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the cpa’s best role: leveraging knowledge, not just process

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david bergstein says you’re wasting your time and your client’s money if you’re not focussing on the future.

with steven sacks
the new fundamentals: thriving in disruption

to be more competitive, cpas need to shift their focus from compliance service to process-oriented, value-added work, veteran cpa david bergstein tells 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. this means working with clients to understand their business operations, competition, and financial challenges, such as liquidity, solvency, and profitability.

more on value-add: how cas communications are different | how value billing eliminates guesswork | avoid last-minute deal making | how a great managing partner impacts firm growth | tax season client meetings: kill them now | do you give yourself too much credit? | the 17 rules for making partner at a cpa firm | family feud isn’t just a game show

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see more 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 videos here | see more david bergstein here

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the key takeaways:

  • accountants need to switch their focus to look to the future and real-time accounting, which means that the right way of doing things these days is to take advantage of all technology and automation.
  • it’s a small and mid-size business that doesn’t have a bookkeeper, that doesn’t have an accountant, that doesn’t have a controller, that doesn’t have a cfo that looks to cpas to help them. cpas’ advantage is to use that technology to automate all those processes and then spend time selling value-added services.
  • today, to be successful as an accountant, you must identify what platform or platforms you’re going to use to capture your clients’ data at the source to move it through the system.
  • payroll tax processing services can be expanded by setting up the human resource tools that go with it. beyond processing payroll, cpas can find ways to get lower workman’s compensation; automate the onboarding of employees, and provide various benefit options.
  • as part of the de-emphasis on process, younger staff members don’t want to do vouchering anymore, which will be supplanted anyway by automation. so, it’s great for firms to offer more training opportunities to their younger staff regarding analytical thinking, selling, and how to consult with clients to find out what their needs are.

 

transcript

david bergstein, interviewed by steven sacks
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50 ways to make more money in busy season

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checklist: leverage tax season to increase income, productivity, and profits.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

tax season creates many opportunities for an accounting firm. one main reason is the compression of sometimes an almost unbearable amount of work into a short period with tight deadlines.

more: 14 simple, easy tips for a better tax season | you’re not just taxes | granting unconventional request pays off | 20 best practices for staff training and retention | what does the client want to see? | 6 ways to increase your fees … if you dare | the clients that got away | upselling made painless | boosting a fixed fee substantially
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but it also creates opportunities to benefit immediately from small changes in your system or in a reaction to your awareness. an on-the-spot investment in making the extra effort or change will pay dividends many times over the rest of tax season and thereafter.

here are 50 ways to make more money. for the ones that are obvious – do it! for the not-so-evident, try it!
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when value billing eliminates guesswork

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businessmen standing on dollar billplus three other ways to bill clients.

by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud

when i attend cpa conferences across the united states, i often hear from cpas: “i don’t want to bill for my time.”

so, how do you bill your clients?

more: make tech your ally in protecting clients | be more efficient with tech stacks | not all employees will work out | learning to love video calls | be more effective remotely with disc | protect client files from cyberthreats | get ready to launch virtual cfo services | riches in niches
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client billing can include hourly billing, but it can also include flat-fee, retainer-based and/or value-based billing. most people use one of these four methods. some use all of them or even a hybrid.

let’s take a closer look at each of them:
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how cas communications are different

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woman and man meeting in an officehelp clients make decisions, don’t just report on what happened.

by hitendra patil
the definitive success guide to client accounting services

a successful client accounting services practice requires increased interactions with clients. your usual non-cas methods of client communications are not sufficient to meet the demands and expectations of your cas clients. you must leverage new tech tools to reach out, communicate and collaborate with clients more frequently.

more: how to write your cas engagement letter | designing your firm’s cas processes | how to create your firm’s cas team | the technology stack you need for cas | communicating cas to clients and prospects | how to communicate the value of cas | don’t wear a mask
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some accounting software can help you automate client notifications (by email/text) based on customized triggers set up in the software. similarly, automated payroll software can keep clients informed automatically. mobile apps of core accounting software are becoming a necessity to deliver client service and communications.

why?
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why leaders must ensure clarity

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large group of people gathered into an upward arrow shapeyour team wants to know their purpose.

by anthony zecca
leading from the edge

many of you who are reading this might be too young to appreciate the story i share below about my childhood.

more on edge leadership: assessing your firm | the 4 traits of great cpa leaders | why leaders must ensure clarity | incremental vs. exceptional success | do you lead or just manage? | managing vs. leading | is your leadership team at the edge? | 6 leadership challenges through covid and beyond | edge leaders share 7 strengths | leadership must drive culture | leading from the edge
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i have always been a huge football fan. i played football in high school until a knee injury cut short my road to the nfl (just kidding), but my love of the game continues to this day. when i was a kid, there was a football game that i received one christmas that i spent countless hours playing. the game was powered by electricity. the game board was designed as a football field, and there were 22 little plastic players that would form two teams. the players were about 2 to 3 inches tall, with a rubber piece on the bottom that had two flanges that you could move directionally and in theory affect how the piece would move on the board once the power button was hit.
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avoid last-minute deal making

