alan anderson, author at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 - page 2 of 4

can a service center model solve audit staffing shortages?

providing superior client service eliminates the perception of audit as a commodity.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

most firms have abysmal project management, which makes it nearly impossible to see if there’s any room to take on extra work. plus, piling all the work into busy season means your people already work far beyond 40 hours a week. and, if you’re relying on timesheets as a measure of capacity, you may not be capturing the time your staff eats because the work is taking more than 40 or even 60 hours in a week to complete.

more: don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand | 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.

during the 2020-21 covid-19 pandemic, some audit firms had to lay people off, or reduce work hours as projects got canceled or curtailed. but the long-term trend for years has been a shortfall in talent that will only get worse. burnout from overwork is the number one cause of employee turnover.

audit & assurance

don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand

don’t try to wear too many hats. pick your specialty area and become a guru.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

industry expertise is essential for businessmindedness. for me, the primary ingredient for building a successful audit practice is to avoid taking on work that you don’t understand. too many firms say they can audit any balance sheet, but that’s when they can get into trouble. many firms get sued because they made a bad business decision. they thought they could take on this unique industry and get it right. if you dabble in any industry, you will put your firm and yourself at tremendous risk.

more: four questions to make your firm more successful as a business | move to advisory and assurance with relevance | how ‘business expert cpas’ get their own business wrong | say adios to audit fee pressure | eight items to cover in the audit exit to deepen client relationships and prove value | know your three audit w’s | planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | how do we drive relevance in audit? | before the audit: more than just planning | are you correctly identifying the relevance intersection? | lack of relevance drives audit commoditization
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

when the u.s. department of labor looked at the quality of employee benefit plan (ebp) audits, they found plenty of problems. that 2014 study found “a clear link between the number of employee benefit plan audits performed by a cpa and the quality of the audit work performed.” almost half of the firms the dol looked at performed only one or two ebp audits per year, and 75 percent of those had deficiencies. over half of those (56%) had five or more deficiencies.

audit & assurance

four questions to make your firm more successful as a business

where on the spectrum of accounting firms do you want to operate?

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

many firms limit their consideration of businessmindedness to the narrow focus of growing their top line. however, generating sufficient revenue to cover costs and generate profit is only a baseline measure for businessmindedness.

more: move to advisory and assurance with relevance | 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
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the inward component of businessmindedness concerns how the firm operates. this includes the kinds of projects and clients the firm takes on. to provide relevance, you need to consider whether your firm can deliver on relevance for a particular engagement or client and whether that work makes sense for your firm.

audit & assurance

move to advisory and assurance with relevance

relevance protects you from technological obsolescence.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

the days of delivering an audit report months after year-end are numbered. how relevant is an audit report when it’s months after the fact? even when we move to continuous audit – which will happen sooner than you think – it will still be historical information. but what will make it more relevant is that it will be delivered more timely, even if we don’t change much about how we perform the audit.

more: how ‘business expert cpas’ get their own business wrong | say adios to audit fee pressure | eight items to cover in the audit exit to deepen client relationships and prove value | know your three audit w’s | planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | how do we drive relevance in audit? | before the audit: more than just planning | are you correctly identifying the relevance intersection? | lack of relevance drives audit commoditization | five crucial attributes for successful audit leadership | traditional audits don’t deserve premium billing | four basic understandings every auditor must master
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

if you’re taking the time to understand the workings of the business, how that business works in relation to the industry, and how it serves its customers, you’re on the path to providing true relevance. that’s how you move into advisory and assurance. if you provide that baseline level of relevance and then build more real-time techniques and tools, you can expand on that knowledge base of the industry and the operating environment. then you can give your clients even more advice and suggestions for what they do.

audit & assurance

how ‘business expert cpas’ get their own business wrong

only a small percentage of audit leaders understand businessmindedness’s inward and outward components.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

i talk to leaders of firms all around the country who think that if they get their fee realization right, that’s a sign that they’ve got great business minds. they ask me what the market fee realization is, so i tell them that’s a miserable measure.

more: say adios to audit fee pressure | eight items to cover in the audit exit to deepen client relationships and prove value | know your three audit w’s | planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | how do we drive relevance in audit? | before the audit: more than just planning | are you correctly identifying the relevance intersection? | lack of relevance drives audit commoditization | five crucial attributes for successful audit leadership | traditional audits don’t deserve premium billing | four basic understandings every auditor must master
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

there is no perfect fee realization. as extreme examples, i’ve worked with firms with 10 percent and 200 percent fee realizations. which is better? neither. the firm with a 10 percent fee realization bills at $5,000 per hour, while the other bills at $20 an hour.

audit & assurance

say adios to audit fee pressure

what client goes out for an audit proposal when their auditor provides relevant advice and useful suggestions?

