today's features
audit & assurance

can a service center model solve audit staffing shortages?

providing superior client service eliminates the perception of audit as a commodity.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

most firms have abysmal project management, which makes it nearly impossible to see if there’s any room to take on extra work. plus, piling all the work into busy season means your people already work far beyond 40 hours a week. and, if you’re relying on timesheets as a measure of capacity, you may not be capturing the time your staff eats because the work is taking more than 40 or even 60 hours in a week to complete.

more: don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand | four questions to make your firm more successful as a business | say adios to audit fee pressure | deliver more audit value by getting out of the conference room | six essential elements in audit planning | before the audit: more than just planning | five crucial attributes for successful audit leadership | put the ethics code to work for your clients and your firm | is audit in crisis because of definitions?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

during the 2020-21 covid-19 pandemic, some audit firms had to lay people off, or reduce work hours as projects got canceled or curtailed. but the long-term trend for years has been a shortfall in talent that will only get worse. burnout from overwork is the number one cause of employee turnover.

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marketing & sales

analyze your firm to keep it current

six people seated at table for a business meeting, with another six people visible on videoconference screen

does everyone have the same vision?

by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services

i have discussed some of the issues behind developing an effective website. if your partners can’t agree on the overall points of the website, it merely means that there are different visions for the firm within the firm. the best way to overcome this obstacle is to conduct a self-analysis.

more: what makes a great website? | losing can help you win more | eight areas to cover for personal goals | service quality: the key to client retention | how life cycle changes your marketing | clients buy solutions, not features | make sure you know what you will get from your marketing | three pillars support a successful accounting firm | clients have six reasons for needing you | six ways to market your technology consulting practice | sixteen marketing activities to try | the four steps of your personal marketing process
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

you can use the following questions at a firm retreat. hand out the questions to the retreat participants prior to the meeting. ask the retreat participants to write out the answer to each question. then have open discussions about the questions and their answers, and try to come to some agreement. here are the questions:
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outlook & analysis

tax and accounting jobs and salaries show strength

line chart
overall accounting profession employment hits a glitch.

hourly earnings fluctuate.

by beth bellor
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

despite a slowing increase in employment for the u.s. economy in general, the nation’s tax and accounting sector is improving on most fronts, marking more than four years of solid year-over-year gains.

more: new study: strong and steady growth for accountant jobs and salaries | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | payroll leads job gains in tax & accounting sector
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

to be sure, tax and accounting employment nudged slightly down in july, according to the latest data available to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research. but it remains ahead of last year’s figures. and record highs are popping in key hiring segments, including staff, cpa firms and payroll services. is talk of staffing shortages overblown, or would growth be even stronger if more qualified candidates were available? read more →

pro member exclusive

what relevance means for staffing in accounting

five young business people at work in an office setting.

seventeen ways to improve.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

the business graveyard is littered with major organizations that missed the boat by failing to see cataclysmic game changers happening right before their eyes.

  • ice companies failed to get into refrigeration because they saw themselves in the ice business.
  • railroads missed out on autos and aerospace because they didn’t see themselves in the transportation business.
  • a ceo of digital equipment corporation said he couldn’t imagine why people would want a computer in their own house.
  • it took the wright brothers five years to get the u.s. government to even talk to them about their invention.

more: how accounting staffing has changed
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

in all fairness it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to anticipate and accept massive changes like these.
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pro member exclusive

implement these two daily rituals

calm balanced businessman sitting outdoors on bench in yoga lotus pose meditating, with office building and blue sky in background

bonus: lists to help you focus and measure.

by sandi leyva
the complete guide to marketing for tax & accounting firms

there’s something special about the word ritual. it sounds sacred, like you wouldn’t dare break it.

it sounds a little mysterious, as if there’s a component you can’t quite control. and it sounds colorful, like something full of character that you would never get bored of.

more: three ways to follow up with prospects | are you throwing away profits? | three steps to becoming a millionaire | how to use chatgpt to create images | create a bad website in ten easy steps | leverage your strengths to beat stress | are you crossing off your business bucket list? | ten ways to make your business irresistible | five ways to target the low-hanging fruit | are your revenue projections realistic?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

we don’t think about rituals much when it comes to business, but i think we should. what rituals could you create in your business that will rev up your revenues? here are two ideas to get your engines started.
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2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: a.c.c.o.u.n.t.s.

