what is going on in our personal lives has a lot to do with how we perform in our professional ones. therefore, if someone is going through a difficult time, such as a divorce, death in the family, major conflicts with extended family, etc., we can expect those events to spill over into our work life. read more →
accountability needs to be rooted in much more than a casual perception or it is destined to fail. therefore, the first step to accountability is to move this from an “i will watch you and tell you if i think you are doing a good job” approach to one that clearly defines what you expect of someone up front.
now this sounds fairly straightforward, and it is, but it is also loaded with plenty of traps that you can fall into. one of the traps we want to avoid is ambiguity. you can overcome this trap by taking time to describe the expectations you have of someone, like: read more →
most workers in the tax and accounting industry are working fewer hours than a year and a half ago, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 sources, a potentially troubling sign of unsustainable hiring and management practices.
in addition, year-over-year increases of 5 percent or more were seen in
number of overall staff;
number of cpa firm employees, both total and staff;
payroll staff;
and women overall, at cpa firms and in payroll
the really bad news comes in payroll agencies, where positions are at their second highest level ever, but wages are plummeting.
with the new data, the monthly 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 jobs report projects a new surge in turnover with the end of busy season. there will be winners. and there will be losers. savvy, growing firms will be well-positioned to attract the under-leveraged talent that slow-footed firms can’t handle or afford. top talent will be making lateral moves, as much for more supportive cultures and future opportunities as for a quick pay increase, according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 analysis.
in this report, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 provides additional detail and analysis on:
current hiring trends in each of the cpa, tax preparation, payroll and bookkeeping segments of the industry;
average hourly wages for key segments;
average hours worked per week;
and trends concerning women in the accounting workforce.
in the pcps top issues survey, for firms with 11 to 20 professionals, partner accountability/unity landed in second place. for firms with 21 or more professionals, this same issue ranked first in concerns to be addressed. read more →
there are various sections that should be included in any succession plan. we are not going to present you with a sample succession plan, but even better, to describe topic areas you should address in your plan.
as always, there are various best practices to consider as you put your plan together. for any succession plan to work, you have to start with consideration of the business model you use: read more →
and that goes double for cpas. we’ve had it hard. when the recession hit, we lost clients. the clients we didn’t lose couldn’t afford fee increases. but the cost of software increased, and most hardware has had to be replaced twice since the recession first hit. salaries have gone up, too, especially among accountants, whose ranks have thinned in recent years. and the tax regulations get harder, the waiting time on the irs line longer, the reporting lengthier.
at long last, economic conditions seem to be improving enough for widespread increases in billing rates and fees. about 85 percent of respondents to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 study of pricing strategies and trends see an upward trend underway.
cpa dave murray at his eponymous firm in troy, ohio, is pushing through “significant increases.” he says, “our firm is increasingly being paid for our knowledge.” “yes,” he says, value pricing is becoming an important success strategy. “when it’s worth more to the client we charge more,” he says. and he does it all while maximizing profit margins and retaining clients. “we have a consistent flow of new clients and we no longer have to discount to get them to come in,” he says.
frank stitely, at skc cpas in chantilly, va., and a frequent contributor to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, is being more careful, with only slight increases. “personal taxes, specifically, are a commodity, and, in general, compliance services are commoditizing,” he says, with his pricing driven my market forces. on the other hand, the firm bills “per form for personal returns and by proposal for almost everything else.”
brian roark in jenison, mich., likes to say integrity tax’s offices have been doing taxes “since dinosaurs roamed the earth.” but today he’s playing catch-up in the wage markets, pushing through moderate billing increases.
at southwest tax & accounting in elkhart, kan., owner terri ryman, ea and quickbooks proadvisor, is going for significant price increases as clients struggle with the affordable care act and repair regs. she says her business is growing every year. ryman is also a prominent member of the national society of accountants and the national association of tax professionals. read more →
as a matter of fact, for the past 12 years through surveys with the aicpa, we have been asking firms to share with us whether or not they have a succession plan in place.
when you consider the responses to this question from the pcps succession institute succession management surveys conducted in 2008 and 2012, clearly more and more firms are:
getting their act together,
documenting their succession management strategy and
thinking through the ramifications of retiring one or more senior owners.
here is the question we asked along with summary data from both surveys: read more →
the nation’s tax and accounting firms are enjoying one of their most prolonged periods of growth since 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 started keeping track with the careers and hiring outlook survey 15 years ago, but pressures are building in staff retention and compensation.
this month’s 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 jobs report covers:
current hiring trends in each of the bookkeeping, tax, payroll and cpa segments of the industry.
average hourly wages for key segments.
typical hours worked per week.
and trends concerning women in the accounting workforce.
plus ways to measure both objective and subjective performance criteria (yes, it can be done).
do you credit others as much as you do yourself?
make sure you’re not growing your own competition.
if you don’t set policies and enforce retirement deals, your firm could become a financial hostage.