key advice for potential partners

woman's hand pressing words "ask an expert"bonus: 8 questions to ask plus words from our expert council.

by martin bissett
passport to partnership

you may want to become a partner, but that requires leadership. do you display the traits you admire in leaders?

more on the passport to partnership: how to create an upward spiral | the dna of a practice leader | what does the next generation of practice leaders face? | commitment: a cautionary tale | how to build your pipeline | 6 keys to the perfect proposal | communication can’t be overrated

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partnership pointers

1. take time to identify a leader you admire from any walk of life. jot down a criterion for emulating their success behaviors. how many of these criteria do you fulfill yourself already and what do you yet lack but can work on right away?

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accountability includes partners

manager dangling carrots in front of staffdeliver not only rewards but sanctions.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

let’s take a close look at what accountability might look like.

more on performance management for pro members: accountability requires clear expectations | accountability is for everyone | who decides what? | firms say what would change retirement pay | action plans for transitioning partners | how retirement issues affect succession planning | how partner ratings factor into equity | cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions

for partners, accountability is best described as having a system in place that rewards partners for
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accountability requires clear expectations

two businesswomen sitting at table and talking in office courtyardmake an effort to learn from your successes as well as your failures.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

accountability needs to be rooted in much more than a casual perception or it is destined to fail. therefore, the first step to accountability is to move this from an “i will watch you and tell you if i think you are doing a good job” approach to one that clearly defines what you expect of someone up front.

more on performance management: accountability is for everyone | succession plan requirements | how retired partners are robbing their own firms | 4 ways to create more capacity | partner retirement and the war for clients | succession: the questions to care about | hazards of not reallocating equity

now this sounds fairly straightforward, and it is, but it is also loaded with plenty of traps that you can fall into. one of the traps we want to avoid is ambiguity. you can overcome this trap by taking time to describe the expectations you have of someone, like:
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lessons learned from a bad busy season

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer
join the survey; get the results

6 ways to fix the biggest problems.

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season survey
next question: accountants’ economic outlook
join the survey; get the results

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

we must have struck a chord in our article on the large number of firms suffering through a busy season worse than last year’s, a dreadful depth of bad. several cpas and tax preparers chimed in with comments, most of them constructive.

more on tax season for pro members:   3 ways to save time during busy season  |  most tax professionals call 2016 busy season much improved over last year | stress less this tax season  |  is tax season the new fraud season?  |  5 tax season motivation tips  |  recognize your tax season resources  |  tax season 2016: irs in crisis  |  eliminate tax season excuses  |  record pre-season hiring surge: ready for biggest tax season ever?  |  16 qualities of a good tax season client

from the discussion, we’ve gleaned six client management techniques that should be in practice at almost any firm.

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accountability is for everyone

businesswoman working late at deskdo you credit others as much as you do yourself?

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

most firms consider accountability an essential part of their leadership practices.

more on performance management: base retirement on today’s operations | who decides what? | firms say what would change retirement pay | action plans for transitioning partners | how retirement issues affect succession planning | how partner ratings factor into equity | develop your employees or suffer the consequences | 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them)

in the pcps top issues survey, for firms with 11 to 20 professionals, partner accountability/unity landed in second place. for firms with 21 or more professionals, this same issue ranked first in concerns to be addressed.
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new survey finds widespread rate hikes in tax & accounting firms

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 survey panel: top row, from left: roark, reitblatt, shore, allgood. second row: meers, viergutz, wiedorn, murray, carr. bottom row: ryman, stitely, flanagan, waite.
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 survey panel: top row, from left: roark, reitblatt, shore, allgood. second row: meers, viergutz, wiedorn, murray, carr. bottom row: ryman, stitely, flanagan, waite.

those who can, do. those who can’t, make do.

next question: who’s succeeding with value pricing? 
join the survey; get the answer.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

and that goes double for cpas. we’ve had it hard. when the recession hit, we lost clients. the clients we didn’t lose couldn’t afford fee increases. but the cost of software increased, and most hardware has had to be replaced twice since the recession first hit. salaries have gone up, too, especially among accountants, whose ranks have thinned in recent years. and the tax regulations get harder, the waiting time on the irs line longer, the reporting lengthier.

at long last, economic conditions seem to be improving enough for widespread increases in billing rates and fees. about 85 percent of respondents to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 study of pricing strategies and trends see an upward trend underway.

more tax season for pro members (go pro here): tax prep fees: the national averages [infographic]  |  tax prep fees and services  |  top 12 tax prep errors  |  the new fraud season  |  problem clients  |  irs gives up on vetting 1023-ez not-for-profit applications  |  5 tax season motivation tips  |  recognize your tax season resources  |  tax season 2016: irs in crisis  |  eliminate tax season excuses  |  record pre-season hiring surge: ready for biggest tax season ever?  |  16 qualities of a good tax season client

cpa dave murray at his eponymous firm in troy, ohio, is pushing through “significant increases.” he says, “our firm is increasingly being paid for our knowledge.” “yes,” he says, value pricing is becoming an important success strategy. “when it’s worth more to the client we charge more,” he says. and he does it all while maximizing profit margins and retaining clients. “we have a consistent flow of new clients and we no longer have to discount to get them to come in,” he says.

