bissett bullet: why bother?
today’s bissett bullet: “why, in general, does marketing in the accounting profession fail so often and if it yields such dismal results, why bother?”
by martin bissett
pro member exclusive
today’s bissett bullet: “why, in general, does marketing in the accounting profession fail so often and if it yields such dismal results, why bother?”
by martin bissett
i’ve said it before and you’ll read it again many times as you stick with me. the secret sauce, the thing that most accounting professionals don’t use effectively enough are their stories. nothing more, nothing less.
we’ve established that marketing creates need and when you tell your clients’ stories – not in terms of what you did, not even in terms of how much time and money you saved, but in terms of what your clients were able to use that time and money for – you attract other people who want the same.
how many stories do you have hidden in your portfolio, even just over the last five years? how many mortgages have you saved? how many personal guarantees have you gotten back from the bank? let’s be really blunt, how many marriages have you saved as a result of your work?
today’s to-do:
find five of your best client stories and ask for permission to use them. some clients will be happy for them to be shared and others will want them anonymized – that’s fine. think about how you can leverage these in your marketing.
see more bissett bullets here
does firm culture still matter?
a well-defined firm culture is key to building an irresistible employer brand.
by seth fineberg
at large
who you are and what you stand for as a firm can mean many things, but if you aren’t explicit about what you are about, you may as well say nothing.
more: seth fineberg
i know this is a bold statement, but over the years, i’ve heard the term “firm culture” tossed around so freely that i daresay, when pressed, that firm leaders will be challenged to have a legitimate answer when asked what it actually is.
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getting aligned on scope helps your team and your clients
master the map to success.
by jody padar
radical pricing – by the radical cpa
there are two basic ways to drive from door county, wisconsin, to new orleans to attend mardi gras in february. the first is to chart a course using a map or gps app. it will tell you the route to take, where to stop along the way and how long it will take to make the drive. the second way is to start the car, back out of the driveway and head south, hoping you’ll bump into new orleans along the way.
more: create more meaningful kpis | here’s how profit sharing improves your firm | productize services for consistent client value | four ways automation pushes the paradigm shift | how value pricing impacts your employees | why pricing is so disruptive | accounting disruptors are heading your way … with deep pockets | advisory work must be priced by value, not hours
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which do you think gives you the better opportunity to arrive in new orleans in time for the festivities?
scope is a lot like creating a project map showing what you want to accomplish, who’s going to do what, how you’re going to do it, what you’ll need along the way and how long it will take to get there. it includes all the specific details of what you’ll deliver to the client, including, for example, tax returns, quarterly planning, bookkeeping and cash flow management.
how to put your strengths to work for you
here’s a quiz that provides real insight.
by sandi leyva
the complete guide to marketing for tax & accounting firms
most of us have an idea about what our character strengths are.
a few years back, a scientist named christopher peterson developed a global list of 24 strengths that all humans have.
more: implement these two daily rituals | three ways to follow up with prospects | twelve ways your business card can hurt you | got fomo when it comes to ai and chatgpt? you should: here’s what you’re missing | how to weather any economic storm | ten ways to have more energy this tax season | seven steps to keeping your clients forever | give to receive, and eight more ways to boost sales
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these break down into the following six major categories:
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the right kind of lazy: innovative approaches to streamlining workflows | accounting arc
arc hosts discuss redefining efficiency in the accounting profession and when it pays to ‘slack off.’
accounting arc
with liz mason, byron patrick, and donny shimamoto.
center for accounting transformation
in a recent episode of the popular accounting arc podcast, hosts liz mason, cpa, and donny shimamoto, cpa.citp, cgma; and byron patrick, cpa.citp, cgma; discussed an unconventional yet powerful concept: the right kind of lazy. this idea, which involves strategically optimizing workflows to eliminate non-value-adding tasks, offers a fresh perspective on efficiency and productivity in the accounting profession.
mason, founder and ceo of high rock accounting, shared an anecdote from her early career at grant thornton. faced with the monotonous task of processing paper tax returns, mason decided to automate the process. she spent over 100 hours developing a script that streamlined data entry and document generation. although initially time-consuming, the solution saved significant time when implemented across multiple offices. “it was fun and a great learning experience,” mason remarks. “at scale, it saved a ton of time for people.”
caleb jenkins: firm growth requires owners to shift roles | the disruptors
leave the stone age behind. join the new paradigm.
this is a preview. the complete video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to pro members.
the disruptors
with liz farr
when caleb jenkins was eight, he started selling cookies to his dad’s firm during tax season. his dad told him, “for me to pay you, i need you to create an invoice for me.” so jenkins set up his own quickbooks file and has been playing with quickbooks ever since, and eventually joined his dad’s firm.
more podcasts and videos: ira rosenbloom: don’t merge for the money | adam lean: get out of the accountant’s trap | geraldine carter: charging more is better for your clients | vimal bava: when working smarter, not harder, is the only option | dawn brolin says grow your firm by shrinking it | jason blumer & julie shipp: move leaders out of client service | james graham: drop the billable hour and you’ll bill more | karen reyburn: fix your marketing and fix your business | giles pearson: fix the staffing crisis by swapping experience for education | jina etienne: practice fearless inclusion | bill penczak: stop forcing smart people to do stupid work | sandra wiley: staffing problem? check your culture | scott scarano: first, grow people. then firm growth can follow |
like most small firms, rlj financial focuses on the fundamentals of tax, bookkeeping, and payroll, but, as jenkins says, “in the eyes of the beholder, there’s really not a whole lot of value there.” however, shifting into advisory – a big talking point in recent years for the profession – is where accountants can bring “incredible value …beyond the baseline of traditional compliance services,” jenkins says. shifting into advisory also means “there’s way more work that happens all year round.”
