outlook & analysis

survey: is the tax prep business topping out?

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the number of filings by tax professionals appears to have slowed or even reversed.
screen shot 2014-03-06 at 12.56.57 pm

combined with data from the irs, it appears to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 that the price-sensitive bottom of the tax market is getting raked over the coals this year. and it may represent an historic shift.

cch’s top federal tax analyst, mark luscombe, agrees, “it’s possible that tax professionals are trading away quantity for quality. they may be doing fewer returns, but focusing on the higher-value work.” read more →

survey: tax season metrics shift for the better

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key indicators point to a better 2014 than 2013.

last year at this time, 43% of practitioners were already scrambling to put more clients on extension than the year before, according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer survey findings:

this year, only 25% are expecting an increase in the number of extensions. read more →

the pluses and minuses for a cpa firm merger

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the 15 good signs and 17 warning flags to look for.

for some reason, cpa firms seem to find it much more daunting to evaluate a merger involving their own firm than that of a client’s. but the same methods and procedures you’d use to advise a client can be put to use in considering your firm’s next merger or acquisition. here, marc rosenberg, in how to negotiate a cpa firm merger, lays out the pluses and minuses to look for in a deal… 15 pluses and 17 minuses, to be exact. read more →

how to find new clients on social media

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leadtail2

study shows cfos’ key interests and topics for conversation.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

new research into chief financial officers’ habits on twitter shows their favorite topics of conversation, how they describe themselves and their top sources of information.

any one of those could be an opportunity to make a connection, maybe even make a new client, according to business development experts. 

read more →

great rainmakers won’t make a firm great

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top firms know the nine tenets of a healthy, sustainable growth-minded culture. by bruce w. marcus professional services marketing 3.0 the firms that want to grow and thrive must be turned into marketing machines – to have a culture that … continued

quality control: the first test of leadership

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eight data points to check your tax season quality control systems.

by ed mendlowitz
how to review tax returns

accounting firms that have high review times usually have high error rates necessitating the higher review time. doesn’t that sound crazy?

why not set up procedures to reduce the error rate? i have been told that error rates range between 5% and 95%. 95%!? that is crazy! there must come a time when you decide to fix this. you can rationalize all the expediency reasons in the world, but this is just bad, stupid and poor business!

start by considering eight key metrics. read more →