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the growing pains of a small firm

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the lessons every firm needs to learn.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

“cpa firm grows prosperous by heeding its own advice.” the wall street journal published an article with that title in their may 18, 1981 issue about my firm, and this column describes some of what we did.

more: giving clients the best you’ve got | why map programs are essential | making sure the son got proper credit | family trees of clients | why accountants quit | when siblings battle over the family business | how bickering can ruin a family business
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the article began by stating there were about 28,000 cpa firms in the u.s., with about 19,000 being sole practitioners and many others with just two or three cpas. these numbers are lower than now, so the profession and small firms have grown significantly in the last 40-plus years.
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what cpa firm buyers want … and don’t

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woman with disapproval face.sellers, how do you compare?

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

many years ago, i was overjoyed that the managing partner of one of chicago’s largest local firms (long since merged out of existence) called me in for a meeting. today, i would have asked what the guy wanted to discuss before shlepping to his office. but 20 years ago, i was just happy he called me.

more: inside a partner comp committee | rewarding partners for seniority: pros and cons | what if founders don’t want to buy each other out? | when cpa partner votes go wrong | why billing less may mean earning more | what smaller firms must do to become firms of the future | when managing partners can’t | don’t let exiting partners double dip | the 13 signs you have a partner problem | covid-19, adversity and innovation
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the managing partner proceeded to tell me that his firm was looking for smaller firms to merge in. i asked him what the parameters were for his search.
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why do you want to merge? be honest.

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then we can talk about how.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm mergers: your complete guide

whether you’re looking to acquire a smaller firm, merge upward into a larger one or join forces with an equal, answering this basic question honestly and objectively is key to laying the groundwork for a successful merger.

more: four reasons to fear a merger
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the table below lists the main reasons that firms seek mergers. some of them benefit both buyer and seller. others provide the greatest advantage to one firm or the other, depending on the unique situation.
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the seven-step plan for marketing by spreadsheet

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using excel spreadsheets, with a bunch of numbers, adding in some deadlines, and creating a very organized process, is just how we accountants like things.

by sandi leyva
the complete guide to marketing for tax & accounting firms

it’s quite common for accounting firms – even the regionals – to have no marketing plan in place.

more: five things clients have taught me | beyond compliance: what more you can provide | the biggest seo secret of all: google business listings | five ways to get better clients | how clients get underserved and accountants get underpaid
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the marketing plan might very well be, “get as many referrals as we can.”

or it might be a number for each partner – which is not a marketing plan.

or it might be, “if it’s not busy season, i’ll go to my networking group.”

none of these are plans. they are individual marketing tasks and components.

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a tax season worse than 2021?

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you’re not alone. most tax practitioners report a tougher season than last year’s.

mostly worse: barely 1 in 4 accountants report improvements over last year.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

so, how’s your busy season going? is everything fine and dandy?

or are you among the 47 percent of tax practitioners who are doing somewhat worse (34 percent) or much worse (13 percent) than last year?

more: six fixable problems at the irs   |  irs under covid: heroes or goats?   |  irs loves e-filing. so why the barriers?  |  two big (and obvious) ways irs could work with practitioners   |  eight ways to charm a client | plug small leaks before they become big floods | you’re only as good as your last screw-up | four issues with ‘quick’ tax questions | when to pick up the phone this tax season | these five procedures will simplify your tax season | 11 steps to better client tax instructions
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on one hand, that’s less than half of everyone. on the other, you’d think nothing could be worse than last year.

but according to the 2022 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer, somehow it’s happening.

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engagement letters require what and when

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woman holding paper at deskit’s no less true for cas than for anything else.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

“people think of us (accountants) as the compliance agents – the necessary evil.”

more: look backward for your cas processes | make sure your differentiation is truly different | two tech approaches to cas | show your priciest cas package first | how cas drives virtual cfo billings | the roi on identifying clients for cas
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this sentence haunts me even today, after hearing it nearly 15 years ago from a multi-award-winning, highly experienced cpa.

perception!
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four reasons to fear a merger

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purple no. 4 billiard balland eight ways to tell that one was successful.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm mergers: your complete guide

as a generation of aging baby boomer partners continues its relentless march toward retirement, thousands of firms are seeking the only exit strategy available to them: merge into another firm.

more:  12 shifts to ensure firm success |  eisneramper ceo explains the firm’s private equity deal  |  why it’s time for an acquisition  |  are you overthinking an m&a deal?  |  the 9 biggest merger pitfalls  |  will new taxes push you to cash out?  |  the managing partner’s role in mergers  |  inside a partner comp committee  |  making partner: the essential metrics  |  want to be a partner? meet these 17 expectations  |  five reasons not to make someone a partner  |  do you really need another partner?  |  six big mistakes in succession planning  |  new non-compete laws don’t affect cpa firms  |  evaluating the managing partner  |  what a firm needs from its leaders  |

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thus has a voracious appetite for mergers been created at all size levels, particularly:

  • sellers who are very small firms – sole practitioners (remember, 30,000 of the u.s.’s 44,000 cpa firms are solos, and a huge percentage of those are at an advanced age) and multipartner firms under $3 million
  • buyers with annual revenues of $3 million and larger

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six benefits of family offices

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jason zayon, a partner in the business management & family office group at armanino llp,
zayon

why the ultra-wealthy might prefer them.

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

in many ways, the accounting industry is under pressure from fee compression and seriously increasing competition. the current crisis is exacerbating the problems some accounting firms are having.

more: how to profit by being a thought leader | the best wealth coaching candidates | the smart way to handle financial products | there are 4 types of professionals | 6 steps to maximize referrals
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at the same time, certain types of clients and sets of services prove to be extremely profitable for accounting firms. one such type of client is the ultra-wealthy. furthermore, a potentially highly profitable segment of the ultra-wealthy is those with single-family offices.
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16 traits of the best tax clients

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green cast iron sign with white 16 painted on it

subscriber frank kistner adds no. 17: clients who remove staples from source documents (because they can damage your scanner/copier).

by ed mendlowitz
tax season opportunity guide

clients are our customers who pay our salaries and present us with stimulating opportunities allowing us to grow.

more: eight ways to charm a client | plug small leaks before they become big floods | you’re only as good as your last screw-up | four issues with ‘quick’ tax questions | when to pick up the phone this tax season | these five procedures will simplify your tax season | 11 steps to better client tax instructions
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there is no such thing as a bad or nuisance client – although there are clients who sometimes do bad or nuisance things.
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inside a partner comp committee

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how buyout was affected.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

we worked with a 10-partner cpa firm a few years ago to change their income allocation method from an incredibly complicated formula that was deeply flawed to a compensation committee (cc). we talked to the partner group recently to get their feedback on how things worked out.

more: rewarding partners for seniority: pros and cons | what if founders don’t want to buy each other out? | when cpa partner votes go wrong | why billing less may mean earning more
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why did you adopt the cc? it embraces the fundamental concept that an accounting firm’s success depends on its partners’ production and intangible attributes such as management, leadership, mentoring staff, and teamwork, among others.
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