outlook & analysis

who’s missing in action from your workflow processing system?

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“e-mail no longer enhances our productivity.  it sucks the life out of us.”

by frank stitely, cpa, cva
stitely and karstetter 

your office manager calls you in a panic.  “fred jones is on the phone, and he’s really angry.  he said he dropped off his tax documents in late february.  now it’s early april and he still doesn’t have his returns.”

related: how to make an extra $72,000 by working smarter

you tell her to take a message while you investigate.  you look at your project management system, assuming you have one.  you see that his return is on hold pending answers from fred to the questions you sent him in mid-march. read more →

de-bunking the myth about niche marketing for tax and accounting firms

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plus, five more essential pieces to the profit puzzle.

by marc rosenberg, cpa
author of “what really makes cpa firms profitable?”

i want to de-bunk a myth about niche marketing. many cpas that i have talked to think that niche marketing means that most, or all of their business, needs to be in their niche.

marc rosenberg
marc rosenberg

related:  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  •

they think they will have to stop being generalists or will have to give up all their clients outside the niche. this is absolutely not the case. read more →

the success secrets women already know

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who gets more out of their employees, men or women?

by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator

if you guessed women, you’re right. women possess natural relationship skills that help them build loyalty, foster productivity, and spark motivation.

sandi smith

related:   why you’re missing out on 98% of your new business potential  •  the missing ingredient in your marketing that will make all the difference • 3 steps to start running on millionaire time  •  on the road to a stress-free life: identify your character strengths   •  the power of deadlines in closing a deal   •   his and her brains at work in tax and accounting • 5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients • the top 12 business card blunders accountants make •

according to a study by the guardian life small business research institute, women’s skills provide: read more →

when not to offer a free initial consultation

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are we giving it away too easily?

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.

related: 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 | asking an attorney for a referral fee  |  are partner retreats really worth the cost? | audit reports without doing the work? | should i really spend the time making checklists? | what’s a tax practice worth today? |

question: i was wondering what your thought is regarding initial consultation fees. currently, i do not charge a fee for an initial consultation, and it seems that most cpas do not charge either (at least not the sole-practitioners that i know). would the fee deter new clients or actually weed out the ones who are most likely not going to become clients anyway? if a fee is charged, then how much, and how long should the consultation last? should the fee be applied to any work that i am eventually engaged for?

it seems to be a toss-up between two different philosophies:

  • people value something more when they pay for it
  • you don’t want to create any barriers to entry

i am eager to hear your thoughts. read more →

managing risk in client relations

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wishful thinking? by bruce w. marcus professional services marketing 3.0 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research has uncovered the startling fact of the wide disparity between how accounting firm management perceives their own performance and how their clients see their performance. (join the … continued

your clients love you? what if you’re wrong?

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a short discourse on random and statistical risk. by bruce w. marcus author of professional services marketing 3.0 risks are different in context and magnitude. a good mathematician can often statistically quantify the boundaries of risk, such as telling you … continued

measuring growth in yourself, staff and partners

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“knowledge gap” method uses a client-centric approach.

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.

more for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members: 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 | asking an attorney for a referral fee  |  are partner retreats really worth the cost? | audit reports without doing the work? | should i really spend the time making checklists? | what’s a tax practice worth today? |

question: i suspect that my partner has “maxed out” and cannot grow further which will retard our growth.  what can i do or how can i deal with this?

read more →

why you’re missing out on 98% of your new business potential

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three ways to master the art of follow-up.

by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator

it seems there are hundreds of questions swirling around how to follow up with prospects. the raw truth is that very few people follow up at all. on average, only 2 percent of people buy on the first contact with a vendor.

so if you’re not following up, you’re walking away from 98 percent of your sales.

sandi smith

more for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members:  the missing ingredient in your marketing that will make all the difference • 3 steps to start running on millionaire time  •  on the road to a stress-free life: identify your character strengths   •  the power of deadlines in closing a deal   •   his and her brains at work in tax and accounting • 5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients • the top 12 business card blunders accountants make •

here are my tips to maximize sales and take the pain out of following up: read more →

thinking merger? look before you leap

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august aquila

the seven essential phases of a successful merger.

by august aquila
aquila global advisors

if you’re contemplating a merger, then stop and think for a moment. a successful deal requires careful thought and planning.

in this article, we examine the seven phases common to most mergers. and 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members will find the free instant download: “the pre-merger data gathering checklist for an accounting practice.” read more →

practice development is no longer optional

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“you can’t not try.”

by marc rosenberg, cpa
author of what really makes cpa firms profitable?

certainly, one of the most obvious ways to increase revenues is by bringing in more business. firms usually find that most or all of this additional business falls directly to the bottom line. so why don’t so many firms at least try to do it?

marc rosenberg
marc rosenberg

more marc: 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  •

marketing is certainly one of the biggest, if not the biggest, ways the cpa industry has changed over the past 30 years. many years ago, a client of mine told me that all that is needed to be successful is to hang out your shingle and have good technical skills and reasonably good interpersonal skills. sooner or later, clients would come. read more →