management

the best tech for your team and clients

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blue glowing new technology background with particlesbonus: what all these acronyms mean.

by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers

with accounting software and add-ons, from the standpoint of the person maintaining the “books,” the accounting program is the focal point. however, consider the focus of your business-owning client.

more: choose your little black dress of technology | going viral: today’s top marketing strategies | top ten types of clients (and 24 more reader suggestions) | meet the new bos | why ai is not the enemy

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their focus is operational. so, consider that for the business owner, the add-on is the accounting program. having the correct package of cloud-based programs turns the accounting program into a basic general journal that you, in your accounting hat, use to find any inconsistencies.

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do you know your turnaround time?

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cutting it is the shortest route to happier clients.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

todd rundgren sang, “i don’t want to work. i just wanna bang on the drum all day.”

i agree with half of that. i don’t want to work. however, i want someone else to bang on the drum all day for me. i’m not that ambitious.

the key to achieving hall of fame-level laziness is delegation.

more: tax season client meetings: kill them now | leadership growth is a two-way street | 12 subjective factors for pricing your next engagement | the six pillars for finance transformation | three strategies to keep emerging leaders engaged
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if i have no ambition to do anything, but want things to get done, someone else must do them. similarly, effective practice management is putting the right people in the right places accomplishing the right tasks at the right times. that’s a pretty damn good definition of effective laziness as well. there’s a subtle genius in that.

for example, our firm was looking at acquiring a really nice firm, where the two partners were working 100-hour weeks during tax season. as a result of the acquisition, they wanted to work fewer hours. they were preparing the vast majority of tax returns themselves, so we suggested having them act as reviewers instead. that would also transfer knowledge of the clients from them to us – a central objective of any successful acquisition.
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client hires new manager: you need a plan

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what they don’t know can hurt you.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

clients hire managers all the time. but getting started as a manager requires many skills, one of which is to review financial data and use it to control your department, division, or company.

more: do you need a forensic professional? | forensic techniques can be fraud deterrence | the hazards of poor internal controls | rule #1: start with cash | the priorities were backward | how to read a financial statement | 77 thoughts about client needs
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here is a way to get started.

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five ways to put success into succession planning

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a robust mentoring program can be critical.

three climbers helping each other up a hill

by bill penczak

legendary general electric ceo jack welch is reported to have lamented the choice he’d made in his successor, choosing someone based on their personality and ability to navigate the politics of the position instead of someone who could successfully lead the company into a brighter future. welch was correct. today, ge is a shell of its former self because of its leadership choice.

more: o.d. lanier: stepping into advisory | secret to success? a growth and abundance mindset | future firm growth requires a mindshift |the great resignation: five reasons accountants are quitting | five global cpa leaders: four survival strategies | planning for success in 2021 | do you have the guts to beat the covid crisis?
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welch’s one gaping failure as an otherwise stellar executive started me thinking about the current state of baby boomer-led and owned cpa firms, and how many of them are likely to commit the succession errors of ge. or worse, do nothing at all in terms of creating and sustaining a cpa firm into its next iteration.

as firms are giddy with the prospect of a new year and with covid in our rear-view mirrors, here are five considerations for generational succession of a middle market firm:

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do you need a forensic professional?

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numbers floating around man examining calculator with magnifying glassplus: four ways to improve your systems.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

various professionals and consultants can set up controls with in-house accountants, the cfo and financial professionals employed by the firm, but they then leave, and the organization is left with administering it. unless there is a highly disciplined and committed leadership within the company, the initial enthusiasm dissipates soon after.

more: forensic techniques can be fraud deterrence | 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
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a trained forensic professional will detect flaws and cracks in systems and plug them up. they are also transaction-oriented, more than procedure-oriented, so they examine more closely how things are being done and look for subtle deviations from how they are supposed to be done. this skill should be employed in oversight and periodic monitoring of the controls they helped establish.
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