330 search results for mendlowitz

i just lost my biggest client

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a

by ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: i just suddenly lost my biggest client. they said they outgrew me. what could i have done to keep them?

response: maybe nothing. and at this point it may not matter, but there are some things you can do to maybe get them back in the future and stop it from happening with another client.

losing any client is not pleasant, and losing a large client hurts. and when it is sudden it hurts even more.

i will answer this in three parts.

1. how to try to salvage something from the loss.
2. how to stop this from happening in the future.
3. how to avoid being “suddenly” surprised. read more →

when a partner becomes disabled

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aby ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: my partner has been out sick for the past 3½ months, and he has been continuing to get his draw. it looks like he will be out for some time more, but not sure how long. he does make some calls from home, but isn’t really doing any work. is there anything i can do?

response: my first reaction is that a partnership agreement would cover this, but they don’t have one. i started to discuss what would be in an agreement if they had one and perhaps they should deal with this issue accordingly. read more →

doing as little work as possible

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aby ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: i have many clients who always expect me to do extra work as part of our fixed fee agreement. how can i get paid extra for work beyond the scope of our agreement?

response: this is a recurring theme, and one that has many answers. one approach: don’t take on the extra work.

here is another approach. read more →

information needed when merger discussed

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a

by ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: what do you ask for when considering a merger?

response: this is a “you show me yours and i’ll show you mine.” you should have this
information fairly well organized.

also, look at it critically and try to imagine what a prospective partner would say, and how you would react if this were someone else’s information that were being presented to you.

here’s a 23-item list: read more →

joining professional associations

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a

by ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: i do not belong to the njscpa and see no value in it. what are the benefits if i am a sole practitioner and just starting out?

response: i belong to the aicpa, njscpa and nysscpa, feel strongly about supporting
these societies and believe it is a responsibility of professionals to do so.

i am also active in these three organizations, in different ways and not always at the same time, although i have never been on the board of any of them.

read more →

past due fees

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by ed mendlowitz “tax season opportunity guide“ question: a client owes me a very large amount of money and seems to be giving me a runaround and i need to…

value billing on the 19th hole

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any billing method that relies on client ignorance is certain to fail.

by frank stitely, cpa
stitely & karstetter, pllc

value billing advocates exhort us to bill based on the benefit a client receives, but that’s just the demand side of the economic equation. competition is the supply side. here’s a little fable based on ed mendlowitz’s “value pricing: a lesson in applying judgment,” where a cpa asks for billing advice and then bills a client $7,000 for three hours’ work.

“great day, al.  have you ever shot an 80 before?”

“no, jay.  this is my first.  this round of drinks is on me.”

jay continued, “you’ve had quite a week.  first, you got your line of credit.  now the best golf round of your life.”

al had just finished a round of golf with his banker, jay; a neighbor, john; and john’s cpa, greg.

“jay, i am blessed with having great friends and advisors.  you did a marvelous job.  but, i should give some credit to my cpa, frank.  he put the entire package together for seven grand.  that seems like a great price.”

al saw the puzzled look in greg’s eyes. read more →

your location is not the client’s fault

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and acharging for travel time and expenses can alienate clients.

by ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: my practice is in central new jersey and i have a client about 2-1/2 hours away in pennsylvania. the mileage and tolls cost us $200 each month. can i bill for this?

answer: are you crazy? you will lose the client. you would be “penalizing” the client for you not being local to their business.

read more →

how to get partners all on the same page

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monthly meetings may be the solution.

by ed mendlowitzed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: there seems to be disagreement among our partners on important issues in running our practice and we never seem to have time to discuss it or work things out. we are a three-partner firm with 15 employees and no one is designated as managing partner.

answer: a suggestion is to have monthly partner meetings out of the office and an annual retreat. both of these have been covered previously but i will add some new ideas here. read more →

good ideas can come from anywhere

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and areading a lot of magazines keeps thinking fresh.

by ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: why do you read so many magazines that have nothing to do with accounting? i noticed this from your blogs and references you make in your speeches.

answer: i read a lot because i like to, and because i view it as part of my job of bringing ideas to clients to help them in their businesses and because i am always looking for ideas to help my business grow. ideas are not specific to an industry. read more →

the “secret” of fast and easy tax research

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a

the best sources to make you look like a genius.

by ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: when i was asked three technical questions, i found the answers quickly in a one-volume tax guide i keep near my desk.  i answered them and did not disclose my “secret,” wanting the callers to think i was a “genius.”

it astounds me that many people do not try to find the answers for themselves.

the questions concerned: read more →