Ep. 230: Tom Woolley - Connecting the Dots: Technology, Security, and the Future of Accounting

In this riveting episode of the Count Me In Podcast, we dive into
the complex world of cybersecurity within the accounting
profession. Join us as we sit down with Tom Woolley, CEO of Today
CFO and Founder of  Today Cybersecurity, who has navigated
the transitions from corporate industry to founding his own cloud
accounting firm, and then into cybersecurity for accountants.
Discover the biggest challenges faced by organizations today,
from integration headaches to the buffet of software solutions.
Whether you are a Fortune 100 company or a mom-and-pop shop,
you'll gain insights into striking the right balance with
technology to ensure information security. With regulations
tightening, get ahead of the curve with expert advice and
real-world solutions. Don't miss out on this episode – tune in
now!


Connect with Tom:
* Website: www.todaycybersecurity.com
* Tom's LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-w-2b6256173/
* Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/todaycyber
* Twitter: https://twitter.com/todaycyber_
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/todaycybersecurity/
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/today-cybersecurity/


Full Episode Transcript:
Adam:    Welcome to another
enlightening episode of Count Me In. Today we have an
exceptionally exciting conversation lined up for you. Our guest
today is my fellow podcaster, and an author on Amazon's
bestseller list, Tom Wooley. He has expertise in corporate
accounting. Spanning sectors like pharmaceuticals, oil, and gas,
and now he's making waves in the realm of cybersecurity. 


 


From big corporations to small businesses, the tech landscape is
ever-changing, and Tom's insights are here to guide us through
it. We'll discuss;
The rapid shift to remote work. The challenges of secure
information handling. The complexities of selecting the right
software. And the impact of new regulations. 

 


Buckle up, as we explore how technology is shaping the future of
accounting. Tom, welcome to the show.


 


Adam:           
To start off, I just really wanted to, maybe, you can talk a
little bit about your background and how you got here.


 


Tom:             
 Hi, Adam, thanks so much. It's a pleasure to be
here. So I've been an accountant for 15 years, in the corporate
industry before starting my own firm. I started off in
pharmaceuticals, and then went to oil and gas in more of the
financial analysis role and a lot of management accountancy. One
of the things I used to do a lot of was whenever we would acquire
a new company, we had to look at their financial systems. What
they had in place, and then integrate them into our SAP financial
system. All their historicals, and then get them trained, up and
running for the future.


 


So I got a lot of experience, and had a lot of fun working in
accounting technology in my corporate career. And then decided
that, "Hey, there's a lot of technology to be brought or to be
moved over and implemented in the small business accounting world
as well. Smaller firms need just as much tech, if not more,
sometimes, than the big guys. And with the way the technology
world is moving, especially, with everything going over to the
cloud.


 


I decided to start my own cloud accounting firm, back in 2015.
And, then, when everybody started going remote, in 2020, I
decided that was a good time to pivot again and go into
cybersecurity, for accountants. And help other people tackle some
of those issues that we saw as we transitioned to a lot of people
working from home, remote, and just coping with a very wild and
flexible world, over the last couple of years.


 


Adam:           
Yes, it's been a very wild and flexible world. There's been so
many things happening with everybody working from home, and all
the challenges that organizations face. And cybersecurity is
something that's in the news every day. You see ransomware
attacks, and so many different things that's affecting so many
organizations. 


Maybe we can start by talking a little bit about what are some of
the biggest challenges you see organizations facing, when it
comes to cybersecurity.


 


Tom:             
 Absolutely, there are a couple of things that
really hit home. It's how to keep everybody working in a fluid
environment. Where you can access all of your information
securely. How can you find your clients' information securely?
How can you receive it from them securely? We work in a time
where we've got so many different communication channels. We have
to actually tell our clients what is a safe and good way to get
your information over to us. 


 


And when we started transitioning from working in the office to
working from home, the biggest challenge that we faced, and that
other accountants are facing is–how do you go mobile with all of
that? How do you keep it in the cloud and know that it's secure?
And, really, importantly, how do we instill that trust
relationship with our clients. So that they know that their
information is in good hands? And we started looking at so many
different software out there. 


 


The second challenge is with a huge buffet of cloud software.
Which one goes with which? How does it integrate? And it really
came down to what does the process look like, for internally and
externally with our clients? And that's what we hear a lot; is
which software should I use? 


 


How do I implement it? 


 


There are some all-in-ones out there. Should I piecemeal,
together, best in class? And there are just so many solutions.
Accountants don't have time for that, especially, during tax
season, which has been basically year-round for the last couple
of years.


 


Adam:           
Yes, I can only imagine. And also the biggest challenge, too, is
if you're a Fortune 100 company, you have a lot more financial
ability to get a larger software. A big all-in-one software. But
if you're a smaller organization, or a Mom-and-pop shop, it's a
lot harder to implement those bigger softwares. And, so, trying
to find that challenge; how do you balance that depending on
which organization you're with?


 


Tom:             
 Yes, that's a great question. There are smaller
softwares like QuickBooks Online and Dropbox, that people,
typically, use when they're starting off. All the way up to SAP
or NetSuite when they're the Fortune 100. So it really comes down
to what is the budget and how customizable does it need to be.


 


Something like NetSuite requires not just getting the software,
but hundreds or thousands of hours of customization, and
implementation, and training. And what we really want to go for
is finding out how the firm is interacting interna...