three ways to thrive with limited capacity
turn the staffing shortage into a new opportunity.
by frank stiteley
the relentless cpa
charles dickens had to be writing about the accounting profession when he wrote, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
clients are plentiful. i met a new client coming out of the restroom at our office complex. we get four to five inquiries a day – out of tax season. during tax season, we turned down four out of five prospective clients.
more on staffing: tax and accounting jobs and salaries show strength | olympics of outsourcing and offshoring for accountants | new study: strong and steady growth for accountant jobs and salaries | can’t recruit? retain! | is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | firms culling clients as staffing woes persist
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
staff are not plentiful – at least not good ones. i’m getting two or three resumes a day, but they’re the warm body sort most of us learned the hard way not to hire during the pandemic. you’ve seen these resumes too. they are people with six employers in eight years. you are certain to be number seven in nine years. they claim eight years of experience, but you can see from their job history that it’s really two years of experience repeated four times. and – they want $100k for those two years of real experience.
eight questions for personal preparation
before you can succeed in business, get your house in order.
by martin bissett
winning your first client
you know the identity of your first client, and if you buy into you, then there’s a good chance of potential clients being prepared to do so, too.
more: perception, even your own, is reality | eight questions that target personal accountability | are you projecting confidence? | does client perception match your firm’s reality? | firm not thriving? five fixes | five questions for grading prospects | health, wealth, stealth: challenges on the path to partnership | don’t let recurring fees kill your practice | rate your personal purpose | five ways to make selling easier
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
this is what we must remember about the purchasing of professional services such as accounting. if your prospective client is a grade a or b style opportunity for your firm, then they are not buying the services you provide per se. the services are the vehicles of delivery; the means to the end.
the client is buying the relationship, and they are asking themselves:
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microsoft patents an encryption system to block visual hacking
has microsoft created the ultimate public anti-hack?
by rick richardson
technology this week
your computer or tablet screen can easily be visually hacked in public, which allows someone to steal private information. plastic screen coverings are one technique to stop this from happening, as they make it harder for someone to view the document unless they are directly in front of it. microsoft might develop a technology that encrypts text graphically as you read it.
more: recently discovered antibiotic spares ’good’ bacteria | is nasa about to make air travel cheaper? | your brain can store 10 times more than anyone thought | microsoft discovers a security flaw impacting android apps | ai-engineered enzyme could be solution to plastic pollution | ai named the highest-paying in-demand tech skill for 2024 | lenovo readies new thinkbook laptop with a transparent display | microsoft moves further into nuclear development with new director | tack one launches new location tracker for children and seniors
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a recent microsoft patent describes a system that encrypts a document so that only the reader can decipher it. the approach encrypts the document by changing the letters in the text section of the original document. the document is then shown in a private mode using an alpha-blended version that combines the encoded and original copies of the text. next, the system uses eye tracking to show the user the decoded portion of the document at their fixation point and the encoded version at the periphery of their field of vision.
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steve yoss: advanced techniques in powerpoint for financial presentations | quick tech talk
save time and reduce errors by linking data across applications.
quick tech talk
with steve yoss
cpe today
did you know that you can link data from excel into powerpoint, word, and other microsoft office applications?
more steve yoss
more tech
you can prepare your financial information, balance sheet, income statement, or whatever else inside excel. you could then paste it directly into your next powerpoint presentation, word document, or anything else. but the trick is not to paste and leave it there but to paste and link it.
the top tip for reviewing tax returns
what would you say?
by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice
question: i know you have a lot of advice on how to review tax returns. what’s your single best tip?
more: you have to start somewhere | two options for collecting past due fees | when board service gets tricky | eleven ways new staffers can help bring in business | busy season is over, so it’s time for some resolutions | want to merge? six steps to take | how to start providing family office services | every accounting firm needs quality control | no one listens to you? change how you talk | 47 types of business valuation to provide | thirteen things to consider before you sell your practice | uncooperative partner might not be the problem
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response: i had never thought about this until this question was asked.
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can a service center model solve audit staffing shortages?
providing superior client service eliminates the perception of audit as a commodity.
by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future
most firms have abysmal project management, which makes it nearly impossible to see if there’s any room to take on extra work. plus, piling all the work into busy season means your people already work far beyond 40 hours a week. and, if you’re relying on timesheets as a measure of capacity, you may not be capturing the time your staff eats because the work is taking more than 40 or even 60 hours in a week to complete.
more: don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand | four questions to make your firm more successful as a business | say adios to audit fee pressure | deliver more audit value by getting out of the conference room | six essential elements in audit planning | before the audit: more than just planning | five crucial attributes for successful audit leadership | put the ethics code to work for your clients and your firm | is audit in crisis because of definitions?
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
during the 2020-21 covid-19 pandemic, some audit firms had to lay people off, or reduce work hours as projects got canceled or curtailed. but the long-term trend for years has been a shortfall in talent that will only get worse. burnout from overwork is the number one cause of employee turnover.
analyze your firm to keep it current
does everyone have the same vision?
by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services
i have discussed some of the issues behind developing an effective website. if your partners can’t agree on the overall points of the website, it merely means that there are different visions for the firm within the firm. the best way to overcome this obstacle is to conduct a self-analysis.
more: what makes a great website? | losing can help you win more | eight areas to cover for personal goals | service quality: the key to client retention | how life cycle changes your marketing | clients buy solutions, not features | make sure you know what you will get from your marketing | three pillars support a successful accounting firm | clients have six reasons for needing you | six ways to market your technology consulting practice | sixteen marketing activities to try | the four steps of your personal marketing process
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you can use the following questions at a firm retreat. hand out the questions to the retreat participants prior to the meeting. ask the retreat participants to write out the answer to each question. then have open discussions about the questions and their answers, and try to come to some agreement. here are the questions:
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