today’s bissett bullet: “a pipeline is essentially a list of people we would like to bring value to, but how can we use it to forecast new business?”

by martin bissett

how can you tell which of your potential clients are really looking to work with you and which are wasting your time?

introducing the a.c.c.o.u.n.t.s system. grading your prospects using a binary scoring choice – 0 for no, 10 for yes – to each of the following criteria will help you to determine who will want to work with you and who may just be comparing prices.

answer – can we solve their problems?
10 = yes, 0 = no

cash – can they afford us?
10 = yes, 0 = no

convince – do we need to convince anyone else in the business?
10 = yes, 0 = no

objections – are there any major objections unresolved?
10 = yes, 0 = no

undertake – is this work we actually want?
10 = yes, 0 = no

necessity – do they feel the need/urgency for change?
10 = yes, 0 = no

timing – is the next meeting date in the diary?
10 = yes, 0 = no

signatory – does your proposal need someone else to sign it off?
10 = yes, 0 = no

the higher your score, the more likely you will win the work. got 6 yeses? there’s a 60 percent chance you will win the work. now, what do you need to do to change the 0s to 10s?

today’s to-do:

start to grade your pipeline against the a.c.c.o.u.n.t.s. system to help you prioritize your efforts and forecast new business in any given week or month.

see more bissett bullets here

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outlook & analysis

tax law is driving practice development

bar chart

virtual communication, hybrid work environments still pose challenges.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

new laws and regulations now rank as the primary management challenge at accounting practices around the world, according to a report from caseware.

more: olympics of outsourcing and offshoring for accountants | new study: strong and steady growth for accountant jobs and salaries | turnover timebomb: 4 of 5 senior managers at risk | are client services a fourth-rate priority? | revenues rising as pricing models evolve | 150 credit hours: helping or hindering? | can’t recruit? retain! | the accountant as a strategic business partner | report: efficiency still the top priority for accounting firms | is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | audit firms nervous about new tech | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

and though the difficulty, and even impossibility, of meeting all legal requirements is a massive challenge, meeting that challenge is a driver of rapid change in the industry. this is evidenced by the second-most serious challenge, adopting new technologies – technologies directly or indirectly aimed at meeting legal requirements.
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accounting influencers

how we solve the accounting talent pipeline problem | accounting influencers

“it’s not just debits and credits.”

 

accounting influencers
with rob brown

look into potential solutions for the alarming talent shortage with sue coffey, ceo of public accounting at the aicpa, and lexy kessler, partner at aprio and chair of the aicpa’s national pipeline advisory group, in this episode of accounting influencers, hosted by rob brown.

more accounting influencers with rob brown here

coffey and kessler discuss the overwhelming evidence pointing to a significant talent pipeline issue in accounting, including declining enrolment in accounting programs, fewer students pursuing the cpa credential, and challenges in retaining young professionals in their first five years of employment. but can the profession overcome this challenge?

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accounting arc

accountants in pop culture: myths, realities, and stereotypes – accounting arc

from “the office” to “parks and recreation,” listen in on how tv and movies shape our view of accountants.

accounting arc
with liz mason, byron patrick, and donny shimamoto.
center for accounting transformation

accountants are often depicted in popular culture in ways that range from humorous to downright exaggerated. in a recent episode of arc, hosts liz mason, cpa; byron patrick, cpa.citp, cgma; and donny shimamoto, cpa.citp, cgma, delve into these portrayals, discussing their favorite fictional accountants and the stereotypes that come with them. 

more accounting arc

patrick, vice president of client success at the b3 method institute, starts the conversation with “the office,” where characters like oscar, kevin, and angela offer a comedic take on the profession. “the beauty of ‘the office’ is in its exaggerated realism,” patrick explains. angela’s strict, by-the-book approach and kevin’s more laid-back attitude reflect common perceptions of accountants. “they were the butt of many jokes, but also some of my favorite accountants to watch,” he adds. 

