leadership

when cpas leave to work for a client

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money tree growing in the middle of green meadoware you sure that grass is greener?

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

i know many cpas who left public accountancy to take a “better” job. for many of them this was a mistake. for some it worked out, so if you are one of the lucky few, you can stop reading what i have to say.

more: when siblings battle over the family business | readers rip: ‘she wanted her shoebox back’ | ceos don’t always know numbers | finding new business in sustainability | how to recoup staff training costs
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

there are basically three types of companies the accountant could work for – a small client that does not have an in-house controller or cfo, one whose controller will be replaced by the departing cpa, or a large company that has an entire accounting staff already in place. let’s talk about working for the small companies that do not have a controller.
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help! key staffer refuses to supervise people

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businessman with hand extended in "no" gesture4 ways to deal with it.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: i have a key staff person who does not like supervising people. he says he can do everything faster and better than anyone else and doesn’t want to take the time to teach someone who, he says, won’t do it as well. he is a workhorse and spends anywhere from 50 to 60 hours a week all year round. what do i do?

more: 44 key attributes for assessing staffers | reasons to drop your book of business | are you marketing for 2022 yet? | stop drowning in client documents | make more money starting now | the wrong way to look for staff | strategic planning for the small firm
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

answer: he told me his firm consists of 10 staff and one owner and this person is indispensible to him, but he (the owner)
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drive your profits with only four metrics

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accounting firm econ. 101, including a sample income statement.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

all businesses have economic structures unique to their industries:

  • grocery stores are high volume, low-profit margin.
  • real estate ventures use accelerated depreciation and other tax angles to generate cash flow and healthy rois.
  • professional sports teams focus on increasing the value of the franchise so it can eventually be sold for a gigantic profit.

more: a crash course in the business of public accounting | how to get promoted to manager | how to create a path to partner | making partner: what managers need to know | the 17 rules for making partner at a cpa firm | who shouldn’t be a partner? | nine reasons people are promoted to partner | how to make partner?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the typical cpa firm is a low-volume, high-priced business, with a relatively high-profit margin (generally 30-45 percent of revenue).

44 key attributes for assessing staffers

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green checks being made on checklistthey’re in no order. what are your priorities?

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: do you have a staff evaluation checklist?

more: reasons to drop your book of business | get more done by saying no | don’t fire that staffer on may 18! | employee demands a raise she doesn’t deserve | how are you spending the next five years? | how to get the most from cpe | does your staff know all the services you provide? | price your practice by gross
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

answer: i did not have a checklist of attributes that are looked at in evaluating staff performance, so i prepared one.
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why your billings are ruining your firm

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businessman sitting on scales with stack of coins in other traydo you see managing partner as a part-time role? if not, don’t treat it like one.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: about a year ago i became the managing partner of my 50-person, six-partner firm. we gross about $7 million. i still maintain my book of business, which is about $1 million, and have 1,000 chargeable hours.

more: get more done by saying no | make cpe worth your while | are you marketing for 2022 yet? | don’t fire that staffer on may 18! | what to do with a lousy client? | stop drowning in client documents | employee demands a raise she doesn’t deserve | but i am managing! | make more money starting now
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

needless to say, i have been working very hard, about 2,700 total hours, yet my partners are complaining i do not have enough chargeable time and i tend to agree with them. how i can increase my chargeable hours?
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you have the right people, but are they in the right seats?

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blank organizational charttry an accountability chart.

by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud

“getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats – these are all crucial steps in the early stages of buildup…” – jim collins, “good to great”

more: leaders need time to lead | better understanding = better communication | why your firm’s core values matter | when value billing eliminates guesswork | make tech your ally in protecting clients | be more efficient with tech stacks | put bots to work for you | not all employees want the same perks
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

when adam and i first started the company, we didn’t have much organizational structure. we didn’t need it. but as the company grew, it became necessary to develop an organizational structure. there’s a great quote by michael e. gerber in his book “the e-myth revisited” that says, “without the organization chart, confusion, discord and conflict become the order of the day.”
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get more done by saying no

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businessman in dark gray suit raise his hand in action of stop and word "stop" on his red palmwho sets your priorities? you.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: i do not seem to be able to get everything done that needs to be done and still have time for extras, which i like to do, like marketing and doing new things for clients. any tips?

more: make cpe worth your while | are you marketing for 2022 yet? | stop drowning in client documents | make more money starting now | the wrong way to look for staff | strategic planning for the small firm | before you sell your practice | work the client needs … but won’t pay for
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

answer: this is a recurring theme, and an issue we all have. it seems that we all have the same amount of time but some use it more wisely than others.
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leaders need time to lead

