skills shortage could stall growth

with small, but consistent, upticks in corporate earnings, the employment outlook may be improving. and that means accounting firms should be preparing for the next talent shortage. u.s. employers rank among the tops in complaining about a shortage of the … continued

the recession has battered most accounting firms. here’s a seven-step plan to start rebuilding trust

a framework for action.

if trust has been broken in your accounting firm—and given the great recession, odds are, it has been—you must start now to rebuild it.

michelle and dennis reina, authors of “rebuilding trust in the workplace: seven steps to renew confidence, commitment, and energy” (berrett-koehler, 2010),  recommend a seven-step process, drawn from two decades of research, for healing and rebuilding trust.

to be sure, the seven-step process isn’t a silver bullet. but it may provide a framework for leaders to demonstrate courage and to take concrete, constructive, and compassionate action. read more →

winning firms know the secrets of keeping good accountants

work/life balance proves essential to recruiting, retaining staff.

by rick telberg

if that cpa working next to you appears stressed out by the job, take a long, hard look because you may not see him or her again in the future.

while cpas in all walks of the profession are strained and face tough workloads, those feeling the greatest stress and workplace demands are more likely to be seriously in the market for another job. at any given moment, according to my studies, about one on three cpas would consider changing jobs, even it meant a pay cut, in exchange for better working conditions. among the most stressed-out cpas, the ratio of job seekers jumps to about half.

so it’s imperative for managers of cpas to offer state-of-the-art workplaces if they want to retain hard-to-find staff. read more →

how long do you keep a client?

warning: your clients’ answers may differ.

by jean caragher and rick telberg
sevenkeys cpa

new studies conducted by the bay street group and the capstone marketing group illuminate several very significant gaps between the opinions of clients and their cpas. these studies allow us to begin to understand what our clients really think.

continued at accountingweb.com

the battle for the center gets heated

mid-sized accounting firms step up competition for the heart of the market.

source: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

by rick telberg

no one is fighting harder for every new client and every new dollar than the accounting firms in the middle of the market, according to new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research.

nationwide, an astonishing 86% of mid-sized firms (those with five to 15 partners or about 51 to 100 employees) have been stepping up their marketing efforts, according to the new study.

to be sure, firms of all sizes are increasing their marketing activities  — from solosists (about 47%), to 2-to-10-person offices (55%), through 11-to-50-person offices (73%), and the more-than-100-persons offices (77%). but it’s in the 51-to-100-person category that the battle seems most heated these days.

read more →

what you think you know about your clients is probably wrong

by jean caragher and rick telberg
sevenkeys cpa

according to the aicpa’s latest cpa firm top issues survey, the most significant challenge facing cpa firms of all sizes across the nation today is gaining new clients. but too many firms overlook the low-hanging fruit of their existing client bases.

it starts with asking the right questions. in fact, we’ve found over and over again that:

  1. most firms do not know why they are hired or why clients fire them.
  2. the reason most firms do not know why they are hired or fired is that they do not ask.
  3. what they think they know is wrong, because they do not analyze it.

continued at accountingweb.com.