not all data is relevant.
by ed mendlowitz
the practice doctor
question: what is the average fee that your firm charges for a review? assume the company is approximately $10 million in sales and $3 million in assets.
answer: what is the average size suit men wear? this might be nice to know but it is not relevant to any specific situation. read more →
by marc rosenberg
retirements & buyouts
it has been said that organizations should never make profitability their goal. why? because profitability should be the result of an organization’s efforts, not its goal. create and maintain a world-class organization that satisfies the clients’ needs – and profits will result.
that’s just, may i say, poppycock.
one key: accept that there are many different ways of achieving the same objective.
by robert j. lees, august j. aquila and derek klyhn
not every firm can be the market leader.
more on leadership: leader training is time well spent | managing partners must remember partners’ needs | 5 questions about your firm’s direction | like herding cats: partners must ‘walk together’
but every firm can have a culture of excellence, of striving to be the best at everything they do and of reinventing themselves as the markets for both clients and people change.
how many of these do you need to fix in your firm?
by ed mendlowitz
how to review tax returns
clients have many choices, including the choice of a tax preparer. every new client an accountant gets is because that client left – fired! – their previous accountant.
here is a listing of 21 major reasons why clients switch accountants. ask yourself how many of these mistakes you could correct immediately and think about what that might be worth. read more →
five traits of the best tax season managers.
by ed mendlowitz
how to review tax returns
reviewing tax returns is a key part of tax preparation. it also is an area vulnerable to major bottlenecks and backlogs. inevitably, firms have more preparers than reviewers. the latter are highly skilled professionals who are more difficult to train or find. therefore, you must consider ways to reduce review time, even at the expense of adding preparer time.
the best tax season managers know how to: read more →
how savvy firms capture their best practices and foster continuous improvement.
by roman h. kepczyk
quantum of paperless
every firm has accountants who are 10 percent, 20 percent or even 50 percent more productive in their departments than other personnel because they have simply “figured it out.”
more on tech spending: going paperless means convincing clients first | how to cut tax prep costs with scanners | making digital tax process easier is all about the workflow | why firms need document retention standards | intranet is the best place for firm knowledge | digital fax has benefits you may be ignoring | wireless is hot, and here’s how to handle it | how safe is your internet lifeline? | new tech tools for the 24/7 accounting firm | when to adopt microsoft’s new office apps
unfortunately, when these people leave the firm, their unique knowledge of specific processes and shortcuts goes with them. read more →
by ed mendlowitz the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor while i was working full-time early in my accounting career, i was also picking up clients that i did on the side, also known as moonlighting. one of the clients was a … continued
four questions to test your leadership culture.
by robert j. lees, august j. aquila and derek klyhn
being a good coach is just one of the expectations firms must have of their partners. they are expected to be leaders, as well.
more on leadership: managing partners must remember partners’ needs | 5 questions about your firm’s direction | like herding cats: partners must ‘walk together’
while most of the partners we know understand and accept that need, not everyone does, and not everyone understands what being an effective leader means.
by ed mendlowitz
author of “implementing fee increases”
question: a widow called me to ask if i wanted to buy her husband’s practice. he died suddenly a month ago. what should i offer and how should i handle this?
response: it is always hard to buy a practice from a widow or estate when the accountant did not make arrangements.
more practice doctor q&a: no more printouts at cpe programs? | how to apply value pricing to bundled services | 6 ways to take a client beyond tax prep | 18 ways to blow a partnership opportunity | when experience doesn’t add up | 8 times when hourly billing trumps value pricing | 6 ways to know what you don’t know | 10 do’s and don’ts for making small business clients happy | client’s difficult daughter balks at bill | 6 simple steps to impress a prospect
the expectations of the seller are usually greater than reality, and the buyer is getting something that already has declined in value, with clients leaving as they hear of the death, and the information about client servicing is likely not too organized, if it exists at all. this also applies to a sudden complete disability. this should be a “lesson” to get your own affairs in order.
by robert j. lees, august j. aquila and derek klyhn
momentum is critical in driving change, so it is no surprise that the initiation of activities that drive and support the strategy is key.
more on leadership: managing partners must remember partners’ needs | 5 questions about your firm’s direction | like herding cats: partners must ‘walk together’
it is also one of the reasons why focus is critical. and yet one of the mistakes we see are initiatives having too much time between them.
tech advice for everyday use.
by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor
question: i always like to take notes on the handouts when i attend cpe programs. now all the handouts are provided digitally and it forces me to sometimes print out as much as 400 or 500 pages before i go to the program. how can i get the sponsors to provide printed copies?
response: things change. what worked yesterday doesn’t always work today. read more →
don’t confuse it with value billing.
by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor
question: i tried value billing and it didn’t work. i would rather bill my business clients on a fixed fee for my services.
response: actually, you are value pricing when you do the fixed fees. you confused value pricing with value billing. value pricing is where you sit down with the client and you jointly determine the price before any work is done.
more practice doctor q&a: 18 ways to blow a partnership opportunity | 8 times when hourly billing trumps value pricing | 10 do’s and don’ts for making small business clients happy | 10 (nearly) painless ways to keep up to date with technology | 23 reasons clients really need you for taxes | running an accounting business | 14 ways to switch to value pricing | pricing, billing, costing: don’t blame clients
value billing is where you try to get an extra payment after the work is done. i believe the best way to determine a fee for recurring services is to set the fee with the client in advance of performing any work. i’ll explain. read more →
and 4 questions to consider.
by robert j. lees, august j. aquila and derek klyhn
creating the effective partnership
professionals loathe anything bureaucratic. but we know of many firms who ask their partners to account, in detail, for every minute of their time.
to ask high-need-for-achievement professionals at the top of their field to provide what, to them, is bureaucratic data immediately implies a complete lack of trust and respect for their expertise and their position. it is simply a motivational disaster, which distances the partners from the firm. partners know that they have to account for their time but we know too many firms that, often at the behest of the finance function, ask for a level of specificity that drives the partners to distraction.