it’s competition, not technology, that’s driving change in the accounting profession. and it’s just as scary.
by bruce w. marcus
professional services marketing 3.0
there seems to be a general impression that the changes in accounting that created the modern firm resulted from the blast of technology that began to enter the professions in the early 1980s. not so. read more →
going beyond outsourcing and virtual workers.
by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
the days are long gone when the only way to build your business was by hiring full-time employees. now there are so many more choices. many employees are interested in part-time work. some prefer to work virtually, which frees a company up from being limited to local talent. and then there’s crowdsourcing, a whole new way to tap into talented labor on a project-by-project basis.
crowdsourcing is a special way to outsource a task. with outsourcing, you know exactly who will be doing the task. with crowdsourcing, you don’t; people just show up and contribute. wikipedia calls it “distributed problem-solving.” read more →
by sandi smith leyva, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
with labor day closing in, it’s a good time to take stock of where we stand for the year, plus re-group as needed before the 2014 busy season is upon us. with so many changes in software, politics, tax laws, and global standards, it’s pretty easy to feel a little disorganized.
more for soloists and small firms: the five essential skills accountants need today | the seven essential components of a simple marketing plan for accountants | take six big steps to go beyond compliance services | when your business needs to be rebooted | two steps to easy cross-sells | the hot new tech product for automated data entry | five value-add service areas to take you beyond bookkeeping | six money-making strategies to take you beyond quickbooks | proactive ways to get more referrals | the three biggest money leaks in your practice | new client opportunities with mobile apps | six questions to launch your summer strategy sessions | what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients | accountants, do you know your opportunity number? | five ideas to reduce client price-sensitivity | rise to the top with a fresh elevator speech | four ways to practice entrepreneurial perseverance | 5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients | the top 12 business card blunders accountants make | seven tips to keep the clients you have | how to attract clients like a magnet | eleven easy ways to deliver more value to clients
here are three steps to help us take stock of our foundational business goals, re-evaluate our big picture, and get us centered as we enter the next quarter. read more →
above and beyond accounting, you need business know-how.
by sandi smith leyva, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
we’ve worked super-hard on gaining our accounting, tax, and auditing skills. those skills alone will keep us working as employees for someone else, but what if we want to go out on our own or grow our business beyond what we have now?
more for soloists and small firms: the seven essential components of a simple marketing plan for accountants | take six big steps to go beyond compliance services | when your business needs to be rebooted | two steps to easy cross-sells | the hot new tech product for automated data entry | five value-add service areas to take you beyond bookkeeping | six money-making strategies to take you beyond quickbooks | proactive ways to get more referrals | the three biggest money leaks in your practice | new client opportunities with mobile apps | six questions to launch your summer strategy sessions | what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients | accountants, do you know your opportunity number? | five ideas to reduce client price-sensitivity | rise to the top with a fresh elevator speech | four ways to practice entrepreneurial perseverance | 5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients | the top 12 business card blunders accountants make | seven tips to keep the clients you have | how to attract clients like a magnet | eleven easy ways to deliver more value to clients
here are five skills to consider adding to your toolbox so you can get ahead faster. how do you rate in each of these areas?
start with an excel spreadsheet.
by sandi smith leyva, cpa
it’s quite common for accounting firms — even the regionals — to have no marketing plan in place. the marketing plan might very well be, “get as many referrals as we can.” or it might be a number for each partner — which is not a marketing plan. or it might be, “if it’s not busy season, i’ll go to my networking group.” none of these are plans. they are individual marketing tasks and components.
the number of companies that do not have fully functioning marketing plans is certainly not surprising because marketing by cpas was illegal – and considered quite sleazy — in most u.s. states until about the 1970s. so we are a profession that has always been behind on our marketing skills.
now that most of us need to market, the relief is we can do it on our terms, using excel spreadsheets, with a bunch of numbers, adding in some deadlines, and creating a very organized process, just how we accountants like things.
so here are seven components of the kind of marketing plans i like to create. we start with an excel spreadsheet. read more →
by sandi smith leyva
accountant’s accelerator
i feel extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful set of clients that i have learned much from the last few years.
more for soloists and small firms: take six big steps to go beyond compliance services | when your business needs to be rebooted | two steps to easy cross-sells | the hot new tech product for automated data entry | five value-add service areas to take you beyond bookkeeping | six money-making strategies to take you beyond quickbooks | proactive ways to get more referrals | the three biggest money leaks in your practice | new client opportunities with mobile apps | six questions to launch your summer strategy sessions | what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients | accountants, do you know your opportunity number? | five ideas to reduce client price-sensitivity | rise to the top with a fresh elevator speech | four ways to practice entrepreneurial perseverance | 5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients | the top 12 business card blunders accountants make | seven tips to keep the clients you have | how to attract clients like a magnet | eleven easy ways to deliver more value to clients
here is a list of lessons learned that i hope will inspire you to work with your clients in new ways.
beat the billable hour by doing more than just taxes or quickbooks.
