leadership

every partner’s first question: ‘what’s in it for me?’

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by august j. aquila and robert j. lees
creating the effective partnership

although the whole purpose of engaging the partners is to commit them to the firm’s future, they also have to see a personal upside in the final destination. that upside can take many forms but it has to be spelled out. it’s critical that the descriptions are honest. smart people quickly stop trusting their leaders if they believe they are being lied to or the downsides glossed over.

creating the effective partnership:   the 9 building blocks of a winning vision that the big four have discovered  |   the politics of an accounting firm partnership  |  nine rules to creating highly effective partnership teams   |   audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success | are you creating a sustainable firm? | the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today

if, for example, achieving scale is achievable only through a merger, the likely impact of the merger on partner earnings must be addressed. smart people know that earnings may be flat, or even drop, in the short term. the key thing is that the upsides to both the firm and the partners make the initial sacrifice worthwhile. read more →

crowdsourcing for accounting practices

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going beyond outsourcing and virtual workers.

by sandi smith, cpa
accountant’s accelerator

the days are long gone when the only way to build your business was by hiring full-time employees. now there are so many more choices. many employees are interested in part-time work. some prefer to work virtually, which frees a company up from being limited to local talent. and then there’s crowdsourcing, a whole new way to tap into talented labor on a project-by-project basis.

crowdsourcing is a special way to outsource a task. with outsourcing, you know exactly who will be doing the task. with crowdsourcing, you don’t; people just show up and contribute. wikipedia calls it “distributed problem-solving.” read more →

partners demand accountability, except….

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except when it affects themselves.

by marc rosenberg
author of how to bring in new partners

partner accountability addresses what is expected of each partner, how partners will be managed so that the expectations are met and what the consequences will be for failure to meet these expectations.

i have interviewed hundreds of partners on partner accountability.  i frequently ask them if they would like the firm to have partner accountability.  the most common response i get, somewhat apocryphal, is:  “yes, i’m all for partner accountability (long pause) as long as it doesn’t affect me!” read more →

the 9 building blocks of a winning vision that the big four have discovered

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learn more about the research findings

and that you can use too.

by august j. aquila and robert j. lees
creating the effective partnership

what should a compelling vision contain?

while we still see some visions that talk about becoming the leading player in a state or region, we are seeing a real recognition that a vision is a lot more than the statement we used to see firms use across accounting and the other professional services firms sectors.

more creating the effective partnership: the politics of an accounting firm partnership  |  nine rules to creating highly effective partnership teams   |   audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success | are you creating a sustainable firm? | the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today

consider, now, the common ideas from the visions of the big four firms:

read more →

staff training starts with doing something

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ed mendlowitz, cpa, abv, pfs
author of “the 30:30 training method“

question: thanks for the training memo. although i requested your memo because i know i need help with improving efficiency and the like with my practice, many of your thoughts and ideas i have already thought of but simply did not implement them.

response: i think you hit part of the nail on the head in what you wrote – you’ve had many of the ideas and “simply did not implemented them.” you need to make changes or things stay the same. read more →

the politics of an accounting firm partnership

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how one managing partner learned the hard way.

by august j. aquila and robert j. lees
creating the effective partnership

while many managing partners understand the value of a vision statement to focus their partner team’s energies, too few get it right.

creating the effective partnership: two-volume set
creating the effective partnership

a vision is more than a simple statement. when we talk about having a compelling vision, we don’t mean just a well-crafted vision. we mean the vision with a clear destination, the strategies for getting there (the “how to”), the way progress will be measured and the benefits to the partners of going on the journey.

more on partnership management:  nine rules to creating highly effective partnership teams   |   audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success | are you creating a sustainable firm? | the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today

let’s look at an example of what can happen when all the elements (vision, journey, milestones and a positive answer to what’s in it for me) aren’t in place. read more →

3 steps to business clarity amid the sea change in accounting

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by sandi smith leyva, cpa
accountant’s accelerator

with labor day closing in, it’s a good time to take stock of where we stand for the year, plus re-group as needed before the 2014 busy season is upon us.  with so many changes in software, politics, tax laws, and global standards, it’s pretty easy to feel a little disorganized.

