advisory & consulting

why your approach to cas and cfo services is wrong

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how thinking about your grandmother could be the answer.

by w. michael hsu

client advisory services and the progression of the “virtual” cfo have gained incredible popularity, or at least attention, in the accounting profession. but the fact is, many firms are doing it wrong and setting themselves up for failure. i should know, it nearly happened to my firm.

more w. michael hsu: seven principles to work less and achieve more | how do firm leaders learn? | when it comes to pricing, it’s about ‘can’t afford not to’ | your client base is global |

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flashback to about 13 years ago. it was the middle of the night, and everyone was asleep. the aicpa had just featured me at one of their major industry events in vegas for firing 50 percent of my clients. while i’ve enjoyed the publicity, i’m now sitting in my room wondering if i should have done that.

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ron baker: monetize the relationship, not the transaction

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ron baker: the subscription model optimizes lifetime customer value.

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the disruptors
with liz farr for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

ron baker has been on a crusade to transform accounting firms for decades, first by pushing us to kill the billable hour and to implement value pricing. today, he’s advising accountants to switch to a radically different business model. his new book, co-authored with paul dunn, “time’s up! the subscription business model for professional firms,” explains the subscription model and why moving to this model aligns the values of firm owners with those of their customers.

more: erik solbakken: yes, you can work less and make more | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go  | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers  | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson

goprocpa.com exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

this book began from ron’s obsession with the question “what would happen if disney started cpa firms?” accounting wouldn’t be a grudge purchase with low prices, but disney “would enhance the experience and you would pay a fortune and you would be delighted to do so.” in today’s world, your customers are no longer comparing your firm to the other cpa firms, but to “any organization that has the capacity of raising our customer’s expectations,” such as nordstrom or amazon. baker said, “we need to up our game as a profession.”

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does wealth management make sense for your firm?

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remember, your current clientele is not the whole picture.

by russ alan prince
your $5-million high-net-worth practice

not all accounting firms are interested in establishing a wealth management practice. it does not fit well with their strategies and culture. moreover, a great many accounting firms would not be successful in providing wealth management services and products. consequently, a percentage of accounting firms smartly choose not to get involved in delivering wealth management.

more: five business models for wealth management | the life insurance that your firm needs | build your high-performing family office practice | are you missing maximum potential? | why accountants fail at wealth management
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

then there are accounting firms that choose to be in the wealth management business. when wealth management is part of a well-thought-out accounting firm’s strategy and is implemented well, it can be instrumental in delivering greater value to clients as well as substantially increasing accounting firm profits.
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how to develop internal procedures

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smiling woman using smartphoneplus three apps for organizing them.

by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers

there is a symbiotic relationship between your technology and your processes. you have to consider both, or you won’t get the full benefit.

more: why federated search matters | top tech tools for building your new bos business | choose your little black dress of technology | pick your favorite clients | keep the accountants focused on accounting | what do you want advisory services to be?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

mckinsey global has been researching the impact of automation around the world, and (no surprise) found that when companies try to retrofit technology to fit into existing processes, “companies end up with a patchwork of incongruous technology tools that automate separate and distinct parts of the process. this approach is fine for capturing the first 5 percent or so of automation’s impact. but unlocking the full potential requires a fundamentally different way of thinking. to capture that potential, managers must be willing to re-engineer their processes completely.”[1]
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due diligence is in the details

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every team member must do their part.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

in 2012, hewlett-packard announced an $8.8 billion deduction claiming that they overpaid for an acquisition because of the failure of many other people who were responsible for due diligence. i don’t know many of the details, but it seems that someone screwed up big-time.

more: simple controls can prevent fraud | five ways to ward off fraud in not-for-profits | client hires new manager: you need a plan | anatomy of a fraud | how to explain internal controls to clients | organization minutes too often overlooked | the seven-minute financial statement | the kpi an absentee manager needs
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

due diligence is an essential activity in an acquisition that involves confirming the representations made by the seller, evaluating the strategic fit and terms and conditions of the deal and validating financial, legal, operational and technological aspects of the transaction. keen due diligence can even help determine the final price.
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proper workflow demands consistency

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pixelated blue text "workflow" on binary code backgroundtools are only as good as their users.

by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers

workflow. tasking. these two words are thrown around quite a bit and sometimes they are used interchangeably. so, let’s get this part defined a bit more.

more: top tech tools for building your new bos business | workflow tools can deepen client relationships | going viral: today’s top marketing strategies | top ten types of clients (and 24 more reader suggestions) | which kind of team do you have?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

workflow definition: noun, the sequence of industrial, administrative or other processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion

tasking definition: noun, a piece of work to be done or undertaken

verb, assign a piece of work to

workflow is always a noun and tasking can be either a noun or a verb. no wonder people get this confused.

a good friend and fellow quickbooks proadvisor, liz scott from accounting lifeline, does these great little workflows for her clients that work directly in their accounting application. she builds the workflows into dropdowns on the browsers. here is an example for making a deposit:
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five ways to ward off fraud in not-for-profits

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reassure donors and regulators.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

again and again, stories appear in newspapers about abuse and misuse of funds in not-for-profit organizations. in many cases, these frauds have been schemes that have been going on for numerous years.

