announced at the 2012 aam summit in partnership with the aicpa practitioners symposium and tech+ conference. see complete list of winners.
via aam
the association for accounting marketing distributed 38 marketing achievement awards (aam-maas) to 24 different firms in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the areas of accounting marketing and communications.
ten judges, including professionals in advertising, consulting, professional services and marketing, judged nearly 130 entries from 60 different firms in 20 different categories. each judge reviewed and judged entries in his/her area of expertise. accounting firms from all over the united states and canada competed. categories included branding, collateral, marketing campaigns, advertising, website, multimedia, internal programs, events, surveys, business development/lead generation and maverick marketing.
this was the 18th year that the annual awards were presented. recipients were announced at the 2012 aam summit in partnership with the aicpa practitioners symposium and tech+ conference, held in las vegas, nv on june 11, 2012. additional awards presented were rookie of the year awarded to kari reynolds, mgo; volunteer of the year awarded to laura sparks, creative sparks llc; marketer of the year awarded to donna erbs, anders, minkler & diehl llp; and hall of fame inductee awarded to chris perrino, barnes dennig.
accountants’ average total compensation held relatively steady in 2011, increasing 0.9 percent from $128,486 in 2010 to $129,591, according to ima’s 23rd annual salary survey, released this month in strategic finance magazine.
if yogi berra was ever asked what he thought perception was, he might have said, “the one thing about perception is that people have different perceptions about perceptions.”
we can all try do a good job in trying to present a professional perception to others but the final verdict from our efforts occurs in the eyes and minds of those we are talking, working or meeting with. we can think we presented one way but it may be interpreted in another way. can you spell perception?
more from nick keseric for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members (go pro here):
income statement, balance sheet, cash flows? it’s time for a fourth statement.
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edi osborne
by edi osborne
ceo, mentor plus
in the words of bonnie raitt, “let’s give ’em something to talk about; a little something to figure out.”
fact or fiction, rumors or true business intelligence, those that can make the distinction have a huge opportunity to add value to their business relationships.
recently, i had the opportunity to sit down with several business owners to interview them about how they make business decisions. decisions, as it turns out, are one of the most important reasons business owners walk away from nine-to-five jobs. business owners like to have control over their destiny. they actually thrive on the decision-making process and are willing to live with the consequences of those choices. and although, business owners don’t want anyone to take away their options, they do want someone to help them examine them. they want to know that the information they are basing a decision on is accurate and relevant. that it is not conjecture, rumor, or worse yet, self-serving misinformation provided by others at the company. sounds like a job for a true, trusted adviser, would-be super hero.
unfortunately, when asked about the quality and quantity of data, business owners utilize daily to inform their decisions, including the real-time, management value of financial statements, their answers paint a very unsatisfactory picture of the decision support provided by their accountant. as the role of cpas who serve as cfos in a corporate environment has morphed into that of a cio — chief information officer — cpas in public practice continue to lag behind in this transition. when pressed on this issue, many cpas admit they want to do more, but they are not comfortable outside the realm of compliance matters.
more from edi osborne for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members (go pro here):
so how can public cpas become chief information officers? how can they utilize their accounting skills to capitalize on the fast growing business intelligence market?
the art of giving and taking feedback for a happy office.
by rick telberg
we’ve been asking accountants and finance managers how well their offices use feedback to keep folks happy. it’s clear that a little do-and-don’t advice seems in order for some of the nation’s accounting firms and finance departments.
our sources report some pretty big problems on the do side. out of seven questions in a cpa trendlines study, five showed that fewer than half the accounting and finance offices nationwide were doing what they should be doing all (or most) of the time.
for instance, feedback offered on behavior — rather than on personality: only eight percent of managers do it all the time, and only 37 percent do it frequently. a full 20% do it rarely or never at all. ouch! whoever’s doing the feedback could use a little feedback themselves.
