Xero has named PayPal executive Peter Karpas as the company's first North American CEO. And the New Zealand-based cloud software company showed the importance of the market in the United States by naming a former Microsoft CFO as the company's new chairman.

The surprise might not be that small accounting firms do not keep up with technology. The surprise in the results of the first Annual Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey is more in just how few of the most widely discussed technologies are not being used in the accounting profession.

Jill Ward, who has headed Intuit's programs for accountants, is leaving the company. In a letter, Ward says she would leave the Mountain View, Calif.-based company in March to return to be near her family in Boston, Mass. She will be replaced by Jim McGinnis, who joined Intuit in 2010 as VP of the Accounting Professionals Division. McGinnis brings several years of international experience to the accountant program.

CPA firm owners are well aware of their payroll costs and tend to be very cautious when it comes to investing in administrative personnel. Much like the accounting staff, members of the administrative group must provide value that will generate a solid return on their investment.