financial documents such as audited financial statements to bankers, shareholders and other investors. These documents are available through a secure, cloud-based platform that offers stronger fraud prevention and more sophisticated controls than existing delivery methods.

Private companies are the backbone of the U.S. economy, making up the overwhelming majority of the nation’s 28 million businesses. Unlike with public companies, whose key data is accessible through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR system, there is no central repository for private company financial information. As a result, many private businesses still rely on outdated methods to distribute financial statements, tax forms and other key documents, such as mailing or hand delivering paper copies or emailing unsecure files. Banks, private equity firms and other users of this information have little way of knowing if the data they receive has been altered.

The RIVIO Clearinghouse transforms how private company financial information is exchanged by:

• Validating that a financial document has been uploaded by a licensed CPA firm
• Eliminating the possibility that company management can change data once it is uploaded by the CPA firm
• Allowing companies complete control over who can view the information, so financial data remains private and protected
• Providing anytime, anywhere access to the information, which can speed lending decisions and other business transactions
• Protecting private company information with encryption and an IT architecture tested by rigorous security audits

“In today’s digital world, bankers and investors are expecting authenticated sources of data,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “The RIVIO Clearinghouse uniquely provides a system where only licensed CPA firms can upload audited and reviewed financial statements used by lenders, private equity firms and others.”

The online clearinghouse was developed jointly by CPA.com and Confirmation.com, a company that offers a market-leading solution for electronic audit confirmations and is well known in both the accounting profession and the banking industry. RIVIO—an acronym for Repository of Intelligent Validated Inputs and Outputs—has been in a pilot phase with leading firms for the past year and was named a 2016 Top New Product by Accounting Today. The clearinghouse does not replace or compete with firm or bank portals, since it was designed specifically for transferring information between three distinct user groups with features relevant to each. In time, the RIVIO Clearinghouse can be integrated into these portals.

“One of the key benefits of the new clearinghouse is fraud prevention,” said Brian Fox, CPA, president and founder of Confirmation.com. “It’s easy to alter a paper financial document or create a bogus PDF, but the RIVIO Clearinghouse prevents changes once a CPA firm uploads a financial statement. That provides piece of mind for lenders and other interested parties.”

For more information about the clearinghouse, please visit RIVIO.com

About CPA.com

CPA.com empowers CPAs and businesses for the digital age. The company offers a growing list of digital products and services that help firms succeed in practice management, client advisory services and professional development.

CPA.com is a subsidiary of the AICPA, the world's largest member organization representing the accounting profession. The company has its headquarters in New York City and offices in Silicon Valley, Calif., Dexter, Mich., and Durham, N.C. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About Confirmation.com

Confirmation.com is the world's leading provider of secure online audit confirmations. Today, 13,000 audit firms confirm over $1 trillion annually for 700,000 clients worldwide. Confirmation.com is used in over 125 countries by banks, companies, and law firm to respond to audit confirmation requests. For more information, visit Confirmation.com.

Rivio Clearinghouse to Transform Private Company Financial Information Exchange

NEW YORK (Feb. 8, 2016) – Rivio, the online financial document clearinghouse developed by CPA.com and Confirmation.com, has been named a 2016 Top New Product by Accounting Today, a leading trade publication for the accounting profession.

Rivio was selected as a winner in the “data transfer” category. “CPA.com and Confirmation.com’s mission for the platform is to eliminate outdated and unsecure methods of exchanging sensitive information such as e-mail,” the magazine’s editors wrote, “and Rivio provides the controls and collaboration to modernize the process.”

“This kind of recognition speaks to the value proposition of Rivio,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “Lenders and investors have a strong interest in obtaining the most relevant, authenticated financial information about private companies, but that mechanism didn’t really exist until now. The clearinghouse solves that market problem.”

Rivio is currently in pilot phase, with a full commercial launch scheduled later this year.

“Rivio ensures that banks, shareholders and other authorized parties can get access to CPA-reviewed financial data without fear that the information has been altered in any way,” said Brian Fox, CPA, president and founder of Confirmation.com. “It’s an important, effective tool to minimize risk and fraud.”

To learn more about the clearinghouse, visit Rivio.com.

About CPA.com

CPA.com empowers CPAs and businesses for the digital age. The company offers a growing list of digital products and services that help firms succeed in practice management, client advisory services and professional development.

CPA.com is a subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the world's largest member organization representing the accounting profession, and operates such leading websites as the AICPA Store, AICPA.org and IFRS.com.

The company has its headquarters in New York City and offices in Silicon Valley, Calif., Dexter, Mich., and Durham, N.C. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About Confirmation.com

Confirmation.com is the world’s leading provider of secure online audit confirmations. Today, 13,000 audit firms confirm over $1 trillion annually with over 3,000 banks for 700,000 clients worldwide. Confirmation.com is used in over 125 countries by banks, companies and law firms to respond to audit confirmation requests. For more information, visit Confirmation.com.