leadership

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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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what + who leads firms to better service

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maze with word "plan" at the centeryou need commitment + competency.

by gary bolinger

you may remember the old abbott and costello routine “who’s on first.” after some back-and-forth dialogue, we get to “all i’m trying to find out is what’s the guy’s name on first base?” abbott responds, “no. what is on second base.” after some more banter, we finally learn that “i don’t know is on third base.” baseball almanac says that this is “one of the most famous baseball comedy acts to ever take place.”

more: how accountants are profiting in disruption | ask the right question(s) | seven elements of engagement for cpas | true advisory work isn’t just consulting
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setting all of this up, lou costello said to bud abbott, “if you’re the coach, you must know all the players.” and that is a true statement. you need a good understanding of your players’ (who) competencies (what). a partner must know all the players’ strengths and weaknesses.
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nancy fox: winning the mind game of success

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how to overcome the mind-blocks holding you back from total success.

^ click to play video

with steven sacks
the new fundamentals: thriving in disruption

professionals need to use a blend of psychology and strategy to guide them with both mental fitness and tactics to produce career breakthroughs, executive coach nancy fox tells steven sacks.

more steven sacks: effective networking is an art | business development activities shouldn’t be a chore | cpa’s best role: leveraging knowledge, not just process | avoid last-minute deal making | five common negotiating mistakes | the myths of performance management | business is about relationships | reaching for authenticity in client service |

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in business, the mind is 95% of the game, according to fox, so it’s essential to recognize the causes of mindset blocks that are encountered, such as competition and business development, and what their impact can be.


> download and subscribe to the podcast on itunes here

key takeaways:

  • leaders may not understand the nuances or fundamentals of mentoring and cultivating talent. as such, they find the biggest impediments to be themselves.
  • the conscious mind is where our thoughts are directed in such areas as logic, strategy, memory, learning, data analysis. however, 95% of our thoughts are directed by the subconscious mind, and only 5% by our conscious minds.
  • the subconscious mind is where the inner game of work, career, and life is really won — or lost.
  • there are some strategies you can use to train your mind to prepare yourself to experience an outcome and imagine ways to achieve that outcome.
  • in addition to training your mind to block negative thoughts and experience only positive thoughts, there are physical techniques that can be used.

nancy fox is the founder and president of the business fox, a business consulting and training company specializing in guiding law, accounting, and service business firms grow through smarter networking and business development and niche marketing strategies.

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how today’s staffing crisis can forecast your future

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copyright 2021 rick telberg. all rights reserved

you can read the tea leaves in who’s getting hired today because they’re the generation that will re-define the tax and accounting firms.

by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals

the accounting profession is at a crossroads: increasing pressure on keeping up with technology to serve more varied and complex clients, while a quick peek at the landscape indicates the ongoing struggle to attract and retain talent.

more: 7 signs your accounting firm agreement falls short | effective networking is an art | 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? | click here for more by steven sacks
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but what is meant by this, actually?

what will be the type of necessary talent? will it be a mixture of technical gaap and gaas know-how and technology-driven knowledge like artificial intelligence? or will the necessary technical expertise be superseded by a deep understanding of blockchain technology and data analytics? if that, then how will firms draw the right people to deliver the value-added services that leverage technology?

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better understanding = better communication

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overhead view of five people in a meetingdisc helps remote team work together effectively.

by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud

working in a remote environment can be great, and it can also have its challenges. communication is one of the biggest hurdles distributed companies have to overcome. to tackle this issue head on, summit cpa has implemented many initiatives.

more: 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.

one of our favorites is the disc profiles. let me start off by telling you a little bit of the background on the disc profiles.
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gary cokins: the truth about activity-based costing

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how to implement progressive management accounting techniques.

> download and subscribe to the podcast on itunes here

with steven sacks
the new fundamentals: thriving in disruption

management finance expert gary cokins says there’s nothing wrong with activity-based costing. except that you’re probably doing it all wrong.

more gary cokins: the myths of performance management

more steven sacks: effective networking is an art | business development activities shouldn’t be a chore | cpa’s best role: leveraging knowledge, not just process | avoid last-minute deal making | five common negotiating mistakes | the myths of performance management | business is about relationships | reaching for authenticity in client service |

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

the problem is, cokins says, it’s convenient for the accountants to allocate the overhead based on allocation factors, like labor hours, number of units produced in a manufacturer, headcount, number of employees, and square feet, even though none of them reflect the unique consumption relationship between how the outputs products and services consumed.

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7 signs your accounting firm agreement falls short

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will it work and does it make sense?

by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals

earlier i discussed that engaging in what is considered conflict avoidance can undo the progress a firm has made. this can be because of complacency, frustration, intimidation or a host of other issues.

more: effective networking is an art | avoid last-minute deal making | business is about relationships | can a cpa firm be different in a changing market? | a rapidly changing business environment requires flexibility | another meeting?!?! … sigh | organizational trust: top-down and bottom-up | how can change management really produce change? | trust: one building block of success
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some things are intuitively understood, but it’s those occasional sticky matters that tend to make situations unravel. establishing and keeping agreements helps to avoid confrontation; the one typically arising from someone promising to do something in a timely and complete manner and within a specified budget. even if the firm’s board casually agreed on a matter, something can go awry and threaten the direction of the firm.
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