here’s what you’re looking for: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

management

survey results: mobile phones – perk or power tool?

among accountants with advanced smartphones, the vast majority of cpa firms are supporting their use.

here’s your sneak peek of some of the latest results of a survey now in the field. about 9 in 10 accountants who carry a smartphone say their firm backs them up with support. how does your firm rate?


they tend to be among the most successful firms, large or small. smartphones — like blackerrys, iphones, palm treo’s and windows devices — are emerging as a fairly good indicator of whether your cpa firm is a competitive leader or a laggard.

what’s that in your pocket? join the survey; get the results.

related:

busy season management

survey results: tax season 2009 – feeling lucky it wasn’t worse

most practitioners did as well or better than last year, according to survey.

here’s your sneak peek of the results, tabulated in real-time. as always, thanks to the participants for joining the survey panel. we’ll keep you posted

if you haven’t already joined the survey panel, you can do it now: join the survey; get the sneak peek updates


compare these latest results to last year’s:

  • better: 37%
  • same: 29%
  • worse: 33%

add your comment here, then join the survey; get the sneak peek updates.


related:

more:

[research by bay street group llc. data copyright aicpa 2009.]

outlook & analysis

bdo chief newman: we didn’t want to see the truth

“in reality, we all looked for reasons why the problem would not be contagious.”

jeremy newman, the global ceo of bdo, blogs at the huffington post:

jeremy newmanwhen problems first emerged in the sub-prime debt market, no-one was prepared to recognize the scale of the impact. in reality, we all looked for reasons why the problem would not be contagious.

should accountants and auditors have identified these issues? should regulators have realized the vulnerability of banks’ capital and reserves? should governments have recognized that a problem in one bank would affect others? the answer to all these questions is “probably.” we believed that real value was being created by these new financial instruments and wanted to believe that the “good times” were here to stay.

still,

abandoning mark-to-market merely allows those who want to pretend that the crisis isn’t real, to do so.

more at growth, jobs and stability: the role of the accounting profession

meanwhile, the prolific and influential dennis howlett at accmanpro.com sees some refreshing candor in newman’s remarks.

thank goodness he has not been infected with the acquired need to talk double speak or legally sanitzed pr nonsense. his blog at the huffington post talks directly to the issue of mark to market in a way that must surely leave the big 4 blushing yet takes responsibility for the profession as a whole.

mergers & acquisitions

behind a merger: two small firms pair up

from left, stanley freedman, steven subelsky, daniel hirsch and dennis frank merged their firms. hirsch says "the more we learned about each other's services ... the more we determined we had in common." (wayne e. smith / the detroit news)
from left, stanley freedman, steven subelsky, daniel hirsch and dennis frank. (wayne e. smith / the detroit news)

from the detroit news:

dennis frank and stanley freedman began their merger talks with daniel hirsch and steven subelsky last year. the four quickly agreed that together their combined business experience would be monumental. but their relatively small size would allow them to keep in touch with clients like no monster firm could.

today frank, hirsch, subelsky & freedman pc in farmington hills, mich., is operating with nine cpas and three staffers.  the firm has clients in a couple dozen states, including, especially, arizona and florida, where many clients have second homes. they are positioning the firm as small enough to provide personal service, large enough to offer a full range of options, and still be price competitive against larger firms.

and it’s a small world: hirsch actually worked for frank for a time before opening his own office in 1993. he asked subelsky to join as a partner shortly afterward.

outlook & analysis

new sec chief schapiro in first tv interview: rating the ratings agencies

“i think the sec can do the job.”

earlier today, sec chairman mary schapiro sat down with pbs’ nightly business report and gave her first televised interview since taking over the reins of the sec two months ago.  below is the complete transcript.

stephanie dhue, correspondent, nightly business report:  you told credit rating agencies the status quo wasn’t good enough.  when will we see changes in the way they do business?

mary schapiro, chairman, securities and exchange commission:  as you know we held a roundtable yesterday on credit rating agencies and we brought in about 30 experts from academia, from the investment community from labor unions and from the credit rating agencies themselves to talk about the short comings in the current model of credit rating agencies. and we had an enormous amount of information from all of these participants and a lot of issues for us to parse and to really think about, so i can’t tell you a specific time when i think we’ll be done on that issue, but we will be very much informed by what we learned yesterday from all these experts and proceed hopefully sometime this summer to propose some additional enhancements.

stephanie dhue:  so you think new regulations will be needed, the regulations that have been put in place don’t just need enough time to work? read more →

busy season management

is your job safe after tax season?

economy impacts end-of-season parties.

are job cuts next? join the survey; get the answers.

by rick telberg

the economy is clearly cutting into the profession’s traditional post-busy-season celebrations.

accountants have never been known for their wild parties. but this year, firm-sponsored get-togethers are decidedly low-key and individual celebrations seem much more toned down.

to be sure, some firms are looking at their work calendars, finding less than expected for the upcoming months and looking at some belt-tightening. indeed, the post-busy-season reductions in force could be especially broad and painful this year, considering the continuing repercussions of an economy still in freefall.

how was your busy season?

what’s next for the profession in this economy?

join the survey; see the results.

(free. confidential.)

one accountant told me that her firm will hold their party, as usual, at a local restaurant. but the story is different at home.

read more →

outlook & analysis

aicpa: housing slump could last years

two-thirds see home prices fall in their neighborhood.

http://www.aicpa.org/mediacenter via aicpa

most americans appear to be waiting out the economic crisis before buying or selling a home, suggesting the u.s. housing market may not return to normal for at least a year or two, according to a poll conducted by harris interactive on behalf of the american institute of certified public accountants.

the vast majority of americans, 79 percent, say they have no plans to buy or sell a home anytime soon. among those americans who intend to put their homes on the market or who plan to buy, 70 percent intend to wait one to two years or more before entering the market.

read more →

management

aicpa advises members, firms on cutbacks and layoffs [updated]

memo to members urges firms to use layoffs as last resort.

