cash is the lifeblood of a business. cash amounts. cash flows. cash changes. no matter what anyone tells you, cash is the bottom line you must watch and accumulate.
simplistically, knowing your cash balance gives you a sense of how you are doing. if it goes up, you are making money – if it goes down, you are losing money. read more →
employees are not keen about returning to their offices after an almost two-and-a-half year (for some) hiatus from the hassle of commuting and balancing child care and other personal responsibilities. what are company leaders to do?
employees want to strike a balance between their work life and their family life (or life outside the office). the common employee refrain has been, “i want to find my life’s passion, and i need work flexibility to accomplish this.”
i am a staff accountant with five years experience. i am having a lot of stress trying to manage everything i have to do. i am juggling supervising people i don’t know how to supervise, being managed less by those above me and having to figure out more for myself – including things i never did before or in industries i never worked on previously, keeping current with changes in accounting rules and taxes (since i am more like a generalist and clients ask me everything), never seeming to have any free time, juggling my schedule because most of my clients are never ready when they say they will be and being accountable to my boss for everything i do plus what the staff working under me does.
transformation talks: mike maksymiw, cpa, cgma, says the secret to success and transformation in accounting is to be willing to learn, believe there’s enough work for everyone…and allow yourself to be vulnerable.
after 16 years of working in firms, mike maksymiw, cpa, cgma, was done.
he went to his employer with his concerns about wanting to do something else. instead of encouragement to pursue another area in the firm, he was persuaded to remain on the partner track he was on. maksymiw decided he’d rather move on.
“i didn’t have anywhere to go when i left. i just knew i needed to go,” he said. “so, after, you know, a couple pandemic busy seasons, learning about the cares act, being a national leader at the firm at that, like i was toast. so, my family and i just went to hawaii stayed there for two weeks.”
when i was a junior accountant an eon ago, my boss would always give me the cash to reconcile or audit, the minutes to “abstract,” and the internal control questionnaire to go over with the controller or bookkeeper.
then when i became a manager, i continued this practice of having lower-level staff perform these procedures. i now consult with many accounting firms and find it is still being done that way. i stopped it many years ago and wonder why it’s still widespread. read more →
improved communication can be achieved with many different approaches. some tactics may primarily affect intrafirm understanding and teamwork, while others focus more on increasing clarity and frequency of communications with clients. no matter where they are directed, when these efforts are successful, they benefit the firm and its clients.
when i begin to work with a new cpa firm client, one of the most common issues i encounter is the lack of open, honest, ongoing communication between firm leadership and team members. read more →
q: i was wondering what your thoughts are regarding initial consultation fees. currently, i do not charge a fee for an initial consultation, and it seems that most cpas do not charge either (at least not the sole practitioners that i know).
would the fee deter new clients or actually weed out the ones who are most likely not going to become clients anyway? if a fee is charged, then how much, and how long should the consultation last? should the fee be applied to any work that i am eventually engaged to do?
a: there seems to be a toss-up between two different philosophies:
q:sometimes i get stuck doing work that the client did not ask me to do, that is not chargeable and simply a waste of time, but i get trapped (by myself).
the accounting profession has faced staffing issues for years now and, especially post-pandemic, the problem has compounded. penny breslin, 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 contributor and the founder of moneypenny, talks about how firms are facing the hiring challenges and popular solutions that seem to be working, including using predominantly cloud-based apps for collaboration and engagement and taking a true evaluation of the talents and skills needed for each position.
firm culture is a term that is frequently used and often taken for granted. assuming that your culture matches the firm’s stated goals isn’t wise, nor is considering the culture to be static and unchanging.
to create and maintain a firm culture that delivers positive results and brings team members together to work toward a common cause, you must take action to ensure that the many elements contributing to an engaging, positive firm culture are all working to create concrete manifestations of the culture you desire to see. read more →
jamie lopiccolo, the managing member of a small midwest firm, has been employing a subscription-based model for more than four years to invoice clients for services rendered. in addition to positioning the cpa as the client’s partner for success, it also encourages those who employ the system to provide maximum value in each client interaction, rather than focusing on getting as much money or billable hours as possible. catch another conversation with lopiccolo here: sell service, not hours.
the approach is to both manage expectations by the client and ensure a normalized cash flow for the firm. additional benefits include a more strategic approach to dealing with new clients because they are getting the full picture of their business’s needs.
profits don’t mean a thing if they’re not represented by cash.exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
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