The tech that made our year a little bit better! PKM for Accountants

Your personal knowledge management system shouldn’t depend on shiny tools and apps. It’s often the most simple systems that work better and more consistently. However, being the end of the year I think it’s worth pausing and taking a look at the tech the accountant community is loving.

Accountants are not all paper ledgers and ten keys. In this case, I was surprised at just how many accountants are using hardware and software that are not typically associated with the profession.

So, grab your coffee or caffeinated beverage of choice, and let’s see what our folks are using out there!

We have some Mac shops, baby!

For ages and ages, accountants have been tied to Windows machines because the software we used only worked on Windows. While a lot of software providers are moving to the cloud, making your OS less of a dependency, there are some apps that for some reason are still Windows only. But, there are some nifty ways folks are getting around that to enjoy the benefits of macOS while having access to their Windows apps when they need them!

The hardware doing the work

Desktops

The Mac Studio was a popular choice amongst folks, and for good reason. This beefy Mac is packed with M2 Max or M2 Ultra, includes all of the ports one would need and when paired with a monitor, laptop, and keyboard of your choice, you have quite the quiet, yet powerful setup.

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what kind of workflow an accountant could throw at this thing to stress it to its limits, so if you’re just looking for something that’ll handle a bunch of Chrome tabs, I have some other options below.

The Mac Mini is another popular option and what I would consider the gateway Apple desktop computer. You can find the base model for $499 in most places, though I’d suggest upgrading the RAM just to future-proof yourself. The smaller sibling to the Mac Studio, the Mac Mini takes up next to no space on the desk and with the updated Apple Silicon, handles much of what you throw at it.

Again, this should handle all the Chrome tabs and Microsoft Office docs you throw at it. If you do other resource-intensive tasks (gaming, photo/video editing, machine learning activities) you can spec this up based on your needs. For <$1000, you’ll get yourself a very capable machine that will last you several tax days to come.

Laptops

A maxed-out 16-inch MacBook Pro will future-proof you for years to come if you have the budget for it. As a user of a not-so-ball-to-the-wall 16-inch MacBook Pro, I can confirm that while its size/weight is evident, it performs rock solid when docked at a desk and the extra weight on the go is worth the gorgeous 16-inch display. You feel the presence of the machine but once you start working, you’re immersed and ready to work.

I’m not leaving out any Windows users. It’s just that when I asked for feedback, all but one responded with a Windows machine being their favorite tech of the year. A Surface Pro 8, soon to be 9, that is great while on the go and docked at home.

Tablets are for work too!

The iPad Pro has been a staple in my work setup for years and it’s part of many folks setup as well! I doubt folks are filing returns on iPads, but they do provide a nice in-between for client/practice management, and emails, and with recent updates to iPadOS, makes it a relatively capable machine while on the go.

Pair it with a Magic Keyboard and upgrade for the cellular version and you practically have an office anywhere you go.

The ReMarkable tablet is gaining some traction as well. It is an e-ink tablet whose primary focus is providing a paper-like writing experience. You can handwrite notes, annotate documents, and digitize them. I use my iPad Pro and Apple Pencil for these purposes but I can see this being an attractive option for folks who are looking for a dedicated device.

The things that help us work

These are all the peripherals, software, and apps folks enjoyed during the year. Look, some of these are pretty expensive, but here’s how I look at it.

If you are working on a computer for long hours daily is how you support yourself and your family, invest in products you are constantly touching. This means investing in a good chair for your butt/back/neck, a good mouse and keyboard, a good monitor, good lighting, etc. For software/apps, invest in products that give you back time.

Good is subjective, so get what makes sense for your taste and budget, but don’t overlook quality products if they will increase your quality of work.

Off my soap box! Let’s see what folks liked.

Monitors!

If you’re spending dough on a quality machine, you might also want a quality monitor like the Mac Studio Display. On the pricier side, I can see why folks want this. It's a big, nice-looking screen.

Folks are also into ultrawide monitors, as am I. Ultrawide monitors give you the real estate of two dual-screen monitors without the line in the middle cutting your content in half.

Parallels gives you what you want and need

Parallels is for folks who want to work on a Mac but still need access to a Windows machine. It lets you create a virtualized Windows machine, which for simplicity’s sake, means you’ll be able to open a full-blown Windows PC as if it were an app on your Mac. This way you’re able to install your Windows-only software and access it when you need it.