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large group of people gathered into an upward arrow shapeonce you have the right people, figure out where to go.

by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud

as our team was growing and we reached over 30 team members, we recognized the need to establish a formal leadership team. when we were smaller, it worked fine for adam and me to be the primary decision makers, but as our client base and workload grew, we realized we would become a bottleneck and slow things down.

more: better understanding = better communication | why your firm’s core values matter | when value billing eliminates guesswork | make tech your ally in protecting clients | be more efficient with tech stacks | put bots to work for you | not all employees want the same perks | not all employees will work out | uncover potential in 10 interview questions | what running a virtual cpa firm really costs | learning to love video calls
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

at that point, we made a conscious effort to transition our daily tasks and client responsibilities to other team members so we could remove ourselves from the weeds and focus on the higher-level view of the company.
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the managing partner’s secret weapon

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businessman holding up magnifying glassthe right people in the right positions will help you stay out of the weeds.

by marc rosenberg
the role of the managing partner

 

to be a great managing partner, you need a great team – a team that keeps you focused and out of the weeds.

the managing partner position is a big job. the high-level ceo of a complex, growing, highly profitable organization such as a cpa firm must be able to focus on the most important parts of the job, none of which is easy.

more: how to enforce the partner agreement | how long should it take to make partner? | the managing partner’s role in mergers | five ways to evaluate partners | manage partners with goal setting | overarching authority that managing partners must have | herding cats: advice for managing partners
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

let’s drill down for a moment on the word “focus.” it means:

  • having the time to do the job properly. for this to happen, managing partners must avoid (a) having too many client responsibilities, which would preclude them from making the firm their #1 client most of the time and (b) spending time on matters that can be delegated to others, such as the coo/firm administrator and department/team leaders.

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the 4 traits of great cpa leaders

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key leadership attributesdo they have these attributes?

by anthony zecca
leading from the edge

as the leader of the firm, as important as it is to complete a comprehensive assessment of your leadership team, it is equally if not more critical to assess your own leadership. what are the key leadership attributes that reflect great edge leadership?

more on edge leadership: assessing your firm | the 4 traits of great cpa leaders | why leaders must ensure clarity | incremental vs. exceptional success | do you lead or just manage? | managing vs. leading | is your leadership team at the edge? | 6 leadership challenges through covid and beyond | edge leaders share 7 strengths | leadership must drive culture | leading from the edge
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

how can you get a meaningful and comprehensive assessment of how well you are doing as the leader of the firm? the trap to avoid is to just listen to yourself and your own self-assessment. to really understand how well you are performing, you need multiple checkpoints.
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assessing your firm

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diagramfor a true baseline, bring in a consultant.

by anthony zecca
leading from the edge

now that we have completed an assessment of your leadership team and your leadership, the third leg is assessing the overall performance of the firm. this assessment, coupled with the assessment of the leadership team and your leadership, provides a strong foundation upon which to build the roadmap (strategies) for moving the firm from where it is today to a standout, high-performing firm. the underlying objective for this assessment of the firm is to have a factual basis for establishing a myth-free and accurate baseline of the firm by analyzing a number of key characteristics.

more on edge leadership: assessing your firm | the 4 traits of great cpa leaders | why leaders must ensure clarity | incremental vs. exceptional success | do you lead or just manage? | managing vs. leading | is your leadership team at the edge? | 6 leadership challenges through covid and beyond | edge leaders share 7 strengths | leadership must drive culture | leading from the edge
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

what are the major areas of focus for the firm assessment? in center-led firms, the assessment of how well the firm is doing is generally focused around financial metrics. how much profit did we make? what was our growth? what was the change in average partner compensation? what profit percentage to revenue did we achieve?
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coaching the right way

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dom cingoranelli joins steven sacks and judy trepeck.

^ click to play video

with steven sacks
the new fundamentals: thriving in disruption

with an increasing number of accounting firms embracing employee coaching, it’s becoming clear that many just aren’t doing it right, practice management advisor dom cingoranelli tells steven sacks and judy trepeck in an exclusive new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 discussion.

more: nancy fox: winning the mind game of success | gary cokins: the truth about activity-based costing | when cyber-crime hits close to home | james lopiccolo: sell service, not hours | the cpa’s best role: leveraging knowledge, not just process | five common negotiating mistakes | courtesy still matters | bigger firm, bigger thinking | 5 steps to better time management | swot’s the purpose? | is your firm’s culture a magnet or a repellent?

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

“there are more and more firms who are really taking seriously their investment in their people,” says cingoranelli, emeritus founder, senior consultant at succession institute llc. “they understand that for the long term they need to develop their intellectual capital. and they realize that it’s not going to happen by itself.”

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