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client service opportunities

readers sound off on liberty, h&r block plans to launch bookkeeping services

liberty block logosnew strategic ally, or competitive threat?

practitioners are actively debating the effects and impact of h&r block and liberty jumping into the bookkeeping business, as detailed by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间’ hitendra patil here.

“this is an opportunity to highlight quality,” says wesley middleton, head partner at middleton raines in houston. “the only person who has something to worry about are those that are only focused on price.”

not all practitioners agree in the discussion which began at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 and has spilled onto the 20,000-member 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 linkedin group. read more →

outlook & analysis

threat or opportunity as h&r block, liberty jump into bookkeeping services?

liberty block logoswhat it means for independent tax and accounting firms.

by hitendra patil
pransform inc. 

the accounting profession in the u.s. has been shaken up by announcements from liberty tax services and h&r block that they are entering into core bookkeeping and accounting services business.

more on the entrepreneur accountant:  six steps for a better tax season   •  8 seconds into the future: meet generation z   •   5 reasons gen y will make or break your firm   •   3 ways amazon’s new fire phone hints at the future of accounting   •   the 8 traits creating the firm of the future today   •   get more done, make more money: stop doing these 17 things   •   what shopping habits reveal about accounting clients   •   create your “not-to-do’s” list   •   irs bitcoin rule: 5 things accountants need to know   •   tax season tips: train your brain to focus   •   what the bitcoin phenomenon means for accountants   •   overcoming your clients’ worst fears   •   5 tech tips for reigniting growth   •   a case study in using linkedin   •   accountants and six fundamental human needs   •   client satisfaction starts with ‘likeability’   •   why accounting? your clients want to know   •   what’s next: predictive accounting

the news came as a surprise to many and i had a few discussions with some accounting professionals, especially smaller firms and some solo practitioners, on what they think of this new development. read more →

busy season management

six steps for a better tax season

how some smart firms spent their summer vacations…

by hitendra patil
pransform inc. 

a new busy season is fast approaching and vacation season is coming to an end. but some firms haven’t been taking time off. they’ve been assessing the lessons from the 2014 busy season to apply to 2015.

more on the entrepreneurial accountant: 8 seconds into the future: meet generation z   •   5 reasons gen y will make or break your firm   •   3 ways amazon’s new fire phone hints at the future of accounting   •   the 8 traits creating the firm of the future today   •   get more done, make more money: stop doing these 17 things   •   what shopping habits reveal about accounting clients   •   create your “not-to-do’s” list   •   irs bitcoin rule: 5 things accountants need to know   •   tax season tips: train your brain to focus   •   what the bitcoin phenomenon means for accountants   •   overcoming your clients’ worst fears   •   5 tech tips for reigniting growth   •   a case study in using linkedin   •   accountants and six fundamental human needs   •   client satisfaction starts with ‘likeability’   •   why accounting? your clients want to know   •   what’s next: predictive accounting

here are six of the things that the most innovative firms have been doing. and no, they aren’t what you might necessarily expect. read more →

outlook & analysis

six secret keys to the mind of the entrepreneur

and how accountants can leverage them to be trusted advisors.

by hitendra patil
pransform inc. 

it’s said that accountants are the trusted advisors of their clients. but in reality it’s a myth – as far as business owner clients are concerned.

peer groups, associations, similar business owners, people from the same industry … entrepreneurs don’t listen to anyone else who has not “been there, done that.” they may hear. but they rarely listen.

more on the entrepreneurial accountant: 8 seconds into the future: meet generation z   •   5 reasons gen y will make or break your firm   •   3 ways amazon’s new fire phone hints at the future of accounting   •   the 8 traits creating the firm of the future today   •   get more done, make more money: stop doing these 17 things   •   what shopping habits reveal about accounting clients   •   create your “not-to-do’s” list   •   irs bitcoin rule: 5 things accountants need to know   •   tax season tips: train your brain to focus   •   what the bitcoin phenomenon means for accountants   •   overcoming your clients’ worst fears   •   5 tech tips for reigniting growth   •   a case study in using linkedin   •   accountants and six fundamental human needs   •   client satisfaction starts with ‘likeability’   •   why accounting? your clients want to know   •   what’s next: predictive accounting

after talking to several business owners about what they expect from their accountants, we figured out six key insights into how entrepreneurs think. read more →

outlook & analysis

5 reasons gen y will make or break your firm

and two make-or-break questions for your firm’s future.

