bissett bullet: make it personal
today’s bissett bullet: “your clients are people, too. what could you solve for them in their personal lives?”
by martin bissett
by martin bissett
asking the right questions proves critical in selecting the right-fit clients.
by jody padar
radical pricing – by the radical cpa
using subjective questions helps you assess what the prospective client considers valuable. this means understanding which services and solutions they see as having the biggest impact on their financial health. it also gives you insight into where they are hurting most in their business.
this process is time-consuming because it sets the stage for your relationship moving forward. take your time and collect all the data, documentation and subjective input so you can gain a holistic view of the customer’s current situation. let’s take a look at some of the questions you can ask and why they are important.
despite the rise of virtual events, live conferences remain essential for career growth and relationship-building in the accounting industry.
accounting arc
with liz mason, byron patrick, and donny shimamoto.
center for accounting transformation
in a world where virtual conferences have become the norm, it’s easy to question the value of attending in-person events. however, professionals like donny shimamoto, liz mason, and byron patrick argue that face-to-face interactions still hold immense importance in building meaningful, lasting relationships.
more accounting arc: non-accountants in accounting: a game-changer for the profession | rubik yeriazarian: smaller firms offer big opportunities for rapid skill development in forensic accounting | accounting arc | ai will steal your job. and that’s a good thing | accounting arc | the right kind of lazy: innovative approaches to streamlining workflows | accounting arc
the trio share their experiences attending conferences over the years, reflecting on why meeting people in person makes all the difference. patrick, vice president of client success at the b3 method institute and ceo of verifyiq, emphasizes the power of spontaneous connections, saying, “the number of people that i have met and built relationships with from those random moments…that does not happen virtually.”
the real problem blocking new business models.
gear up for growth
with jean caragher
for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
a shift towards a corporate business model with a ceo at the helm is necessary for sustainability and growth,” says mark koziel, president and ceo of allinial global, appearing on gear up for growth, a new show hosted by jean caragher, president of capstone marketing, and powered by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间.
gear up for growth is tailored specifically for public accounting firms with up to 100 team members looking to expand their practices intelligently and efficiently. each episode focuses on a topic crucial for accounting firms aiming for smart growth in today’s competitive landscape. find more episodes here, including:
- joey havens: the role culture plays in firm growth | gear up for growth
- allan koltin: how small firms can thrive against pe-powered competitors | gear up for growth
follow jean caragher on 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 here. | get her best-selling handbook, the 90-day marketing plan for cpa firms, here | and watch for jean caragher’s other show, capstone conversations, with leading growth strategists from the nation’s most dynamic firms, also available on 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
“every partner that’s nearer that retirement age is trying to beat their compensation from the year before so that their deferred comp is as maximized as it can be,” explains koziel, “and that goes directly against what the firm needs to do to transform for the future.” read more →
what you think you know about your firm’s culture is probably all wrong.
gear up for growth
with jean caragher
for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
“it’s probably impossible to have exponential growth without a strong culture,” says joey havens, author of the amazon bestseller, “leading with significance: how to create a magnetic people-first culture,” appearing on gear up for growth, hosted by jean caragher, president, capstone marketing, and powered by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间.
gear up for growth is tailored specifically for public accounting firms with up to 100 team members looking to expand their practices intelligently and efficiently. each episode focuses on a topic crucial for accounting firms aiming for smart growth in today’s competitive landscape. find more episodes here, including:
- mark koziel: transforming the cpa firm business model | gear up for growth
- allan koltin: how small firms can thrive against pe-powered competitors | gear up for growth
follow jean caragher on 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 here. | get her best-selling handbook, the 90-day marketing plan for cpa firms, here | and watch for jean caragher’s other show, capstone conversations, with leading growth strategists from the nation’s most dynamic firms, also available on 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
“leaders have to be more intentional about connecting and showing that they care,” havens continues, “and when you do that, then your team members do that with each other, and then they do it with clients, and all of a sudden clients turn into real raving cheerleaders, and all of a sudden this firm has double-digit growth every year.”
productivity isn’t the same as putting in the hours.
by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future
getting the right clients and projects goes a long way toward building a profitable and successful firm. but that’s only part of being business-minded about your firm. cpa firms have followed the same overall business model for generations, based on billing clients for the hours worked on a file. while that has been successful and has allowed many partners to achieve great wealth, a few forward-thinking firms are successfully challenging that model.
many firm owners obsess about chargeability and realization rates. but that’s missing the big picture: the only thing your revenue model needs to accomplish is bringing in enough cash to cover your expenses with leftover profit. we know how much we’re paying the staff working on the audit, and we need to collect two to three times their salaries for that work. that will give us the cash we need to pay them and all our other expenses, plus a return to the partner, and make up for the weeks when they’re not as busy or are in cpe or taking pto.
that’s why, instead of obsessing about chargeability and realization rates, a better way to measure success for your firm is by looking at your collected rate. read more →
mobile filmmakers, it’s time to unleash your creativity without storage fears.
by rick richardson
technology this week
capturing 4k footage with an iphone might quickly use up a terabyte of storage. lexar’s new professional go portable ssd with hub offers up to 2 tb of additional storage. it also allows mobile filmmakers to capture prores video at 60 frames per second and provides a couple of extra usb-c connections for attaching other equipment.
