why no one listens to you

how long are you talking?

by ed mendlowitz
101 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice, the complete 2-volume set

q: i notice that most of the time my staff doesn’t listen when i talk. how can i make them listen?

more: when not to charge for an initial consultation | what’s your ‘kg’ value? | when clients call you at home | why partner retreats are worth the cost | selling your practice is not a retirement strategy
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a: err, what did you say?

just kidding! i find this issue very widespread. i believe there is an epidemic of people not listening, not just staff.
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when not to charge for an initial consultation

bonus: a sample initial business valuation consultation engagement proposal.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: the complete 2-volume set

q: i was wondering what your thoughts are regarding initial consultation fees. currently, i do not charge a fee for an initial consultation, and it seems that most cpas do not charge either (at least not the sole practitioners that i know).

more: what’s your ‘kg’ value? | how to stop yourself | how to handle referrals with attorneys | why checklists? | thirteen things to know before selling your practice
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would the fee deter new clients or actually weed out the ones who are most likely not going to become clients anyway? if a fee is charged, then how much, and how long should the consultation last? should the fee be applied to any work that i am eventually engaged to do?

a: there seems to be a toss-up between two different philosophies:

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the seven-minute financial statement

young businessman staring at laptop computer in officedon’t skip the notes.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

how do you start reviewing a financial statement? like any good book, you must start at the beginning.

more on advisory: when an audit is a great thing | how to read a financial statement | the kpi an absentee manager needs | which kpis do you need? | 77 thoughts about client needs
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but where is the beginning? and how can you do it in only seven minutes? here is how …
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what’s your ‘kg’ value?

the quick and easy system for measuring top talent.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers

q: i suspect that my partner has “maxed out” and cannot grow further, which will retard our growth. what can i do or how can i deal with this?

more: how to stop yourself | what good managers know about bad judgment | audit reports without doing the work? | ask these 10 questions before adding financial services | 10 reasons clients don’t pay
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a: this is a frequent question, and sometimes it is the person asking it who has “maxed out.” but sometimes the partner or a key staff member wants to be made a partner.

i developed a knowledge gap (“kg”) method to provide a way of measuring the difference in growth when you interact with people.

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when an audit is a great thing

two businessmen talking at officebonus breakdown: audits vs. reviews vs. compilations.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

one of my clients generously gave me his take on the benefits he received from the audited financial statements we issued for him. i was appreciative of this and want to share his views with you.

more on advisory: how to read a financial statement | the kpi an absentee manager needs | which kpis do you need? | 77 thoughts about client needs | the seven-minute financikal statement
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he began with an introduction explaining how he started his business and shepherded its growth by concentrating on developing his services and delivering them quickly and on time to his clients. the business grew rapidly, and little time was spent on the recordkeeping except for getting invoices to the clients or making payroll, while keeping the back office as lean as he could. at the same time there were legal, regulatory, hr, occupancy and tax issues from operating in multiple states and countries and he was spending quite a lot of time and fees on these activities, because he had to, while pushing aside and neglecting the accounting work.
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how to stop yourself

or not! but be conscientious about it.

by ed mendlowitz
101 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice, the complete 2-volume set

q: sometimes i get stuck doing work that the client did not ask me to do, that is not chargeable and simply a waste of time, but i get trapped (by myself).

more: what good managers know about bad judgment | when clients call you at home | why partner retreats are worth the cost | selling your practice is not a retirement strategy
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

any words of wisdom to avoid this?

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how to read a financial statement

young black woman with magnifying glassfifty pages of notes? review them all.

by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!

publicly traded companies are required to issue audited financial statements annually. there are seven parts of the statements that are briefly described here in the usual order they are presented:

more on advisory: when an audit is a great thingthe kpi an absentee manager needs | which kpis do you need? | 77 thoughts about client needs | the seven-minute financikal statement
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1. report of independent registered public accounting firm. this provides their opinion that the financial statements were in conformity with u.s. generally accepted accounting principles (gaap); that the company maintained effective internal controls; that the audits were conducted in accordance with standards of the u.s. public company accounting oversight board (pcaob) and some other things and that their audits provided a reasonable basis for their opinion; and that the internal control may not prevent or detect fraud. this needs careful reading and understanding, as do all seven elements of the statement, but on some level, this type of report is the gold standard for public companies.
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what good managers know about bad judgment

yes, you can teach staffers how to make better decisions. here’s how.

 by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers

q: recently, a colleague asked me, “how do you teach judgment?” and before i could respond, he answered it himself with, “you can’t teach judgment!”

more: when clients call you at home | how to handle referrals with attorneys | why checklists? | thirteen things to know before selling your practice | 10 reasons clients don’t pay
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a: everyone working for you has and uses judgment – they have homes, families, organizations they belong to, and they manage their careers. each of these requires exercising judgment many times a day. they all have judgment.
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