management

the six essential kpis for managing partners

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proper planning prevents poor performance.

by bill penczak

we have all heard the term, “working in the business” instead of “working on the business.”   i would suggest that most managing partners and senior leadership fall more into the “in” than the “on,” given staff turnover, busy season deadlines, exhaustion, and advancing years of many managing partners.

more: the great resignation: five reasons accountants are quitting   |  five tips for better decision-making   |  your marketing sucks: six reasons why   |  five global cpa leaders: four survival strategies    |  are you too generous with your write-offs?    |  it’s time to herd your highly compensated cats  | nine smooth moves to build client satisfaction   | five tough questions for these tough times |  i started a consulting practice the first week of march 2020

i’ve endured enough management committee meetings during which the course of conversation leans more heavily towards rat-holes than addressing key firm issues of people, technology, quality, risk management, and growth.  at the end of the day, every decision you make as managing partner foots back to one of those areas. deciding on the venue of the holiday party does not fall into that category.

peter drucker, the famous management consultant, summed it up succinctly: management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

here are six ideas that managing partners should contemplate when it comes to running an effective and engaged firm: read more →

competing for talent in a private-equity world

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why your firm’s compensation and ownership model just became obsolete.

by anthony zecca
leading from the edge

talent has been one of – if not the – biggest bottlenecks blocking growth at accounting firms.

more on private equity for cpa firms: analysis: private equity the new source of growth capital for cpa firms?  |  analysis: how outside capital will remake cpa firms  |  exclusive:  ceo charly weinstein explains the private equity deal   |   flash briefing webinar: a “call to arms” after eisner private equity deal   |  eisneramper gets private equity backing |

in my strategy work with accounting firms, i hear over and over how firms can’t attract talent, how talented individuals are being recruited away to other firms or other industries with significant salary increases. i hear managing partners telling me that their marketing teams and partners are afraid to bring in new clients since the staff they have are already stretched beyond what is reasonable to expect.

now with private-equity investments in accounting firms, this fight for talent will only get more intense.

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determining your firm’s social contract

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it starts and ends with people.

by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals

you read about companies every day: those that separate themselves from the competition by disrupting the norms and those that remain steadfast, much to their detriment. for the former, think about amazon, uber, netflix and other “change agents.” now, think about the latter: jcpenney, kmart and sears.

more: five reasons you’re not swot-ready | who needs another meeting? | 4 questions for cpa firm boards | are you productive or just busy? | the five big rules for powerpoint presentations | how aging boomers impact the accounting profession | accounting is a profession, not an industry
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

as the late chairman and ceo of intel, andy grove said, “success breeds complacency. complacency breeds failure. only the paranoid survive.”
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new non-compete laws don’t affect cpa firms

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statue of scales of justicenon-solicitation is a different matter.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

in july, president biden signed an executive order that made it more difficult for non-compete agreements, in general, to be enforceable. in illinois, a more restrictive version of this change is ahead of the curve, making it more challenging for illinois employers to enter into non-compete and non-solicitation agreements with employees. i have heard that new york and perhaps other states have done the same.

more: when cpa partner votes go wrong | why billing less may mean earning more | what smaller firms must do to become firms of the future | when managing partners can’t | don’t let exiting partners double dip | the 13 signs you have a partner problem | covid-19, adversity and innovation | how covid impacts partner retirements |  three tough questions in partner buyouts | is mandatory retirement a best practice? | covid-19: how your firm can respond | reward partners for performing like partners
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

for cpa firms, it’s much ado about nothing. i’ll explain why in a moment.
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yes, shirt logos can matter

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two businessmen shaking hands at meeting in officemarketing is the totality of your efforts to get additional business.

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

i like to wear shirts with my firm’s logo. we have an arrangement with land’s end where we can order what we want from their catalog and have the withum logo applied. it is a very easy process.

more: 10 more reasons cpas quit public accounting | family trees of clients | why accountants quit | when siblings battle over the family business | how bickering can ruin a family business | one hour a year since 1972 50 ways to make more money in busy season
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

when i had my own firm we let staff freely choose what they wanted from the land’s end catalog, and we ordered it for them. it shows pride in the firm, is a walking billboard advertising your firm, and presents an appearance of a “together” firm. it is a low-cost method of promoting your firm and strengthening your brand and culture. in instances in which clients asked for shirts, we willingly provided them. there are other vendors, including local suppliers, and this is not restricted to land’s end.
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what is a “reasonable” number of work hours?

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clock facesit depends. but you knew that.