There’s a lot more tax software out there than I realized

TaxDome is popular among folks for practice and client management. Drake Tax is one of those applications that folks are either running on a separate Windows PC or using Parallels on a Mac to access. And UltraTax is another app folks are using for tax prep and filing.

I think there’s still a way to go in terms of developing a comprehensive accounting practice management software that’s not cost-prohibitive or owned by giant organizations that don’t prioritize the client experience. Accountants know who I’m talking about.

The accessories that make a difference

A docking station is an underrated component. It helps keep things clean because you can plug all the things into the dock and then feed one USB-C cable to your machine. The Caldigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock is a popular option, but also the most expensive at $399. You can find cheaper docks of varying ranges and features from Anker as well.

A great keyboard and mouse make a difference for every setup. The Logitech MX Keys series is always popular and they have expanded the lineup quite a bit to include various colors, full-sized, tenkeyless, and mechanical options.

I’m a sucker for keyboards and rotate them quite often but the Logitech MX Master 3s mouse (the big one) stays on my desk at all times and accountants seem to agree! The Logitech MX Anywhere 3S (the small one) is more compact and one that I keep in the backpack for travel.

Folks also mentioned the MOFT Invisible laptop stand, something I’m a big fan of! It's slim and sleek, and the origami fold works well to elevate your laptop to a few different viewing angles.

Look good, feel good!

A dedicated webcam goes a long way in improving your Zoom game. There’s something about a sharp, HD image that impacts that first digital impression.

Folks like the Logitech StreamCam for its 1080p resolution, flexible mounting options, and auto framing.

What I’m using

Finally, here’s my favorite hardware of the year. I featured some of it on my personal blog as well.

The powerhouse

This year was my first in public accounting doing all of my work on a 16-inch MacBook Pro and it was a game changer. This is the most reliable computer I’ve owned and never did it stutter, freeze, or require me to restart to fix some weird glitch.

If you’re looking for something powerful, reliable, and worth the cash, a MacBook Pro can go a long way.

The accessories

Noise-canceling headphones like the Bose QC 45 make it easy to focus in noisy places, including my home office, and this BenQ ScreenBar Halo mounts to the top of my LG Ultrawide Monitor and lights my entire workspace which lets me turn off the rest of my office lights (I like to work in the dark).

I'm using the Insta360 Link as my desktop webcam and also started carrying around an Opal Tadpole while on the go. Both are 4K webcams that are plug-and-play and offer companion software that lets you tweak things to your liking.

An Elgato Stream Deck gives me access to tons of buttons that control lights in my office, and music from Spotify, and store my favorite links, bookmarks, apps, ChatGPT prompts, etc. You name it, there's a way to create a button for it!

While at my desk, all of these things are plugged into my Anker USB C dock so that I only feed one cable to my laptops. I chose this one because it offers 100W charging, which is enough to charge all my laptops. You may not need 100W and may be able to get by with 50-60Ws. When I'm on the go, this 140W Anker 6-in-1 charging station gives me all the juice, outlets, and USB ports I need to keep things powered.

The apps

2023 was the year of intentional consumption for me and Readwise played a big role in helping me achieve that. It consolidates things I read across the internet, making it easier for me to remember what I read and what I felt when I read it.

Fantastical is my calendar app of choice since it lets me use natural language processing to create things in my calendar. Its calendar sets feature also lets me better manage multiple calendars.

Craft is where I spend most of my time writing blog posts like these, although Capacities is making an end-of-year push! And ChatGPT (surprise surprise) is always a pinned tab on my browsers since it lets me pick my own brain.

Backups and security are important!

So far it’s been all fun but let’s get serious for a second. Accountants deal with very important data and data must be backed up and secure. The solution you use depends on your situation, but here’s what I’m doing to keep my data safe and backed up.

iCloud and Google Drive are what I use to keep my files synced and available. Unlike most folks, I’m not saving many files locally to my desktop. It’s personal preference but I’m fortunate to have the cloud services I need and internet speeds at home to justify all the downloads/uploads.

Local backups to my NAS are another way to protect your data. I use my Synology NAS to automatically back up my Mac. I’ll also keep an external hard drive and back up my PC there as well. If you’re interested in learning more, I’d suggest the 3-2-1 backup system.

Finally, services like Backblaze offer another backup solution that stores your backups in the cloud.

Phew. Are you tired? I'm tired.

That's a lot of tech. If there's one thing I confirmed while writing this it's that our accountant community is pretty techy! I’m glad to be a part of it.

Hope everyone has a great new year!