best practices for client transition

man watching handshake between two womenimproper transitions can lead to reduced retirement benefits.

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

when a partner is retiring, there is a transition process that we recommend. let’s break it down into a few simple steps:

more on performance management: how client transition is abused | best practices for mandatory retirement | how retirement issues affect succession planning | succession: the questions to care about | 7 succession questions to ignore for now | how partner ratings factor into equity | hazards of not reallocating equity | the pitfalls of equity allocation and reallocation | develop your employees or suffer the consequences | cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions | how to target what skills to develop now | what having your employees’ backs means | 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them) | do cpa firms need management or leadership? |  job 1 for the practice owner: client management

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partners love, hate leadership

aquila leadership context modelmanagement can’t be left to others. (drat!)

by robert j. lees, august j. aquila and derek klyhn
creating the effective partnership

regardless of their ownership structure, most firms either operate as partnerships or would prefer to operate as partnerships.

more on leadership for pro members: 8 ways leaders destroy firms | the 4 best ways to use your senior partners | 11 steps to building a better partnership team | 6 things leaders must do | how to build a growth-centric pricing strategy | how to combine two firms after merger: carefully

the tensions between being a business and the loss of the values and ethics of being a partnership feature strongly in our research.
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best practices for handling mistakes

businessman horrified by what he sees on computer screen3 steps to take.

by michelle long and sandi leyva
the ultimate accounting virtual conference

we’ve all made a mistake. admit it; we have all made a mistake before. maybe we missed a deadline or you posted things to the wrong account or overlooked something. what’s a mistake you made before?

more small firm growth strategies: how to manage client expectations | how to handle price sensitivity | how to handle referrals – and how not to | trashing the spreadsheet: best practices in modern expense management | how to find hidden money for your clients | why clients need dashboards | 3 ways to implement value pricing | how small firms can use value pricing | 3 ways to raise your prices | building reputation to build your business | 3 killer lead generation channels | your existing clients are your best leads | need more business? focus on referrals

the first time i made a mistake i thought the world was going to end. i was devastated and thought my future and having my own firm was over. i’m out of business because i messed something up.
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how to manage client expectations

businesswoman conducting video meetingneed data by a certain date? make it clear what happens when you don’t get it … and what it costs.

by michelle long and sandi leyva
the ultimate accounting virtual conference

you’ve accepted a new client and now you have to communicate with that client and set the expectations. so we want to clarify and manage the expectations. we want to make sure we tell the client what information are they supposed to give to us and when, how and in what format. you need to tell the client “i need your receipts to be scanned and input into this folder by the 10th work day of the month” or every week on thursday – whatever it is.

more small firm growth strategies: how to handle price sensitivity | how to handle referrals – and how not to | trashing the spreadsheet: best practices in modern expense management | how to find hidden money for your clients | why clients need dashboards | 3 ways to implement value pricing | how small firms can use value pricing | 3 ways to raise your prices | building reputation to build your business | 3 killer lead generation channels | your existing clients are your best leads | need more business? focus on referrals

so keep in mind when you get a new client you have to spend a little time with them up front training them. it’s like having a new puppy right? you have to train them initially, spend more time with them and hopefully they don’t potty all over the floor. so we have to train our clients, spend more time with them up front and give them very specific information. if you want them to scan and upload documents, then do a remote session and log in and show them how to do it and walk them through it how to do it.
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the 4 new growth engines in today’s marketplace

…far—or do much—to bring in business. but that’s no longer the case. today’s accounting marketplace is sophisticated and fiercely competitive, with low margins and deflated pricing. old-model, new-model – what’s…

8 questions that staff ask in a merger

group of businesspeople hiding their faces behind question mark signs at officeand 6 steps to handling the process.

by august aquila

to get your employees’ commitment to a merger, they must understand how it impacts them personally and see the opportunities for themselves.

more on leadership for pro members: does your dashboard need fine-tuning? | 6 practical ways to innovate | 8 ways leaders destroy firms | the 4 best ways to use your senior partners | how to tell a culture change is due | today’s top 6 partner compensation trends | why your firm should be a republic | partnership is about persuasion | how to build a growth-centric pricing strategy | how to combine two firms after merger: carefully

let’s assume that the announcement for the upcoming merger or sale is handled properly. in other words, it was not leaked or there were no rumors on the street. you can be sure that once the announcement is made, employees start thinking about one thing – how does this event affect me? this is about self-preservation; it’s an emotional and psychological question that everyone will ask themselves.
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are we really that radical?

illustrating customer at centerbonus chart: waves of innovation from 1970 to the present.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

what the radical cpas have done is put our cus­tomers first. we have made our firms customer-centric instead of the traditional firm-centric model of years past.

more on radicalism: customer viewpoint: creating a journey map | basics of process mapping: how and who | target prospects for best fit | how spiritual value affects pricing | keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line | make radical connections | 5 radical ways to be social and strategic | how social media transforms firms to their core | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa 

our firms have changed to meet the needs and requirements of today’s fast-paced mobile, social, value, experience-driven consumers.

being a radical cpa is hard.