more: charity directors must take theft seriously | client hires new manager: you need a plan | anatomy of a fraud | how to explain internal controls to clients | organization minutes too often overlooked | the seven-minute financial statement | the kpi an absentee manager needs
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the frauds are usually carried out by long-serving employees who earned reputation and trust that resulted in relaxation of controls or oversight. many times, this provides temptation and ample opportunity to commit and sustain fraudulent activity over long periods paired with a reduction in the “fear” of being caught!
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tips for getting clients started on bos

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bonus: two case studies.

by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers

i love the question i get when i set up someone on back office support systems. “what do i need to have to get this started?”

more: top tech tools for building your new bos business | going viral: today’s top marketing strategies | top ten types of clients (and 24 more reader suggestions) | which kind of team do you have? | meet the new bos
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

i tell them i need to know your name, address, phone number, ein/ssn and your passwords. except for the guy who closed his bank account and had to have the old statements mailed to him, i run with a chromebook and make sure there is accessible wi-fi when i go onsite. if i need to collect documents that have never been digitized, i just have them download dext and start snapping pics. no paper, no pen, no mess and typically a stunned prospect who wants to become a client. see, i can’t sell, so i let the technology do the selling for me.
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how to differentiate cas

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learn what the client wants and needs.hitendra patil cas q-and-a logo

by hitendra patil
the definitive success guide to client accounting services

have a cas question? get it answered here.

q: my firm is growing into cas offerings. we have different pricing levels as well. but it seems clients are not grasping how our cas offerings are different. how do we differentiate?

more cas: matching your tech to your cas clients | the tech stack you need for cas | yes, you have the staffing for cas | six steps to spreading cas awareness  | finding profits in cas |

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

a: accounting is about doing work that is exceptionally well-defined. it follows clear laws and regulations. people, processes and technology cannot easily differentiate you from the competition. but client accounting services is different than traditionally defined accounting work. you can differentiate cas in many ways.

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charity directors must take theft seriously

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older man reading newspaper by fireplacereading and understanding financials is key.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

hardly a week goes by that i do not read about a theft, fraud, misappropriation, defalcation or egregious wasteful spending at some charitable organization. some are perpetuated over many years – perhaps as many as seven years.

more: client hires new manager: you need a plan | do you need a forensic professional? | six benefits of an internal audit | the ten financial controls that’ll make you a hero | five cash reports you can’t live without | when an audit is a great thing | which kpis do you need?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

lack of controls, oversight, disinterest or lackadaisical care creates an atmosphere where an already weak person can spot an opportunity, or perhaps an uncaught or unguarded careless mistake gives birth to a pattern of ongoing criminal action by someone who never had an unlawful thought.
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yes, technology disrupts – but for the better

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hitendra patil: celebrate the pandemic’s silver lining.

the disruptors
with liz farr for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

technology is disrupting the profession, but for the good.

hitendra patil, cpa, long the head of customer success at accountantsworld by iris and an independent advisor, says that the silver lining of the pandemic is that it forced accountants to move to the cloud and to develop distributed labor models–changes that are here to stay.

more: donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go  | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers  | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson

goprocpa.com exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

“we can’t fight the rapid technological changes – we can only leverage them to provide better service and insights to our clients,” patil said. “technology puts advisory services within the financial reach of more small business owners. but the superpower that accountants still have is the ability to connect our clients’ goals and aspirations with what’s happening in accounting,” he added, saying that it enables conversations on a higher level. “instead of pestering them for bank statements and receipts, we can ask about trends we see in the financials,” patil said.

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five ways to increase audit efficiency

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keep your financial statement audit off the naughty list.

by sarah timmons

timmons

sarah timmons is a chief auditor with auditclub.cpa, which provides on-demand audit and assurance review support for work papers, financial statements and engagement quality control reviews, as well as quality control and training services, and more to audit departments of cpa firms of all sizes.

as december flies by and busy season quickly approaches, it’s time to reflect on the successes and shortcomings of the past to plan for the first quarter of the new year.

more: six benefits of an internal audit | the ten financial controls that’ll make you a hero | five cash reports you can’t live without | when an audit is a great thing
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

effective and efficient audits are the result of proper planning and, most of all, communications – with your staff, your client and, sometimes, your therapist.

here is a checklist of some simple tasks to help make the audit season a bit less stressful:

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will my clients find cas expensive?

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provide a different value experience with cas to stop price comparisons. hitendra patil cas q-and-a logo

by hitendra patil
the definitive success guide to client accounting services

have a cas question? get it answered here.

question: at our firm, we have been working on creating cas capabilities. we feel that the cost of offering cas will increase our services’ prices. we are worried that our clients will find cas too expensive. traditionally, it has not been easy for us to increase our prices. how should we go about our cas pricing?

more cas: matching your tech to your cas clients | the tech stack you need for cas | yes, you have the staffing for cas | six steps to spreading cas awareness  | finding profits in cas

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

a: there are two separate problems here. first, your firm has a cost-plus pricing model. you’d want to change it not just for cas but also for other services. in general, cost-plus pricing emphasizes the features of your service. your pricing should reflect the relevant benefits of your service. second, you need to find out the different value that clients will experience from your cas offering.

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