“in today’s tough economic times, the aicpa is aware that some firms are tightening their belts and considering cost-saving options,” says the memo, which is full of great resource links. “the aicpa is concerned with the well-being of our individual members and member firms”

  1. as a first step, the aicpa provides eight alternatives to layoffs, ranging from improved staff coaching for better productivity to cutting partner pay.
  2. prepare the staff with regular and honest communications.
  3. when all else fails, be professional and respectful and, above all, know the law.

“we all know that the current economic climate will change for the better in the future,” says the aicpa. “what we don’t know is when things will start to turn around.”

what are you seeing? leave a comment here.

[update 5:45pm et, april 15, 2009]

meanwhile, let’s not get the wrong idea. the aicpa’s mark koziel says here in comments:

rick, aicpa isn’t saying its going to be bad, just that some firms are considering cost savings options. we want to see every option exhausted before layoffs and if it comes down to it, offering help to the few who may need it. it’s not time to say the sky is falling as many firms are still doing quite well.

we continue to help the firms who are doing well in pcps and wanted to be sure to help those who may need it. i wouldn’t say that’s a grim outlook, just trying to help all firms out there.

and i agree. the outlook may be cause for concern, but the vast majority of cpa firms are coming off one of their best tax seasons in memory. and tax prep firm valuations are up 9%. layoffs are the last thing firms should be doing.

outlook & analysis

over-leveraged and under water? americans blame media, ad agencies.

harris poll: americans fault others for buying what they can’t afford.

who’s winning and losing the “blame game” over the financial crisis? a new harris poll has some answers.

— two-thirds of americans (66%) believe advertising agencies have at least some responsibility for the current economic crisis because they caused people to buy things they couldn’t afford. in fact, one-third (33%) believe they have complete or a great deal of responsibility;

— print media, such as newspapers and magazines, are deemed to have at least some responsibility by almost three in five americans (59%) while 56% of americans say news and other information websites bear at least some responsibility for the economic crisis;

— just over half of americans say talk shows on tv or radio (55%), cable news programs (54%) and network and local news programs (53%) all have at least some responsibility for the current economic crisis because they caused people to buy things they couldn’t afford; and,

— friends and family come out a little better – just over half (54%) say they do not have that much responsibility or no responsibility at all for causing americans to buy things they couldn’t afford.

there is also an age divide over who is to blame for the economic crisis. people aged 55 and older are more likely to blame the five media categories and the advertising agencies. on the flip side, those aged 18-34 are less likely to say these six groups have at least some responsibility. for example, three-quarters of the older age group (75%) say advertising agencies have at least some responsibility compared to three in five (60%) 18-34 year olds. when it comes to print media, two-thirds of those aged 55 and older (67%) say they have at least some responsibility while just half of the younger age group (51%) say print media has at least some responsibility.

so what?

harris comments:

americans are angry and upset about the state of the economy and need someone or some group to blame. the media is always a perfect scapegoat when it comes to taking the blame, whether it’s a political slogan such as 1992’s “annoy the media, re-elect president bush” or causing the recent economic crisis. advertising agencies, however, are normally under the radar screen. now, thanks to television shows like “mad men” and “trust me,” they are slightly more visible and they are an easy scapegoat.

outlook & analysis

americans say their u.s. income tax payment is “about right”

“one of the most positive assessments gallup has measured since 1956.”

insert description

gallup says this year 48 percent of americans consider the amount of federal income tax they pay as “about right,” 3 percent say it is “too low,” and 46 percent say it is “too high.”

gallup concludes: “americans’ views of their federal income taxes are about as positive as at any point in the last 60 years”

more at gallup.com.

busy season management

a business to count on: tax prep firms’ valuations rise 9%

happy tax season! here’s the good news.

it’s not easy finding strong businesses in this economy. but today, the day before april 15th is a good time to discover a new report from bizequity.com that shows at least one business with rising valuations: tax preparation.

of a sample of 35,000 tax prep companies (all privately-held), there was a 9% growth in valuations – from $71,007 to $77,181. the top cities included: columbus (33%), san antonio (28%) and chicago (20%).

publicly-traded tax prep firms have not held up as well. h&r block (nyse: hrb) has gone from $21.18 to $15.16 over the past year. still, intuit (nasdaq: intu) has shares have fallen only 4%.

free download: get the full report from bizequity (5 pages, pdf)

busy season management

goodbye and good riddance to busy season 2009

planning for the tax season after-party.

by rick telberg

from the famed peter luger steak house in new york to the not so famous crazy pinz bowling lanes in fort wayne, ind., cpas are planning for the day after april 15th.

it’s been a tough season, beset by a widening economic crisis that has left clients worried or worse and their cpas in much the same condition.

still, about 33 percent of the 1,249 accountants who had taken our survey through april 6 term it better than last year’s, with 22 percent calling it worse and the rest “about the same.” we’ll be reporting more details on the season in coming weeks. be sure to join the survey to get all the results.

how was your busy season?
how does it compare to your peers?

join the survey; see the results.

(free. confidential.)

with deteriorating business conditions and distressed clients, accountants are more worried than in years past about getting paid in full or on time. and, worried too, about how much new work will be available this summer and into the fall.

read more →