vault.com ranks accounting firms by “quality of life” issues.
leading the way was elliot davis, which took the top spot in four categories, with withumsmith+brown and deloitte each earning no. 1 rankings in three categories.
s&g financial services took the lead in two categories, and armanino mckenna, pricewaterhousecoopers, and rothstein kass each grabbed one top spot in this year’s rankings.
fbi background checks for some ptin registrants.
the irs is airing proposed rules and user fees for fingerprinting and for taking the new competency examination.
total fees, counting the irs share and corporate contractors doing the work, are expected to be between $60 and $90 for fingerprinting and $100 and $125 for testing.
the irs share of the fingerprinting fee is expected to be $33 and $27 for the test.
maybe the 150-person firm in bellevue, wash., has found a winning formula.
[jwplayer mediaid=”12592″]
clark nuber is consistently ranked among one of washington’s best places to work and the firm has an 88 percent retention rate. tracy l. white, sphr, senior director of human resources, shares insights into what it takes to build a dedicated staff:
last chance to take care of yourself, your career, your firm — before busy season begins.
the painful journey to a new era.
by bruce w. marcus
professional services marketing 3.0
in the years following bates, accounting firms began a long and difficult process of learning how to market.
accountants were still so steeped in the no-commercialization ethic that they tried to resist any form of marketing. they couldn’t, because other firms had started doing it, and were winning clients.
“the roi on social media is that you’ll still be in business in five years.”
but it depends on your taste for risk. by jean marie caragher capstone marketing there are at least four types of opportunities your firm can pursue in considering new niche growth, each with its own level of risk: 1. market penetration. … continued
and why it’s not product marketing.
by bruce w. marcus
professional services marketing 3.0
the adjectives and comparisons and superlatives so common in product marketing have no place in professional services marketing.
the boast, even when there seems to be a foundation for it, rarely works. but professional services marketing can work when it’s designed to: read more →
for instance: can your firm deliver? by jean marie caragher capstone marketing niche marketing is the decision to use a mix of marketing tools to address a specific target: a niche in the market. using the information gathered in your marketing … continued
no, you don’t own your clients.
by jason m. blumer, cpa/citp
founder, thriveal +cpa network
chief innovation officer, blumer & associates cpas
i’m learning a lot these days. for instance, i’ve learned the value of where my real assets are found.
an australian colleague said he doesn’t call his clients “his” anymore. that is, he has realized something that many of us in the business are slow to accept – your clients are not your property and you do not own them. ouch.
why do i believe this?
before we hit some practical aspects to this truth, 
let me discuss the deeper reasons for this new belief. with the accountancy revolution, i’m seeing that clients, or customers as i like to call them, have the freedom to make their own choices for their service providers. and i now believe this deeply.
get the briefing paper on the “american jobs act.” with hopes of stimulating national job growth in the near future, president obama is urging congress to pass a $447 billion jobs package. but many tax practitioners just want to know: … continued
preliminary results show downward pressure on rates and fees as much as 12% in some areas. 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 is working with intuit to track the trends. “this is the first time we’ve seen downward pressure since 2005 when we started … continued
you can’t do it without your marketing director.
by august aquila
aquila advisors
research shows that managing partners and marketing directors are still facing some major challenges when it comes to getting their firms to implement change. why? read more →