outlook & analysis

the essence of cpa firm profitability

by

what mickey mouse can teach accountants about accounting.

by marc rosenberg, cpa
author of the rosenberg map survey

it has been said that organizations should never have profitability as a goal. why? because profitability should be the result of an organization’s efforts, not its goal. profitability is a measure of success in accomplishing core business goals. the disney corporation probably says it best in their mission statement, which is short and sweet, but very powerful: “our mission is to make millions happy.”

disney super-pleases parents by creating hundreds of quality movies and lovable characters children grow up with and adore, and by creating theme parks that tap into our fantasies and imagination. they create the disney magic by operating their entertainment facilities with fastidious devotion to efficiency and cleanliness, and fanatical attention to the tiniest details, and by countless other efforts. disney’s customers not only pay for their access to disney, but they do so with a smile on their face, and they keep coming back for more. at disney, the philosophy is clear: create and maintain a world-class organization that satisfies the customers’ needs, and the profits will come as a result.

related: compensation issues for the new managing partner | 20 decisions for your firm’s new partner compensation committee | three ways to break partner gridlock in an accounting firm | what partners are entitled to, and what they’re not entitled to | how to make partner? | why accounting firm partners are “popping prozac like m&m’s” | more…

the same theme is true with cpa firm profitability. to be truly profitable, firms need to achieve successfully business goals other than profitability. then, and only then, will firms be profitable.

read more →

if business development is a circus at your firm…

by

…then shouldn’t you be the ringmaster?

by nick keseric

what job would you like in a circus? selling tickets to enter the circus knowing that the people purchasing tickets from you will be treated to a great show? a clown? acting like a kid and making people laugh? a lion tamer? thrilling the crowd with your nerves of steel? a high wire artist? silencing an entire venue while you walk across a razor thin wire?

more on practice development by nick keseric at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间:  my attitude??? what’s wrong with my @#$%! attitude?  |  curious minds want to know: are you helping or selling?  |  the six-step roadmap for cpa change agents  |  20 biz dev ideas for your career and your firm  |

i’m thinking the ring master would be a pretty good gig. many people might look good in a black top hat and a red coat with tails. i on the other hand would look like a bad imitation of a member of a 1970 british rock band. however, the ring master does have the perception of someone with a good chunk of control.

read more →

why selling your practice is not a retirement strategy

by

what are the guarantees?

here at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, 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. we’re happy to have him at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. send your questions for ed here, or chime in with comments below.

meanwhile, browse more from ed here: when a partner is unwilling to help  | congratulations! you bought a tax practice. now what? | how accountants can keep the business when a client wants to sell theirs | 10 reasons clients don’t pay, and what to do about it | 13 reasons timesheets will never die |

— rick telberg
president / ceo

question: i’ve heard you say that you shouldn’t count on anything from your practice when you decide to retire.  are you serious?

read more →

six metrics for marketing roi

by

what you should expect from an effective marketing campaign. by bruce w. marcus professional services marketing 3.0 tactics are the most difficult part of a professional firm marketing program, because so much of what must be done depends upon the … continued

3 money leaks that may need plugging in your business

by

why we do it and what to do about it.

by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator

everyone is looking on the income statement to find places to cut their business expenses. but the best place to look is not on a report.

it’s in the habits, processes, and procedures that you and your team do through your work day. it’s also in the mindsets, the inner game you bring to your work.

sandi smith

more from sandi smith at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间: seven tips to keep the clients you have  • how to attract clients like a magnet  • eleven easy ways to deliver more value to clients • five things accountants take for granted that costs them revenue  • what’s in your new client funnel?  • what’s in your welcome kit for new prospects?
• five fun and easy ways to wow your clients  • six ways to give yourself a raise  • strategies to stop losing business to competitors
• five tips to manage your ‘overwhelm’ level  • easy ideas for a quick business boost  • four new mega-trend marketing strategies  • how to stop leaving money on the table

here are my top three money leak sources for you to look at and see what you can find:

read more →

how to identify your firm’s core values

by

and some examples to consider.

by marc rosenberg, cpa
author of how to operate a compensation committee

core values are the attitudes and beliefs that define a firm’s culture and a critical ingredient in a successful compensation plan.

 

more marc rosenberg practice management trends and guidance: three ways to break partner gridlock in an accounting firm | what partners are entitled to, and what they’re not entitled to | how to make partner? | why accounting firm partners are “popping prozac like m&m’s” | the 15-item checklist for your next partner retreat | five key responsibilities for a new partner| planning a partner retreat for real results | 6 steps to get your business to the next level | the 10 biggest mistakes in reading map statistics | re-engineering partner accountability | marc rosenberg: why cpas aren’t making more money [video] | marc rosenberg: slow learners need not apply | 10 to-do’s for a partner buyout

partners talk about the firm’s core values all the time, pointing out instances when someone’s behavior has clearly been impacted by them. these values are incorporated in processes throughout the firm, such as in the development and evaluation process, in the way income is allocated to partners, and in what raises are given to staff.

when identifying your firm’s core values, consider: read more →

what it means to be a partner

by

11 tests to measure the health of your firm’s partner group. 

click for download

by robert j. lees and august j. aquila
new research report, instant download: leadership at its best: what successful managing partners do (pdf, 17 pages) 

partners are the culture in a professional service firm – what they believe, what they reward, what they do and how they do it determines what and how things get done. but, one of the problems we consistently hear about is the lack of clarity in what being a partner means. and, in the absence of clarity the partners typically fill the gap by doing what they think it means, with all of the differences of thought and behavior that inevitably brings. it’s these differences in behavior that result in firms failing to maximize their potential.

so, how do firms overcome this lack of clarity and ensure the partner group set the right example and consistently deliver the performance the firm needs to be successful?

in our over twenty years working with professional service firms, we have seen many attempts to provide greater clarity from sophisticated competency frameworks through balanced scorecards to highly personalized objective-based compensation systems. the problem is that none of them (or even all of them together) ever works well enough without the critical link between partner behavior and what the firm is trying to achieve and what the partners have to do to deliver it. only when that overt linkage exists and becomes part of every partner’s dna do any other initiatives have a chance of working.

read more →

when a partner is unwilling to help

by

maybe the problem is you.

here at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, 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. we’re happy to have him at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. send your questions for ed here, or chime in with comments below.

meanwhile, browse more from ed here: what to do when you lose your biggest client  |  congratulations! you bought a tax practice. now what? | how accountants can keep the business when a client wants to sell theirs | 10 reasons clients don’t pay, and what to do about it | 13 reasons timesheets will never die |

— rick telberg
president / ceo

question: my tax partner gives me a hard time when i ask her for assistance.  is there anything i can do to get her to be more responsive?

read more →