by hitendra patil
pransform inc.

have you heard of “generation y”? anyone who was born between 1980 and 2000 is a millennial and they will be the majority of your staff within the next few years, if not already. they have grown up with technology, the information explosion and diversity. what they studied for their degrees is far vaster than what you studied.

more from this author:  3 ways amazon’s new fire phone hints at the future of accounting  |  the 8 traits creating the firm of the future today  |  get more done, make more money: stop doing these 17 things  |  what shopping habits reveal about accounting clients  |  create your “not-to-do’s” list

simply, they think and act radically different than older generations in at least five ways that are already beginning to reshape the profession. read more →

outlook & analysis

3 ways amazon’s new fire phone hints at the future of accounting

amazon fire phone
amazon fire phone

new tech breakthroughs fuel client expectations.

by hitendra patil
pransform

addressing the question “why would amazon want to sell a mobile phone?,” the harvard business review says the basic principle behind any disruptive innovation is that the fundamental things people try to do in their lives actually change relatively slowly.

the accounting profession has been witnessing a hammer and tongs message about disruptive technologies in the form of cloud-ifying practice management. accounting and tax software long ago debuted on tablets and cell phones. and just when we start to think that nothing really new is coming into the technology market, we start getting hints toward the future.

here are three things that the amazon fire phone can potentially tell the accounting profession and technology vendors: read more →

outlook & analysis

the 8 traits creating the firm of the future today

future informationa cpa firm in san francisco hires programmers! do you?

by hitendra patil
pransform

several discussions across multiple thought leadership groups, industry experts and advisors have boiled down to the crux of the question for the future, i.e.: what is needed by cpa firms to become sustainably successful? what are these traits “the firm of the future” must have? i think there are eight:

1.     redefine profitability

when partners and talented accountants perform routine tasks such as scanning documents and data input, the leverage on intellectual capital reduces. that impacts profitability. and the well-settled definitions of profitability are getting unsettled by technology, new generation thinking and sea change in regulations. efficiency gave you optimal returns in your time. it won’t in the future. your profits will be driven by the effectiveness of your combined intellectual capital (knowledge, wisdom) and your infrastructure (systems, software, communication channels). you will create measurable value for your clients and this value will drive your profits. it is all hinting to a complete overhaul of your pricing strategies, ground up.

trait needed: effectively priced intellectual capital on demand read more →

outlook & analysis

get more done, make more money: stop doing these 17 things

we asked, you responded with some great ideas.

by hitendra patil
pransform

a few days back, i wrote create your “not-to-do’s” list. we got some interesting feedback from accountants. here are some tasks that accountants want to stop doing themselves.

  1. stop fixing the ethernet cables into the router. (get the it guy to do it. or move entirely to cloud.)
  2. stop importing bank statements into quickbooks. (get someone else to populate all data.) read more →
outlook & analysis

what shopping habits reveal about accounting clients

the four flavors of new clients.

by hitendra patil
pransform inc.

tax season is over and you made it through the home stretch, significantly tired but scraped through!  now is the time to rethink your business model on the new learning from tax season and to restart looking for new clients. you don’t want to create more “c clients” that suck the energy, time and profits like a vortex.

not sure how to estimate the value of your prospects? you may want to learn their shopping habits. read more →

management

create your “not-to-do’s” list

by hitendra patil
pransform

you can call it a “stop doing these” list.

if you have done the “abc analysis” of your clients, you know the best customers who yield highest net profit per unit of effort (generally your time) are your a clients and those who yield the least are your clients. now do the same with your – and your firm’s – activities. read more →

outlook & analysis

irs bitcoin rule: 5 things accountants need to know

item 5: brace for new work.

by hitendra patil
 pransform inc.

you may need to start asking your clients about bitcoin. new irs guidance treats bitcoins and other crypto-currencies not as money, but as property, for tax purposes and applies immediately to all returns. see the full text of notice 2014-21 (pdf).

among other things, the irs advised that:

  • as an employer, if you pay wages in bitcoins:
  • you must report it on a w-2.
  • you must ensure income tax withholding.
  • you must ensure payroll taxes deduction.
  • if you pay contractors and service providers in bitcoins, such payments are taxable and self-employment tax rules generally apply.
  • if you make a payment of $600 or more in a taxable year to an independent contractor for the performance of services, you are required to report that payment to the irs and to the payee on form 1099-misc, miscellaneous income.

read more →