business-minded approach helps build a better firm

how this one attribute strengthens others.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

“far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” – theodore roosevelt

when you think about business leaders like bill gates or reed hastings, the founder of netflix, it’s clear that these people did not create their empires by focusing on narrow measures like realization rates or increasing their profit margin. neither of these organizations would have become the household names they are if their founders had had such narrow views, and if they had not been able to move these very large companies in new directions in response to changes in the world.

more: are you looking at the big picture? | meet your client all year, not just during audit | give your audit teams tasks that increase business acumen | are you using the right business model? | give advice while remaining independent | stop mixing up your v’s and losing your best people | empower your team by dumping c and d clients | the new formula for an accounting business | how to upgrade c and d clients | eleven types of audit clients and which to fire | don’t risk losing good employees for bad clients | can a service center model solve audit staffing shortages? | don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand | four questions to make your firm more successful as a business
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

business-mindedness in audit has deeper dimensions than making a reasonable profit and delivering an audit report on time. even if you’re not concerned about the future of audit, strengthening the attribute of business-mindedness in your firm will strengthen your firm and make it more attractive to clients and team members. let’s talk about some of the tangible benefits.
read more →

audit & assurance

are you looking at the big picture?

reinforce the teaching in every experience.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

another method for ingraining a business-mindedness attitude into the culture of the firm is to treat every experience as a learning opportunity. partners take staff accountants to lunch with clients all the time, and the three of them talk business. but most partners never do anything with that experience. a better approach is to have a follow-up meeting where the partner asks the staff accountant questions about what they heard and what they learned during the conversation. this could even be on the car ride back to the office.

more: meet your client all year, not just during audit | give your audit teams tasks that increase business acumen | stop mixing up your v’s and losing your best people | how to upgrade c and d clients | can a service center model solve audit staffing shortages? | move to advisory and assurance with relevance | use eight audit exit items to deepen client relationships | know your three audit w’s | planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | are you correctly identifying the relevance intersection? | traditional audits don’t deserve premium billing
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

business-mindedness means we take seriously the development of the talent in our firms so that what we reward is business acumen, having great conversations with clients and with the team, and coming up with valuable advice for the clients. but instead, what many firms value is the chargeable hour. they don’t want to take the time out of chargeable hour budgets to have those conversations or to reinforce the learning from meetings with clients.
read more →

audit & assurance

meet your client all year, not just during audit

will there be more work? most likely.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

when you’re a client-serving firm, the service doesn’t end with delivery of the financial statement audit. client service should be perceived as a continuous, ongoing process that is supported by the culture with accountability measures. client service is a relationship that is developed by habit.

more: give your audit teams tasks that increase business acumen | are you using the right business model? | empower your team by dumping c and d clients | eleven types of audit clients and which to fire | don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand | how ‘business expert cpas’ get their own business wrong | exceptional audit client service demands effective communication | five ways to prevent audit bottlenecks
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

cpa firms tend to get bogged down in the work, so i developed a process for developing those relationships. i would sit down with the team and tell the senior accountant and the manager that they needed to meet at least quarterly with their counterpart at the client. the senior would meet with the controller. the manager would meet with the cfo. my responsibility would be to meet with the ceo or the business owner. these meetings could be phone calls but at least one of those meetings would be for lunch. if they desired, the senior and manager could have a joint lunch meeting with the controller and the cfo.
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webinars & special events

right-sizing the audit, with alan anderson

tuesday, dec. 17, 2024, 12 noon pm et

register here | learn more

join alan anderson, founder and president of account-ability plus and author of “transforming audit for the future,” for a dynamic session on how to make the audit fun and profitable again.

too many firms approach audit planning as a saly afterthought. but that’s a mistake.

in this session, anderson reveals the secret to right-sizing the audit. he teaches a planning methodology that ensures successful audits every time. the process creates a better work experience for staff, assists in providing more value for clients, and ensures that the financials are issued on time.

audit & assurance

give your audit teams tasks that increase business acumen

business-mindedness helps you identify risks.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

i’ve previously described a task i have teams perform at the end of an audit. after everyone shares their insights about what they learned about that client and their operations, i ask everyone to complete this phrase:

