staffing & recruiting
how to boost profits by (omg) sharing the upside
workers of the world unite.
by bill penczak
about a decade ago, the managing partner of our $100 million firm and i were discussing compensation and commission for our five business development professionals. he and i were in complete agreement that there should be no cap on commission or compensation – even if that compensation level with their base and commission was at par with or even exceeded that of the partner group.
more: 12 points of a good compensation plan | rate managing partners in six areas | eight ways managing partners make a real difference | five reasons that leaders fail | eleven things partners must do | seven keys to becoming an equity partner | how to achieve partner unity | the seven building blocks of a great partnership
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
“if they’re making money, we’re making money,” he said. “why would i want to limit that?”
anyone who agrees with that premise should continue to read below. if not, feel free to move on to the next 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 article or the ny times short crossword.
heather satterley: you’ve got to meet people where they are
stop saying yes to everything and start saying yes to yourself.
subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).

the disruptors
with liz farr
heather satterley is well-known for being an accounting tech expert. but tech isn’t the only skill accountants need today and for the future. “you can have great technology skills, but if you don’t have people skills and those softer skills, that’s going to be a problem,” she said.
more podcasts and videos: bill penczak: stop forcing smart people to do stupid work | sandra wiley: staffing problem? check your culture | scott scarano: first, grow people. then firm growth can follow | jody padar: build a practice that works for you, not vice-versa | ira rosenbloom: with m&a, nobody wants a fixer-upper | peter margaritis: the power skills every accountant needs | joe montgomery: find the sweet spot of the right clients, right services and right prices | marie green: your bad apples are ruining you | megan genest tarnow: hire for curiosity rather than compliance | clayton oates: one way to keep clients for life | randy crabtree: follow these three rules to keep employees happy | erik solbakken: yes, you can work less and make more | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
one of those softer skills that will be a key skill for the future is problem-solving, which requires keeping an open mind to “look at not just facts and figures, but look at tools, resources, people and pull them all together,” she explained. no one can be an expert at everything, so having “a wide network of really awesome professionals” is vital for filling in any gaps “to get the job done.”
bill penczak: stop forcing smart people to do stupid work
challenge your people and keep the work interesting or risk losing them.
subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).
the disruptors
with liz farr
too many accounting firms have “smart people doing stupid work,” according to bill penczak, a veteran sales and marketing professional. the founder and chief insights officer for mica ventures said to think about the effort it takes to get an accounting degree and get your cpa, and contrast that with the years of mindless work that many new hires are required to do, especially if they go into audit, he said. “one of the reasons why there’s such a talent shortage is because the market has figured this out,” and no one wants to do that stupid work, penczak said.
more podcasts and videos: sandra wiley: staffing problem? check your culture | scott scarano: first, grow people. then firm growth can follow | jody padar: build a practice that works for you, not vice-versa | ira rosenbloom: with m&a, nobody wants a fixer-upper | peter margaritis: the power skills every accountant needs | joe montgomery: find the sweet spot of the right clients, right services and right prices | marie green: your bad apples are ruining you | megan genest tarnow: hire for curiosity rather than compliance | clayton oates: one way to keep clients for life | randy crabtree: follow these three rules to keep employees happy | erik solbakken: yes, you can work less and make more | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
besides making smart people do stupid work, penczak said many of the firms he works with are realizing that they need to do a better job with mentoring and career development, as well as simply having more conversations with their people.
sandra wiley: staffing problem? check your culture
whether it’s clients or talent, if you build a better business culture, you’ll get better results.
subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).
with liz farr
the disruptors
as shareholder and president of boomer consulting, sandra wiley has been speaking with firm owners and leaders for nearly three decades and clearly sees the need for change in the profession.
“the business model that was built before cannot be the business model that you have going forward. it simply doesn’t work,” wiley said. “now, we’re still living in the old business model,” and we have to get out of it.
more podcasts and videos: peter margaritis: the power skills every accountant needs | joe montgomery: find the sweet spot of the right clients, right services and right prices | marie green: your bad apples are ruining you | megan genest tarnow: hire for curiosity rather than compliance | clayton oates: one way to keep clients for life | randy crabtree: follow these three rules to keep employees happy | erik solbakken: yes, you can work less and make more | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
when she does exit interviews to find out why people are leaving a firm, she said they all say it’s because of the hours. they need to find more balance in their lives, and they need to work less. while accountants do have government-imposed deadlines for tax returns, there are ways to reduce hours, wiley explained. we can do extensions to spread the work out over time and people, and we can outsource. most importantly, we can be more selective in the clients we work with. “we don’t have to work with every client we’ve ever worked with,” wiley said. read more →
which is better: a year of education or a year of experience?
the 150-hour rule is facing harsh criticism in the accounting staffing crisis.
with steven sacks
the new fundamentals: thriving in disruption
there is a movement afoot by the state cpa societies to reconsider whether the fifth year of an accounting program that offers the student a master’s in accounting is worth the cost, not to mention the increased complexity of business requiring as much exposure and experience as necessary to groom the younger professionals.
more steve sacks: sell service, not hours | fine-tuning the subscription fee model | when cyber-crime hits close to home | how to build a winning proposal | six ways to fix your firm agreement | the great resignation or a reshuffling? | listen to learn | build the framework to a solution with five answers | try for success, not a win
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
however, there is a shortage of 300,000 cpa candidates entering the profession’s pipeline. that’s why several states are seeking to eliminate, modify or enhance the educational/experiential model.