frank stitely, at skc cpas in chantilly, va., and a frequent contributor to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, is being more careful, with only slight increases. “personal taxes, specifically, are a commodity, and, in general, compliance services are commoditizing,” he says, with his pricing driven my market forces. on the other hand, the firm bills “per form for personal returns and by proposal for almost everything else.”

brian roark in jenison, mich., likes to say integrity tax’s offices have been doing taxes “since dinosaurs roamed the earth.” but today he’s playing catch-up in the wage markets, pushing through moderate billing increases.

at southwest tax & accounting in elkhart, kan., owner terri ryman, ea and quickbooks proadvisor, is going for significant price increases as clients struggle with the affordable care act and repair regs. she says her business is growing every year. ryman is also a prominent member of the national society of accountants and the national association of tax professionals. read more →

do you deliver on your website’s promises?

man viewing desktop computer screenif not, undercharging is often the cause.

by martin bissett
business development on a budget

there’s an overall sameness to the majority of accounting firm websites, and typically they make a lot of promises promises like

more on business development: lowballing is undervaluing yourself | appraise your prospects | do you have a pipeline or just a list? | overcome recurring fee apathy | banish the idea that selling is difficult | how to win your first client | you’re selling all the time

  • we’re big enough to cope and small enough to care, or
  • we are proactive, or
  • we’re not just bean counters, or
  • we have your best interests at heart, or
  • your business is our business.

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base retirement on today’s operations

5 critical issues and 4 behaviors of healthy organizations. by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute because many firms have some part of their compensation –…

busy season 2016: problem clients are causing big trouble

1 in 5 tax professionals report ‘worse’ year. here’s why…

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

it’s painful to think that the 2016 busy season is actually worse than the 2015 season for a large number of tax preparers. last year was bad. how can this year be worse?

join the survey; get the updates
join the survey; get the updates

more on tax season for pro members:  most tax professionals call 2016 busy season much improved over last year | stress less this tax season  |  is tax season the new fraud season?  |  5 tax season motivation tips  |  recognize your tax season resources  |  tax season 2016: irs in crisis  |  eliminate tax season excuses  |  record pre-season hiring surge: ready for biggest tax season ever?  |  16 qualities of a good tax season client

over a fifth of all respondents to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season 2016 survey are having a bad start to the year.

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who decides what?

businessman looking thoughtfulyou need to ponder some questions before you answer.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

everywhere you turn, you overhear someone talking about, being asked about the status of, or referring to their need to develop, a succession plan.

more on performance management: how retired partners are robbing their own firms | how involved should retired owners be? | how to find a partner’s replacement | action plans for transitioning partners | how retirement issues affect succession planning | succession: the questions to care about | 7 succession questions to ignore for now | cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions

as a matter of fact, for the past 12 years through surveys with the aicpa, we have been asking firms to share with us whether or not they have a succession plan in place.

when you consider the responses to this question from the pcps succession institute succession management surveys conducted in 2008 and 2012, clearly more and more firms are:

  • getting their act together,
  • documenting their succession management strategy and
  • thinking through the ramifications of retiring one or more senior owners.

here is the question we asked along with summary data from both surveys: read more →

5 solutions when clients balk at price

woman complaining to businesswoman at laptopfor busy season and year-round.

by sandi leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

no matter how small or large your practice is or how experienced you are, you’re probably going to meet some prospect or clients this busy season who are price-sensitive. many of you try to run from them as far away as possible, and others of you tell me you have to take these clients or you wouldn’t have a full practice.

more small-firm growth strategies for pro members (go pro here): stress less this tax season | 5 tax season motivation tips | keep more of your busy season earnings | make your services an investment, not an expense | 9 ways to boost your value (and your fees) | take advantage of 4 key marketing strategies  | four ways to stop leaving money on the table

so you might already have a solution to dealing with price-sensitive clients that you’re happy with. if you don’t, or are ready for more ideas, this post is for you.
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want change? lead it

chalkboard saying indicating that time to change is nowbonus checklist: 5 questions you need to ask.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

“say it with me now: i am a change agent.”

more radical cpa for pro members (go pro here): who’s your competition? everyone | how the ‘new firm’ was born | radical firms embrace 4 values | radical or complacent? you choose | 3 questions to ask if you dare | who, me a consultant? | target prospects for best fit | radical pricing fixes cash flow problems | keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line | the radical approach to bundling services | get radical about pricing  |  more…

before you consider adopting the cloud or any of the “new firm” mindset, you have to ask yourself if you are willing to be the change.
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how retired partners are robbing their own firms

masked man carrying large money bagif you don’t set policies and enforce retirement deals, your firm could become a financial hostage.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

as many as 30 percent of firms pay more to retiring partners than they initially agreed, according to our succession survey.

more on performance management for pro members: how involved should retired owners be? | firms say what would change retirement pay | action plans for transitioning partners | how retirement issues affect succession planning | how partner ratings factor into equity | develop your employees or suffer the consequences | what having your employees’ backs means | do cpa firms need management or leadership? |  job 1 for the practice owner: client management

here’s why.

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