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create a culture of audit quality assurance

by

man in office writing notes at desk

get a better result in less time.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

for way too long, many firm leaders have equated quality in their audits with making it through the peer review process. peer review is important, but making quality all about that is like the american car executives whose production lines needed a guy with a rubber mallet at the end of the production line to make sure the door fit right. that’s quality control.

more: what quality in audit leadership means | business-minded approach helps build a better firm | are you looking at the big picture? | meet your client all year, not just during audit | give your audit teams tasks that increase business acumen | are you using the right business model? | give advice while remaining independent | stop mixing up your v’s and losing your best people | empower your team by dumping c and d clients | the new formula for an accounting business | how to upgrade c and d clients | eleven types of audit clients and which to fire | don’t risk losing good employees for bad clients | can a service center model solve audit staffing shortages? | don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

quality assurance is making the guy with the rubber mallet irrelevant. the first-time right mindset is taking the japanese approach and making sure the door is designed so it fits correctly from the beginning.

quality control is at the end. quality assurance starts at the beginning and continues throughout the entire process. it’s not a one-time event.
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business model evolution accelerates

by

two men talking in an office

change is needed in mindset and skillset.

by scott moore
the rosenberg national survey of cpa firm statistics

leading firms will continue to proactively evolve their business models to include more digital process automation, bundling of services with subscription-style pricing, strategic outsourcing, and upscaling of talent along the client value continuum.

editor’s note: every year, the 2024 rosenberg national survey of cpa firm statistics asks the profession’s top consultants two sets of questions:

    • how do you think the next 12 months will unfold? trends? predictions? other thoughts?
    • how would you assess the last 12 months? trends? observations? struggles?

more: accounting firms must consider capital resources | firms not keeping all their clients | accounting still short on staff and students | artificial intelligence plays role in analytics, optimization | challenges for the accounting profession: private equity, offshoring, training new hires | recalibration is key for accounting profession | people development still a concern | focus on intentional growth | accounting firms upshift to corporate model | tech anxiety paralyzing some accounting firms | what’s going to happen? lots, say consultants | growth and complacency must concern accounting firms this year | solving staffing requires intention | how accounting firms are handling the staff shortage
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

this will set the pace for the profession as a whole, as more firms follow suit in these areas in their efforts to keep up with client expectations and market dynamics. an increase in m&a activity and consolidation will increase this effect, as strategic investments target firms with the highest potential to achieve maximum market value.
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accounting firms must consider capital resources

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firms of $20 million to $50 million in revenue will be presented with many opportunities.

by gary thomson
the rosenberg national survey of cpa firm statistics

continued exploration of capital resources will be a hallmark of the next 12 months. determining the cost of strategic priorities will drive a better informed exploration of the basic question: “from where will we get our needed capital?”

editor’s note: every year, the 2024 rosenberg national survey of cpa firm statistics asks the profession’s top consultants two sets of questions:

    • how do you think the next 12 months will unfold? trends? predictions? other thoughts?
    • how would you assess the last 12 months? trends? observations? struggles?

more: firms not keeping all their clients | accounting still short on staff and students | recalibration is key for accounting profession | accounting firms upshift to corporate model | growth and complacency must concern accounting firms this year | the future of fees | how accounting firms are dealing with retirement | what’s your firm worth? private equity wants to know
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

those sources include, but are not limited to, owners, banks, private equity, mergers, esops, etc. the potential sources are abundant … determining what’s right for your firm is a unique and focused effort to get it right.
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firms not keeping all their clients

by

elderly businessman with hand on door frame

plus two questions about m&as.

by carl george
the rosenberg national survey of cpa firm statistics

my list of predictions for the next 12 months:

  • firms will continue to upgrade their client profiles and disengage from clients who no longer fit. the result is more time will be spent on higher-value clients and emerging high-value clients. a strategy long overdue for some.

editor’s note: every year, the 2024 rosenberg national survey of cpa firm statistics asks the profession’s top consultants two sets of questions:

    • how do you think the next 12 months will unfold? trends? predictions? other thoughts?
    • how would you assess the last 12 months? trends? observations? struggles?

more: accounting still short on staff and students | artificial intelligence plays role in analytics, optimization | challenges for the accounting profession: private equity, offshoring, training new hires | recalibration is key for accounting profession | people development still a concern | focus on intentional growth | accounting firms upshift to corporate model | tech anxiety paralyzing some accounting firms | what’s going to happen? lots, say consultants | growth and complacency must concern accounting firms this year | solving staffing requires intention
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

  • firms realize that more training is needed for their staff than ever before. there are two major reasons behind the accelerated and deeper training necessity:

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accounting still short on staff and students

by

young woman talking to man in office

firms have had to adjust.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg national survey of cpa firm statistics

i believe 2003-2007 was the golden age of the cpa profession because the robust increases in revenues and profits were never better. the early and mid-2020s will be named by someone much more clever than me, but many of us feel these current years of prosperity have eclipsed the golden age.

editor’s note: every year, the 2024 rosenberg national survey of cpa firm statistics asks the profession’s top consultants two sets of questions:

    • how do you think the next 12 months will unfold? trends? predictions? other thoughts?
    • how would you assess the last 12 months? trends? observations? struggles?

more: artificial intelligence plays role in analytics, optimization | challenges for the accounting profession: private equity, offshoring, training new hires | recalibration is key for accounting profession | people development still a concern | focus on intentional growth | accounting firms upshift to corporate model | tech anxiety paralyzing some accounting firms | what’s going to happen? lots, say consultants | growth and complacency must concern accounting firms this year | solving staffing requires intention | how accounting firms are handling the staff shortage | the future of fees | as private equity closes in, firms seek new answers to staffing problems
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

paradoxically, firms are still frustrated by too much business and with too few staff.

there are three areas currently causing disruption in our industry:
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who is ready for client accounting services?

by

two women shaking hands across a table

ten ways to tell.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

experience of those offering successful client accounting services shows that the fastest way to start your cas practice is to provide it to some of your existing clients. if you already have a cas practice, it is important to periodically analyze which of your clients have become a good fit for cas. it is important to note that not all of your clients will be good fits for cas.

more: 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’
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

there are some easy ways to identify which of your existing clients are cas-fit, i.e., which of your clients will benefit the most from your cas offering. and then there are some not-so-easy ways to know which are your cas-fit clients.
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what quality in audit leadership means

by

accountant searching for laws

you can’t build it in at the end.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

“it takes less time to do things right than to explain why you did them wrong.” – henry wadsworth longfellow

many audit firms think about quality as a task carried out at the end of the audit by the quality control reviewer. the problem with that thinking is that sometimes the qc reviewer misses major problems. for example, i was working with the new qc reviewer at one firm who spent most of the review time looking at the superficial details of formatting and punctuation, but almost disastrously missing a $3 million error that i spotted right away because the relationships between the numbers didn’t make sense.

more: business-minded approach helps build a better firm | are you looking at the big picture? | meet your client all year, not just during audit | give your audit teams tasks that increase business acumen | are you using the right business model? | give advice while remaining independent | stop mixing up your v’s and losing your best people | empower your team by dumping c and d clients | the new formula for an accounting business | how to upgrade c and d clients | eleven types of audit clients and which to fire | don’t risk losing good employees for bad clients
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

quality in audit shouldn’t be just an extra step at the end of the audit, but it should be an approach woven into the fabric of the firm. quality is an attitude of “first time right” that permeates every task and every step in the audit. if you leave quality for the end, you’ll be challenged at delivering quality in your audits.
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