marks 16 months annualized expansion. but cpa firms are a different story.
accounting and bookkeeping services, all employees in thousands, thru july 2012
the accounting and bookkeeping industry, which includes cpa firms and payroll agencies, added a statistically meaningless 500 jobs in july, according to new data sourced by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. july ended with 953,200 fte’s, up from june’s 952,700.
but it’s in the year-over-year gains where the trend is more clear. and the story at cpa firms is much different.
partners need to be something more than production machines. [checklist included.]
by marc rosenberg, cpa
increasingly, cpa firms are adopting the compensation committee system for allocating partner income. firms are finding that systems such as formulas, pay based on ownership percentage or pay-equal no longer work. when we compare the usage of the compensation committee today to 5 years ago, the increase in usage ranges from 16% to 26%.
if there is one overarching cause for this significant trend, it’s that firms are understanding that their partners need to be something more than production machines. in addition to bringing in business, managing a client base and working billable hours (all of which continue to be important values in a compensation committee), partners need to excel in intangible areas such as helping staff grow and develop, developing specialized expertise and teamwork. the compensation committee is one of the best systems available to cpa firms to allocate income based on this diverse array of performance criteria.
when firms begin operating their new compensation committees, there is a lot of initial confusion and bewilderment about how to get started. for example: read more →
if your staff recruiting effort is overlooking social media, then some of the best candidates may be overlooking you.
new college graduates are embracing social media as a job-search tool, according to a new study. approximately 41 percent of 2012 college graduates in the market for a job are using social media to help them land one.
marking the fourth consecutive month of decline, the bookkeeping and accounting industry contracted in june, shedding 4,200 full-time employees from may, ending at total employment of 954,800 workers and professionals, according to new data available to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. still, june’s … continued
accountants’ average total compensation held relatively steady in 2011, increasing 0.9 percent from $128,486 in 2010 to $129,591, according to ima’s 23rd annual salary survey, released this month in strategic finance magazine.
cpa firm decision-makers hammer out the best clues to identify partner-potential professionals and how best to recruit, develop and retain them at a strategy session in milwaukee.
hint: it’s not about how smart they are or hard they work.
by rick telberg
how do you spot the hidden rock stars on your staff?
and what do up-and-coming tax, accounting and finance professionals need to know to get ahead in today’s profession?
rick telberg leading the strategy session
these aren’t idle questions. many firms and individuals are struggling with these issues right now. but don’t take it from me. just listen to the decision-makers from a dozen firms i met with in a milwaukee hotel recently. the mission: learn how to deal with a looming new staff shortage. some took away solid action plans. “our firm,” said one, “is trying to develop our rock stars and this showed me we need to be doing more.” another said, “excellent! it gave us the details and the ‘how-to.’”
green team's top talent indicators notes
interestingly, the milwaukee group’s conclusions and recommendations closely parallel our related research findings. so we can be fairly certain that we’ve obtained some of the profession’s favorite strategies.
you could probably adapt one of our methods for your firm. in milwaukee, we divided the group into two teams, the green team and the blue team. after some preliminary coaching, each team hammered out a list of the top five talent indicators – the clues in an employee’s behaviors and attitudes that demonstrate the highest likelihood of the best roi for a firm’s time, energy, and money in training, coaching and mentoring. then the group filled several flip chart pages with their lists and hashed them out with each other. after identifying the key indicators, we moved on to identifying the best strategies for recruiting, grooming and retaining top talent.
blue team's top talent indicators notes
by far, the top predictive indicator across all firms is the trait, “they are always trying to improve.” it comes in a few flavors or variations. for instance, the green team at the milwaukee strategy meeting favored a passion for “continuous learning.” the blue team preferred, “they do ‘extra credit’ – things that the partners wouldn’t normally expect from someone at their level.” but they add up to the same thing.
the tax, accounting and bookkeeping services industry is cracking a new record high in persons employed full-time.
the nation’s economy as a whole added 115,000 new jobs in april pushing the unemployment down by one-tenth of one percentage point to 8.1%.
but employers in the tax, accounting, payroll, and bookkeeping industries added 2,000 new jobs last month, marking the ninth month in a row of growth for public practice, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 analysis. read more →
there is a constant topic of conversation both inside firms and at almost every conference. it is the age-old question of partner compensation and “how do you do it”. as our firm grew, we evolved from everyone is equal, to the “slip of paper” approach, to a more goal driven, performance based system. every firm is a little bit different but the issues surrounding how you split the pie are pretty consistent.
2011 finishes at new high. average hourly earnings across all employees in the accounting and bookkeeping slipped slightly in the latest month, but rang in a solid gain year to year. with more than 970,000 workers, the bureau of labor … continued
now running at new high. hourly earnings at cpa firms are running at an all-time high, according to new data available to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. on average, earnings reached $31.20 per hour in 2011, up about 3.2%, for all employees. for just non-supervisory … continued
accounting and bookkeeping services, all employees in thousands, thru july 2012
if your staff recruiting effort is overlooking social media, then some of the best candidates may be overlooking you.
a new salary survey of management accountants isn’t bad news. but it’s not great news either.
