special

research: accounting pros cautiously optimistic about generative ai

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expert says we must work together to balance the benefits of technology and unintended consequences.

by rick richardson
technology this week

thomson reuters, a global content and technology company, recently released new research on generative ai that gauged the sentiment of professionals across legal, tax, and accounting firms in the united states, the united kingdom, and canada. the research sought to understand better how the technology is perceived and applied within the professional services industry. the report uncovered a mix of optimism and caution in adopting generative ai. 

more tech this week: chatgpt passes cpa exam on second try | smartwatch saves two lives | first e-road charges electric vehicles as they drive | stanford scientists 3d-print heart tissue | four of today’s new technologies that will be tomorrow’s ‘norm’ | cyber insurance costs rise in health care as attacks soar | phishing attack hackers have a new trick
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“generative ai can disrupt and redefine the professional landscape, but it is clear from our findings that there is a trust gap with professionals,” said steve hasker, president and ceo of thomson reuters. “the future of professional work is set to be revolutionized by generative ai, and as an industry, we need to work together to find the right balance between the benefits of technology and any unintended consequences. we believe this will help our customers first to trust the transformative power of generative ai and then harness the opportunity to shape the future of their professions.”

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exceptional teams are key to high-net-worth practices

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six businesspeople in meeting around tablehow to build and manage them.

by russ alan prince

in serving the wealthy, polymaths do not exist. one individual cannot possibly have the knowledge, skills and wherewithal to deliver the diverse array of solutions the wealthy need and want; consequently, an exceptional team is required.

more: four keys to an elite wealth management team | four core principles of elite wealth management | what the wealthy getting wealthier means for your practice | does wealth management make sense for your firm? | create family dynasties and add value, roi | is elite wealth management right for you? | why accountants fail at wealth management
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your ability to surround yourself with high-caliber professionals is often essential to building a very successful high-net-worth accounting practice. you not only have to identify the specialists with whom you need to work, but you also need to manage the relationships between your experts and your affluent clients.
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elder care: not sexy, but vital

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caregiver with senior woman in wheelchair outdoorsbonus: a sample engagement letter.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

there are two distinct types of elder care assurance services.

more on marketing: get your clients talking about retirement | help clients with employment compensation | help clients with basic budgeting | questions for after tax season | 28 data points for a financial planning discussion | four additional services to suggest
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one service is the complete financial care and oversight of elderly clients. these could be relatives of the people retaining us, or the elderly person themselves. the other service is consulting on the financial planning and tax needs of the elderly person.
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advisory services done your way

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how to craft a plan to delegate, partner and outsource.

 

diagram

by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers

back office support for the accounting firm defines you and your firm. are you servicing clients who are part of the past, or are you servicing clients living into the future? remember the new generation of business owners has never owned a filing cabinet, fax machine, landline, printer and turntables (only if they are into retro music!).

more: yes, you can be an outsourcer | how back office support adds value | ai is not your enemy
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the diagram above is how i think about “advisory services.” the traditional role of an accountant has been as steward and operator. if you’re happy there, then that’s ok, this post will help you streamline your processes and technology to deliver these services more efficiently and profitably. and if you want to move into higher valued (and higher paying!) work and play a role in transforming your clients’ businesses, and play the role of strategist and catalyst, then we’ll show you how.
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five ways to rally your firm to its culture

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businesspeople chatting around a water coolermake it work for you.

by martin bissett
passport to partnership

cultural issues are dynamic, very broad and unique in each firm. as such it is a challenge to summarize them accurately and comprehensively.

more: three questions about your competence | competence is step one of seven | three things that rich accountants do | four reasons it’s hard to sell | eight questions to hold yourself accountable | win your first client: yourself
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from our research, however, the wise choice for anyone wishing to get their passport to partnership appears to be to study

  • their firm’s existing culture,
  • that of its senior individuals and
  • that of those who have the ear of those senior individuals

to understand not only the route to partnership, but the terrain that they need to cross too.
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three fundamental questions to ask in audit

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are you teaching your team the real work or just the compliance work?

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

instant download:
“the new manifesto for accountants.“

when i started in accounting, we wrote audit programs out by hand, and we thought about what it was we needed to do to carry out our audit procedures.

and then, the firm got a copy machine. that started the arts and crafts period of public accounting.

more: the big issues in audit: frustration, inconsistency and technology | five ways to increase audit efficiency | early adopters gain an edge in audit | talent retention: five tips for an audit adjustment | six benefits of an internal audit | the ten financial controls that’ll make you a hero | five cash reports you can’t live without | when an audit is a great thing
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because we were going to do the same as last year, every year we would make a copy of last year’s hand-written audit program, cut out the sign-offs, tape that on a new page, make sure to draw the lines for the sign-offs, and then we’d make a copy of that. then we had our audit program for the new year.

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how to advise clients on allocating business resources

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man and woman in meetingthe best course might not be the most exciting.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

time, resources and money are limited assets of a business, and, actually, anyone. successful organizations and people know how to maximize each one and how to integrate and allocate them for the best benefits possible.

more: use constraints to make improvements | ten strategies for smart a/r collections | how to react to trends | trends are all around us | how to prepare business plan financial projections | the top 11 financial statement ratios | eight ways to value a family-owned business | are you ready for a co-owner to drop dead?
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these assets are called into action when opportunities arise. however, typically opportunities come in bunches and then a choice must be made. is the newest opportunity taken, the easiest or the most strategic? that is when the organization’s leadership earns its pay. here are some thoughts using a client’s specific situation.
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family offices come in three types

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family of three using smartphones on couchtheir characteristics include three drivers of exceptionalism.