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

question: how many hours a year do you recommend staff working?

answer: it depends…

more: make today “day one” of your new business | why does all work take so long? | profit sharing for a staffer? | titles can make people happier | reasons to drop your book of business | are you marketing for 2022 yet?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the quick answer is: as many as reasonable.
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distributed firms need different tech suites

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how we made our decisions.

by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud

the tools that are used by a distributed firm with remote clients are going to vary greatly from those of a traditional brick-and-mortar firm.

more: a tech stipend for employees? why not? | it’s ok when some employees quit | take the pain out of online meetings | why your firm’s core values matter | be more efficient with tech stacks
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

every tool we consider or use has to be cloud-based. nothing can be restricted to a single computer or location.
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the great resignation: five reasons accountants are quitting

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and five strategies for addressing attrition – before it strikes.

gauging the staff shortage:
how are accounting firms adapting?
join the six-minute survey. get the answers.

by bill penczak

firms are getting nervous and with good cause. as they plan for the 2022 busy season, audit and tax departments are realizing they may not have the resources to staff their jobs already on the books, much less any new work that comes about in the fourth quarter of 2021.

more on the staffing crisis: the digital toolset for hiring at a small accounting firm  |  learning how to hire amid covid  | how covid rewrites the rules for recruiting | new covid strategies for staff recruiting and retention | irs has recruiting problems, too | 12 signs it’s time to outsource | how aging boomers impact the accounting profession | why remote workers need retreats |

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

there’s been a lot written in the past few months about the great resignation, but the turnover problem in cpa firms has been endemic before the pandemic. one recent report finds that turnover in the top 50 firms is 17%, and one in every six firms experiences an annual turnover of 20 percent or more. that means that one out of five people who attend the busy season kickoff event won’t be around for the next one.

here are five reasons your people are quitting your firm for other firms, for a job in industry, or to become a citizen of the gig economy and work virtually from a beach in thailand:

read more →

five reasons you’re not swot-ready

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the tool works. but you need the prerequisites.

by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals

cpa firms that seek to position themselves for the future must be brutally honest and self-aware. they might normally start with a top-down or bottom-up analysis of their operations. one tool that has been around forever is the swot analysis.

more: who needs another meeting? | 4 questions for cpa firm boards | are you productive or just busy? | the five big rules for powerpoint presentations | how aging boomers impact the accounting profession | accounting is a profession, not an industry
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

swot stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. there are benefits to this tool because it serves as a motivator to examine a situation (e.g., operational, cultural, financial), assess core competencies and capabilities, identify the need to (and key drivers of) change and enable – if conducted correctly – an organizational cross-section of input and insight.
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who needs another meeting?

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business meeting with people around table facing forwardbetter question: why?

by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals

when in doubt, call a meeting. jeez! how many hours in the u.s. are cumulatively wasted on a daily basis with meetings?

more: 4 questions for cpa firm boards | are you productive or just busy? | the five big rules for powerpoint presentations | how aging boomers impact the accounting profession | accounting is a profession, not an industry
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

are they really necessary?

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make today “day one” of your new business

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businessman stuck in pavementhow to get out of a rut.

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

question: my practice seems to be in a rut.

more: why does all work take so long? | don’t like checklists? find a new job. | the secret recipe for staff retention | help! key staffer refuses to supervise people | get more done by saying no | don’t fire that staffer! | employee demands a raise she doesn’t deserve
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

we are not growing, our services haven’t changed and our client turnover is almost nonexistent. any suggestions of what we can do?
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why does all work take so long?

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businesswoman with headache at laptopsticking points can materialize anytime.

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

question: everything in my office seems to take too long, and i can’t put my finger on why. can you provide any guidance?

more: don’t like checklists? find a new job. | five ways to get staff to own their work | writing a reference? here’s how | 44 key attributes for assessing staffers | make cpe worth your while | what to do with a lousy client? | but i am managing! | how to run a practice in 90 pages
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

answer: common problem.
read more →

eisneramper gets private equity backing

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charly weinstein on cnbc talking about the private equity deal.

towerbrook capital partners’ infusion “reimagines the traditional accounting firm model.”

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

eisneramper llp – one of the profession’s top 20 firms with more than $420 in annual billings, 200 partners, and 1,200 employees – has sold about half the firm to towerbrook capital partners, a private equity fund with big investments in the financial services sector.

more on private equity for cpa firms:

flash briefing webinar: a “call to arms” after eisner private equity deal, with dom esposito and anthony zecca

analysis by esposito and zecca: how outside capital can remake cpa firms

analysis by esposito and zecca: private equity the new source of growth capital for cpa firms?

eisneramper gets private equity backing

as a result, eisner is splitting into two entities: the legacy eisneramper llp, a licensed cpa firm, to provide attest services, and the new pe-funded eisner advisory group llc, for business advisory and non-attest services. terms were not disclosed but towerbrook has a reputation for taking controlling interests in the companies it funds. audit and assurance account for about 49 percent of eisner’s pre-deal billings, with 42 percent from tax and 9 percent in consulting.

“it will be a positive disruptor in the profession,” according to charly weinstein, eisneramper ceo.  “rather than conforming to traditional frameworks, adopting a new model of ownership facilitates the best structure for the firm to drive growth and innovative solutions to our clients. our colleagues will be able to chart a course for success in our purpose-built practice structure.”

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