frank stitely
turn the staffing shortage into a new opportunity.
by frank stiteley
the relentless cpa
charles dickens had to be writing about the accounting profession when he wrote, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
clients are plentiful. i met a new client coming out of the restroom at our office complex. we get four to five inquiries a day – out of tax season. during tax season, we turned down four out of five prospective clients.
staff are not plentiful – at least not good ones. i’m getting two or three resumes a day, but they’re the warm body sort most of us learned the hard way not to hire during the pandemic. you’ve seen these resumes too. they are people with six employers in eight years. you are certain to be number seven in nine years. they claim eight years of experience, but you can see from their job history that it’s really two years of experience repeated four times. and – they want $100k for those two years of real experience.
what would you say?
by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice
question: i know you have a lot of advice on how to review tax returns. what’s your single best tip?
response: i had never thought about this until this question was asked.
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think about what you really want.
by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice
question: can you recommend a specialty i can get involved in to generate more revenue for my practice?
response: my discussion with the cpa indicated that his practice consisted of a large individual tax return practice and many monthly business clients. he thought financial planning or business valuations would be a way to expand his services and make more money. it did not seem he had an intellectual interest in these areas.
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“we all get stuck like this.”
by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice
question: a longtime business client who owed me a large balance for unpaid fees sent a letter dropping me. he then wrote me a letter requesting me to send “his” papers to his new accountant.
can i insist on being paid first or do i have to send the papers? i made some notes on a worksheet adjusting his numbers that went on the tax return. do i have to send this also and if so, do i have to write these up in proper journal entry form?
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invest your mentoring time where it matters most.
by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice
question: we were looking for an additional experienced person since september and hired someone with five years experience in mid-november, but she said she couldn’t start until january. she said she had work she had to finish up.
two days before christmas she called to tell me her firm made her a “better” offer and she decided to stay there. it meant we had to enter busy season short a person. this seems to happen a lot. what do you suggest?
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