leadership

business owners face one of three exits

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businessman putting a card with text "don't resist change, embrace it" in suit pocketexpect to sell your practice? not if you resist change.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

in talking to firms from around the country, i realized there are three types of firms out there:

  1. firms and practitioners that are sliding into retirement, whether they know it or not
  2. firms that see the need for change, but don’t know where to start
  3. firms that see a clear path to the future through better practice management

more: don’t let clients dictate tax workflow | make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity | how small firms can win the talent wars | easy ways to avoid ‘done but’ tax returns | six ways to create a millennial-friendly firm | do you know your turnaround time?
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since publishing my first book and launching my firm’s workflow and collaboration application, i have talked to practitioners from firms of all types and sizes. my cpa firm pursued a few acquisition opportunities. during the process, i learned there are a lot of practitioners who are either incapable of adapting to our profession’s 21st-century changes or unwilling to adapt. that’s okay, if you are making an informed choice to retire and don’t care about realizing much in value by selling your firm.

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a lesson in customer service and reputation

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manager standing in front of wall of tvswho needs to see you lead?

by martin bissett
passport to partnership

in order to become a commercially aware practice leader, we need to understand the dna of leadership.

more: 10 questions for reconsidering your prices | five reasons firms don’t thrive | four biz dev tasks to start the new year | what the next generation of practice leaders faces | five ways to show commitment | selling isn’t hard | do you make your firm look good?
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any woman or man leading an accounting firm, who chooses to overcome each operational or client challenge as it if their future depended on it, will not only succeed in practice but will become capable of delivering advisory value to their clients unmatched by their competitors, thus achieving true differentiation.
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are you ready for a co-owner to drop dead?

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man holding white rose with lit candles in backgroundwhat you have to have in place.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

not having a buy-sell agreement doesn’t mean anything unless a co-owner dies, becomes disabled, becomes bankrupt, divorced, wants to quit, retire or many other things. i regularly receive calls from accountants on behalf of clients who need valuations because a co-owner had died suddenly without a buy-sell agreement.

more: you don’t need this, but your survivors do | due diligence is in the details | manage better with the right financial tools | do you need a forensic professional? | six benefits of an internal audit | the ten financial controls that’ll make you a hero
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

here is a bleak picture of what happens and what can be avoided. the scenario: a business owned by two friends who started it 20 years earlier. they’re pretty successful, they make good livings, fund their pension plans, and they have money left over each year to provide for modest growth. but they haven’t accumulated any extra savings and they still have home mortgages and kids in college. they are both 50. and then one dies suddenly. the survivor must buy the interest from the estate of his deceased partner. but he doesn’t know what to offer and can’t afford too much.
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accountants need each other more than ever

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don’t ditch live events. we need human connection.

by seth fineberg

at large

“we didn’t realize how hard accountants party, and we had a difficult time keeping up. we’re also still recovering from the ‘socializing’ and contemplating having a recovery section at our next booth.”

more fineberg: what bogs down accountants | your classic business model won’t allow growth

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certainly, event creators need to consider content first and foremost as a draw. you need a “why” and a practical purpose.

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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.

subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).

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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randy crabtree: follow these 3 rules to keep employees happy

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randy crabtree: allow your employees freedom in two critical areas to win talent wars.

subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).

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

randy crabtree talks to a lot of other accountants and admits that he “steals ideas from everybody else.” imitation, after all, is the sincerest form of flattery.

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.

one topic he’s been talking about a lot lately is the issue of mental health in the profession, which he feels is largely self-induced. although he’s been asked to talk about mental health without mentioning burnout–don’t be a downer–crabtree says it’s impossible. “i’m like, i’m sorry, but i can’t do that. it doesn’t go away if i don’t talk about it,” he said.  

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marchternity: just say ‘no’

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whether marchternity continues depends entirely upon you.

more on marchternity:
the solution is community, by liz farr

by seth fineberg
at large

after nearly three years of what many tax pros consider one of the longest tax seasons on record –- a.k.a. ‘marchternity’ –- one would think this season would be different.

more fineberg: what bogs down accountants | your classic business model won’t allow growth

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

to be sure, plenty of tax practitioners in late 2022 did indeed call the end of marchternity and look forward to some sense of normalcy, as much of what caused the extended tax season in the first place appears to have subsided. so, do tax pros expect this season to be different?

