accounting and bookkeeping sector adds 17,800 jobs in may.
in the biggest single-month gain since the recession, the accounting industry added almost 18,000 new jobs in may, bringing the total headcount to 926,300, a 29-month high. in fact, accounting was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing jobs report.
client retention falls to winning new business as top issue for firms.
in a signal that the competitive wars among cpa firms have only just begun, a new survey of practitioners shows client retention and even revenue growth are taking a backseat to a desperate grab for new clients.
adding new clients ranks no. 1 for firms employing 2 to 5, 6 to 10 and 11 to 20 professionals, according to the 2011 aicpa private companies practice section’s cpa firm top issues survey, last issued in 2009. read more →
$200,000 per year doesn’t cut it anymore.
the established notion of “mass affluence” is getting pushed aside by a new study that redefines the spending power of the truly and the up-and-coming affluent as the “class affluent” and the “emerging affluent.”
key findings:
if tax season 2011 seems particularly hectic, you’re not alone.
roger russell at accounting today attributes the compressed tax season to a hold on e-filing schedule a returns and a later deadline for delivery of form 1099s.
overall, the irs processed 132.5 million individual returns through june 3, up 2.7% over last year. over 106 million were e-filed, a 12.3% increase, including 68 million by practitioners, up 12.1%.
“mandatory e-filing caused us to make significant changes in our internal process and be much more proactive in educating and communicating requirements to our clients,” jodi robinson, director at the kansas city, mo., office of cbiz mhm, tells accounting today.
meet lisa, blaise and regine.
by thomas p. graham iv
graham is the executive director of the bookkeeping center, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides accounting training to the low-income and unemployed in new york city.
accounting skills training is good for anyone simply because no one is exempt from dealing with finances, personal or otherwise. every adult has to manage his or her finances and every business, no matter the industry, needs competent individuals to handle its books.
in fact, learning these important skills can also change a person’s life for the better. i know this to be true because i see the transformative impact of this knowledge every day.
clients report little change to their external audit fees in 2010.
publicly held companies surveyed this year paid on average $3.3 million in total audit fees for fiscal year 2010, which represented an increase of 2% from the audit fees that these same respondents paid for the prior fiscal year audit, according to the financial executives research foundation, an affiliate of financial executives international.
at your firm, who’s the chief change officer?
by jean caragher and rick telberg
sevenkeyscpa.com
organizations with strong learning cultures have 37 percent greater employee productivity, are 32 percent more likely to be first to market and are 17 percent more likely to be market leaders in their segment, according to bersin & associates’ 2010 study high impact learning culture.
the same research shows that most companies do not understand this area well, despite the opportunity to drive tremendous performance improvements with almost no additional expense.
among accounting firms, less than 1 in 4 cpas say they get the training they need, according research conducted for the seven keys to successful cpa firm management.
and yet, when we separate the leading firms from the laggards, based on their performance in achieving their chosen goals, we find stark differences.
sevenkeys cpa leaders are:
1. three times more likely than laggards to conduct training that their people need;
2. three times more likely to conduct training that supports personal goals;
3. two and one-half times more likely to conduct training that their people want; and
4. three times more likely to conduct training that supports their business strategy.
the challenge is that in many firms, the learning culture isn’t “owned” by any one person or department — not the cpe coordinator, not hr, not a specific partner.
and it’s not just about cpe. a great learning culture fosters creative and dynamic knowledge sharing across rank and silo. in the end, a great learning culture creates a far more competitive firm.
who’s taking ownership at your firm for creating an agile, competitive learning organization?
the 14 strategies to build better business relationships.
it’s been said that when you look for the good in others, you discover the best in yourself.
it’s nowhere so true as in the accounting business. contrary to the cliche, accounting is a people business — most accountants spend a lot of time working directly with staffers, colleagues, superiors, clients and maybe-clients.
they make all the hard work pay off.
by rick telberg
some tax and accounting practitioners are showing how to deal with the same problems as their peers and competitors, and yet rise above them.
the results can be dazzling.
overall, 45% of accountants say this busy season was better than last year’s, including 12% who said “much better.”
indeed, for those lucky few, it was better by almost any measure. among those who reported operations were “much better” this year: read more →
better clients mean easier servicing and higher fees.
by jean caragher
capstone marketing
not every prospect will be an appropriate client for your firm. consider more than whether they are breathing, when evaluating prospective clients, such as, your fee, potential realization, the prospect’s ability to pay, year-end, growth potential, risk, leads expected from the prospect and opportunities to cross-sell. by focusing on your best new client opportunities, your client retention tactics will also focus on your best client.
hiring plans rebound. heavy demand for post-grads.
via aicpa
newly minted accountants have some of the brightest job prospects in the nation, with nearly 90 percent of accounting firms forecasting the same or increased hiring of graduates this year compared with 2010, and nearly three quarters, 71 percent, of the largest firms anticipating more hiring – an indicator of a rebounding economy.