Canopy, the leading cloud-based practice management platform for accounting professionals, announced the availability of new automation enhancements to its Workflow software. Canopy's Workflow automation helps firms streamline the delivery of accounting services by reducing manual, repetitive processes leading to increased efficiency and accuracy. "As accounting firms grow, they experience more complex workflows due to more clients, more internal staff, more projects, and ever-changing regulations. Managing these complexities can be time-consuming, but these new features make that experience significantly easier for firms" By incorporating automation across accounting firms' workflows, professionals have better visibility of their processes, optimize their time to get more done, and are able to use the time saved to focus on higher-value and more profitable efforts. The robust capabilities of Workflow automation are also extremely effective as a holistic practice management solution, working across the firm to ensure information is retained and the user experience is simplified.

Even with a number of workable free services for listening to podcasts, Pocket Casts is a popular option for episodic audio. Indeed, it does cost you a few dollars, but the app is well designed and offers a more comprehensive feature set that some of the free software doesn't. Following its sale, in May, to a public radio group that includes NPR, Pocket Casts is debuting a big overhaul today that makes what many consider to be the best podcast repository even better. The UI will feel somewhat familiar, but you'll notice that a few things have been tidied up. Specifically, the individual podcast episode lists and the player interface were where the tweaks stood out to me the most -- with changes to color, icons and layout. However, everything you need to use regularly is still easy to find.

With the constant barrage of emails, your promises to do one thing or another can get lost in the shuffle. You may already use Windows 10's digital assistant to set reminders for yourself, but now Cortana will take a more proactive approach to preventing things from slipping from your to-do list and through the cracks. Microsoft announced on Thursday that Cortana can now scan your emails for promises you made and remind you before they're due. To make these "suggested reminders," Cortana uses machine learning to recognize promises you've made that have a date attached to them. If you want Cortana to scan your emails, the assistant will help you keep up your appointments.