a seven-step process to confront the questions raised by lease renewals.
question: i signed up with a broker who introduces buyers and sellers of cpa practices, to find someone who would buy my practice when i want to retire. i don’t want to retire yet, but am starting to think about it. the broker suggested a merger now combined with a buyout deal when i am ready to retire. am i going about this in the right way? read more →
how some cpas are leveraging principles and metrics as trusted business advisors.
by edi osborne
mentorplus
there’s a new formula for the business acumen needed to improve the overall performance of an organization: 3 x 3 = “10” in business performance. are you an accountant who “gets” this new math?
more from 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 on business advisory services: give business clients something to talk about [video] | the accounting profession promise that could change everything | score your firm on eight critical success factors | the cloud won’t make you into a superhero | the client-centric firm of the future [video] | the big mistake cpas make in client service |
business owners are looking for an accountant who understands that for a business to be a “10,” they have to have the 3 x 3 fundamentals down pat. business owner expectations are on the rise, and client satisfaction may take a hit as these minimum expectations become the status quo.
to win in any game you have to know three things: read more →
five things you need to know and three things you need to do.
by frank stitely, cpa
stitely and karstetter
get ready for a transformation in the tax business unlike anything we have experienced since turbotax. the transformation will force many of your colleagues to sell, retire, or go out of business. it will force many of your staff out of the profession. it will change the way you serve clients. and, it will either result in tremendous opportunity for you or end your practice. this transformation is zero data entry.
more stitely: three trends that will transform your tax practice or eliminate it | value, billem & dunn: a value billing case study | why value billing won’t transform your life | the problem with frank stitely? we need more frank stitelys! | the problem with timesheets? not enough timesheets! | who’s missing in action from your workflow processing system? | how to make an extra $72,000 by working smarter read more →
despite the values inherent in well-done brochures, there are some pervasive misconceptions that substantially undermine their very real value to sound marketing. by bruce w. marcus professional services marketing 3.0 there is a peculiar comfort in a brochure. it’s easy … continued
to see this week’s research update, click here.
cpa firm hiring tops 40,000 for first time ever.
by rick telberg
bolstering reports of a suddenly surging profession with a high demand for top talent, a new survey of colleges and firms by the aicpa shows that cpa firms are hiring a record number of graduates.
at the same time, the pipeline of accounting students is bulging, suggesting to some that the continuing high demand for new recruits can be met by newly minted graduates for the next few years.
this will come as good news to firms facing growing new-business opportunities, tougher competition and a growing need for entry-level staff.
it does not, however, help alleviate the catastrophic stall in growth dating back to the 1990s with the spread of the so-called 150-hour rule that has left the profession with a gaping hole in its succession and business continuity strategies. the profession, already facing a succession crisis due to the aging-out of the baby boomers, now finds itself with a dearth of 40- and 50-something senior managers and junior partners to take over management and control – a fact that a record supply of new graduates won’t correct for 10 or 20 years, if ever.
the good news for hiring: pipeline fills with huge supply of talent.
the report shows: 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 →
with more firms adopting a compensation committee system to sort out a partnership’s touchiest issues, marc rosenberg provides a 12-item checklist of best practices.
the list covers how to frame the committee’s mandate (“full reign”) to how its decisions should be treated (“no appeals. no approval needed.”). read more →
talking to prospects when prospects can talk back. by bruce w. marcus professional services marketing 3.0 there are four things to know about what we now call the social media. first, it’s media – a means of communication, a medium, … continued
“worst tax season ever.” “the death of the 1040 practice.” “i’m retiring.”
by frank stitely
since the end of tax season, cpas voiced apocalyptic concerns. you can blame this latest meat grinder of a tax season on congress, competition from turbotax, and the irs.
or you can recognize that three trends are converging that will either transform your practice or eliminate it. read more →
a sign of economic recovery and increased competition.
bringing in new business and finding top-notch staffers to handle anticipated growth are emerging as the new, most pressing challenges for cpa firms today.
with a rebounding economy, the aicpa says in its new pcps “top issues survey” that client retention, which had been a significant concern for firms in the 2009 survey, has been overtaken by a tilt toward growth issues.
“finding qualified staff” was a top issue from 1997 to 2007 for all but the smallest firms, but disappeared entirely from top 5 lists in 2009. now it’s back.
some 37 percent of finance and accounting workers say they are likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months, an increase from 33 percent last quarter.
fifty-three percent say they are not likely to job search, falling five percentage points from the previous quarter.
confidence among u.s. finance and accounting workers decreased 2.4 points to 53.4 in the first quarter of 2013 after rebounding in the last quarter of 2012. read more →
actually, don’t call it “little gaap.” officially, it’s the frf – which stands for financial reporting framework for small- and medium-sized entities. and it represents a new chapter in the saga for accounting standards tailored by size of entity.
in this video bite, aicpa ceo barry melancon explains what frf might mean for the profession.
for details, here are:
click to download the full aicpa report (pdf, 188 pages) read more →