here’s what you’re looking for: frank stitely

busy season management

ask tax clients the right questions

hourglass on paper charts

don’t let them dictate your workflow.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

who makes the errors in your firm? staff obviously, but that’s half of the answer. clients are a major source of tax return errors. clients cause errors in three ways:

  1. errors of omission
  2. errors of commission
  3. errors in attitude

more by frank stitely
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every tax season, we finalize and deliver returns only to hear from the client, “i think i might have forgotten to tell you that we had a baby last year.” does this happen to you? this is a client error of omission. unintentionally, clients withhold important information.
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advisory & consulting

the shift to advisory from a firm perspective

man and woman high-fiving each other in office

it might take longer than you expect, but it’s so worthwhile.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

articles about shifting to advisory are mostly written by consultants. they are smart, well-meaning people. they have lots of advice, some good, some bad, but it’s like hiring a vegan chef to grill your steak. they aren’t living with the consequences.

more from frank stitely
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

my firm made the shift and learned a lot of lessons from grilling our own steak. we mostly survived with just a mild case of food poisoning.

let’s kindly ask our vegan chefs to leave the room and just speak firm to firm. let’s wait a second longer to make certain they’re off grilling tofu.

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busy season management

make ‘done but’ tax returns a thing of the past

six people around work table

eliminate bottlenecks by asking better questions.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

a project hung up in process is one where there is a disagreement between people involved in a project as to the status. for example, a client thinks he has answered your tax return questions, while you believe he has not. another example is when a tax return preparer believes a return is ready for review while the reviewer does not believe it’s ready.

more: use humor to get tax documents in early
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the result of a hung-up project is a dead project – one that’s not moving to completion.

if a tax return gets hung up, eventually your client calls you, and you get to waste time determining why the project stopped moving. this increases work in progress (wip), which increases turnaround time.
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busy season management

use humor to get tax documents in early

my secret? humor, sarcasm and a bit of shame.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

there are easy ways to get clients to do what we need them to do. in our office, we call the process “training” clients. one of our biggest headaches is the late delivery of tax materials. so, we train our clients to bring their tax documents in early.

more: end tax season meetings with clients … seriously | get clients to understand firm processes … or say goodbye | train now before it costs you down the road | keep clients from “balance due” shock | stop clients from performing “favors” | who needs fall tax planning? clients … and you | it’s ok to say no to clients (even the large ones) | control your time: avoid ambush meetings and calls | you train your clients, whether you mean to or not | don’t let clients dictate tax workflow | make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity | easy ways to avoid ‘done but’ tax returns
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

we accomplish this through a series of e-blasts explaining our deadlines. the e-blasts start in december, and we call them “countdown to tax season.” they cover much more than our deadlines for clients to provide business and personal income tax returns documents.

we use the blasts to train clients in other areas – such as minimizing the use of staples when they give us their documents. we also discourage people from putting their documents in three-ring binders. as i’m certain you already know, staples and binders drive your admin staff crazy when they’re trying to scan documents.
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busy season management

three ways to thrive with limited capacity

smiling man working at laptop in office with glass walls

turn the staffing shortage into a new opportunity.

by frank stiteley
the relentless cpa

charles dickens had to be writing about the accounting profession when he wrote, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

clients are plentiful. i met a new client coming out of the restroom at our office complex. we get four to five inquiries a day – out of tax season. during tax season, we turned down four out of five prospective clients.

more on staffing: tax and accounting jobs and salaries show strength | olympics of outsourcing and offshoring for accountants | new study: strong and steady growth for accountant jobs and salaries | can’t recruit? retain! | is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | firms culling clients as staffing woes persist
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

staff are not plentiful – at least not good ones. i’m getting two or three resumes a day, but they’re the warm body sort most of us learned the hard way not to hire during the pandemic. you’ve seen these resumes too. they are people with six employers in eight years. you are certain to be number seven in nine years. they claim eight years of experience, but you can see from their job history that it’s really two years of experience repeated four times. and – they want $100k for those two years of real experience.

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humor

how a case of beer saved the u.s. financial system

great businesses are formed by trusting others … even if they need a 24-pack to get there.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

you’ve probably heard of the 1929 stock market crash, black monday, the dotcom bubble and the great recession. all of these combined pale in comparison to what almost happened back in 1986. save for a case of miller lite, our financial world, as we know it, would not exist.

more: even with value pricing, time tracking matters and here’s why | end tax season meetings with clients…seriously | get clients to understand firm processes … or say goodbye | train now before it costs you down the road | keep clients from “balance due” shock | it’s ok to say no to clients (even the large ones) | you train your clients, whether you mean to or not | business owners face one of three exits
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

i landed this job not because of my fabulous accounting qualifications. i was a double major in economics/finance in college. i would have taken a job sniffing used toilet paper out of college with those academic credentials. i got the job solely from my relationship with paul karstetter, the second name in what eventually became stitely & karstetter, cpas.

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pricing, fees & billing rates

even with value pricing, time tracking matters and here’s why

higher productivity equals higher capacity, which drives faster turnaround times. faster turnaround times create happier clients. 

