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the shift to advisory from a firm perspective

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man and woman high-fiving each other in office

it might take longer than you expect, but it’s so worthwhile.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

articles about shifting to advisory are mostly written by consultants. they are smart, well-meaning people. they have lots of advice, some good, some bad, but it’s like hiring a vegan chef to grill your steak. they aren’t living with the consequences.

more from frank stitely
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my firm made the shift and learned a lot of lessons from grilling our own steak. we mostly survived with just a mild case of food poisoning.

let’s kindly ask our vegan chefs to leave the room and just speak firm to firm. let’s wait a second longer to make certain they’re off grilling tofu.

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the risks of not innovating in audit

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hand below light bulb

technology is moving quickly. are you keeping up?

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

auditors, like most accountants, tend to be conservative in nature. we tend to be reluctant to change unless we’re on a burning platform.

more by alan anderson
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as i’ve said before, audit is at a crossroads. we can continue the way we’ve been doing audit and will likely go extinct. or we can make changes that will keep audit relevant and valuable for the next generations.
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toward a 21st-century cpa: a dynamic vision

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portrait of susan bryant
bryant
 susan bryant is a certified public accountant and certified tax strategist. she has earned widespread recognition, including honors as a woman of empowerment, enterprising woman of the year, and being named among the top 50 women in accounting.

seven areas of focus for every firm.

by susan bryant
the holistic guide to wealth management

as the old saying goes: “everyone wants an accountant; no one wants to be an accountant.” whether that saying is true or not, the future of our profession hinges upon casting a new vision.

more: what multiples mean to accounting firms | tsunami of m&a, pe is disrupting the accounting profession | why cpas are best positioned to become financial advisors | how wealth management has evolved | introducing you to a fulfilling return on relationships | rory henry upends the traditional accounting firm | why now is the time for cpas to embrace wealth management
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accounting has been many things over the years, but “exciting” is not an adjective you hear often to describe it. reliable. dependable. necessary. sure, but rarely exciting.

however, we live in fast-moving and volatile times. everything is changing rapidly. the aftermath of the pandemic, and the seismic shifts it caused in the global and local economies, have upended nearly every aspect of business. sector after sector is scrambling to adapt to our fast-changing world. it’s a world in which the stock market is volatile; inflation is high; war, recession and weather events loom; and millions of boomers are exiting the work force and surging into retirement. with the world changing so fast, every aspect of business services needs to change with it, including accounting.
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deals 2024: over 100 cpa firm mergers and acquisitions

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howard

buckle up for 2025.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

curious about the deals that went down in 2024 and how they might inform your next move? marc howard is, too. so, he compiled a comprehensive list.

howard is a serial entrepreneur in the accounting space, host of the pitch your firm podcast, founder of firmlever, founder of taxplow, co-founder of bizpayo, and creator of tax advisor gpt.

howard found upwards of 115 deals in 2024, ranging from the first deal of the year, ata cpas’ takeover of  whitehorn tankersley & davis on jan. 3, to the last, platform accounting group’s roll-ups of midwest advisors and crossroads advisors on dec. 23.

some of the most active buyers on his list include cbiz, which counted marcum among its three deals; citrin cooperman, with eight deals; cla, crowe, and doeren, each with three; and eisner, with four deals.

he predicts an even busier 2025 for the profession.

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make sure your firm understands the value of cas

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three businesspeople looking at laptop and smiling

your partners will apply their expertise to generate insights and advice that your clients will value more.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

unless you become the “cas champion” or make someone accountable to be one, your client accounting services practice will not take off the starting blocks.

more: save 75% with one banking change | you, a virtual cfo? why not? | who is ready for client accounting services? | wants? needs? cas helps fill both | automation can be exciting in client accounting services | eight steps for better client accounting services | do you have the client accounting services mindset? | four ingredients to your cas ‘why’ | cas clients are ‘stickier’
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and the single biggest initial challenge for the cas champ is how to communicate the value of cas to the firm’s future fortune to every stakeholder – be it partners, staff, clients and prospects. for this post, i will assume that your cas champ absolutely “gets it.”
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being a partner is great! have you told your staff?

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womand and man seated side by side at table in front of laptop, hanging plants in background

don’t assume they know how good you have it.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

conveying to staff why it’s great to be a partner at a cpa firm is one of the weakest areas of partner performance. it’s also a best practice for managing staff.

more: what it takes to get a promotion in accounting | generational differences can’t be ignored | eight strategies for recruiting | training? cpe? they’re not the same | what leadership looks and feels at cpa firms | the importance of great bosses | why staff leave cpa firms … and how to stop them | how accounting staffing has changed
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true story

we worked with a five-partner firm on the east coast on succession planning. the partners were all in their late 50s and 60s and two or three of them planned to retire in the next five years. they were wrestling with a tough decision: do we merge into a larger firm as our exit strategy or do we/can we gradually turn the firm over to our three managers, all of whom have the talent and experience to be a partner? they dreaded the former option and preferred the latter.
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offer three tiers of service

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hand drawing a rainbow-colored 3

are there ways to add on other services? of course.

by jody padar
radical pricing – by the radical cpa

a tiered service offering should provide your clients with three options. according to experts in mindset and pricing, if you provide three options, people will usually choose the one in the middle. that’s the one you are aiming for them to buy.

more: how to create price packages | seven steps to determining your price | how to scope before you price | seventeen questions to ask when scoping | four steps to scoping for alignment … and the #1 rule to remember | 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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also, don’t forget that people buy the payment, not the car. there’s an entire mentality around monthly pricing. if you tell a client it’s a $24,000 engagement, they will balk. they would rather pay $2,000 a month than the full amount all at once. of course, some clients will offer to give you the full engagement amount up front if the price is discounted. from a cash flow perspective, you can offer a small discount if a client is willing to pay this way.

creating your service packages is not a one-size-fits-all activity. there should be different tiered service options for each client persona. it is also important for clients to know that they can upgrade or downgrade their service level when needed.
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