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client service opportunities

the client-centric firm of the future [video]

firm of the future will shift focus from what it does to what the client wants.

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edi osborne of mentorplus is on a mission, a mission to transform the profession one firm at a time to a client-centric business model. here she describes how that fits into her vision of the so-called firm of the future.

more edi osborne here:

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outlook & analysis

more accountant job cuts in november

accounting and bookkeeping sector hits new low.

accounting and bookkeeping, all employees, in thousands

as the nation’s overall unemployment rate ticked upward to 9.8% in november from 9.6%, the number of jobs in the accounting and bookkeeping sector declined by another 1,600 to a preliminary seasonally-adjusted 876,000, according to the bureau of labor statistics. it’s a new post-crash low.

outlook & analysis

leslie murphy: your future is already here

one of the profession’s top seers predicts vast changes in the way cpas work.

by rick telberg

if you think you’ve seen big changes in finance departments and accounting firms over the last few years as a result of the wrenching recession, hold on. you ain’t seen nothing yet.

murphy

“there will be huge shifts in the way we work,” cpa leslie murphy was telling me. she speaks with some knowledge and authority. a former chair of the aicpa, murphy is president and ceo of murphy consulting inc., and an architect of the plante & moran strategies which have made the firm a fortune “100 best companies to work for” winner for ten years.

read more →

outlook & analysis

small business optimism bounces back

zero employment growth: “one of the best performances in years.”

via nfib

the national federation of independent business index of small business optimism gained 2.7 points in october rising to 91.7, not a huge move, but at least a decent jump, perhaps anticipating an acceleration in economic activity.

still, the index remains in recession territory. consumer spending and consumer sentiment remain weak, indicating that top line growth on main street will remain sluggish. the profit picture did improve, supported by increased reports of quarter-to-quarter positive sales trends. however, both sales index components are still very negative historically but are heading in the right direction.

employment
average employment growth per firm was 0 (zero) in october, one of the best performances in years. employment change has been negative in all but two quarters since april of 2007. reaching the 0 (zero) change level raises the odds that main street may contribute to private sector job growth for the first time in over a year.  ten percent have one or more current job openings, down a point from the prior month.

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outlook & analysis

most read: this week at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

what accountants are reading and talking about in the last seven days:

  1. 25 surefire ways to keep a client for life
  2. six reasons your big plans will fail
  3. strategy execution: what’s standing in your way?
  4. the coming war for talent: it’s about the money
  5. six steps to master the art of the quick phone call
  6. fun facts: 12 accountant celebrities (and more in comments)
  7. 1 in 5 junior staffers planning to quit
  8. malpractice risks: the ticking time bomb in your firm
  9. 4,700 more jobless accountants this month
  10. jason blumer: don’t believe the lies
busy season management

tax season 2011 forecast: cloudy with chance of chaos [video]

david bergstein, director of u.s. strategic relationships for cch, tells accountants to brace for new irs initiatives.

but first, all eyes are on congress.

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when will new irs forms be ready? that’s the million-dollar question.

“exciting,” says bergstein.

how much excitement can you stand?
click here to join the survey; see what other accountants are saying.

what are you planning for? tell us in comments.

client service opportunities

top 100 firms: new technologies boost client retention and revenue growth

survey shows 82% of cpas at top 100 accounting firms tie new technology adoption to client retention and firm growth.

bay street group research finds accounting firm partners are embracing document management and software-as-a-service solutions to meet client needs and expectations.

laguna hills, calif.–(business wire)–the accounting profession’s largest u.s. firms believe they are nearly 100 percent focused on client needs and expectations, and perceived by their clients as technologically savvy with the adoption of paperless and cloud-based technologies to speed productivity.

“it’s clear that firms must provide as many resources as possible to save their clients time and money. these include easy-to-use portals and other applications to enable the exchange of documents and information.”

these and other preliminary findings are the result of a new study commissioned by fujitsu and speedtax, and conducted by the bay street group, a ny-based custom research and strategic consulting firm for the professional tax, accounting and finance community.

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marketing & sales

linkedin leads in social media strategies

accountants shun facebook and twitter.

macquarrie

linkedin has established itself as “the premier social networking site” for tax, accounting and finance professionals, according to a new study by a veteran of the cpa profession.

and well over three in four professionals are planning on increasing their use of linkedin while mostly ignoring facebook and twitter.

what are your plans for using linkedin over the next 12 months?

read more →

outlook & analysis

the big accounting software packages you need to know to get hired today

quickbooks, oracle and sap dominate the want ads.

top accounting software for job seekers
click to enlarge

after tabulating about 500 job listings for accountants, new research shows that quickbooks skills are most in demand today, followed by oracle and sap.

not listed here, of course, is excel, which is a prerequisite for nearly all open accounting jobs today, according to  softwareadvice.com/accounting.

in the charts below, the big pie chart in the middle ranks the overall most-popular software packages:

  1. intuit: 27%
  2. oracle: 19%
  3. sap: 13%
  4. microsoft: 8%
  5. sage: 8%
  6. adp: 3%
  7. lawson: 2%

read more →

busy season management

needlework for busy accountants

tax season survival tips in cross-stitch.

thanks to becky watson at abbott, stringham & lynch in san jose, calif., who writes in response to  “tax season survival tips:”

to go with the touch it once time management mantra….

for my mother’s birthday, i was commissioned by my father to cross-stitch for her the following saying:

deal with it
delegate it
dump it

the phrase is something my mother was repeating a lot a few years ago, but she wasn’t sure where she first heard it.

the design is watson’s, although she credits the pattern for the letters from a cross-stitch pattern book.

leadership

are you running your firm like a business? [video]

the answer may mean the difference between success and failure.

fortunately kevin robert, cch wolters kluwer ceo, sees an increasing number of firms taking a strategic, disciplined approach to managing their practices.

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“i see more firms running more like a corporation,” he says, which is the key to effectively implementing strategies for growth, client service and technology investments.

how does your firm compare with others in implementing new initiatives?
click here to join the study panel; get the answers.

outlook & analysis

happy 25th birthday to microsoft windows

will it get another 25?

it was 25 years ago this week that microsoft released windows 1.0. microsoft chairman bill gates said at the time that windows 1.0, which carried a suggested retail price of $99 in 1985, was “unique software” that would provide “unprecedented power to users today and a foundation for hardware and software advancements of the next few years.” (see the original launch date press kit here.)

it certainly changed the accounting business.

to be sure, the first windows wasn’t really a full operating system. mostly, it was a graphical user interface that ran on top of dos.

it looked like this:

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client service opportunities

25 surefire ways to keep a client for life

arnold sanow

client service is not just smile training — it’s about treating people the way they wanted to be treated.

by arnold sanow
arnoldsanow.com

in today’s fast-changing and competitive environment, excellent client service is not only nice but essential for success. in fact, the only way to differentiate yourself and to become less of a commodity in the marketplace is through outstanding service.

more: arnold sanow at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the strategies for keeping clients for life can be honed down to some basic steps that any business owner can use. read more →