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

employee productivity plays a huge factor in managing wip (work in progress). because capacity is the denominator in the lean six sigma equation, and employee productivity is a big factor in capacity, employee productivity becomes a big factor in determining turnaround time.

more: end tax season meetings with clients…seriously | get clients to understand firm processes … or say goodbye | train now before it costs you down the road | keep clients from “balance due” shock | it’s ok to say no to clients (even the large ones) | you train your clients, whether you mean to or not | business owners face one of three exits | how small firms can win the talent wars | do you know your turnaround time?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

first, let’s dismiss all the consultants from the room who tell us that time tracking and productivity metrics don’t matter. mostly, these consultants have never managed or owned cpa firms. rarely have they worked in firms for any length of time. they have never known the struggles of meeting payroll during the first pay period in february when employee hours are up, but the tax season money is not rolling in yet. goodbye. don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out, or do let it hit you. that’s up to you. i hope it’s a heavy door.

here’s an example that shows why time tracking and productivity metrics matter:

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pro member exclusive

end tax season meetings with clients … seriously

clients who want to meet should be more than willing to pay for that meeting.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

what did dorothy and her friends fear in the wizard of oz? “lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” dorothy feared the wrong things if she was a partner in a cpa firm. we don’t see much wildlife in our offices during tax season unless you count fast-food delivery people and the occasional crazy client.

more: get clients to understand firm processes … or say goodbye | train now before it costs you down the road | keep clients from “balance due” shock | it’s ok to say no to clients (even the large ones) | you train your clients, whether you mean to or not | business owners face one of three exits | how small firms can win the talent wars | do you know your turnaround time?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

we should fear the events that destroy our priorities and drain hours from productive work. meetings and phone calls and emails, oh my! from a practice management standpoint, let’s look at why these communication methods are so destructive.

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pro member exclusive

get clients to understand firm processes … or say goodbye

woman in a business suit waving a red flag

with just a little advanced marketing, you can get paid year-round and have more satisfied clients.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

when i’m frustrated, here’s how i explain the importance to clients of letting us work our process:

“when you get your car repaired, you don’t look over the mechanic’s shoulder and tell him which wrench to use. the same principle applies to us. if you knew the best ways to prepare tax returns, you should become our competitor.”

more: train now before it costs you down the road | keep clients from “balance due” shock | it’s ok to say no to clients (even the large ones) | you train your clients, whether you mean to or not | business owners face one of three exits | how small firms can win the talent wars | do you know your turnaround time?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

let’s be perfectly honest with each other.

there’s a reason you aren’t actively training clients to allow you to work efficiently. you’re afraid that you’ll lose clients.

i guarantee that you will.
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humor

train now before it costs you down the road

your time investment now could reap dividends during tax season. 

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

we’ve all heard it.

ask if an assigned project has been completed and get the, “it’s done, but …” followed by a few reasons why said project is still – let’s be honest – incomplete.

more: keep clients from “balance due” shock | stop clients from performing “favors” | control your time: avoid ambush meetings and calls | make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity | six ways to create a millennial-friendly firm
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

let’s examine how we got a “done but” society. a lot of this will sound like, “back in my day, sonny …” old man nonsense, and a lot of it is.

however, i promise you a solution after my sociological exploration of 21st-century culture. you won’t need a degree in sociology to understand this.

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humor

“done” only has one meaning

“done but” increases wip and turnaround time. profits go … well, you know.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

in my last book, i recommended hiring younger staff. in that book, i cautioned that you might have to teach very simple tasks like breathing and using the bathroom to your newbies.

more: keep clients from “balance due” shock | stop clients from performing “favors” | who needs fall tax planning? clients … and you | it’s okay to say no to clients (even the large ones) | control your time: avoid ambush meetings and calls | make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

one reader posted that she didn’t believe it was the responsibility of an admin department to teach bathroom use. she was new to this hot new writing technique called sarcasm, but she did a great job making my point that you have to teach your staff a lot of basic things.

one of those teaching tasks is the meaning of “done.”

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client service opportunities

keep clients from “balance due” shock

with just a little advanced marketing, you can get paid year-round and have more satisfied clients.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

when i talk with prospective clients in any medium, i lead with tax planning. i don’t care if i’m meeting them, calling them or emailing them. i lead with tax planning. the number one complaint clients have about cpas and tax preparers is a lack of planning. they get tax returns and nothing else.

more: stop clients from performing “favors” | who needs fall tax planning? clients … and you | get clients to bring tax docs early…yes, early | why time tracking still matters | make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity | six ways to create a millennial-friendly firm
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the fun part is seeing the reaction when i mention planning. i tell them that they can know the results while there’s still time to change the results. tax season is no longer stressful because they know the answers in advance about refunds and balances due.
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client service opportunities

stop clients from performing “favors”

“oh, you shouldn’t have.” (you really, really shouldn’t have.)

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

we all have clients who bring in tax documents in laminated three-ring binders. they smile big toothy grins and tell us how they’re our most organized client. there’s no reason for us to organize the documents, as they’ve already done us this huge favor. of course, there will be no reason for us to remove anything from the binder and everything should be left in the binder just as it is.

more: who needs fall tax planning? clients … and you | it’s ok to say no to clients (even the large ones) | you train your clients, whether you mean to or not | business owners face one of three exits | how small firms can win the talent wars | do you know your turnaround time?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

we call these people binder boys. they have no clue that organized for them is not organized for tax return preparation. preparing a return from documents in a binder takes twice as long, at least, as preparing returns from a well-organized pdf file.

we also have the people who use five pounds of staples to organize 20 pages. they don’t want any loose documents falling out of the file.
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