not to sound too much like your mother or anything, but couldn’t you do a little better job at your job? couldn’t you do a little more to satisfy your clients?
more for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members on client service and retention:
surprise: hard work and knowledge aren’t number 1. neither are skills or knowledge.
by rick telberg
above all else, the essential ingredient for career success as a cpa is not what you might think.
it’s not knowledge or ability; although you can’t be a cpa without either. it’s not hard work or integrity. but you won’t go far without them. in one word: it’s about “clients.” read more →
dustin hostetler, a lean six sigma consultant in heavy demand these days by cpa firms overhauling their workflows, foresees a “coming storm” in staff turnover. in short, he says, cpa firm employees are simply fed up with old, inefficient and ineffective ways of working.
most firms spend their time at retreats planning for the future, forming goals and addressing pressing issues and problem areas. the problem areas aren’t day-to-day issues such as purchasing a new copy machine or revising the policy on sick days. the problem areas are more strategic: morale issues, recruiting problems, profitability, etc.
everything changes all the time, but not always the way we expect. be prepared. by bruce w. marcus professional services marketing 3.0 if you ask me where i live, i tell you that i live on the corner of x … continued
how the best set direction, gain commitment, execute on plan and lead by personal example.
by robert j. lees, august j. aquila and derek klyhn
rob lees
professional services is one of the most critical sectors in all western economies and an increasingly important one in every other world economy. but, the usual measures of scale, like revenues, the number of firms or the number of professionals, don’t adequately reflect the importance of the sector. what makes professional services so critical is the influence professional firms have on their clients’ activities.
whether the influence comes through strategic advice, legal opinion, transaction origination and support, tax minimisation, or an audit opinion, every business we know is reliant, in some form, on the opinion of a professional service firm.
august aquila
in addition, and at least as important given the move away from self-regulation, there is the critical regulatory role of the accountants and lawyers tasked with ensuring the probity of the world’s financial markets. all of which makes the task of ensuring that each of the firms is a role model of its profession’s expertise, values and ethics absolutely key.
when firms were relatively small, that wasn’t a difficult task. however, as firms have increased in scale, geographic reach and service offerings, the task of running a professional service firm has become extremely complex. and that’s without considering changing client expectations, increasing competition between firms, threats to the traditional business model from offshoring and the increasing number of virtual firms, the increasing number of western economy-based firms operating in countries with social and business norms sometimes far removed from their own, the arrival of a generation with very different expectations than their predecessors, and calls for greater transparency and regulation in the light of the financial meltdown.
derek klyhn
in our twenty year association with professional service firms (psfs), every one of the hundreds of firms we have worked with around the world has seen the number, scale and complexity of the challenges they face increase significantly. being a managing partner, never the easiest of roles, is now one of the most complex and challenging roles in any organisation in any business sector anywhere in the world.
and yet, every managing partner we know admitted that they took on the role without any real understanding of what the role entailed and without being sure if they had the capabilities to do it effectively. they also described how the typical high need for achievement culture within professional service firms, with its intolerance of perceived failure, made it almost impossible for them to ask for help when they needed it and for their colleagues to offer it.
rob lees is a founding partner of moller psfg ltd and consultant to professional service firm leaders worldwide. he is also co-author of the best-selling “when professionals have to lead.”
august aquila is an internationally known speaker, writer and consultant to professional services firms. he is ceo of aquila global advisors. he is also the co-author of “compensation as a strategic asset” and “client at the core.”
derek klyhn is a founding partner and director of møller psfg cambridge ltd and consultant to professional service firm leaders and their teams. he is chartered accountant and has an mba from london business school.
instant download [free for pro members]: to get the complete report, click here: read more →
announced at the 2012 aam summit in partnership with the aicpa practitioners symposium and tech+ conference. see complete list of winners. 
a new salary survey of management accountants isn’t bad news. but it’s not great news either.
surprise: hard work and knowledge aren’t number 1. neither are skills or knowledge. 