“if i were running this business, i would ______________.”

more: are you using the right business model? | give advice while remaining independent | the new formula for an accounting business | don’t risk losing good employees for bad clients | four questions to make your firm more successful as a business | say adios to audit fee pressure | deliver more audit value by getting out of the conference room | six essential elements in audit planning | before the audit: more than just planning | five crucial attributes for successful audit leadership | put the ethics code to work for your clients and your firm | is audit in crisis because of definitions?
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

here are a few of the ideas i’ve heard audit teams come up with in that exercise:

audit & assurance

are you using the right business model?

own your expertise and price it accordingly – yes, even in audits.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

those firms that value the chargeable hour above all risk losing their best team members. the ones who want to think, innovate and come up with creative ideas that add value to the client and the firm will leave.

more: give advice while remaining independent | stop mixing up your v’s and losing your best people | how to upgrade c and d clients | can a service center model solve audit staffing shortages? | move to advisory and assurance with relevance | use eight audit exit items to deepen client relationships | know your three audit w’s | planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | are you correctly identifying the relevance intersection?
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

when audits are billed out on a flat-fee basis, is an hourly rate still relevant? tracking time isn’t a revenue system if it does not impact what the client pays you. the billable hour is nothing more than a cost accounting system. production is what the client pays for, so measuring that, plus instituting measures for accountability, more closely mirrors what brings money in the door.

audit & assurance

give advice while remaining independent

find the magic 20 percent that could create clients for life.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

the pillars of our ethics are objectivity and integrity, and our profession has chosen independence to measure our objectivity as cpas. we can still offer advice and insight to our clients and remain objective. we cannot, however, act in the capacity of management. our clients must decide which ideas to use and implement them.

more: stop mixing up your v’s and losing your best people | empower your team by dumping c and d clients | eleven types of audit clients and which to fire | don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand | how ‘business expert cpas’ get their own business wrong | exceptional audit client service demands effective communication | five ways to prevent audit bottlenecks | how do we drive relevance in audit? | lack of relevance drives audit commoditization | four basic understandings every auditor must master
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the tricky part comes when something we recommend fails. for example, let’s say a client asks for software advice, and they choose one of the three options we suggest. but that package isn’t working. now, can we be objective enough to admit that the advice we gave them and they paid for was wrong? do we have the integrity to tell the client they must write off the cost of that capitalized software? can we be objective enough to face the possible negative consequences and not just protect ourselves?

audit & assurance

stop mixing up your v’s and losing your best people

when you take a value-based approach to your firm, you measure success in two ways.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

more: empower your team by dumping c and d clients | the new formula for an accounting business | don’t risk losing good employees for bad clients | four questions to make your firm more successful as a business | say adios to audit fee pressure | deliver more audit value by getting out of the conference room | six essential elements in audit planning | before the audit: more than just planning | five crucial attributes for successful audit leadership | put the ethics code to work for your clients and your firm
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

my associate corey told me about his experience and why he left his last firm. see if this sounds familiar:

audit & assurance

empower your team by dumping c and d clients

keeping bad clients can do more harm than you might think.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

have you ever sat down with your team to get their honest opinions about what it’s like working with each one of your clients? this is an essential exercise if you want to build an empowered team. their experiences with the same client and people may differ vastly from yours. clients may treat the audit partner with respect but not the staff.

more: the new formula for an accounting business | how to upgrade c and d clients | can a service center model solve audit staffing shortages? | move to advisory and assurance with relevance | use eight audit exit items to deepen client relationships | know your three audit w’s | planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | are you correctly identifying the relevance intersection? | traditional audits don’t deserve premium billing | turning audit & accounting into assurance & advisory | stop sending the wrong message to audit teams
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

your team wants to do quality work, but they may struggle to deliver if the clients don’t honor their end of the agreement.

