today's features

costs matter

illustration of estimating costs

the three stacks you need to consider.

by jody padar
radical pricing – by the radical cpa

true story. i once knew the cfo at a local mental health nonprofit agency. she had been manager of the accounting department at a large manufacturer but now considered herself semi-retired. she had recently moved into a new condominium and was overwhelmed by the renovation needs.

more by jody padar
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she was competent but had a lot going on. as a result, she wasn’t paying attention as the nonprofit agency began to experience cash flow problems. the management team resolved to start booking more psychiatric services because they could bill medicaid the most for those types of services. sure enough, the organization’s gross sales increased substantially. unfortunately, no one had paid attention to the cost of delivering these services.
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bissett bullet: a desire to serve

today’s bissett bullet: “become known for having an altruistic attitude. demonstrate your desire to serve first and worry about your remuneration second.”

by martin bissett

when you approach a prospective client, come to a conceptual agreement first and foremost. determine how you could work together in a way that makes sure that the business has a better experience working with your firm than they would with the firm that they currently work with.

today’s to-do:

in your next meeting with a prospective client, make a conscious effort to demonstrate your desire to help them achieve what they’ve set out to, both professionally and personally, before you discuss fees.

see more bissett bullets here

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top 10 red flags to watch for in accounting offices | arc

outdated technology, unrealistic billable hours, and “unlimited pto” among key issues discussed. 

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accounting arc
with liz mason, byron patrick, and donny shimamoto.
center for accounting transformation

the accounting profession is undergoing significant change, and workplace culture is at the forefront of that transformation. in a recent episode of accounting arc, industry leaders donny shimamoto, cpa.citp, cgma; byron patrick, cpa.citp, cgma; and liz mason, cpa, explore the red flags professionals should watch for in accounting firms. 

more arc: analysis, reaction, comedy

 

more accounting arc: jeremy dubow: private equity as a catalyst for growth | break the burnout cycle in accountingaccounting in transition: 2024 reflections & the road ahead | ron baker: visions for the accounting professionangie grissom: next gen inspo for accountantsdoes accounting belong in stem?rose wang: where numbers meet strategy and creativitytiktok fraud exposes gaps in financial literacy | how accounting pros own the stage in public speaking | greg kyte: being a cpa is like being the marie kondo of numbersrachel bashore: a lawyer’s case for reinventing accounting | beyond the basics in ethics eduction | bailey lenart: from ledger sheets to transformational change | election tax plans: what cpas need to know |

“a firm that isn’t leveraging modern technology is a huge warning sign,” says mason, ceo of high rock accounting. she and the other panelists agreed that firms clinging to outdated systems often fail to create efficient work environments. “automated hr processes should be a baseline by now,” adds shimamoto, founder and managing director of intraprisetechknowlogies llc and founder and inspiration architect for the center for accounting transformation. 

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show us the money! accountants are making more

young woman holding giant dollar sign in modern office

want to retain employees? here’s one way.

by beth bellor

more money. that’s what the latest data show for the accounting profession.

the final jobs report of 2024 saw the accounting profession’s numbers slip a bit, but the bodies in those seats were pulling down record earnings. employees in the profession overall, at cpa firms and non-staff in payroll services saw their highest hourly wages ever.

more: survey says 57% of firms are raising prices next year | how accounting firms are handling the staff shortage | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | despite staffing crunch, firms freeze pay raises
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

and about time! we heard the call for better compensation in the most recent rosenberg national survey of cpa firm statistics.
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every tax reviewer should be able to answer these ten questions

man wearing glasses holds papers in right hand and looks at laptop screen against a backdrop of windows
yes, we included the answers … just in case.

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

the primary people who should review tax returns are trained tax department reviewers. however, often the bunching and compression of work shifts some of the review to higher level, non-tax personnel such as audit managers and partners who might not necessarily have the comprehensive training, background and experience to handle everything that might come up during the tax preparation process.

more: taxpayer advocate sees big improvements at irs | ask tax clients the right questions | major changes to circular 230: implications for tax professionals | cornerstone report | art werner: due diligence and irs enforcement | quick tax tip | make ‘done but’ tax returns a thing of the past | six methods for getting paid faster this tax season | use humor to get tax documents in early | art werner: busy season predictions | four steps could close the tax gap | art werner: how to turn tax prep into tax advisory | art werner: navigating business structure decisions amid tax law changes | tax season memo from staff to managing partner | is the irs adequately tracking corporate tax evasion? | irs still unsure how to measure audit rate
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

additionally, in many firms, almost everyone on the staff prepares some returns. that lack of dedicated preparers with the trained skills places an added burden on the tax reviewers, making it important for them to have the range of experience needed to perform the review.

following are 10 questions reviewers should be able to answer to qualify for their role.

