special

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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the 17 rules for making partner at a cpa firm

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checklist: it’s a big job, after all.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

we’ve all heard the names given to various generations of people over the past century. the lost generation. the greatest (wwii) generation. the silent generation. baby boomers. gen x. millennials. gen z. though i don’t know of any studies on this, i’m quite sure that every generation of cpa firm ownership has complained – bitterly – about the younger generation.

more: who shouldn’t be a partner? | nine reasons people are promoted to partner | how to make partner?
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baby boomers and gen xers love to complain that today’s staff don’t want to be partners. they cite this as a major reason why it’s so difficult to bring in new partners.
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the irs’s $3-billion problem

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bar chart

 

92% of paper returns stuck in the backlog.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

tax preparers would be wise to advise their clients to e-file this year. according to the government accountability office and the taxpayer advocate service, the irs is not keeping up with paper returns.

in fact, it seems to be barely trying.

more: hunker down: the irs backlog isn’t going away anytime soon | the irs studebaker bomb | imagine irs ‘concierge’ service. just imagine. | irs has recruiting problems, too
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chickenfeed

the covid-19 pandemic is only part of the problem. yes, of course, last year, with irs offices shuttered and phones shut down for months, a backlog built up. by the end of the year, “irs had a significant backlog of returns and taxpayer correspondence,” according to the gao.
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family feud isn’t just a game show

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jason p. trenton
jason p. trenton: how to avoid family feuds.

why you need an estate administrator pro.

by anthony glomski and russ alan prince
your $5-million high-net-worth practice

being named executor of an estate places many legal and fiduciary responsibilities on that person. an executor is entrusted with settling the decedent’s affairs, arranging for the payment of any income and estate taxes, and distributing the assets of the decedent’s estate. in most cases, people choose a loved one or family member to serve as executor.

more: working with the ultra-wealthy | become a thought leader | working with the super-rich and single-family offices | the family office model | the new way to get the best clients | the four-step process for client-focused business development | life insurance as part of wealth management
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“unfortunately, i have seen executors neglect their fiduciary duties during the estate administration period, which has exposed the decedent’s estate to unnecessary legal expenses, tax liability, and family feuds,” said jason trenton, a top trust and estate attorney in the los angeles office of venable llp’s tax and wealth planning practice.
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stop drowning in client documents

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pile of documents on desk stack up high waiting to be managed.a better way to keep track.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: we are in an era of paperless procedures and files, but many times clients send in paper documents, cds or stick drives, besides emailing their information or using our portal.

more: employee demands a raise she doesn’t deserve | but i am managing! | how to run a practice in 90 pages | how improv can help accountants | four tips for new partners | an alternative to pro bono | 14 better uses for timesheet data | 9 must-haves for firm growth
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how can this be handled? we seem to always be tripping on the information.
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how to write your cas engagement letter

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woman holding paper at deskdefine not just what, but also when.

by hitendra patil
accountaneur: the entrepreneurial accountant

“people think of us (accountants) as the compliance agents – the necessary evil.”

this sentence haunts me even today, after hearing it nearly 15 years ago from a multi-award-winning, highly experienced cpa.

more: designing your firm’s cas processes | your firm’s processes can set you apart | technology and your cas clients | top five cas killers and how to overcome them | 21 ways to adjust your practice in 2021 | how to become an outsourced/virtual cfo
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perception!

has the accounting profession’s brand been (predominantly) perceived as “compliance” only?
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