audit & assurance

the new formula for an accounting business

productivity isn’t the same as putting in the hours.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

getting the right clients and projects goes a long way toward building a profitable and successful firm. but that’s only part of being business-minded about your firm. cpa firms have followed the same overall business model for generations, based on billing clients for the hours worked on a file. while that has been successful and has allowed many partners to achieve great wealth, a few forward-thinking firms are successfully challenging that model.

more: how to upgrade c and d clients | eleven types of audit clients and which to fire | don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand | how ‘business expert cpas’ get their own business wrong | exceptional audit client service demands effective communication | five ways to prevent audit bottlenecks | how do we drive relevance in audit? | lack of relevance drives audit commoditization | four basic understandings every auditor must master | wanted: great audit mentors | closing the audit expectations gap
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

many firm owners obsess about chargeability and realization rates. but that’s missing the big picture: the only thing your revenue model needs to accomplish is bringing in enough cash to cover your expenses with leftover profit. we know how much we’re paying the staff working on the audit, and we need to collect two to three times their salaries for that work. that will give us the cash we need to pay them and all our other expenses, plus a return to the partner, and make up for the weeks when they’re not as busy or are in cpe or taking pto.

that’s why, instead of obsessing about chargeability and realization rates, a better way to measure success for your firm is by looking at your collected rate. read more →

audit & assurance

how to upgrade c and d clients

use relationship building and a little bit of detective work.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

ideally, if you’re practicing business-mindedness, you only keep the a and b clients. if a client is below that level, you must consider whether that client is salvageable. if the answer is no, you need to exit the relationship.

more: eleven types of audit clients and which to fire | don’t risk losing good employees for bad clients | four questions to make your firm more successful as a business | say adios to audit fee pressure | deliver more audit value by getting out of the conference room | six essential elements in audit planning | before the audit: more than just planning | five crucial attributes for successful audit leadership | put the ethics code to work for your clients and your firm | is audit in crisis because of definitions?
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

for c and d clients, you want to try to grow them into a or b clients by developing a relationship with them. if they don’t reach that level within three years, they can be passed off to another firm. there’s always more than enough work to go around with a and b clients.

audit & assurance

eleven types of audit clients and which to fire

bad clients can bring turmoil by increasing the likelihood of regulatory scrutiny, legal troubles and reputational damage.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

in the realm of auditing, client selection is a critical decision that can significantly impact the health and harmony of your team and your firm. auditors should be highly selective about their clients because engaging with entities that lack ethical standards, have complex or opaque financial practices, or demonstrate a history of compliance issues can lead to substantial risks and challenges.

more: don’t risk losing good employees for bad clients | can a service center model solve audit staffing shortages? | move to advisory and assurance with relevance | use eight audit exit items to deepen client relationships | know your three audit w’s | planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | are you correctly identifying the relevance intersection? | traditional audits don’t deserve premium billing

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

when we discuss the types of clients that our teams find challenging to work with, we can divide them into these categories:

audit & assurance

don’t risk losing good employees for bad clients

keep the right kpis and the right clients, and you’ll keep the right staff.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

audit in the future will be much different than in the past. it’s going to require different skill sets. in the future, we need to teach more thinking and interpretive skills. the ticking and tying can be automated, but we’ll need people to interpret the anomalies that the bots and automation tools kick out. they’ll need to develop a deeper understanding of the industry, the client, and general business sense to discern whether an anomaly is just a mistake or a sign of something more profound.

more: can a service center model solve audit staffing shortages? | don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand | how ‘business expert cpas’ get their own business wrong | exceptional audit client service demands effective communication | five ways to prevent audit bottlenecks | how do we drive relevance in audit? | lack of relevance drives audit commoditization | four basic understandings every auditor must master | wanted: great audit mentors | closing the audit expectations gap
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

as the owner of a business myself, i understand the need to ensure there is enough cash coming in to keep the lights on and everyone paid. but sometimes, firms take on work just to keep people busy all year round. a prime example of this is ebp audits, which seem quick and easy but have their own risk factors. doing only one or two a year can be especially risky for your firm.

here’s what you’re looking for: alan anderson

tuesday, dec. 17, 2024, 12 noon pm et

register here | learn more

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