if you want your business to grow, don’t focus on only the easy financial controls where you can see quick results – such as holding down petty cash expenditures or checking expense accounts for accuracy.
a client assessment is an onsite or virtual session where you observe the client’s accounting system on which you’ll be working. this is your opportunity to see how they run their business: their software, their processes and who does what. this is when tasks and responsibilities are clarified and assigned. both the client and your firm need to understand their responsibilities in this new partnership.
this assessment also allows you to fully understand the client’s service needs. it is a real-world assessment of services, budget and the work required to provide deliverables. it will also allow you to understand what it will take to onboard them. again, this assessment goes both ways. it’s worth assuming you have competition, so take advantage of this time to impress the client with some consultative advice demonstrating the value you bring to the table – this is especially true if you are charging for the assessment.
one of the key benefits is the ability to limit your risk and as you:
congress may have stumbled into a politically charged acronym, but the new “m.a.g.a. accounts” have nothing to do with campaign slogans. in a recent episode of quick tax tip, tax guru art werner breaks down what the law actually created: money accounts for growth advancement.
the accounting profession ranks among the top five in americans’ views of 25 major u.s. industries, trailing only farming, computers, restaurants and automobiles, according to a new gallup survey.
the findings show accounting with 41% of adults holding a positive view, reflecting modest but stable standing amid generally weak perceptions of u.s. business sectors.
in all areas of mergers and acquisitions, it’s always much more difficult to find sellers than buyers. this is certainly true in the case of cpa firms.
cpa firm merger consultants and brokers can do a great job finding buyers, but they are limited in their ability to dig up sellers. this is because the vast majority of all mergers and sales take place when buyers or sellers who “know each other” get together on their own without the help of a consultant.
one way to identify sellers is to do a snail mail solicitation. here’s the four-step process: read more →
k.c. eames, director of cas at dark horse cpa, sees the traditional partnership model as a barrier to innovation and experimentation. first, the incentives are set up to guide people toward specific behaviors, which are “rewarding to those at the top of the pyramid. and once they’re there, their incentives are kind of to maintain the status quo.”
second, the consensus model for decision-making makes it challenging to implement change. “when you’re trying to make decisions based on consensus, based on people who are maybe trying not to rock the boat too much, because they might be retiring soon, there’s not a lot of chance that they’re going to vote for those really bold, risky ideas,” she says. read more →
key players in tax planning: clockwise from top left, meyer, beastrom, argue, alarie, ali, costanz
once an add-on service for high-net-worth clients, tax planning is moving to center stage, powered by artificial intelligence and the profession’s accelerating shift to advisory from compliance.
fresh evidence comes from taxplaniq’s new partnerships with liberty tax and elite resource team, which extend taxplaniq’s reach from boutique firms to thousands of retail outlets and nationwide advisory networks. the deals show artificial intelligence transforming accountants’ handling of tax planning, strategy, and client communication.
“i can’t imagine a better thing to do than support accountants in that endeavor,” says jackie meyer, founder of taxplaniq and 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 contributor, positioning her company’s mission personally. taxplaniq’s pitches ease of use. just upload a 1040, surface strategies, and deliver a branded proposal that quantifies return on investment.
with liberty tax, the reach is in the mass market. with ert, the audience is higher-value clients served by coordinated advisory teams. taxplaniq claims $5 billion saved by clients identified through its system. more than 1,200 firms already use the platform, before the new partnerships,
reaching for a $2.5 billion prize
the promise of the next evolution of tax planning is enticing, and the field is becoming more competitive by the month. the tax planning software market is projected to grow at a rate of 8% to 13% annually from 2026 to 2033, with the total market size expected to surpass $2.5 billion globally and $25 billion for the broader online tax software segment.
move like this with bonnie buol ruszczyk
for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
on the latest move like this, host bonnie buol ruszczyk welcomes dan hood, editor-in-chief of accounting today, who has covered the profession since the late 1990s. from his vantage point, the defining theme isn’t a single issue, but the sheer volume of change: accelerating technology (especially ai), shifting demographics, new expectations for work, and the slow-building opportunity of esg. he argues these forces are intertwined: tech is enabling the shift to advisory, advisory demands new skills and career paths, and those shifts collide with multigenerational teams navigating different priorities.
the conversation quickly zeroes in on culture as a differentiator in the talent market. firms that thrive don’t rely on “nice people” and pizza in busy season; they treat culture as intentional work. that looks like clearly articulating values, reinforcing them constantly, and translating them into practices employees actually feel, including thoughtful benefits and flexibility, yes, but also visible sponsorship, personal investment in careers, and rituals that signal “this matters here.” culture, dan notes, should permeate every process, from how meetings are run to how milestones are celebrated. read more →
she needs personal empathy and professional advice. here are 10 things to talk with her about.
plan ahead for maternity leave: help her map out how her income and benefits will look during her time away from work. she needs to know what’s going to happen and what to do about it.
seth fineberg is an accounting industry consultant, content strategist, analyst and speaker. his current business is accountants forward. he has been a business editor and journalist for over 30 years, the vast majority of which has been spent overseeing the accounting profession’s evolution.
today we are cresting the biggest waves of change that i’ve seen in my 20-plus years of covering the accounting profession. i’m talking about the need for cpas to go beyond simply being the trusted tax guy (or girl) for their clients and to help them manage all aspects of their wealth. this movement has been building for the better part of a decade, but only recently has it gone from “i’ll think about it” to “can i afford not to get on board?”
not to sound the alarm bells here, but cpas must soon choose between riding the financial planning wave or being swept under it. read more →