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woman and man shaking hands across a deskfive questions to ask.

by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals

cpa firms often believe the most crucial part of negotiations to close a deal happens at the final stage of talks. but in order to have a satisfactory conclusion, you must set the tone at the beginning stage with an honest and forthcoming discussion based on mutual benefit – with an underpinning of respect and trust.

more: five common negotiating mistakes | courtesy still matters | bigger firm, bigger thinking | 5 steps to better time management | swot’s the purpose? | is your firm’s culture a magnet or a repellent?
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for young professionals, it is never too early to evaluate your negotiation aptitude. think about this as a process with key milestones. this gives you the chance to make modifications along the way and to avoid the last-minute pressures of bargaining that can remove the advantages you have created. adhering to a game plan will reduce the chances of objections from the other party, or even worse, the backing out of an arrangement that you considered to be a “lock.” this can be applied to discussions involving a promotion or a pay increase.
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how a great managing partner impacts firm growth

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eight ways that firms benefit.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

there are two cases for heavy managing partner oversight in practice development.

first case. cpa firms are very top-line-oriented businesses. expenses are largely fixed because most are for personnel compensation and benefits, so opportunities for increasing profits from cost-cutting are greatly limited. as a result, increases to the revenue or top line often fall directly to the bottom line. it’s easy to see why, far and away, increasing revenue is the most effective way to increase profitability. because the managing partner is (or should be) responsible for the firm’s profits, it makes total sense for the managing partner to play a major role in the firm’s growth.

more: 10 ways to hold partners accountable | five ways to evaluate partners | manage partners with goal setting | overarching authority that managing partners must have | herding cats: advice for managing partners
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second case. if a firm’s staff is its most important asset (or at least tied with clients), then revenue growth is the firm’s life-giving force. without revenue increases, firms become stagnant and die a slow death. therefore, revenue growth requires heavy involvement by the managing partner.
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tax season client meetings: kill them now

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man working hard at office desklet’s try to spike phone calls and emails while we’re at it.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

what did dorothy and her friends fear in the wizard of oz? “lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” dorothy feared the wrong things if she’s a partner in a cpa firm. we don’t see much wildlife in our offices during tax season unless you count fast food delivery people and the occasional crazy client.

more: make your firm faster, smarter, richer … with millennials | seven ways to beat staffing shortages | the happier, saner, richer tax firm | avoiding projects hung up in process | teaching the meaning of ‘done’
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we should really fear the events that destroy our priorities and drain hours from productive work. meetings and phone calls and emails, oh my! let’s look at why these communication methods are so destructive from a practice management standpoint.
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do you give yourself too much credit?

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young black businessman looking at his reflectionprobably. here’s how to change your ways.

by bill reeb

“focus on changing you” is an important technique to embrace. for your life to change in a meaningful way, it is about you changing – not anyone else.

more: how to focus your priorities | why clash when you can harmonize? | make tension work for you | it’s all right to enjoy success | failure paves the road to wisdom | are you paralyzed by fear? | how to change the way you think (and why)
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while this sounds cliché, it is absolutely true. as a consultant, i work with organizations helping them with everything from improving operating processes to succession. because every project i am involved in requires me to deal with a number of different personalities, if i want the client to achieve a successful outcome, it becomes critical for our team members to understand the following premise:

change occurs when you change!

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who’s heating up accounting tech?

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the 21 top venture capital funds and the software companies they’re backing.

by randolph p. johnston

through the years, the opportunity to introduce good entrepreneurs with fine products to larger companies or investors to help their company and product grow. while preparing materials for presentations, the money behind the technology used by accounting professionals.

more in tech: survey: communication plan is to stay the course | stop drowning in client documents | survey: phone, email tied for client communication | hunker down: the irs backlog isn’t going away anytime soon | five top tech trends for 2021 | make tech your ally in protecting clients |

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while who owns what changes daily, investment strategies illustrate what will happen in the future. while my personal preference is to create and operate, many operators prefer to create and flip, taking the money they have made and choosing to do something else.

the links in this post should help you navigate who is holding what. my intent is certainly not to show you all technology company holdings but to simply illustrate a few that are critical to accounting professionals. first, consider a simple listing of venture capital partners and firms. (you can click through these links to see a simple list of each.)

now for a few examples of vc firms and representative holdings:

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the six types of “impossible” clients

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not that there aren’t others.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

as a cpa, i deal with many types of clients’ personalities. if i chose only one type, i would not have had much of a practice. and i doubt i would have found that one perfect type too many times. i have been very fortunate to have really nice and very smart people as clients.

more: 50 ways to make more money in busy season | 14 simple, easy tips for a better tax season | how to recoup staff training costs | 10 ways to stay in control | advice to new accountants | clients don’t lose sleep for overpaying taxes | when time-based pricing works
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i believe entrepreneurs are the most stimulating people to work with. however, this doesn’t mean they don’t have peculiarities and that this sometimes makes them difficult to deal with – sometimes, but fortunately not most of the time.

here are six examples of types i had to put up with and had to learn to overlook some of the unfortunate traits.
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