management

19 easy ways to cut costs, find more cash in time for tax season

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start the new year with the resources you need. by sandi smith, cpa accountant’s accelerator could you use a bit of extra cash each month? i think most people would say yes.here are several tips to start your new year with a little more green in your pocket.

sandi smith

more for soloists and small firms from at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间: more for soloists and small firms:   •    10 tips for creating more energy this tax season  •   take a cue from venture capitalists: your firm needs a brain trust trinity    •   accountants, do you know your opportunity number?    •  five ideas to overcome client price-sensitivity   •    5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients  •  3 steps to start running on millionaire time   •  the missing ingredient in your marketing that will make all the difference 

  1. if you bill your time by the hour and sometimes forget to write your time down (i know i’m guilty), put in some extra procedures to capture that time. that’s a big cash drain in your business that needs plugging in 2013. read more →

practice doctor q&a: how to get started in family office services

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aincluding a sample engagement letter.

question: some of my clients are getting older and are becoming unable to handle their own financial affairs and i have been asked if i could assist them.  what is involved and how do i charge for it?

ed mendlowitz, vpa, pfs, abv, responds: many large firms provide “family office” services.  this is a complete one stop financial service that helps clients manage their money, pay their bills, collect their dividends and interest, and make sure insurance isn’t cancelled, mortgage, car lease or condo fee payments aren’t skipped, and tax payments paid on time.

more from ed: seven ways to increase fees in 2013 | 10 best practices for tax season  | nine healthy things to do during tax season  |  12 reasons to love tax season | free instant download: sample fee schedule for 1040s | ask the geek: a couple great gadgets for saving money on all your other gadgets | three and a half ways to get your own cpa practice |  also: “implementing fee increases” and “the tax season opportunity guide.”

following is a sample engagement letter that i use with clients needing such services. also, this letter provides a detailed description of what the service involves. read more →

when’s the right time for a full-time quality control reviewer?

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not when, but how?

question: i want to improve my firm’s review and quality control. do you have any suggestions?

ed mendlowitz responds: this is a recurring issue for most firms. every cpa practice needs quality control. the issue is whether a dedicated quality control (“qc”) person is needed and, if not, how the qc can be done without one.

a practice is a business and every business must be run efficiently and profitably. qc is an area that i have found many firms getting tied up in and either spending nothing or much more than they should.

more ed mendlowitz:  free instant download: sample fee schedule for 1040s    |  tax season opportunity guide 2013   |  12 reasons to love tax season   |   implementing fee increases for 2013

a firm needs a dedicated qc person when the work load volume warrants it, especially where there are bottlenecks and backlogs because the supervisor or partner who would review the work is not readily or easily available; the scheduling becomes exceedingly difficult; and the expertise and training becomes more specialized and wider in scope. read more →

management philosophy of a cpa firm

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what many firms get backwards.

by marc rosenberg, cpa
author of “cpa firm management and governance.”

i have used the flowchart you see here for nearly 20 years and it has not lost one iota of relevance in demonstrating how to effectively manage a cpa firm. its message is simple yet powerful.

most firms make the mistake of managing from the bottom of the chart, and try to work their way up. the firm is primarily managed by:

  • appointing a managing partner who usually is the guy with the biggest book of business but often is a lousy manager.
  • allocating income based on an “eat what you kill” mentality. the partners reason that altering the size of one’s paycheck is the best way to provide feedback to a partner which will, in turn, lead to improved performance.

there are many flaws to this management approach, a couple of which are: read more →

five ways for partners to lead by example this busy season

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dustin hostetler

this busy season will test new processes – and a firm’s leadership. [how are accountants feeling about about busy season? join the survey; get the answers.]

by dustin hostetler
flowtivity

as many firms get ready to implement and leverage new and improved processes as busy season ramps up, i thought it’d be worth considering a few pointers for the partner leadership group to keep in mind over the next several months.

related: the coming storm in staff turnover (video)  | three strategies to improve buy-in for change

and i should probably add a disclaimer to take the accounting hats off for a minute and realize this isn’t an exhaustive list nor is it literal in every example.  there are always going to be exceptions, but the more you can abide by the following ideas the better off your firms will be and you’ll be providing better client service as well. read more →

take a cue from venture capitalists: your firm needs a brain trust trinity

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how to give your firm the three distinct personality traits that spell outrageous success.