by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
as compliance services become more commoditized and automated, accountants are faced with how this affects their practice and their bottom line. they can:
those are pretty much the options available to keep profits from shrinking. but today i want to focus on the third point above, adding new services, and provide you with some ideas on how you may be able to serve your tax compliance clients in new ways.
more for soloists and small firms: when your business needs to be rebooted | two steps to easy cross-sells | the hot new tech product for automated data entry | five value-add service areas to take you beyond bookkeeping | six money-making strategies to take you beyond quickbooks | proactive ways to get more referrals | the three biggest money leaks in your practice | new client opportunities with mobile apps | six questions to launch your summer strategy sessions | what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients | accountants, do you know your opportunity number? | five ideas to reduce client price-sensitivity | rise to the top with a fresh elevator speech | four ways to practice entrepreneurial perseverance | 5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients | the top 12 business card blunders accountants make | seven tips to keep the clients you have | how to attract clients like a magnet | eleven easy ways to deliver more value to clients
even if you don’t do taxes, you will find some ideas for new related services you can think about offering to your clients. (remember, it’s easier to sell to existing clients than to acquire new ones.) read more →
four steps when things aren’t turning out the way you dreamed.
by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
how does your current business look compared to the one you dreamed about before you started your entrepreneurial journey? do you now have clients you love, a dream team, the financial rewards you are comfortable with, and plenty of free time?
more for soloists and small firms: two steps to easy cross-sells | the hot new tech product for automated data entry | five value-add service areas to take you beyond bookkeeping | six money-making strategies to take you beyond quickbooks | proactive ways to get more referrals | the three biggest money leaks in your practice | new client opportunities with mobile apps | six questions to launch your summer strategy sessions | what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients | accountants, do you know your opportunity number? | five ideas to reduce client price-sensitivity | rise to the top with a fresh elevator speech | four ways to practice entrepreneurial perseverance | 5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients | the top 12 business card blunders accountants make | seven tips to keep the clients you have | how to attract clients like a magnet | eleven easy ways to deliver more value to clients
if not, don’t give up. you can still get there, and a little business clarity may help you get there even faster.
here are four steps: read more →
start with a spreadsheet.
by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
here’s a great spreadsheet exercise you can do to identify what i call “low-hanging fruit,” which means added revenue that will not take too much time or money to go after.
open excel, and start a worksheet from the sales numbers in your accounting system.
more at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 for soloists and small firms: the hot new tech product for automated data entry | five value-add service areas to take you beyond bookkeeping | six money-making strategies to take you beyond quickbooks | 10 ways to add a “money maker” hour to your day | 11 sources of wealth we can celebrate | nine value-adds to command a higher fee | how to design your business around your strengths
by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
every business needs to do some level of bookkeeping for a couple of reasons:
1) various government agencies require reporting and payments based on the company’s results.
2) the owner needs a certain amount of information to manage their business and keep it profitable.
many business owners hire us grudgingly for compliance work because they have to. and they consider what they pay us as an overhead expense that is a required cost.
but what if we could turn that perception around?
more at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 for soloists and small firms: six money-making strategies to take you beyond quickbooks | proactive ways to get more referrals | the three biggest money leaks in your practice | new client opportunities with mobile apps | six questions to launch your summer strategy sessions | what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients | 10 ways to add a “money maker” hour to your day | 11 sources of wealth we can celebrate | nine value-adds to command a higher fee | how to design your business around your strengths
here are five areas to consider offering beyond bookkeeping that will help your clients see you as a good investment rather than as an expense. read more →
how to give clients real solutions, options and opportunities they’ll love.
by sandi smith leyva, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
many accountants are quickbooks proadvisors who offer quickbooks consulting to their clients; you may be one of them.
more at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 for soloists and small firms: proactive ways to get more referrals | the three biggest money leaks in your practice | new client opportunities with mobile apps | six questions to launch your summer strategy sessions | what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients | 10 ways to add a “money maker” hour to your day | 11 sources of wealth we can celebrate | nine value-adds to command a higher fee | how to design your business around your strengths
here are the opportunities i see to expand your client services in the area of quickbooks consulting, or for that matter, any accounting software consulting. read more →
by sandi smith leyva, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
there are many great things about getting referrals. first, referrals have a built-in trust that helps you move through the sales process faster. second, there’s almost no marketing cost involved. third, they tend to make a better long-term client.
unfortunately, many business owners take a reactive approach to referrals, waiting until they come to them, rather than a more profitable approach, which is to proactively maximize referrals. here are five proactive ways to boost referrals: read more →
start with a clean spreadsheet.
by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
there are dozens (and maybe hundreds) of ways your practice can leak money. here are three ideas that are fairly simple to implement and may be some great goals for you to consider.
more for soloists and small firms: new client opportunities with mobile apps / six questions to launch your strategy sessions / what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients / 10 ways to add a “money maker” hour to your day / 11 sources of wealth we can celebrate / nine value-adds to command a higher fee / how to design your business around your strengths / how to make it easy for clients to hire you / 12 fast, low-cost tips for a stress-less practice