special

a lesson in customer service and reputation

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manager standing in front of wall of tvswho needs to see you lead?

by martin bissett
passport to partnership

in order to become a commercially aware practice leader, we need to understand the dna of leadership.

more: 10 questions for reconsidering your prices | five reasons firms don’t thrive | four biz dev tasks to start the new year | what the next generation of practice leaders faces | five ways to show commitment | selling isn’t hard | do you make your firm look good?
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any woman or man leading an accounting firm, who chooses to overcome each operational or client challenge as it if their future depended on it, will not only succeed in practice but will become capable of delivering advisory value to their clients unmatched by their competitors, thus achieving true differentiation.
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are you ready for a co-owner to drop dead?

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man holding white rose with lit candles in backgroundwhat you have to have in place.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

not having a buy-sell agreement doesn’t mean anything unless a co-owner dies, becomes disabled, becomes bankrupt, divorced, wants to quit, retire or many other things. i regularly receive calls from accountants on behalf of clients who need valuations because a co-owner had died suddenly without a buy-sell agreement.

more: you don’t need this, but your survivors do | due diligence is in the details | manage better with the right financial tools | do you need a forensic professional? | six benefits of an internal audit | the ten financial controls that’ll make you a hero
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here is a bleak picture of what happens and what can be avoided. the scenario: a business owned by two friends who started it 20 years earlier. they’re pretty successful, they make good livings, fund their pension plans, and they have money left over each year to provide for modest growth. but they haven’t accumulated any extra savings and they still have home mortgages and kids in college. they are both 50. and then one dies suddenly. the survivor must buy the interest from the estate of his deceased partner. but he doesn’t know what to offer and can’t afford too much.
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get clients to toot your cas horn

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trumpet with color burst emerging from upturned bellbonus: templates you can use today.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

to expand and grow your client accounting services practice, you need a steady stream of new prospects. while referrals have been accountants’ #1 source of getting new clients, this method gives no predictability and control to accountants on which types of prospects come in their doors. you need the ability to attract cas-fit clients continuously. hence, your lead generation process needs to be adjusted accordingly.

more: how to market cas to existing clients | five methods to show your firm’s marketable value | how to set your firm’s cas pricing | craft an engagement letter for cas success | six ways that cas processes are different | the tech stack you need for cas | finding profits in cas
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the accounting profession’s largest cas survey revealed that along with the firm’s website, “proactively seek referrals” is the top marketing method for firms to get new cas clients. how do you proactively seek referrals without waiting for them?
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why partners need written goals

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businessman pole vaulting toward his goalthree questions to answer about each one.

by august j. aquila
what makes a great partnership

“if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.” – zig ziegler

if we achieve what we measure, then it is true that we become what we think about most of the time. philip e. humbert, ph.d. wrote, “the human brain is a goal-seeking, problem- solving machine, and the things we think about, focus on, and worry about inevitably shape our destiny.”

more: seven keys to becoming an equity partner | how to create firm accountability | eight criteria for partnership | how to achieve partner unity | five questions to ask your partners about accountability | how you can get partners to change | the seven building blocks of a great partnership
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brian tracy says the four main excuses people make as to why they don’t have written goals are:
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does wealth management make sense for your firm?

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remember, your current clientele is not the whole picture.

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

not all accounting firms are interested in establishing a wealth management practice. it does not fit well with their strategies and culture. moreover, a great many accounting firms would not be successful in providing wealth management services and products. consequently, a percentage of accounting firms smartly choose not to get involved in delivering wealth management.

more: five business models for wealth management | the life insurance that your firm needs | build your high-performing family office practice | are you missing maximum potential? | why accountants fail at wealth management
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then there are accounting firms that choose to be in the wealth management business. when wealth management is part of a well-thought-out accounting firm’s strategy and is implemented well, it can be instrumental in delivering greater value to clients as well as substantially increasing accounting firm profits.
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need leads? try a quiz

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woman looking at tablet at outdoor tablehow to write and automate your own.

by sandi leyva
the complete guide to marketing for tax & accounting firms

every week, i love to take the bbc news quiz even though i fail miserably each time. if you’ve ever taken a quiz in a magazine, social post or website, you know they can be irresistible. why not use them in your business?

more: five emotional skills for entrepreneurs | four tips for tough times | nine thoughts on self-marketing for the introvert | three questions for the new year | 13 reasons to master consumption marketing | when to talk about fees
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the alluring part of a quiz from a magazine is that you can’t really fail. plus, many of them can give some insight into our personalities or traits, even if it’s made up. how can you use quizzes in your business to attract clients? here are some ideas to do just that.
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find the right tech tool for your small business