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beth whitworth: focus on outcomes not hours | the disruptors

stop wearing your hours worked as a badge of honor.

this is a preview. the complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to pro members | go pro here

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the disruptors
with liz farr

a few months ago, beth whitworth emailed her remaining legacy 1040 clients, informing them that they would have to move over to the subscription-based model she’s been implementing over the last few years. “i will say it’s scary,” she says. “and when i pushed the button and then sent the email, i was like, ‘oh, what’d i do?” but she quickly realized that she was doing the right thing. “this is where we need to move to.”

more podcasts and videos: mike sylvester: learn to say nosalim omar: identify your client’s $100,000 problem | jackie meyer: earn more with fewer clients | jack fleherty: don’t be a ‘yes’ person | greg adams: from finance to storytelling | the disruptors | jody padar: make radical changes now if you want to be relevant in 2030 | rebecca driscoll: amplify reach by helping other firm owners | rory henry: create the return on relationshipsmike maksymiw: be the leader you wish you hadterrell turner: build a solid business showing up as yourselfkelly mann: be the bull in the china shopalicia katz pollock: create a human-centric businessnancy mcclelland: be the one your clients ask first |alan whitman: stop accepting the status quo | sean duncan: discover your own genius | ingrid edstrom: true wealth is not financial |

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instead of continuing to accommodate the clients who were resistant to using technology, who wanted to continue dropping off documents, and who no longer fit her business model, she decided that “it would be okay if none of them stayed.” while she did get some pushback for the increase in fees that would accompany a higher level of service, she did get some who happily responded, “sign me up!”

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ask tax clients the right questions

hourglass on paper charts

don’t let them dictate your workflow.

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 by frank stitely
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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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taxpayer advocate sees big improvements at irs

data table

but still “far from perfect.”

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

for the first time ever, erin m. collins, america’s resolute national taxpayer advocate, has opened her annual report to congress with good news.

“the taxpayer experience,” she writes, “has noticeably improved.”

more: ask tax clients the right questions | major changes to circular 230: implications for tax professionals | cornerstone report | art werner: due diligence and irs enforcement | quick tax tip | make ‘done but’ tax returns a thing of the past | six methods for getting paid faster this tax season | use humor to get tax documents in early | art werner: busy season predictions | four steps could close the tax gap | art werner: how to turn tax prep into tax advisory | art werner: navigating business structure decisions amid tax law changes | tax season memo from staff to managing partner | is the irs adequately tracking corporate tax evasion? | irs still unsure how to measure audit rate
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

collins has good reason for her praise:
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the shift to advisory from a firm perspective

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

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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ten types of tax clients to avoid | listicle

//www.g005e.com/category/checklist/listicle/by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

every tax season, tax preparers are looking for new clients, and taxpayers are looking for tax preparers. it’s tempting to take on everybody who expresses interest. and it’s tempting to hold on to the troublemakers of last year. but some are too complicated, or too risky, to deal with.

more listicles here

here are 10 types of clients best avoided even if it means culling your current client list.

1. the chronically late: clients who are consistently late with documents and information complicate your busy season and often extend it by weeks or months. when clients end up penalized, their tax preparer looks bad.

2. non-compliant clients: individuals or businesses who dodge tax laws, hide income, manipulate deductions or outright lie can jeopardize a cpa’s reputation and lead to the costs and complications of legal liability.

3. unrealistic expectations: clients who demand unreasonably low tax liabilities or refunds without legal grounds may create conflicts and ethical dilemmas. and they’re going to tell others that you didn’t serve them well.

4. clients with frequent auditor flags: taxpayers who engage in high-risk activities (e.g., excessive charitable deductions, business losses year after year) may invite irs audits. the irs might question the ethics of the preparer, too.

5. aggressive fee negotiators: clients who argue over fees or expect reduced rates belittle a tax professional’s expertise and cheapen the preparer’s reputation.

6. disorganized record-keepers: clients who provide incomplete or disorganized records can waste your time and cause you to make errors that you may be held accountable for.

7. non-payers: let somebody else have clients who consistently fail to pay or argue over every invoice. it costs less to cut them loose than to take them to court.

8. overly litigious clients: individuals or businesses prone to solving problems through legal action can pose significant professional and financial risks. the cpa might get sued, and even if not, suits against others may require cpa testimony or other participation.

9. high-risk industry clients: some industries, like cannabis or cryptocurrency trading, come with regulatory uncertainty and heightened scrutiny. they may also require a lot of research on the accountant’s part, not to mention extra legal protections.

10. emotionally draining clients: taxpayers who consistently vent, complain or act unprofessionally can cause stress and burnout for the cpa. unless you’re comfortable billing them for the time they’re in your ear, best let them find solace elsewhere.

the trick, of course, is to identify these clients before you take them on. one thing to ask them is who their former accountant was and how well they got along. and if you think a potential client might be one of the above, you’d best just ask them about it.

steve yoss: boost security with mfa | quick tech talks

your data has probably already been exposed.

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quick tech talk
with steve yoss
cpe today

data breaches have become an unfortunate reality in the digital age, and with them, the risk to personal and financial information continues to grow. however, there is a simple yet powerful way to protect your accounts: multi-factor authentication (mfa).

more steve yoss
more tech
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mfa, sometimes referred to as one-time passwords, has become a cornerstone of modern cybersecurity. think about this hard truth: your data, unfortunately, has probably been exposed by either a website, a web service, or maybe even your favorite merchant at some point in the last 10 to 15 years. when passwords are stolen in data breaches, cybercriminals often use them to access accounts on other sites, exploiting the common habit of password reuse.

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toward a 21st-century cpa: a dynamic vision

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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