by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator

i was reading chip conley’s book, the rebel rules: daring to be yourself in business. despite its title, the book doles out fairly standard business advice, except for a handful of tiny tidbits of sheer brilliance. one is the list of items that investors are looking for when considering providing startup money to new businesses.

sandi smith

more for soloists and small firms:   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’re never going to seek venture capital money to help to fund your practice, chip’s advice makes a great question to consider for your firm, especially if yours is a small or sole-owned firm. read more →

the “aha moment” in cpa firm leadership

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are you leading, or merely managing or administering?

by marc rosenberg, cpa
author of “cpa firm management and governance”  

when attending conferences, we love “aha” moments.  those are moments when a speaker says something so profound that it causes a sudden understanding of a major issue and captures our imagination.  we can’t wait to get back to the office, share it with our partners and start implementing the idea.

more on cpa firm management and leadership:   leadership is overrated: it’s good management that makes successful firms •  40 great ways to improve firm profitability  •  four management metrics that fool even the best-run firms  •  19 ways to improve accounting firm profitability • de-bunking the myth about niche marketing for tax and accounting firms • practice development is no longer an optional activity • 10 good ways the achieve partner accountability • pick your partners right to begin with • the first nine questions your partner team needs to embrace for optimal profitability • profitability and the value of strategic thinking • the five essential building blocks for creating a strong accounting firm • the seven signs of great leadership in a cpa firm • compensation issues for the new managing partner •

marc rosenberg
marc rosenberg

i had an “aha” moment not so long ago.  the speaker was bob bunting, long time managing partner of regional firm  moss adams, a leader in our profession par excellence.   he delivered a very simple but powerful statement that described a value system at moss adams:

  • leadership is worth more than your billing rate.
  • management is worth your billing rate.
  • administration is worth less than your billing rate.

my take on this is: read more →

seven ways to build the right culture

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and five ways how not to implement a system of partner accountability.

august j. aquila

august aquila, a veteran practice management consultant, works globally with accounting firms on leadership and management issues. if you’re thinking about the quality of leadership at your firm, think on this.

five wrong ways to make partners more accountable:

  1. let’s make it into a checklist. one thing you can count on – accountants love checklists. it seems that a checklist is the answer to all our problems. read more →

how to change a partner

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august aquila
august aquila

take a lesson in change management from weight watchers.

by august aquila
aquilaadvisors.com

david maister in “strategy and the fat smoker” notes that there are two elements needed in order for us to change. the first is a willingness to do it. the second is determination. but alas, we know the path to hell is paved with good intentions.

there are a multitude of platitudes about change. but unless we change we don’t grow and the skills that got us to where we are, won’t get us to the next level. none of us can achieve more unless we become more. if i fail to change, i will not produce different or better results, but only the same thing. this is extremely dangerous because the world around us – our clients, our employees, the market place continue to change.

take a quick acid test. what do you know today that you did not know five years ago? ten years ago? if your list is short, you haven’t changed much. if your list is long, congratulations! the longer the list, the better.

is there a change process?

the quick answer to the question is yes. read more →

novice manager needs to know: how to do it all?

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15 strategies for a first-time supervisor’s success.

here at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, ed mendlowitz answers some of the toughest questions practitioners can throw at him. he’s the right one to ask. after more than 40 years in the business – building his own practice, running the firm, and eventually selling it to a major regional firm, withumsmith+brown, where he remains a senior partner and consultant to professional services clients – he has the answers. we’re happy to have him at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. send your questions for ed here, or chime in with comments below.

ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and amore from ed mendlowitz, the practice doctor q&a: why no one listens to you | fun reads for busy season  |  when not to offer a free initial consultation | measuring growth in yourself, staff and partners  |  what do you think you’re doing?  | can you teach judgment?  |  clients’ calls at home  | what you need to know before expanding into business valuation |

question: my boss asked me to call you.  i am a staff accountant with five years experience.  i am having a lot of stress trying to manage everything i have to do. i am juggling supervising people that i don’t know how to supervise, being managed less by those above me and having to figure out more for myself – including things i never did before or in industries i never worked on previously, keeping current with changes in accounting rules and taxes (since i am more like a generalist and clients ask me everything) never seem to have any free time, juggling my schedule because most of my clients are never ready when they say they will be and being accountable to my boss for everything i do plus what the staff working under me does. so how do i do it all? how can i prioritize all my responsibilities? read more →