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marketing & sales

perception, even your own, is reality

young businesswoman looking in mirror

you have to believe in yourself.

by martin bissett
 business development on a budget

“no man has the ability to step outside of the shadow of his own character.” – robespierre

as far as our potential clients are concerned, how they perceive us is how we really are to them, regardless of the truth of the matter.

more: eight questions that target personal accountability | how to prepare for partnership | five questions to help forecast your firm growth | do you deliver on your website’s promises? | five questions about facing challenges | be clear about your roi proposition | it’s time to prepare the next generation | who are you more committed to, your firm or your clients? | nine checkpoints before every prospect meeting | three questions about conversion | six keys to turning prospects into clients | don’t overlook internal communication | four reasons people struggle with communication | why firm culture matters for partners
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

because of this, it’s important to realize that when we are meeting a new potential client who has not been referred to us, it does not matter what the reality of our value proposition is; it matters how that potential client perceives our value proposition. therefore, to be effective in winning work, we must understand how we can positively influence their perception of us at each stage of the relationship-building process.
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pricing, fees & billing rates

create more meaningful kpis

employees must understand what they’re working toward.

by jody padar
radical pricing – by the radical cpa

key performance indicators separate the signals from the noise. throwing timesheets into the trash is your opportunity to focus all your attention on what is most important to your firm’s continued success.

more: five areas to ground new metrics other than time | five reasons to ditch timesheets for good | productize services for consistent client value | digitize clients for standardization | six steps to creating a standardized practice | four ways automation pushes the paradigm shift | are you the key signal caller for your clients? | value pricing requires defining your clients | how value pricing impacts your employees
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

good kpis are quantifiable measurements agreed to beforehand. they must be important to the organization as a whole and specific. here are a few examples you might consider adopting:
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pro member exclusive

recently discovered antibiotic spares ’good’ bacteria

lolamicin defeated 130 drug-resistant strains of common gram-negative bacteria.

by rick richardson
technology this week

despite all the positive effects antibiotics have on the planet, one of the major drawbacks to their use is how they indiscriminately destroy both bad and good bacteria.

besides eliminating disease-causing invaders in the human body, a single course of this life-saving medication can have an “immense” effect on the gut and the microorganisms that live there, according to the national center for biotechnology information.

more: is nasa about to make air travel cheaper? | startup creates legolike brick that can store air pollution | your brain can store 10 times more than anyone thought | how many ev charging stations will we need? | google launches new private space feature | microsoft discovers a security flaw impacting android apps | what is an ai pc, and should i get one? | fool’s gold may not be so foolish now | ai-engineered enzyme could be solution to plastic pollution | german researchers develop ev motor with no rare-earth magnets
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

certain bacteria or fungi may occasionally overgrow because of this influence. for example, following antibiotic treatment, women may have a 30 percent chance of acquiring a yeast infection.

researchers at the university of illinois in urbana-champaign are developing a remedy. lolamicin is a novel antibiotic that has been found to target selectively gram-negative infections, sparing other bacteria.

read more →

audit & assurance

don’t take on audits in an industry you don’t understand

don’t try to wear too many hats. pick your specialty area and become a guru.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

industry expertise is essential for businessmindedness. for me, the primary ingredient for building a successful audit practice is to avoid taking on work that you don’t understand. too many firms say they can audit any balance sheet, but that’s when they can get into trouble. many firms get sued because they made a bad business decision. they thought they could take on this unique industry and get it right. if you dabble in any industry, you will put your firm and yourself at tremendous risk.

more: four questions to make your firm more successful as a business | move to advisory and assurance with relevance | how ‘business expert cpas’ get their own business wrong | say adios to audit fee pressure | eight items to cover in the audit exit to deepen client relationships and prove value | know your three audit w’s | planning lays the foundation of audit relevance | how do we drive relevance in audit? | before the audit: more than just planning | are you correctly identifying the relevance intersection? | lack of relevance drives audit commoditization
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

when the u.s. department of labor looked at the quality of employee benefit plan (ebp) audits, they found plenty of problems. that 2014 study found “a clear link between the number of employee benefit plan audits performed by a cpa and the quality of the audit work performed.” almost half of the firms the dol looked at performed only one or two ebp audits per year, and 75 percent of those had deficiencies. over half of those (56%) had five or more deficiencies.

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