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

your client likely engaged your firm for an audit because they need an audit. but what is it that they want? they don’t want a stack of paper delivered months after year-end. like anyone else, they focus on “what’s in it for me?” or wiifm.

more: use eight audit exit items to deepen client relationships | exceptional audit client service demands effective communication | deliver more audit value by getting out of the conference room | know your three audit w’s | planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | how do we drive relevance in audit? | before the audit: more than just planning | are you correctly identifying the relevance intersection? | lack of relevance drives audit commoditization | five crucial attributes for successful audit leadership | traditional audits don’t deserve premium billing
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

they want relevant ideas that will help them improve their businesses. they want to learn from you about your experience with others in their industry or in a similar situation. they want a relationship with you to talk about their business in plain english. they want someone who can explain the accounting standards and how they impact how they report their results.

remember our definition of relevance:

audit & assurance

use eight audit exit items to deepen client relationships

developing a deep understanding of an industry is a surefire way to make your audits more relevant.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

making the audit relevant doesn’t stop when the audit report is signed. to demonstrate your value and stand out from the competition, deepen the relationship with the client.

more: exceptional audit client service demands effective communication | 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.

far too often, the exit conference is a wasted opportunity to demonstrate the relevance of the audit. that’s why i recommend that a standard powerpoint presentation be used to discuss the audit. this will include the required communications and ideas for business improvement and will be designed to facilitate open-ended, two-way communication. here’s a basic outline of the information to be covered:

audit & assurance

exceptional audit client service demands effective communication

drop the devices and go talk with clients.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

most firms have guidelines for turnaround time and response times but stop there when it comes to delivering excellent customer service. does your firm have a definition of what superior client service might mean in an audit?

more: deliver more audit value by getting out of the conference room | 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.

remember that relevance is the intersection of what your client wants, what you think is important and what the stakeholders need. providing superior client service is definitely contained within that intersection.

audit & assurance

deliver more audit value by getting out of the conference room

create deeper audit relevance by diving into your client’s business … in the actual business.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

once your team understands the critical role planning plays in creating a foundation for audits and how that enables your team to have the mental bandwidth to deliver relevance, it’s time to focus on other ways to develop a relevance culture in your firm.

more: know your three audit w’s | 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.

at the planning stage, set out the expectation that everyone will add value to the audit by identifying areas where the client can improve. one way to do this is to assign each audit team member the task of interviewing someone outside of accounting who has something to do with their audit area. have your team members ask this person these five questions and write up a summary of what they learned:

audit & assurance

know your three audit w’s

understanding all the nuances of the who, what, and when keeps your audit team on track.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

taking the time to lay out a detailed who, what, and when plan for all audit staff assigned to an engagement will help ensure that fieldwork is successfully completed. as firms had to develop remote auditing processes in the covid-19 era, many have already been deploying this.

more: planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | how do we drive relevance in audit? | before the audit: more than just planning | are you correctly identifying the relevance intersection? | lack of relevance drives audit commoditization | five crucial attributes for successful audit leadership | traditional audits don’t deserve premium billing | four basic understandings every auditor must master
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

here are the details for understanding each of the three audit w’s to keep your audit process streamlined:

audit & assurance

five ways to prevent audit bottlenecks

keep your audit team flowing smoothly.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

your team must take a proactive, anticipatory approach to completing an audit in the field. think about the bottlenecks you faced last year with this same client and the bottlenecks that seem to happen with every client.

more: planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | 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.

sit down with your team and have open-ended conversations about actions to take to reduce or eliminate those bottlenecks. here are some ideas for preventing problems:

audit & assurance

six essential elements in audit planning

proper planning means your audit can provide much more than a client’s insurance.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

for more than a decade, i’ve been teaching firms around the country how to plan their audits so that relevance, businessmindedness and quality are built in from the beginning, not bolted on at the end. as i mentioned before, many firms rely on standard planning checklists, which result in, at best, a superficial understanding of the client.

more: planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | 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.

here are the essential elements for adding relevance in the planning stage:

audit & assurance

planning lays the foundation of audit relevance

if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

next time you have your planning meeting about an upcoming audit, print out a page or two of what you say on your website. share those pages around, and ask the planning team members, “how are we going to deliver on what we’ve said on our website?”

more: how do we drive relevance in audit? | 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.

most people think of planning an audit as an exercise in filling out forms. planning an audit is certainly much deeper than that. the ultimate foundation for success in your audits depends on what you do during the planning stage.

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