today's features
client service opportunities

nine reasons you don’t want to launch a niche

if you’re thinking about getting into financial planning or business valuation, think again.

ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aby ed mendlowitz
author of the tax season opportunity guide and how to increase your billing rates

question: can you recommend a specialty i can get involved in to generate more revenue for my practice?

response: my discussion with the cpa indicated that his practice consisted of a large individual tax return practice and many monthly business clients.  he thought financial planning or business valuations would be a way to expand his services and make more money.  it did not seem he had an intellectual interest in these areas. read more →

outlook & analysis

news releases: what most accounting firms are doing wrong

how to write a release that gets attention.

by bruce w. marcus
professional services marketing 3.0

a recent business communication book says that in writing news releases, the lead paragraph should include the five w’s—who, why, what, when and where. a textbook on journalism written in the 1920s says the same thing—the five w’s. nothing has changed in more than 70 years? don’t believe it.

bruce w. marcus
bruce w. marcus

more professional services marketing 3.0: same game, same name, different rules  |  when bad things happen to good accounting marketers  |  when being nice to journalists is the wrong pr advice  | everything you need to know about your next brochure  |  being social in the new world of social media    |   there’s a leak in my firm    |   what ads, the web or social media still can’t do    |   advertising as a marketing tool that sometimes works    |   eight client retention strategies for the new competitive environment    |   why “niche marketing” should be superseded by “total context marketing”    |   ten strategies for the smaller firm facing competition from larger firms    |   the client service team in action    |   ten things every firm needs to make clear firm-wide   |

just read any good newspaper in the u.s., canada or great britain. and what newspapers do is what releases must do. why? because the simple release, the staple of public relations, is not simple at all. read more →

leadership

17 important ways to measure a partner

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm management & governance

one of the most common agenda items at partner retreats is the question of what it means to be a partner in the firm.

more cpa firm management & governance:  17 ways to measure a partner  |  how the structure of an accounting firm changes through the years    |    congratulations! your firm needs a human resources director    |    the 19-point marketing director job description    |    checklist: how the best managing partners and firm admins work in concert     |    21 questions for managing the managing partner    |    no partner vote needed: 17 decisions best left to the managing partner alone    |    new rules: 13 items that should be in your managing partner’s job description    |    when is it time to shift your firm from partnership-style to corporate-style governance?    |    not every firm needs a general patton    |

so, what is a partner? here are 17 metrics. read more →

mergers & acquisitions

today’s top trends in deals and valuations for cpa firm mergers and sales

the eight most important facts in settling on a multiple.

with the merger-and-acquisitions frenzy showing no signs of slowing down, practice owners seem to be checking almost daily: what’s my practice worth?

“one thing is for sure,” says gary adamson, former ceo of brady ware, a top 200 firm, now providing advisory services for firms across the country, “baby boomers are selling at a rate that the profession has never seen before.”

it’s still a sellers’ market, he says. but that could change soon, he says, citing “the demographics and the thousands of practices that will soon come onto the market.”

in this report, adamson addresses:

  • the question of valuing a practice
  • two basic types of deals
  • the value of a multiple
  • eight critical components to making a deal
  • the effect of size of practice on valuation
  • profitability
  • down payment
  • transitions read more →
leadership

essential advice for the new managing partner

a new generation takes over the corner office. join the survey, get the results.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the same generational shift that has the accounting profession fretting about succession, mergers and millennials is also wreaking havoc in another sector of the firm: the office of managing partner.

by one 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 study of a fairly typical global association of firms, roughly 25% of the managing partners now serving have held the job for two years or less. in a business that measures job longevity in decades, two years represents rookie status. considering the advance of age and consolidation, we estimate that within another five years 80% of today’s firms will be under new management.

this new generation of managing partner is bringing new energy and new ideas to the profession. but that hardly makes up for the lack of executive leadership training and experience of the new class of ceo. mistakes are sure to follow: making big decisions too quickly, or too slowly; misunderstanding the business drivers or looking at the wrong ones entirely; failing to make the right relationships with the right people, or maintaining bad relationships for too long.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 is canvassing practitioners across the nation and in firms of all sizes to sift out some of the best advice we can find for the rookie managing partner. join the survey, get the results.

