in the pcps top issues survey, for firms with 11 to 20 professionals, partner accountability/unity landed in second place. for firms with 21 or more professionals, this same issue ranked first in concerns to be addressed. read more →
there are various sections that should be included in any succession plan. we are not going to present you with a sample succession plan, but even better, to describe topic areas you should address in your plan.
as always, there are various best practices to consider as you put your plan together. for any succession plan to work, you have to start with consideration of the business model you use: read more →
and that goes double for cpas. we’ve had it hard. when the recession hit, we lost clients. the clients we didn’t lose couldn’t afford fee increases. but the cost of software increased, and most hardware has had to be replaced twice since the recession first hit. salaries have gone up, too, especially among accountants, whose ranks have thinned in recent years. and the tax regulations get harder, the waiting time on the irs line longer, the reporting lengthier.
at long last, economic conditions seem to be improving enough for widespread increases in billing rates and fees. about 85 percent of respondents to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 study of pricing strategies and trends see an upward trend underway.
cpa dave murray at his eponymous firm in troy, ohio, is pushing through “significant increases.” he says, “our firm is increasingly being paid for our knowledge.” “yes,” he says, value pricing is becoming an important success strategy. “when it’s worth more to the client we charge more,” he says. and he does it all while maximizing profit margins and retaining clients. “we have a consistent flow of new clients and we no longer have to discount to get them to come in,” he says.
frank stitely, at skc cpas in chantilly, va., and a frequent contributor to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, is being more careful, with only slight increases. “personal taxes, specifically, are a commodity, and, in general, compliance services are commoditizing,” he says, with his pricing driven my market forces. on the other hand, the firm bills “per form for personal returns and by proposal for almost everything else.”
brian roark in jenison, mich., likes to say integrity tax’s offices have been doing taxes “since dinosaurs roamed the earth.” but today he’s playing catch-up in the wage markets, pushing through moderate billing increases.
at southwest tax & accounting in elkhart, kan., owner terri ryman, ea and quickbooks proadvisor, is going for significant price increases as clients struggle with the affordable care act and repair regs. she says her business is growing every year. ryman is also a prominent member of the national society of accountants and the national association of tax professionals. read more →
as a matter of fact, for the past 12 years through surveys with the aicpa, we have been asking firms to share with us whether or not they have a succession plan in place.
when you consider the responses to this question from the pcps succession institute succession management surveys conducted in 2008 and 2012, clearly more and more firms are:
getting their act together,
documenting their succession management strategy and
thinking through the ramifications of retiring one or more senior owners.
here is the question we asked along with summary data from both surveys: read more →
do you credit others as much as you do yourself?
make sure you’re not growing your own competition.
