never mind who — why?
by bruce w. marcus
professional services marketing 3.0
ok, somebody talked to the press, and leaked information that shouldn’t have been leaked. that’s three problems, not one.
primary, of course, is how do we control the damage caused by the leak? then we worry about who did it.
the second problem is that who did it is frequently not as important as why it was done. that may be the more urgent damage to control. the problem caused by the press leak will go away by itself, most often. it has to be treated like any bad story, and we’ve talked a lot about that in the marcus letter. but the reason for the leak can be more stubborn to deal with, as is the mechanics of preventing leaks. read more →
start with a clean spreadsheet.
by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator
there are dozens (and maybe hundreds) of ways your practice can leak money. here are three ideas that are fairly simple to implement and may be some great goals for you to consider.
more for soloists and small firms: new client opportunities with mobile apps / six questions to launch your strategy sessions / what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients / 10 ways to add a “money maker” hour to your day / 11 sources of wealth we can celebrate / nine value-adds to command a higher fee / how to design your business around your strengths / how to make it easy for clients to hire you / 12 fast, low-cost tips for a stress-less practice
the editor’s note in this week’s research update newsletter reported a dollar figure in billions instead of millions and rounded it incorrectly. the typos are ours and not attributable to the source. a corrected version of the article appears here.
the post of marketing director is fast evolving in the accounting business. it is becoming more essential and more professionalized. but few firms have experience in marketing and so find it challenging to determine exactly what they need and want – and what to expect. here marc rosenberg, cpa, author of “cpa firm management and governance,” provides a checklist of the duties that the best firms in the business routinely consider. read more →
from this week’s research update newsletter. for the rest of the newsletter, click here.
we’re still licking our wounds and counting our losses from the worst tax season ever. it may mark a watershed, as well, in long-term trends.
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 has found meaningful signs that the tax prep industry is losing market share. now comes hitendra patil, coo at pransform inc., an accounting technology developer, who has crunched some 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 data. noting the irs received 1.9 million more e-filed returns this year, and multiplying by the $246 price of a typical itemized 1040 with a schedule a and a state return, you get $467 million. that’s millions that didn’t go to accountants.
many accountants today must feel today like boxer max schmeling’s manager in 1932 when the heavyweight title bout went the wrong way: “we wuz robbed!”
– rick telberg
president / ceo
p.s.: if you plan to be in las vegas for the aicpa practitioners symposium, please join us sunday, 2-4 p.m. for a sevenkeys cpa workshop. save $100 on registration with code “ubz.”
correction: this post corrects two errors in the newsletter version of this article, which reported the dollar figure in billions instead of millions and rounded it incorrectly. hitendra’s math was sound. the typos are ours. thank you karen, michael, ed, and the many more who so graciously brought this to my attention.
the live, in-person seminar reborn, refashioned for the web.
by bob jennings
jennings seminars
in the roughly forty years since continuing professional education first started for accountants, there have been three major changes in the way to obtain cpe.
the first major change came from the presentations of the venerable sidney kess, who brought practicality and examples to an arena that had previously been occupied by pedantic and often academic educators. in the early years of cpe his shining light of the highest quality cpe was held to be the pinnacle for all other presenters.
the next era became the era of boredom. read more →
by jean caragher
since strong client relationships contribute to client satisfaction, longevity and lead generation, partners often encourage their managers and staff to build relationships with their clients. but these managers and staff look at the relationships their firm’s partners have built over time and think it’s impossible to replicate their results.
however, building relationships with clients can be done using the same behaviors that we use when building friendships and courting our spouse or significant other.
consider these 12 tips to build client relationships: read more →
rationalizing a broken system and recapturing two-thirds of lost value.
with cpa firms and corporations rushing to staff up with a suddenly warming economy, finance and accounting employment agencies are booming. but it can’t last. sooner, rather than later, the internet will change everything.
dan gaffney, a cpa, cia, cisa and a 20-year audit veteran, in both public accounting and in corporate, is positioning himself to take advantage of the paradigm shift. he’s out to revolutionize the finance and accounting temp business.
his chicago-based incubation-stage start-up, vouchedin.com, is seeking to do to short-term staffing placements what monster did to newspaper classifieds and what apple did to the recording industry: leverage the internet to cut out the middleman, re-channeling profits to both the worker and the employer. it could change a big part of the accounting profession as well. – the editors read more →
frank stitely, cpa, cva, and the managing member of stitely & karstetter cpas, likes to stir things up – especially when it concerns the intersection of timesheets and value pricing. here’s a piece of fiction (we assume) that he titles…
– the editors
cpa firm nightmares
by frank stitely
in this week’s show, my brother and famed practice management consultant, gordon stitely, visits the venerable firm, value, billem, and dunn. vb&d managing partner bob cratchett took over the firm when founding partner izzy dunn died unexpectedly after jamming an rj45 cable into an electrical socket. cratchett knew he had to modernize the firm, and he started by banishing timesheets.
related:
why value billing won’t transform your life
the problem with frank stitely?
when he left his previous employer, scrooge & associates, p.c., he vowed never to sell time again. he would sell knowledge. he hired a value billing consultant to implement a new business model that eschewed timesheets in favor of trusting employees, since costs will always take care of themselves.
here comes gordon striding into cratchett’s office. read more →
the new practice management discipline.
by august aquila
author of leadership at its strongest
no profits, no mission, as one of my partners is fond of saying.
while leadership, balanced life, outstanding client service and efficient processes are critical for success, they mean nothing if the firm is not sufficiently profitable to make investments for the future and compensate performers. i want to focus on ten ways to make your practice more profitable.
these ten areas form the basis of a practice operational review. read more →
by bruce w. marcus
professional services marketing 3.0
to understand its effectiveness, it’s equally important to know what advertising, including web sites and social media, can’t do.
five quick examples:
survey data show the right answer is counter-intuitive.
by marc rosenberg
rosenberg map survey
the genesis of this question comes from one of the most hotly debated issues in cpa firm practice management: is it better for partners to have high or low billable hours?
here are billable hour facts for partners in multi-partner firms, based on the rosenberg map survey: read more →
15-item checklist on effective staff management.
ed mendlowitz, cpa, abv, pfs
author of “implementing fee increases”
question: my staff doesn’t listen to me. to be able to manage and control my business i need them to prepare a monthly schedule of what they plan on doing that month. i further need to know each morning if they did what they were supposed to do the previous day, and whether there was anything not done, or anything extra that wasn’t planned on. my problem is that they don’t give me the schedule and then don’t call or email me to tell me what they did. i really need to know this stuff and can’t figure out how to get them to do it. what can you suggest? read more →