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how to choose clients right

businesswoman on the phone in front of modern buildingquestions to ask, plus a welcome letter for those who make the cut.

by michelle long and sandi leyva
the ultimate accounting virtual conference

you really need to have confidence when you’re discussing your fees with your clients and realize that you may lose some clients. that’s okay because they’re probably not the kind of client you want to have anyway.

more small firm growth strategies: how to handle price sensitivity | how to handle referrals – and how not to | trashing the spreadsheet: best practices in modern expense management | how to find hidden money for your clients | why clients need dashboards | 3 ways to implement value pricing | how small firms can use value pricing | 3 ways to raise your prices | building reputation to build your business | 3 killer lead generation channels | your existing clients are your best leads | need more business? focus on referrals

i had one conference participant say, “many ask about price but i now see it as an opportunity to explain the value i can provide.” that’s great, i like it. someone else suggested saying, “it seems like responding to price is your primary concern.” that puts it back on them to let them explain it and so that’s a good idea as well.
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does your dashboard need fine-tuning?

chalkboard illustration of the balanced scorecard conceptnew times call for new cpa firm metrics.

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

don’t kid yourself – it’s a new world out there. accounting firms need to become more transparent. partners and employees need to truly understand the firm’s vision and value proposition. they need to see how their daily actions move the firm toward its goals. mission and vision can no longer be vague, fluffy statements that mean nothing to your clients, employees and partners, and prospects.

more on leadership for pro members: 6 practical ways to innovate | 8 ways leaders destroy firms | the 4 best ways to use your senior partners | how to tell a culture change is due | today’s top six partner compensation trends | 11 steps to building a better partnership team | why your firm should be a republic | 8 financial ducks to line up now | partnership is about persuasion | 6 things leaders must do | it’s not always about money: 16 tweaks for your comp system | how to build a growth-centric pricing strategy | how to combine two firms after merger: carefully

this new environment requires firms to actually implement their goals by looking at specific objectives and measures. performance and execution are the key operatives. the old measures, by themselves, won’t do the job anymore. they are still valuable, but new measures are needed today. firms no longer compete with the firm down the street in terms of mere marketing. they now compete in how they
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customer viewpoint: creating a journey map

various cartoon facial expressionsbonus: examples, including a complete tax return preparation.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

we use a value stream map, a process map and a sipoc in process mapping. what all of these have in common is that they highlight the process, time, inventory levels and the actors.

more on radicalism: understanding the types and uses of process maps | 4 questions for choosing the right digital workflow tool | target prospects for best fit | radical pricing fixes cash flow problems | the radical approach to bundling services | how i got started being social

however, one key variable they all fail to take into account is the customer’s emotions as they journey through the process. a customer journey map solves this problem.
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how to handle price sensitivity

man in glasses and striped shirt holding a pink piggy bank“have you ever known anyone to go up to an attorney and say, ‘why do you charge so much?’”

by michelle long and sandi leyva
the ultimate accounting virtual conference

how comfortable do you feel when a potential client asks you how much do you charge?

more small firm growth strategies: how to handle referrals – and how not to | trashing the spreadsheet: best practices in modern expense management | how to find hidden money for your clients | why clients need dashboards | 3 ways to implement value pricing | 3 ways to raise your prices | building reputation to build your business | 3 killer lead generation channels | your existing clients are your best leads

don’t you love that? you answer the phone and the first question is how much do you charge? how do you feel about this? are you very comfortable, somewhat comfortable or somewhat uncomfortable or very uncomfortable?

of our conference participants, 37 percent are somewhat uncomfortable and another 9 percent are very uncomfortable when someone asks about their fees. so that’s almost half of us are uncomfortable discussing our fees. only a fourth of us, 24 percent, are very comfortable.

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survey results: client retention drives today’s pricing strategies

maximizing revenue comes second. profits, third.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pricing strategy study
join the survey. get the details.

raising rates is risky. but so is not raising rates. you have to raise them right and at the right time. and not on a willy-nilly whim. you need to think about it. you need a rationale.

in search of reasonable rationales—rationales that work—卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 is asking practitioners for the rationale behind their pricing strategy. and they are being generous in their response. most say that strategies were lacking or could be improved. read more →

survey results: chaos in tax & accounting pricing

z_pricing survey logo with shadow
join the survey. get the results.

consistently inconsistent strategies.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

if there’s one especially surprising result from the new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 price strategies and trends survey, it’s that over a third of responding accountants say they lack a consistent strategy for setting rates.

the survey remains open as we continue to gather more in-depth data. join the survey. get the results

but to put it another way, they have a consistent strategy of adjusting rates as necessary to accommodate the needs of both the cpa firm and any given individual client.

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