the basics of process mapping: how and who

woman drawing flowchart on a blackboardconsider your “pain points.”

by jody padar
the radical cpa

in creating a process map, there are several choices to be made that will determine who and what is needed. since, as we mentioned before, almost everything is a process, consider this the process mapping process.

more on radicalism: process mapping for improvement | who, me a consultant? | target prospects for best fit | the radical approach to bundling services | get ready for radical transparency | 10 radical steps into the cloud

the first decision is which process to map.

what do you want to select?
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lessons from adam smith: process mapping for improvement

bottles of sunflower oil on an assembly linefour ways adam smith can help you run your firm better.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

adam smith discovered a basic truth of process improvement: you can’t improve a process if you don’t know what the process is.

more on radicalism:  | target prospects for best fit | keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line | the radical approach to bundling services | let’s get radical about content | each social channel has a language | 10 radical steps into the cloud | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa

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around the time of the american revolution, adam smith made the first recorded attempt at process improvement by mapping out the 18 distinct opera­tions involved in creating a single metal pin. by documenting and understanding each step, he was able to suggest improvements to make the best use of the labor and machines available at the time.

while this is easier to see in a manufacturing environment, it still applies in a service-based industry like ours.

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10 ways to build a better firm

top 10by august j. aquila
creating the effective partnership

as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. your vision is a journey to some place in the future. it’s not where you are today. it may even take generations to get there. it becomes even more compelling when it’s somewhere your people want to go.

more on leadership: the 4 best ways to use your senior partners  | how to tell a culture change is due| today’s top six partner compensation trends | 11 steps to building a better partnership team | why your firm should be a republic | 8 financial ducks to line up now |partnership is about persuasion | 6 things leaders must doit’s not always about money: 16 tweaks for your comp system | how to build a growth-centric pricing strategy |  how to combine two firms after merger: carefully

while it’s the ultimate destination that people engage with, the journey there is also important. if the endpoint is exciting and has benefits that your people share, they will be more engaged in the journey. and, when partners are engaged with the firm’s future, they perform better.

so, how do you create a firm where all of the partners work to create an even better firm?

here are some ideas:

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4 questions for choosing the right digital workflow tool

work flow decision choiceare you ready to experience the process?

by jody padar
the radical cpa

without standardization, your customer isn’t going to be able to expect consistent results.

more on radicalism: who, me a consultant? |how spiritual value affects pricing | radical pricing fixes cash flow problems | keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line | the radical approach to pricing | let’s get radical about content | 5 radical ways to be social and strategic | how i got started being social | radical customers are on their way | 5 radical transparencies; are you ready?| being radical is all about your customer  |  

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

workflow is just a fancy name for an electronic process and how information moves through a firm. in the old days it was the way a paper file moved from desk to desk. today it is how a digital file of data moves through an office or firm. it’s every­thing from customer input to tax return delivery. email is not a good solution for keeping track of where everything is within an office.

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who, me a consultant?

young man facing image of himselfit’s time to look at yourself in a new light.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

i love andersen consulting, now accenture. i especially love the story that when andersen consulting first started, the consul­tants who worked for the firm were not accountants. they hired mostly liberal arts majors – creative thinkers who were exception­al at communicating and innovating, but not so great with the numbers. the executives at andersen taught the consultants accounting and, well, how to be an actual consultant.

more on radicalism: target prospects for best fit | how spiritual value affects pricing | radical pricing fixes cash flow problems | each social channel has a language | 5 radical ways to be social and strategic | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa | 5 radical transparencies; are you ready? | why start being radical now? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas

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i hope this motivates today’s firms. this younger generation of accountants has more than 150 hours of accounting, but they are less well rounded than previous generations. this is a problem.

we can no longer complain to the aicpa as to when they made that 150-hour rule, why they created more necessity for young accountants to learn more useless financial knowledge that’s constantly changing as opposed to having them develop better writing and analytical skills. that’s most important in today’s workforce.

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