steve sacks, cpa, cgma, abc, discussed the dilemma of education versus experience with accounting expert david bergstein, cpa, the chief innovation officer for bergstein cpa and teaching adjunct for valencia college.
tax and accounting pay advancing at 5.9% pace
the disruptors: al anderson on the new manifesto for accountants
change your firm or go extinct.
subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).
the disruptors
with liz farr
al anderson has been trying to change audit for nearly his entire career and has always been “willing to try things differently.” while he’s always loved auditing – and thinks to this day that auditing can be fun – what he didn’t love was “auditing by doing it the same way every year.” however, he sees far too many firms performing audits the same way they have for decades. anderson believes that “the firms that are unwilling to change eventually are going to be history.”
instant download: al anderson’s “the new manifesto for accountants.“
more podcasts and videos: peter margaritis: the power skills every accountant needs | joe montgomery: find the sweet spot of the right clients, right services and right prices | marie green: your bad apples are ruining you | megan genest tarnow: hire for curiosity rather than compliance | clayton oates: one way to keep clients for life | randy crabtree: follow these three rules to keep employees happy | erik solbakken: yes, you can work less and make more | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
in an effort to combat the rising tide of commoditization of audit and assurance services, anderson has been teaching a revolutionary framework for audit leadership to auditors around the world and has now written a book (to be released later this year by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间) that describes the five attributes of this framework.
these five attributes include:
scott scarano: first, grow people. then firm growth can follow
we need the machines to do as much of this as we can.
subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).
the disruptors
with liz farr
when scott scarano lost a few good people at his firm, he had an epiphany that he needed to change things. instead of continuing to grow for the sake of growth, he overhauled his management approach.
more podcasts and videos: peter margaritis: the power skills every accountant needs | joe montgomery: find the sweet spot of the right clients, right services and right prices | marie green: your bad apples are ruining you | megan genest tarnow: hire for curiosity rather than compliance | clayton oates: one way to keep clients for life | randy crabtree: follow these three rules to keep employees happy | erik solbakken: yes, you can work less and make more | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
“and things are better now at the firm, because we’re not focused on growth,” but instead on “growing everybody,” including himself, scarano said. by building better habits and finding better ways to do things, his team is growing its bottom line, and a few of the people who left earlier have now returned. “that’s the growth i like to see.” read more →
ira rosenbloom: with m&a, nobody wants a fixer-upper
buyers want sellers who invest in the long game.
subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).
the disruptors
with liz farr
for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
ira rosenbloom has been working in the m&a space for accounting firms for over a decade and says it’s a complicated and exciting time in the m&a space today. “we’re seeing a lot of things that make sense, and a lot of things that are frustrating because they make sense, and a lot of things that make no sense,” he said.
staffing problems on both sides are forcing buyers to be far more selective about the firms they consider buying.
see also: the seller’s guide to getting the best price for your firm
more: megan genest tarnow: hire for curiosity rather than compliance | clayton oates: one way to keep clients for life | randy crabtree: follow these three rules to keep employees happy | erik solbakken: yes, you can work less and make more | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
today’s buyers are different in many ways than the sellers. first, rosenbloom explained, baby boomer sellers tend to like to talk to people, while the younger generations looking to buy firms are “more selective in their communication.” younger buyers tend to be more entrepreneurial, and “the more that the seller comes across as an entrepreneur, the more interested the buyer is going to be in what’s going on,” he added. buyers are also interested in firms making a break with old methodologies and sellers who “want to invest in the long game,” rosenbloom said.
read more →
new aicpa program aims to open personnel pipeline
firms are being contacted to participate.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
as the leaders of cpa firms know quite well, the pipeline of incoming professionals has slowed to somewhere between a trickle and a drip.
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
the causes are many:
- the cost of higher education
- misconceptions about the profession
- the difficulty of the cpa exam
- competition from other professions
- competition from corporations needing accountants
but not to worry! the american of institute of cpas is on the case!
read more →
peter margaritis: the power skills every accountant needs
your eq is just as important as your iq. and seven more take-aways.
^ unmute for sound and adjust the volume
subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).
the disruptors
with liz farr for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
peter margaritis, who also calls himself the accidental accountant, grew up in the gregarious environment of restaurants, “where everybody communicated, not well, sometimes, but they communicated.” so it was a shock when he went to work at price waterhouse, and he “felt that all the air got sucked out of the office, and nobody was communicating at all, and they looked at me like i was crazy.”
more: joe montgomery: find the sweet spot of the right clients, right services and right prices | marie green: your bad apples are ruining you | megan genest tarnow: hire for curiosity rather than compliance | clayton oates: one way to keep clients for life | randy crabtree: follow these three rules to keep employees happy | erik solbakken: yes, you can work less and make more | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
his crusade for the last decade or so has been to help accountants improve what we often call soft skills, but which he calls power skills: the ability to communicate clearly and effectively with others. “there’s nothing that will slow you down more in your career than a poorly written memo or email or a presentation that you were poorly prepared for,” margaritis said.
read more →
can better tech attract personnel?
six ways work becomes more engaging with the right tools.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
one of the accounting industry’s most persistent and worsening problems is the difficulty in hiring and retaining professionals. according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 business barometer, 48 percent cite staffing as a critically problematic issue.
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
the pipeline is part of the problem. the supply of graduates with majors in accountancy has been dropping since 2015.
accounting firms can’t do much about the dwindling supply of professionals, but they can take action to attract those who are new to the trade.
read more →