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don’t let clients dictate tax workflow

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//m.g005e.com/2014/02/02/marcus-metrics/ask the right questions and stick to your processes.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

who makes the errors in your firm? staff obviously, but that’s half of the answer. clients are a major source of tax return errors. clients cause errors in three ways:

  1. errors of omission
  2. errors of commission
  3. errors in attitude

more: make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity | how small firms can win the talent wars | easy ways to avoid ‘done but’ tax returns | six ways to create a millennial-friendly firm | do you know your turnaround time?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

every tax season, we finalize and deliver returns only to hear from the client, “i think i might have forgotten to tell you that we had a baby last year.” does this happen to you? this is a client error of omission. unintentionally, clients withhold important information.
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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?
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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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you don’t need this, but your survivors do

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bonus checklists: 16 steps to reviewing a buy-sell agreement and 20 issues to consider.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

nobody needs an estate plan, exit plan or a buy-sell agreement. but their families and survivors do.

more: due diligence is in the details | simple controls can prevent fraud | charity directors must take theft seriously | 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
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

estate plans are done so that the remaining family members can have liquidity, minor children will have guardians of your choosing with a dependable cash flow, children won’t fight (too much) over the money, people of your choice will collect and distribute assets and make transfers in an orderly manner, and estate and inheritance taxes can be minimized as can the costs of settling the estate.
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make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity

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businessman horrified by what he sees on computer screentackle the four error categories.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

determining the workflow harm that errors cause should be second nature now. errors cause rework. rework adds to work in progress (wip) and, thus, increases turnaround time.

this happens in two ways: as wip increases, capacity decreases. it’s a double whammy.

more: how small firms can win the talent wars | easy ways to avoid ‘done but’ tax returns | six ways to create a millennial-friendly firm | do you know your turnaround time?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

when a reviewer spots errors on a tax return and sends it back to the preparer, the preparer wastes at least 15 minutes, and probably more like 30 minutes, fixing the errors. the return then goes back to the reviewer, who spends another 15 minutes re-reviewing the return. we have added 30 to 45 minutes to the wip for this tax return. we know that adding to our wip numerator increases turnaround time.

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why federated search matters

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cluttered computer screen
take a look at your team’s desktops.

no more subfolders! just imagine.

by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers

much has been done to help people deal with information overload. desktop search tools have made it easier to find a piece of data hidden among all the other data stored on your system. but what about all the data available on portals, stored in shared drives, and trapped in business applications, let alone the valuable information stored in various employees’ heads?

more: how to develop procedures for bos | proper workflow demands consistency | 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? | meet the new bos
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

this information is vital to your firm. employees need this data to do their jobs, and they need it quickly.

the key to finding information quickly is a mighty search engine. enterprise search engines can find information stored almost anywhere in your system. whether looking for data stored on the desktop, tucked away on an intranet site or locked in a line of a business application, an enterprise search tool can help you find it. the search solution combines desktop search with fast intranet searching capabilities.
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leadership must focus on talent, talent, talent

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red rocket rising above white hot air balloonsacquisition vs. recruitment.

by anthony zecca
leading from the edge

in my recently published book, “leading from the edge – creating a standout, high-performing organization,” i focus on the leadership accounting firms need to succeed in a future driven by seismic disruptors.

more: teamwork drives firm success | the two sides of the culture coin | four accountability steps for firm success | how to build a standout team | five keys to becoming a high-performing firm | assessing your firm | the 4 traits of great cpa leaders
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

leadership has a responsibility and impact on creating the standout, high-performing talent necessary to drive the firm’s long-term strategy. we all understand and believe that at the end of each day, the firm’s greatest asset walks out the door (or in today’s world, disconnects). the quality of a firm’s talent directly relates to the success and performance of the firm.
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