for all the stresses of running a business, an amazing 86% of small business owners love what they do for a living, according to a new study by toronto-based wave accounting, which builds and offers free (ad-sponsored) accounting software for small business.
and 82% say the rewards far outweigh the challenges. they’re committed to their path, too, with 56% answering “never!” to the question: “would you ever go back to working for someone else?”
new partner program with other software vendors supports immediate integrations.
via cch wolters kluwer
tax and accounting professionals now have a new way of working, integrating applications from different sources on cch’s new “open” integration platform, sharing common data and streamlining workflows easily between systems. applications available for integration include those created by cch, and other applications by third-party providers – and even applications developed within a firm or corporation.
let me warn you in advance – reader discretion is advised.
succession planning is a very sobering topic. during several retreats i have led, this issue has literally brought tears to partners’ eyes. they start popping prozac like m&ms. why? because succession planning forces us to confront our own mortality. this is never easy – just ask your estate planning clients.
before the recession, the aicpa’s survey of firms’ top practice management issues consistently reported succession planning as the no. 1 area of concern. more recently, recession-related issues such as bringing in new clients, client retention and fee pressure have pushed succession planning back to no. 5, but most industry observers regard it as the no. 1 endemic problem in the cpa profession. and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. read more →
dan hood, the new editor of accounting today, talks about the one issue facing the cpa profession that both overshadows them all and binds them all together.
announced at the 2012 aam summit in partnership with the aicpa practitioners symposium and tech+ conference. see complete list of winners.
via aam
the association for accounting marketing distributed 38 marketing achievement awards (aam-maas) to 24 different firms in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the areas of accounting marketing and communications.
ten judges, including professionals in advertising, consulting, professional services and marketing, judged nearly 130 entries from 60 different firms in 20 different categories. each judge reviewed and judged entries in his/her area of expertise. accounting firms from all over the united states and canada competed. categories included branding, collateral, marketing campaigns, advertising, website, multimedia, internal programs, events, surveys, business development/lead generation and maverick marketing.
this was the 18th year that the annual awards were presented. recipients were announced at the 2012 aam summit in partnership with the aicpa practitioners symposium and tech+ conference, held in las vegas, nv on june 11, 2012. additional awards presented were rookie of the year awarded to kari reynolds, mgo; volunteer of the year awarded to laura sparks, creative sparks llc; marketer of the year awarded to donna erbs, anders, minkler & diehl llp; and hall of fame inductee awarded to chris perrino, barnes dennig.
techno-pundits have been predicting the demise of office paper for decades. but now it appears that accountants are actually achieving the paperless office, at least technologically, with the help of the cloud. but actually thinking paperless? well, that’s another story.
accountants’ average total compensation held relatively steady in 2011, increasing 0.9 percent from $128,486 in 2010 to $129,591, according to ima’s 23rd annual salary survey, released this month in strategic finance magazine.
if yogi berra was ever asked what he thought perception was, he might have said, “the one thing about perception is that people have different perceptions about perceptions.”
we can all try do a good job in trying to present a professional perception to others but the final verdict from our efforts occurs in the eyes and minds of those we are talking, working or meeting with. we can think we presented one way but it may be interpreted in another way. can you spell perception?
more from nick keseric for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members (go pro here):
income statement, balance sheet, cash flows? it’s time for a fourth statement.
[jwplayer mediaid=”20231″] edi osborne
by edi osborne
ceo, mentor plus
in the words of bonnie raitt, “let’s give ’em something to talk about; a little something to figure out.”
fact or fiction, rumors or true business intelligence, those that can make the distinction have a huge opportunity to add value to their business relationships.
recently, i had the opportunity to sit down with several business owners to interview them about how they make business decisions. decisions, as it turns out, are one of the most important reasons business owners walk away from nine-to-five jobs. business owners like to have control over their destiny. they actually thrive on the decision-making process and are willing to live with the consequences of those choices. and although, business owners don’t want anyone to take away their options, they do want someone to help them examine them. they want to know that the information they are basing a decision on is accurate and relevant. that it is not conjecture, rumor, or worse yet, self-serving misinformation provided by others at the company. sounds like a job for a true, trusted adviser, would-be super hero.
unfortunately, when asked about the quality and quantity of data, business owners utilize daily to inform their decisions, including the real-time, management value of financial statements, their answers paint a very unsatisfactory picture of the decision support provided by their accountant. as the role of cpas who serve as cfos in a corporate environment has morphed into that of a cio — chief information officer — cpas in public practice continue to lag behind in this transition. when pressed on this issue, many cpas admit they want to do more, but they are not comfortable outside the realm of compliance matters.
more from edi osborne for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members (go pro here):
so how can public cpas become chief information officers? how can they utilize their accounting skills to capitalize on the fast growing business intelligence market?
the art of giving and taking feedback for a happy office.
by rick telberg
we’ve been asking accountants and finance managers how well their offices use feedback to keep folks happy. it’s clear that a little do-and-don’t advice seems in order for some of the nation’s accounting firms and finance departments.
our sources report some pretty big problems on the do side. out of seven questions in a cpa trendlines study, five showed that fewer than half the accounting and finance offices nationwide were doing what they should be doing all (or most) of the time.
for instance, feedback offered on behavior — rather than on personality: only eight percent of managers do it all the time, and only 37 percent do it frequently. a full 20% do it rarely or never at all. ouch! whoever’s doing the feedback could use a little feedback themselves.
not to sound too much like your mother or anything, but couldn’t you do a little better job at your job? couldn’t you do a little more to satisfy your clients?
more for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members on client service and retention:
also: illegal acts issues in financial statement audits and governance communications. 
announced at the 2012 aam summit in partnership with the aicpa practitioners symposium and tech+ conference. 
a new salary survey of management accountants isn’t bad news. but it’s not great news either.