several businesses have released ssd drives made explicitly for the iphone. these drives enable 60 frames per second of 4k prores video recording, which is limited to 30 frames per second when recording to the internal storage of the 15 pro and 15 pro max. lexar’s solution’s unique feature is its small size and matching usb-c hub, which ensures that the iphone can still be used with devices like handheld gimbals.
the firms that shift from billable hours to value outcomes will win. plus 10 key takeaways.
the disruptors
with liz farr
alan whitman wants to break the mold of public accounting. he wants to end the billable hour and the siloed practices that characterize how many firms have operated for decades. as whitman says, “we’re here to serve clients, we’re here to deliver great value. but do we really need to do it the way we’ve been doing it since before my father was in the workforce?”
more podcasts and videos: sean duncan: discover your own genius | ingrid edstrom: true wealth is not financial | caleb jenkins: firm growth requires owners to shift roles | chris hervochon: be the leader you want to work for | ira rosenbloom: don’t merge for the money | adam lean: get out of the accountant’s trap | geraldine carter: charging more is better for your clients | vimal bava: when working smarter, not harder, is the only option | dawn brolin says grow your firm by shrinking it | jason blumer & julie shipp: move leaders out of client service | james graham: drop the billable hour and you’ll bill more | karen reyburn: fix your marketing and fix your business | giles pearson: fix the staffing crisis by swapping experience for education | jina etienne: practice fearless inclusion | 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 |
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
while “most firms believe that billable hours are the holy grail,” whitman points out that “the client isn’t necessarily buying billable hours.” instead, clients buy the outcomes and “the intellectual capital you’re delivering to them.” he believes that “the firm that can shift from production, from billable hours to outcomes, is going to win.”
as ceo of baker tilly, he pushed through changes that tripled the firm’s size and increased collaboration. like law, medicine, and architecture, accounting is a technician-based profession, and “most of your identity is based on what you do,” which can lead to siloes within a practice. but whitman argues that to deliver the appropriate solutions, “your responsibility is to not only deliver what you can deliver, it’s also to deliver what other people in the organization can deliver,” so the client is “getting what they need to prosper.”
capstone conversations
informal and informative discussions with leading growth strategists from the nation’s most dynamic cpa firms.
by jean caragher
for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
follow jean caragher on 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 here. | get her best-selling handbook, the 90-day marketing plan for cpa firms, here | catch jean caragher’s other show, gear up for growth, on fridays here. | and browse all the shows in the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 broadcast network here
proven methods for staying out of trouble and getting the numbers right for founders, investors and regulators.
by anthony venette
valuing startup companies accurately has long been a challenge for legal, financial and regulatory professionals because data is scarce and projections are inherently speculative. take the recent case of hyde park venture partners fund iii l.p. v. fairxchange llc. this case has garnered significant attention as the delaware court of chancery was tasked with determining the fair value of fairxchange, a nascent company with a business model focused on revolutionizing the securities exchange landscape.
valuing a startup is a nuanced exercise, often requiring a blend of creative thinking and rigorous financial analysis. unlike established businesses that have predictable cash flows and extensive financial histories, startups have uneven cash flow and minimal operating histories. so, their valuation is typically based on future potential rather than past performance. the lack of historical data forces both investors and courts to rely heavily on projections and assumptions, which can vary significantly based on the valuation method used. if you’re working with (or for) a fast-rising startup, you don’t want to be cavalier about the company’s valuation.
read more →
“when we take good care of our people and ourselves, we can drive success at all levels.”
by adam herman
market leader, wipfli llp
wellness is more than just a powerful tool for retention and recruiting—it’s one of the most critical issues for the accounting profession to tackle moving forward. it’s also a subject that i’ve been passionate about for many years.
so when i had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion highlighting practical approaches to wellness at the allinial global executive team conference in may, i jumped at the chance to share ideas and experiences with fellow panelists demetrice branch, chief people officer at weaver, and mike giuli, cio at cherry bekaert.
our panel moderator, donny shimamoto, opened the discussion with an intriguing observation: innovation doesn’t always have to be driven by technology. wellness is a way for firms to innovate. keeping that in mind, we explored three different dimensions of wellness and how allinial global firms are incorporating these aspects into their wellness initiatives.
key appointment under new president ross tennenbaum.
avalara, a tax compliance automation software provider, has named kevin sellers as executive vice president and chief marketing officer, succeeding jay lee, who left in march to join icertis, an ai-powered contract intelligence company.
the cmo shift follows the ascension in april of ross tennenbaum from cfo to president under founder and ceo scott mcfarlane.
before avalara, sellers held cmo positions at ping identity and avnet and spent over 20 years at intel in various global marketing and investor relations leadership roles. he holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and an mba from brigham young university.
as avalara’s cmo, sellers is responsible for all marketing functions, including driving demand generation, digital marketing, brand identity, partner marketing, product marketing, prospect marketing, and corporate communications.
bonus: a sample flexible work arrangement policy.
by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset
this post originally by convergencecoaching, cofounded and led by jennifer wilson; updated by rosenberg associates
what is work flexibility?
convergence coaching uses the terms “anytime, anywhere work” and “work flexibility” very similarly. both refer to increased flexibility around timing and location, around one’s work schedule and the place where work is done, while simultaneously meeting the needs of its staff and the goals of the firm.
“we like to give people the freedom to work where they want, safe in the knowledge that they have the drive and expertise to perform excellently, whether they (are) at their desk or in their kitchen. yours truly has never worked out of an office and never will.” – richard branson
“be stubborn about your goals and flexible about your methods.” – anonymous
read more →