and so far, we’re getting an earful. read more →

outlook & analysis

sage may leave traditional cpas in the dust

by rick telberg

as technology moves to the cloud and goes mobile, traditional accounting software sales and support businesses will be left behind by new business models built for subscriptions and high-end services. this could be bad news for the majority of accounting technology dealers and service shops. but to the executives at sage north america, it’s their best hope for regaining relevancy in the u.s. market. read more →

leadership

are you creating a sustainable firm?

many cpa firms may be on the path to extinction.

by gale crosley, cpa

the world’s population is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability. for several decades we’ve developed an understanding of preserving our planet’s resources. the recent sustainability conversation has amped up the focus among corporate executives on their social responsibility to insure our world’s future.

it’s an especially relevant time, therefore, to discuss the sustainability of our firms. and that’s what this book is about. managing partners spend significant time pondering their firm’s strategy. one of their greatest challenges is engaging their partners to be as committed as they are.

adapted from the preface to “how to engage partners in the firm’s future: the secrets every leader needs to know,” by august j. aquila and robert j. lees

there are lots of reasons for the challenge. these include a “nose to the grindstone versus up to the wind” mentality, partners not spending enough time dedicated to the task, abdicating their leadership role, putting their own interests before the firm’s, or just plain apathy. it’s easy for a partner group to sit around a table and discuss their future. but talk is cheap.  after the strategic planning is done, leaders actually have to do something. it takes significant effort to develop as a leader, work as a team, subjugate one’s own interests for the greater good, learn new competencies, solve complex problems, and exhibit leadership behaviors. read more →

outlook & analysis

when your business needs to be rebooted

four steps when things aren’t turning out the way you dreamed.

by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator

how does your current business look compared to the one you dreamed about before you started your entrepreneurial journey? do you now have clients you love, a dream team, the financial rewards you are comfortable with, and plenty of free time?

more for soloists and small firms:   two steps to easy cross-sells   |   the hot new tech product for automated data entry   |   five value-add service areas to take you beyond bookkeeping   |   six money-making strategies to take you beyond quickbooks   |   proactive ways to get more referrals   |   the three biggest money leaks in your practice   |   new client opportunities with mobile apps   |   six questions to launch your summer strategy sessions   |   what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients   |   accountants, do you know your opportunity number? | five ideas to reduce client price-sensitivity | rise to the top with a fresh elevator speech | four ways to practice entrepreneurial perseverance | 5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients  | the top 12 business card blunders accountants make | seven tips to keep the clients you have | how to attract clients like a magnet | eleven easy ways to deliver more value to clients

if not, don’t give up. you can still get there, and a little business clarity may help you get there even faster.

here are four steps: read more →

leadership

why accounting? your clients want to know

“people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

by hitendra patil
pransform, inc.

untitled

we are used to getting asked “what do you do for living?” but when someone asks “why,”we have to dig deeper to answer that question.

celebrity author simon sinek wrote a revolutionary book called “start with why.” he says, based on complex research results, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” he further adds – “those who know their why are the ones who lead.”

read more →

outlook & analysis

same game, same name, different rules

bruce w. marcus
bruce w. marcus

nine questions cpas need to ask before hiring a public relations agency.

by bruce w. marcus
professional services marketing 3.0

there was a time when all you needed was a roll of nickels and a phone booth, and you were in the pr game. of course, all clients expected then was that you get their names in the paper. for most of the publicity clients in those days, that was sufficient.

those days were the late 1920s and 1930s, before pr became public relations, and before we were beset with such glorious concepts as image, and positioning, and niche marketing. today, public relations is infinitely more sophisticated than that, as is the public relations client. the public relations program for any modern corporation is to its publicity ancestor as desktop publishing is to hieroglyphics. and of course, the public relations program for the professional firm is different, too. read more →