"The biggest
trend will be a continuation of something we’ve been seeing for
several years: increased mobility," said
John Pranica, CPA,
president and COO of Skyline Technologies.
The company is
based in Green Bay and Pranica has virtual offices at an Appleton
branch and his home. Remote technology lets him see the same desktop
at each location, meaning he doesn’t have to lug around another device
that once was on the list of futuristic must-haves: a laptop.
The Internet’s
usefulness will grow by leaps and bounds, Pranica said. Skyline
already cuts travel expenses by using Web-x conferencing to
demonstrate software to customers and prospective customers hundreds
of miles away.
"Both parties
can look at the same screen and follow the same cursor moves while
talking on the phone," he explained.
In the future,
CPAs may be able to meet with clients everywhere without anyone having
to go anywhere.
"I’ve already
been in meetings with five people in Appleton, one in Arizona, one in
Boise and one in Dallas," Pranica said. "The technology already
exists, and it’s being refined every day to be less expensive and
easier to use."
The aptly
named University of North Carolina-centered Office of the Future
Project employs miniature cameras to collect data and do real-time
modeling of users’ eye positions to "make distant collaborators feel
as if they were in an adjoining room and could see each other through
a large ‘window.’ " The project has explored the creation of virtual
environments that are "visually and spatially realistic, providing the
user with a strong sense of immersion."
That sounds
like something from a sci-fi movie, but Pranica said programs that
help bolster marketing and improve information flow while making
information more secure are already on the scene.
Flexibility
It will be
easier to work outside the office, but the office won’t disappear. It
will, however, be more flexible, said
Wayne Breitbarth, CPA,
president, M & M Office Interiors of Pewaukee.
"Businesses
evolve and space needs change," Breitbarth said. "More firms will turn
to furniture, work spaces, even walls, that are as easy to move around
as Tinker Toys. You need to make two offices out of a conference room
you no longer use? What are you going to do? Call a contractor? If
everything’s adaptable, you can arrange the space to meet your needs
without spending a lot of money."
Adaptable
interiors have other advantages over bricks and mortar. You can take
them to a different floor or building and—every CPA can appreciate
this—adaptable walls and work stations can be depreciated as furniture
over seven years instead of 39 for building.
Breitbarth
said the cubicle will survive because it provides privacy, but won’t
look the same as it does now.
"We’re moving
away from Dilbertville," he said. "Walls will be lower to let in more
natural light and spaces on the bottom will promote air flow."
Duct work is
already being configured to give cubicle denizens more control over
their environments. Being able to adjust each cubicle’s temperature
will make being at work more pleasant and could lower energy costs by
as much as 25 percent, Breitbarth said.
"When it’s
hot, you use less energy if everyone can control their own climate,"
he said. "Some people will set their thermostats higher instead of
putting on a sweater to fend off cold air blasting from ceiling
vents."
New
technology
"We’ve been
hearing for years that everybody’s got to have a Web site, but people
have started asking whether having a Web site actually generates any
business," he said. "Online marketing is still growing, but in the
future, the emphasis will be on tracking results, analyzing orders,
looking at what on the pages brings in customers and what turns people
away."
New
technologies will make firms more efficient and reduce costs but will
also require CPAs to better understand all aspects of business.
"Accounting
systems will evolve from focusing primarily on payables, receivables,
general ledger and billing to include planning, purchase orders,
inventory and time-capturing," Pranica said. "Everything will be
linked, and that will make things quicker and more accurate." At the
same time, he said, the amount of effort expended on data entry should
decrease as the use of imbedded-chip and radio frequency bar coding
technologies increases.
Customized
The office of
the future will also be less standardized. For example, Breitbarth
said companies are already discovering that investing in high-end,
ergonomically correct chairs can improve productivity and reduce
carpal-tunnel problems and other injuries that result from
one-size-fits-all furniture. And that, he added, may help keep down
health insurance costs.
"You’ll see
companies giving employees a choice of chairs and letting them use
each of the choices for a few weeks to decide which is best," he said.
Standardized
office lighting will also become a thing of the past.
"Those big
boxes in the ceiling that make buzzing noises all day will be gone,"
Breitbarth said. "Task lighting at work stations will make it easier
for all employees to adjust the focus and intensity of light for
whatever they’re doing at any time of day."
Finally, he
said, the office of the future will sound different than the office of
2006.
"There are
already sound-masking devices available that make it so you can’t hear
other people typing or talking," Breitbarth noted.
. . . Which
could mean that canned music will join the fax machine in the junkyard
. . . and, really, who’s going to miss either?
David Thome
is a feature writer at Emerald Isle Marketing Public Relations in New
Berlin. He can be reached at dave@emeraldislepr.com or (262)
780-0841.