by anthony glomski and russ alan prince
your $5-million high-net-worth practice

when it comes to their financial and personal lives, the wealthy are increasingly attracted to the family office model. at the very high end, there is a strong preference to create a single-family office. for the wealthy for whom the costs of a single-family office are unreasonable or do not want the management or oversight responsibilities, there are multi-family offices and virtual family offices.

more: help pros become experts through thought leadership | where to find wealthy clients | take time to tune your practice goals | here’s where your next $5 million is coming from | help clients avoid fallout from personal complications
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with the family office model, you are providing a broad array of expertise holistically. consequently, you can deliver substantial value to the wealthy. many accounting firms provide family office services. while family office is in the name of these practices, a large percentage of them are offering a limited menu of single-family office capabilities. the services tend to comprise business management expertise and other accounting and tax-related capabilities.
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how auditors can beat ai

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ignore the coming tsunami of change at your own peril.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

instant download:
“the new manifesto for accountants.“

the other day, i picked up a college textbook on auditing from 2001.

more: the disruptors: re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson | the big issues in audit: frustration, inconsistency and technology | five ways to increase audit efficiency | early adopters gain an edge in audit | talent retention: five tips for an audit adjustment | six benefits of an internal audit | the ten financial controls that’ll make you a hero | five cash reports you can’t live without | when an audit is a great thing
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even back then, that book listed these as “critical forces on the profession:”

  • increasing market saturation with relatively little opportunity for growth
  • perceptions that financial statement audits have become a commodity
  • price competition and continual pressure to reduce fees
  • cost pressures that have resulted in the reduction of time devoted to engagements
  • perceptions that the incidence and severity of alleged audit failures have increased

in the 20-plus years since that book was published, not much has changed. today many of the college students who learned auditing from that textbook are in leadership positions at audit firms. they were warned about what we were up against.

that we are still facing those same “critical forces,” which have only exacerbated since then, is an indicator of the ossified state of leadership in the audit profession.

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how tax practitioners became cybersecurity risks

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tax professionals are a hacker’s dream.  

by donny shimamoto, cpa, citp, cgma
on cybersecurity for accountants
center for accounting transformation

in 2015 the u.s. internal revenue service (irs) held its first security summit[i]. by creating a public-private partnership via the summit, the irs is seeking to protect more taxpayers and more tax dollars from tax-related identity theft.

more: how hacker-proof is your firm? | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | ai, ocr, nlp & cpas: oh my!   |  accounting nerds, unlock your super powers  | early adopters gain an edge in audit | dustin wheeler: for serious cas success, hire tech teams | csr for cpas: the missing ingredient | donny shimamoto explains how ‘agile’ applies to cpa firms |  staff retention for remote workers | why the future is in risk advisory |  ready for non-cpa “cpa” firms?
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partners in the summit included the irs, state tax agencies and the private sector tax industry—for example, financial institutions, cybersecurity practitioners and tax practitioners.

the summit brought together people from the full value chain of tax compliance. taxpayers submit information to tax practitioners, who prepare the returns and submit them to the tax authorities.

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yes, ai writes better emails

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email taming and tracking tools with ai-powered writing help are here.

by beth ziesenis
app of the week

have you ever re-read a sent email and cringed because it came off snippy? sometimes, we lose perspective when we’re plowing through the day’s inbox.

more apps of the week:  automate captions for videos | can’t read it now? save it for later | don’t lose precious memories: digitize old photos | track your mileage automatically | keep track of your subscriptions | capture testimonials to increase credibility | find an extra set of hands for time-consuming tasks | personalize communication and set yourself apart from competition | waiting to exhale (i.e., can april 19 hurry up?) |
see all: apps of the week here |
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business etiquette, often labeled a “soft skill,” can be less hard using advances in ai technology.

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why compliance still matters. but it’s not enough.

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resistance is futile… and silly because it’s necessary for the profession.

the smartest route to advisory:
join the survey. get the roadmap

by donny shimamoto, cpa, citp, cgma
the center for accounting transformation

in the world of accounting, compliance work is often seen as the unglamorous side of the profession. but what if i told you that compliance is the heart and soul of accounting, the unsung hero that makes advisory work possible?

more donny shimamoto:  how trusted advisors transform businesses | the future of accounting: a vision of trust, clarity, and hope | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | ai, ocr, nlp & cpas: oh my!   |  accounting nerds, unlock your super powers  | early adopters gain an edge in audit | dustin wheeler: for serious cas success, hire tech teams | csr for cpas: the missing ingredient | donny shimamoto explains how ‘agile’ applies to cpa firms |  staff retention for remote workers | why the future is in risk advisory |  ready for non-cpa “cpa” firms?
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let’s explore the importance of compliance work in the accounting profession and why it’s time for us to stop minimizing its significance. read more →

marketing a fixed position in a moving world

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three things to keep in mind.

by bruce marcus
professional services marketing 3.0

editor’s note: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 was privileged to have a long relationship with bruce w. marcus, who was ahead of his time in his thinking and practice in marketing for accounting. we are publishing some of the late expert’s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.

there is no great mystique to the marketing concept of positioning. while it’s not as simple as some would make it seem, nor as complex as others would have you believe, it’s still very real.

more: accountants vs. lawyers: who wins the marketing battle? | the risk in not understanding risk | what your marketing program can and can’t do | nine reasons that prospects say yes | how marketing evolved to 3.0 | nine fundamentals for a healthy marketing culture in an accounting firm
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like so many words used in marketing, positioning has come to be shorthand for some ideas that have come a long way in the pursuit of sound marketing practice. first popularized by ries and trout in their 1981 book, “positioning,” the concept took a basic advertising practice and codified it in a way that made it possible for other marketers to think differently about approaches to the market.
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