“the government agency whose entire business model relies on forcing americans to live as borderline hoarders only keeps their sh*t for six months?” stewart asks acidly. “you never get a notice from the irs that says, ‘please bring your records to us … if you can find them.’”
h/t bill sheridan
the four keys driving expansion at middletonraines.
editor’s note: in this first-person account, one of the profession’s most dynamic managing partners shares some of the methods behind his firm’s recent successes.
by wesley middleton, cpa
managing partner, middletonraines + zapata llp
as the managing partner of a firm of 37 people, i have felt protective of the strategies we are employing to be successful. i think that is the cpa in me. we will have almost doubled in year two of our firm over year one at the end of this calendar year. how have we done that? by not selling, marketing or managing like a cpa. read more →
the new norm: 63% of firms now use three or more monitors per desk.
by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless
the best place to start a conversation on computer hardware is with monitors – the easiest place to see an immediate return on your it investment.
your computer monitors are your windows into all digitally stored information and are the foundation for improving every aspect of firm production. transitioning tax production processes from physical to digital requires that all input screens and source documents be simultaneously viewable in a convenient format, which today means more screens per workstation.
- 90% of accounting firms utilized dual monitors for the 2009 busy season. today, 63% use more than two traditional monitors. – aaa 2013 paperless benchmarking survey read more →
readers’ forum: hours worked. firing clients. setting prices.
the best – or worst? – accounting marketing methods.
by wesley middleton, cpa
managing partner, middletonraines + zapata llp
i read “the 5 worst marketing methods for accountants,” by sandi smith leyva and i was shocked.
the top three that are on my list that are must do in our firm are on this list.
so let me speak from a managing partner perspective of a firm of 37 people adding 28% organic growth through these exact channels. cpa firms are getting it wrong and while i feel like i am sharing my secret, i just have to say it. read more →
plus: the 8 leadership traits driving firms toward destruction and 3 steps to fix the problem.
by august aquila
creating the effective partnership
many accountants could add to this list, but here are some of the surefire signs that a firm has weak leadership driving the firm toward implosion.
today’s topic: software and technology.
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 conducts surveys all the time, but we like to ask periodically if there are questions we just aren’t asking that you need answered.
we’re giving you the opportunity to help your fellow accountants with their pressing questions.
and 6 emerging innovations used by the best firms.
by marc rosenberg
from the introduction to quantum of paperless
cpa firms are a lot more innovative than many of us think. in fact, technology is the major area of innovation for cpa firms. the way accountants do their work has been totally transformed and continues to change every year.
some of the major innovations roman kepczyk addresses in the newest edition of quantum of paperless: the partner’s guide to accounting firm optimization include:
2. smartphones and tablets, including the touchscreen
3. cloud/saas, including portals and addressing security issues
4. workflow, including paperless audit and other software and scanning technology
5. knowledge management
6. social media networking
meanwhile, leading cpa firm managing partners leverage technology for efficiencies using one or more of nine main strategies, based on a rosenberg associates study of a cross-section of firms with revenues ranging from $3 million to $15 million. they are: read more →
in a series of interviews with some of the profession’s leading technology executives, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 identifies four new rules for success in a rapidly changing competitive marketplace. and it’s probably no accident that three of the four executives who answered our call focus on workflows and document management.
1. workflows and client service are inextricable – brock philp, president and ceo, doc.it, a document management system
2. the biggest peril is irrelevance – scott fleszar, vice president, strategic marketing, thomson reuters tax & accounting, cs professional suite
3. cpas must move from compliance to reliance – chris frederiksen, chairman, 2020 group, practice development tools
4. tax prep alone won’t support the profession – matt peterson, president and ceo, efilecabinet, document management read more →
in the “consumerization” of technology, eric pulaski, founder and ceo of smartvault, says accountants now expect more than just useful technology. it must also be simple and beautiful. blame it on apple.
pulaski founded smartvault corporation in november of 2007, and currently serves as the company’s chief executive officer. as founder, pulaski has made it his mission to deliver a simple, low-cost document management solution that uses cloud-based technology (low cost) but is centered around integration with applications customers already use, such as quickbooks. he contributed heavily to the initial formation and conception of smartvault, and continues to play a vital role in the overall product design, roadmap and go-to-market strategy.
prior to smartvault, pulaski founded and served as ceo and chairman of bindview corporation, a leading supplier of security management software solutions. under his management, the company successfully evolved from a privately funded software development group through a successful ipo, and the ultimate sale of the company to symantec corporation in 2006.
pulaski is also an active member of the executive boards for the holocaust museum houston, teach for america and the houston technology center. he provides philanthropic support to arts, health care and educational organizations.
professor william dennis huber at capella university in minneapolis argues that public accounting today has abdicated its place as a privileged profession by bounding into an ever-growing alphabet soup of designations and specializations far beyond its public mandate – and for work with no connection to its original purpose: the audit. do cpas now share a berth in society no better than acupuncturists, dental hygienists and massage therapists? we wonder. – the editors
by wm. dennis huber, jd, dba, cpa, cfe
professor of accounting, finance and business law
the accounting profession in the usa has been embodied in the american institute of cpas since 1936. thus, the history of the rise and subsequent decline and fall of the american accounting profession is as much a function of state and federal laws and regulations as it is a function of the actions of the aicpa.
we can divide the rise, and subsequent decline and fall, of the american accounting profession into six periods. each period begins with a radical discontinuity with the previous period. each discontinuity is marked by legislation or legislative-like events at either the state or federal level that impacted not just the way public accounting was practiced, but also the way the profession was organized. read more →
how good communication habits can head off problems.
by ed mendlowitz
implementing fee increases
professional fees are typically billed based on time. yet, clients want outcomes and place a value on results, which doesn’t necessarily relate to time spent.
ingrained habits are hard to break away from. for ages, many professionals quoted jobs by providing hourly rates and possibly a range of expected hours. some projects are open-ended in the sense that no one knows where it will take them and what will be uncovered once work commences. this might include a forensic investigation, litigation where the discovery process becomes acrimonious, unraveling transactions in a complicated bankruptcy, a first-time audit of a multinational corporation or a tax audit for a reasonably sized business.
however, for most work, there is an understanding of what will need to be done and the approximate value to the client. this could include an annual audit, tax return, setting up a cost accounting or internal control system or a transfer price study. read more →
five years of losses to second-tier firms.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
in what the world’s leading china-watcher in accounting calls “bad news for the big four,” kpmg was dropped a notch and ey was pushed out of the top four rankings by chinese-owned firms.
paul gillis, phd, cpa, and professor of practice at peking university’s guanghua school of management, termed the new rankings “bad news for the big four,” adding, “the big four had better find their game soon. if the trends of the past five years continue, china may be the place where the big four are beaten by the second tier.” read more →