today’s bissett bullet: “as you progress throughout your career, you may find yourself in situations where those who are on the same level as you in terms of earnings or seniority are suddenly your subordinates. how you handle that situation is critical.”
by martin bissett
exercise humility in leadership and if you come up against staff who resent your seniority, try to spend time with them away from the office in a more informal setting. help them get to know you and understand that you are in the position you are based on merit. gently let them know that you hold the keys to their own career progression, but rise above the politics and invite them to work collaboratively with you.
ultimately, you will manage these people up or you will manage them out, but the partners in your firm will be watching to see how you respond to this sort of situation and what sort of leader you might have the potential to become.
today’s to-do:
think about how you would like to be treated if roles were reversed and how you would feel encouraged by a boss who used to be a colleague.
question: my partner has been out sick for the past 3½ months, and he has been continuing to get his draw. it looks like he will be out for some time more, but not sure how long.
but two brief but succinct examples on the realities of how a firm assesses an individual’s “competence” for leadership are showcased really stood out:
they need to explain technical data to me in a way that i know they understand.
what kind of lifestyle does this person have outside of work? we’ll be looking at facebook, x and google to find out.
accounting ethics training needs a major reboot, according to the latest episode of accounting arc. while traditional ethics training often feels like a check-the-box exercise, hosts liz mason, byron patrick, and donny shimamoto argue the profession must move toward a more engaging and comprehensive approach.
“ethics education in accounting has become stale,” says patrick,ceo and founder of verifyiq and vice president of client success at the b3 method institute, reflecting on his 80-plus hours of ethics training over his 22-year career. “the right decisions are usually obvious, but it’s the process of making them that’s difficult. unfortunately, none of my training has equipped me to handle that challenge.” read more →
mike maksymiw, the leader of aprio firm alliance, hates charge hours as a primary performance metric. he even left a firm where he was a partner because of a dispute over charge hours. although he exceeded his revenue goals by a healthy margin, he was penalized because he got the work done in fewer hours.
“the main thing i was supposed to do, i was doing,” he tells liz farr in this episode of the disruptors. and if he hadn’t been meeting his revenue goals, that deficit in hours would have been something to remedy. “so i don’t want people to think there’s no place for these metrics. we need to put them in the right order that makes sense for running a business.”
private equity and technology will continue to advance. this will create a more competitive landscape, with more firms innovating on all aspects of the traditional cpa firm model. read more →
after 147 years, one of the world’s most tradition-rich sporting events will bust out of its comfort zone.
by rick richardson
wimbledon, the oldest grand slam tennis tournament, is bringing itself into the 21st century by implementing electronic line-calling instead of human line judges.
the all england club recently stated that starting in 2025, technology will make the “out” and “fault” calls at the championships, eliminating the necessity for human officials to do so.
inheritance is notorious for ripping families apart. many manage to divvy up their parents’ wealth with the kind of mutual love and respect we expect to see in families.
but sometimes, with the smell of moolah in the air, it’s more like a knife fight.
it’s even more complicated when there’s a family business involved.
unless there’s just one inheritor, one who wants to own and run the business, there are many complex issues – financial, legal, psychological – that need to be resolved. read more →
the phrase “history is the greatest teacher” can be applied in many ways, but to me it does not ring truer than when thinking of the current state of accountant-vendor relations. in short, it’s not all that good.
the accounting profession has evolved to the point to where there is a tool for every task, and the choices have never been more plentiful or the process of selecting one more challenging. at the same time, having overseen this profession as long as i have, the thing that’s been clear is the risks of tying so much of what you do to one vendor. read more →
generally speaking, your newsletter should be easy to read, useful and actionable. it should help clients stay organized as they see the benefit of working with their accountant. let your newsletter invite clients and potential clients to contact you for more information.
these topics or the newsletter you develop from them can also be used as the basis for podcasts, radio interviews, daily email bulletins and powerpoint presentations.
here are 10 topics. use your expertise to expand them.
cash flow management: strategies for improving cash flow in a business
tax deductions: common tax deductions for individuals and businesses
investment strategies: insights into effective investment planning
technology in accounting: emerging technologies and software in the accounting industry
industry-specific tax tips: tax considerations for specific industries such as health care, retail, etc.
financial statements explained: understanding and analyzing financial statements
irs correspondence: how to handle letters and notices from the irs
charitable contributions: tax benefits of charitable giving
self-employment tips: tax and accounting tips for freelancers and self-employed individuals
payroll management: best practices for managing payroll efficiently
when the covid pandemic hit grassi cpas, chief marketing officer sarah cirelli launched a “swat” program to stem the losses and reap an extra $2 million in new fees.
in this episode of capstone conversations with jean caragher, cirelli explains the swat toolset, which stands for “special weapons and tactics,” an automated dashboard with the firm’s crisis response and recovery services, all the marketing data, and every prospect and client who attended a webinar or called their hotline, the questions they asked, the industry they operate in, and where they were in the lead generation process.
no longer a problem confined to just new talent or middle managers.
where they go: the biggest slice, 19 percent, goes into finance, followed by business and operations. (via live data)
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
in a startling shift, thousands of highly experienced top-level accountants are leaving the field mid-career, challenging the long-held view that the staffing crisis is limited to new graduates or middle managers.
for many accountants on the edge of transition, the coming years will determine whether the profession can reinvent itself to retain the trust of its workforce or continue to lose ground as one of america’s fundamental professions.
rare is the cpa firm that has no problem finding, hiring and retaining professionals in accountancy. those that don’t have a problem are either not hiring or are paying plenty with packages that include higher than average salaries, the option to work remotely, stock option plans and other benefits.