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buyer beware? here’s how to compare software solutions before investing your tech budget. illustration of cloud software

by beth ziesenis
app of the week

congress designated the third week in february as national entrepreneurship week to encourage american entrepreneurs and spark new businesses. this year, chia and pet rock inventors can unite in celebration of that ingenuitive spirit.

according to nationaltoday.com, “it is a congressionally-chartered initiative centered on celebrating america’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. formed in 2006 and relaunched in 2017, this initiative uplifts core values of diversity, inclusion, equity, education, and collaboration needed for the growth of entrepreneurs.”

more apps of the week:  discover 5 free software faves | make your computer a clean slate | recycle and repurpose old devices | enlist ai for more productive meetings | keep teams on task with project management apps | apps to put your affairs in order | app of the week: celebrate black business month | app of the week: cheap flights | help your clients save money | time to upgrade your spreadsheets | app of the week: secretly stash cash | easy apps for increasing client engagement with video | app of the week: grow your business knowledge and career skill sets | app of the week: upgrade your resume | app of the week: end procrastination | 
see all: apps of the week here |
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

before you buy a bunch of tech tools and start your trial-and-error software tests, check out software review sites that can help, especially in popular categories like crms, project management, email marketing and human resources.

here are three i really like:

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10 errors that ‘smart’ scanners make

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man staring at computer screen in shockdon’t have one? ask another firm for a demo.

by ed mendlowitz
how to review tax returns: the field-tested update

for those who haven’t tried them yet, smart scanners are a fabulous tool, which, if used correctly can save time and cost. the one thing they don’t do is check their work.

more: three ways to improve tax returns | tax follow-up worksheets can mean more revenue | stop tax return review shortcuts | routine is key to reviewing tax returns | seven types of tax return reviews
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

however, smart scanners do not need lunch or dinner brought into the office, don’t take coffee or smoke breaks and you don’t have to listen to how their weekend was. but they do organize the digital work papers on your internal filing system. nothing is perfect but many things are good enough and you just need to determine your tradeoffs.
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marchternity: just say ‘no’

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whether marchternity continues depends entirely upon you.

more on marchternity:
the solution is community, by liz farr

by seth fineberg
at large

after nearly three years of what many tax pros consider one of the longest tax seasons on record –- a.k.a. ‘marchternity’ –- one would think this season would be different.

more fineberg: what bogs down accountants | your classic business model won’t allow growth

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to be sure, plenty of tax practitioners in late 2022 did indeed call the end of marchternity and look forward to some sense of normalcy, as much of what caused the extended tax season in the first place appears to have subsided. so, do tax pros expect this season to be different?

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don’t let clients dictate tax workflow

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//www.g005e.com/2014/02/02/marcus-metrics/ask the right questions and stick to your processes.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

who makes the errors in your firm? staff obviously, but that’s half of the answer. clients are a major source of tax return errors. clients cause errors in three ways:

  1. errors of omission
  2. errors of commission
  3. errors in attitude

more: make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity | how small firms can win the talent wars | easy ways to avoid ‘done but’ tax returns | six ways to create a millennial-friendly firm | do you know your turnaround time?
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every tax season, we finalize and deliver returns only to hear from the client, “i think i might have forgotten to tell you that we had a baby last year.” does this happen to you? this is a client error of omission. unintentionally, clients withhold important information.
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how to develop internal procedures

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smiling woman using smartphoneplus three apps for organizing them.

by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers

there is a symbiotic relationship between your technology and your processes. you have to consider both, or you won’t get the full benefit.

more: why federated search matters | top tech tools for building your new bos business | choose your little black dress of technology | pick your favorite clients | keep the accountants focused on accounting | what do you want advisory services to be?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

mckinsey global has been researching the impact of automation around the world, and (no surprise) found that when companies try to retrofit technology to fit into existing processes, “companies end up with a patchwork of incongruous technology tools that automate separate and distinct parts of the process. this approach is fine for capturing the first 5 percent or so of automation’s impact. but unlocking the full potential requires a fundamentally different way of thinking. to capture that potential, managers must be willing to re-engineer their processes completely.”[1]
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10 questions for reconsidering your prices

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coins and small bills in a plastic boxstop undervaluing yourself.

by martin bissett
business development on a budget

undercharging – or lowballing as it’s also called – is the scourge of the profession. it has always been present, and unfortunately, it will probably be with us for the foreseeable future.

undercharging is directly related to fear – fear of rejection.

more: five reasons firms don’t thrive | prioritize your prospects | good enough is not enough | consistency is key to business development | comfort vs. complacency | five questions about your network

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when you are building your pipeline according to the process, you have assigned fees you think might be in the ballpark of what you believe you could get from a new piece of work or a new client. you may tend to estimate on the low side, which is not a bad idea in theory, because it lets you be pleasantly surprised when it’s anything beyond that.
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