earnings

6 factors in valuing total goodwill of a cpa firm

by

cpa firm partner retirement artvaluing a cpa firm for partner retirement purposes is much different than a valuation for merger purposes.

by marc rosenberg
retirements & buyouts

profitable, attractive firms, generally under $2 million, sold in a market with many potential buyers, will often fetch 110 percent to 150 percent of fees.

if this is the case, why do cpa firms value goodwill for retirement purposes at no more than 100 percent of fees and usually, 80 or 90 percent of fees? here are six good reasons why:

read more →

when you’ve retired, how do you get your money?

by

money falling from the sky; moneyon white9 factors that ensure retirement plans will pay off.

by marc rosenberg
retirements & buyouts

when a partner group crafts their firm’s partner retirement plan, they are hopeful that the plan will play an important role in their financial futures. they are guardedly optimistic that their buyouts will be realized.

but the path toward the retirement payday is a perilous one. many actions are necessary and a number of obstacles must be overcome for a firm’s partner retirement plan to pay off. read more →

accounting salaries to rise 3.5%

by

rhpublicaccountingsalarychart2top trends: flexible staffing, retention challenges.

accounting and finance professionals can expect starting salaries to rise an average of 3.5 percent in the coming year, according to a study from a leading staffing services company.

creative and marketing professionals are on the same pace, while information technology workers lead the work force gains at an anticipated 5.7 percent overall increase. overall, u.s. starting salaries for professional occupations are projected to increase an average of 3.8 percent next year. read more →

what a cpa firm is worth

by

calculatorlook at the revenue stream. goodwill is another story.

by marc rosenberg
retirements & buyouts

to illustrate a cpa firm’s value, let’s use an example of a plain-vanilla or average firm:

  • annual revenues: $6 million.
  • six partners with ages spread evenly between 45 and 62.
  • average partner income: $350,000.
  • ratio of professional staff to partner is 3.5.
  • firm is located in a city with a population in excess of 1m.
  • clients are all in common industries such as manufacturing, real estate, health care, etc. no niches or specialties.
  • services are all traditional annuity types such as accounting and tax.
  • the firm’s accrual basis capital, primarily wip and a/r, is $1.2m.

now, let’s compute the value.

read more →

‘show me the money!’ partners balk at retirement planning

by

targeted retirement age as cpa ages
targeted retirement age as cpa ages

developing successful strategies for changing expectations.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm retirements & buyouts

the concept of retirement for cpas is rather amusing.

younger partners (say, under 40) insist with unshakable confidence that the oldest they will ever work is 50 or 55. they have other things to do with their lives (own another business, do charity work, pursue hobbies, etc.) besides working at a cpa firm and they want to pursue these interests while still young.

older partners (say, over 55) see themselves working indefinitely, with 65 being the earliest age that they will even consider retiring. read more →

new data: strong, steady hiring at tax, accounting firms

by

tax, accounting and bookkeeping employment, through august 2014
tax, accounting and bookkeeping employment, through august 2014

the u.s. tax, accounting and bookkeeping industry remains a bright spot in the nation’s economy, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 sources.

here 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 reports on:

  • 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.

overall, the u.s. economy added 142,000 jobs last month, 47,000 of them in professional and business services. meanwhile, the unemployment rate was little changed at 6.1 percent.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 careers and hiring outlook
job satisfaction and retention benchmarks

join the survey get the results button 24pt

read more →

accounting sector tops 5% annual growth rate

by

firms now recovered about 9 in 10 jobs lost in financial collapse.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the u.s. tax, accounting and bookkeeping industries have recovered nearly 89 percent of the jobs lost in the economic crisis, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 sources.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 careers and hiring outlook

job satisfaction and retention benchmarks

join the survey get the results button 24pt

 

here 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 reports on:

  • 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.

the u.s. economy as a whole added 209,000 jobs in july. in addition to the growth of 47,000 jobs in professional and business services, increases were seen in the manufacturing, retail trade and construction sectors. the unemployment rate remained stable at 6.2 percent, down from 7.3 percent a year earlier. read more →

are bad clients driving you crazy?

by

angry businessman on the phone16 ways to tweak your compensation systems to get and keep the right clients.

if your partners are putting up a fight to keep clients who should be let go, take a look at your compensation system. it’s not just about billable hours.

august aquila, creating the effective partnership, suggests 16 tweaks to your firm’s compensation system. while the list is not exhaustive, it does provide criteria that firms can consider beyond revenue. read more →

6 reasons why cpa firms fail in innovation

by

the compensation trap that turns winners into losers.

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

the focus on most cpa firms is on billable hours. while there is nothing inherently wrong with this focus, it has become the overriding focus of firms.

there is nothing wrong with making money today, but what about building for the future? with “today” being the dominant focus, what is the encouragement to cpas to innovate?  in most firms there is no alignment with innovation and compensation.

you will never have innovation unless you allocate some time and reward to making it happen. read more →

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 forum: tax season prep tips?

by

readers’ forum: hours worked. firing clients. setting prices.

chris basom
chris basom
  • chris basom, managing partner of your money matters in mission viejo, calif., wants to know the “one thing you wanted to implement before tax season but just couldn’t get to.”
  • “is cash still relevant?” asked solo practitioner roxann otto of otto tax & accounting services in slinger, wis.
  • charles g. read in the melbourne, fla., area would like to know how other accountants arrive at the charges they present.
  • deborah mcdowell cain of her eponymous firm in fort worth, texas, asked, “does your firm work five, six or seven days a week? is overtime for staff mandatory? are senior staff hourly, salaried, offered overtime or comp time?”
    • and harking back to the busy season, she also asked, “how many people touch a return? why?” read more →