more for soloists and small firms:  the five essential skills accountants need today  | the seven essential components of a simple marketing plan for accountants  | take six big steps to go beyond compliance services     |     when your business needs to be rebooted  |   two steps to easy cross-sells   |   the hot new tech product for automated data entry   |   five value-add service areas to take you beyond bookkeeping   |   six money-making strategies to take you beyond quickbooks   |   proactive ways to get more referrals   |   the three biggest money leaks in your practice   |   new client opportunities with mobile apps   |   six questions to launch your summer strategy sessions   |   what most accountants miss in the five simple steps to get more clients   |   accountants, do you know your opportunity number? | five ideas to reduce client price-sensitivity | rise to the top with a fresh elevator speech | four ways to practice entrepreneurial perseverance | 5 mistakes to avoid when seeking new clients  | the top 12 business card blunders accountants make | seven tips to keep the clients you have | how to attract clients like a magnet | eleven easy ways to deliver more value to clients

here are three steps to help us take stock of our foundational business goals, re-evaluate our big picture, and get us centered as we enter the next quarter. read more →

27 tough questions for evaluating the performance of a managing partner

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including: managing partner evaluation forms, parts 1 and 2.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm management & governance

this is really an upward evaluation.  like all upward evaluations, people evaluating the managing partner should be limited to those in a position to offer informed input.  this means that at firms of fewer than 10 to 15 partners all the partners will probably want to participate.  but once a firm gets beyond 10 to 15 partners, an increasing number of partners may not be in a position to respond to the evaluation factors listed in the form.

more cpa firm management & governance:  18 things partners owe their firms – and each other   |  17 ways to measure a partner  |  how the structure of an accounting firm changes through the years    |    congratulations! your firm needs a human resources director    |    the 19-point marketing director job description    |    checklist: how the best managing partners and firm admins work in concert     |    21 questions for managing the managing partner    |    no partner vote needed: 17 decisions best left to the managing partner alone    |    new rules: 13 items that should be in your managing partner’s job description    |    when is it time to shift your firm from partnership-style to corporate-style governance?    |    not every firm needs a general patton    |

firms with management or executive committees may wish to limit the evaluation to the partners on those committees.

once you have decided who will be allowed to participate in the evaluation, each partner should complete the evaluation forms.  read more →

collecting past due fees

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ed mendlowitz, cpa, abv, pfs
author of “implementing fee increases“

question: client didn’t pay his bills to me, doesn’t return my phone calls, and his secretary keeps sending me the tax notices he gets with notes of “when are you going to take care of them?”  i tell her that i need the client to call me before i can do any more work and she ignores this and keeps sending me the notices and other tax correspondence he gets. i don’t want to tell him i am dropping him because then i don’t think i’ll ever be paid.  every year he goes on extension and he usually pays me half of what he owes when he sends me his tax info, but the past due amount has really accumulated to about three year’s fees.  what should i do about getting paid? read more →

building a bridge or welding girders together?

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building a bridge to somewhere…

by august j. aquila and robert j. lees
creating the effective partnership

screen shot 2013-08-07 at 3.13.01 pm
buy the report – $165. free shipping.

the more that partners are engaged with the firm’s future the better they perform. so, the picture of the firm’s future has to be compelling. it has to persuade people that they want to play a part in making it a reality.

more on partnership management:  nine rules to creating highly effective partnership teams  |   audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success | are you creating a sustainable firm? | the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today

nearly all of the firms we know agree with the sentiment but getting the partners engaged isn’t always easy. so, how do firms go about engaging the partners and making sure they remain that way? read more →

nine rules to creating highly effective partnership teams

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screen shot 2013-08-07 at 3.13.01 pm
buy the report – $165. free shipping.

by august j. aquila and robert j. lees
how to engage partners in the firm’s future

managing partners always ask us what it takes to achieve sustained, consistent partner performance.

more on partnership management:   audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success   | are you creating a sustainable firm? | the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today

while the answer is easy, maybe simplistic, the implementation is difficult in most firms. read more →

audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success

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learn more
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plain-vanilla goal-setting may be the single biggest problem plaguing today’s cpa partnerships.

also in this report: the 11 traits of “one-firm” firms.

by august j. aquila and robert j. lees
how to engage partners in the firm’s future

more firms now have a vision and a strategy in the hope of engaging partners and employees, according to our research.

but the partners aren’t always involved in their creation and often don’t buy in to the vision.

more on partnership management:  are you creating a sustainable firm?  |  the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today

this can be because the vision just isn’t compelling enough or because the partners are more interested in their own practice rather than creating a real firm. this type of accounting firm is usually referred to as a “siloed” firm and never succeeds in bringing the full capabilities of the firm to bear. read more →