Tech - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

When Your Boss Calls, But It’s Not Really Your Boss: Deepfake Fraud Is Here

Picture this: Your CFO calls you on Zoom. She’s asking you to process an urgent wire transfer for a confidential acquisition. You can see her face. You recognize her voice. Other executives are on the call too, nodding along. Everything looks and sounds exactly right.

So you authorize the transfer. And $25 million disappears into a criminal’s bank account.

This isn’t a hypothetical. This happened to engineering firm Arup in early 2024. Every single person on that video call was fake—AI-generated deepfakes created from publicly available conference footage and interviews. The finance employee didn’t stand a chance. And honestly? Neither would most of us.

Welcome to 2026, where seeing is no longer believing, hearing definitely isn’t either, and “I’ll believe it when I see it” has officially retired as a useful phrase.

The Numbers Are Staggering (And Not in a Fun Way)

Deepfake fraud drained $1.1 billion from U.S. corporate accounts in 2025—triple the $360 million lost the year before. By midyear, documented incidents had already quadrupled the entire 2024 total. And here’s the stat that should keep every business owner up at night: 72% of business leaders now identify AI-enabled fraud and deepfakes as their […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2026-03-03T17:51:44+00:00March 3rd, 2026|AI, Tech|0 Comments

The Great Subscription Creep: How Software Costs Are Quietly Eating Your Budget

Quick question: How many software subscriptions does your business pay for right now?

If you answered with confidence, you’re in the minority. If you said “I think around 10 or 15?” you’re probably closer to reality—but still low. The average small business now pays for over 15 different software subscriptions, and here’s the uncomfortable truth: you’re likely wasting 30% of that budget on seats nobody’s using.

Welcome to the era of subscription creep, where $12.99 here and $49/month there quietly compounds into a line item that would make your 2015 self faint.

Death by a Thousand Monthly Charges

Remember when software came in a box? You bought it once, installed it, and used it until the CD physically disintegrated. Those days are gone, replaced by the SaaS (Software as a Service) model that promised flexibility and always-updated tools. And it delivered! But it also delivered something else: a slow, steady drain on your operating budget that’s accelerating faster than inflation.

Here’s what the numbers look like in 2026: SaaS costs per employee hit $9,100 annually—up from $7,900 just two years ago. Total SaaS spending increased 8% year-over-year even though companies aren’t adding more tools. 61% of […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2026-02-17T18:42:53+00:00February 17th, 2026|AI, business, Tech|0 Comments

The Great Hardware Squeeze: What Rising Tech Costs Mean for Your Business (And Your Budget)

Remember when you could order a new laptop and have it show up in a week without breaking a sweat—or your budget? Those days are feeling increasingly like a distant memory.

If you’ve tried to purchase computers, upgrade servers, or even just buy some additional RAM for your business lately, you’ve probably noticed something: prices are climbing. Fast. And unlike past tech price fluctuations, this one has some staying power behind it. Let’s unpack what’s happening, why it matters to your business, and what you can actually do about it.

What’s Driving the Price Surge?

Two major forces have collided to create what industry analysts are calling a “Component Cost Super-Cycle.” Think of it as the perfect storm, except instead of rain, it’s dollar signs pouring out of your IT budget.

The AI Appetite is Insatiable

Here’s the twist nobody saw coming: artificial intelligence isn’t just changing how we work—it’s fundamentally reshaping the hardware supply chain. The massive data centers powering AI models like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and countless enterprise tools […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2026-01-27T15:08:31+00:00January 27th, 2026|AI, business, Tech, technology|0 Comments

The Great Starbucks Gift Card Incident of 2025 (And Why Your Holiday Inbox is a Minefield)

Picture this: Thanksgiving week at an accounting firm. Everyone’s wrapping up projects before the holiday, planning their Black Friday strategy, when suddenly—Christmas came early! A $25 Starbucks gift card lands in everyone’s inbox. “How thoughtful!” they all said. “The firm really gets us!”

Spoiler alert: The firm didn’t send it. It was part of our monthly employee phishing campaign tests.

A quarter of the team had already clicked that link, ready to fuel their pumpkin spice addiction, before someone asked the fateful question: “Hey, did anyone else’s card not work?”

Welcome to our very own holiday phishing attempt. Nothing happened (other than those who clicked the link got signed up for extra cyber security training), but watching some smart minds fall for a fake latte was… educational (and mildly entertaining).

Why the Holidays Are Hacker Christmas

Here’s the thing—that fake gift card didn’t work because we’re gullible (we do cyber security training for all staff, through out the year). It worked because it was PERFECTLY timed. During the holidays, our defenses are down and our expectations are […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2025-12-03T20:54:47+00:00December 2nd, 2025|AI, Tech|0 Comments

The AI Time Machine Paradox: Why Your “Time-Saving” Tech Might Be Stealing It Instead

Remember when we all thought smartphones would give us more free time? Yeah, about that…

We’re seeing the same pattern play out with AI in business today. Every vendor promises their AI solution will “save you hours,” “boost productivity by 300%,” and basically turn your team into efficiency superheroes. But here’s what they’re not telling you: firms will spend the next year experimenting with AI to find more complementarity with humans (Wharton School), and that experimentation phase? It’s expensive—in both time and money.

The Hidden Cost Nobody Talks About

Picture this: You’re a growing business owner who just invested in AI tools to streamline operations. Six months later, you’re drowning in more meetings, more training sessions, and somehow less actual work is getting done. Sound familiar?

While AI tools are now commonplace, most organizations have not yet embedded them deeply […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2025-11-18T17:21:18+00:00November 18th, 2025|AI, Tech|0 Comments