who, me a consultant?

young man facing image of himselfit’s time to look at yourself in a new light.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

i love andersen consulting, now accenture. i especially love the story that when andersen consulting first started, the consul­tants who worked for the firm were not accountants. they hired mostly liberal arts majors – creative thinkers who were exception­al at communicating and innovating, but not so great with the numbers. the executives at andersen taught the consultants accounting and, well, how to be an actual consultant.

more on radicalism: target prospects for best fit | how spiritual value affects pricing | radical pricing fixes cash flow problems | each social channel has a language | 5 radical ways to be social and strategic | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa | 5 radical transparencies; are you ready? | why start being radical now? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas

>>> sign up for jody padar’s radical cpa updates for the future-ready firm

i hope this motivates today’s firms. this younger generation of accountants has more than 150 hours of accounting, but they are less well rounded than previous generations. this is a problem.

we can no longer complain to the aicpa as to when they made that 150-hour rule, why they created more necessity for young accountants to learn more useless financial knowledge that’s constantly changing as opposed to having them develop better writing and analytical skills. that’s most important in today’s workforce.

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how small firms can use value pricing

two businesswomen meeting in an officestep 1: know what your customer values.

by michelle long and sandi leyva
the ultimate accounting virtual conference

value pricing is commonly used with consultants in large firms, but how do we apply it to the very small firms?

what is value pricing? it’s a special type of pricing method that is highly misunderstood in this industry. a lot of people, when they go up on their price, they call it value pricing and that’s not correct. value pricing has nothing to do with cost, it has nothing to do with time or market; it has to do with what the customer vales. that is the only input that goes into value pricing: what the customer values. there is no relation to cost.

more small firm growth strategies: 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

value pricing is hard because you have to know what the customer values. you have to be really good at putting yourself in the client’s shoes in order to do value pricing. now let me talk about different pricing methods briefly because i think that will help you a little bit.

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the 4 best ways to use your senior partners

senior businessman mentoring two younger workersand 6 reasons you need them around.

by august j. aquila
creating the effective partnership

there may be some senior partners who want to spend their remaining years basking in the sun or playing golf.

more on leadership: 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

but given the negative and low returns of the stock market the last few years, more senior partners will be concerned about their economic future and will want to stay involved in the profession. this can be a win-win situation for both parties or it can be a lose-lose. read more →

how to tell a culture change is due

businessman sitting in office chair, covering his face with his hand7 signs your firm may be in trouble.

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

accountability, according to the merriam-webster online dictionary, is “the obligation or responsibility to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.” let’s explore what this definition means.

first, there is an obligation. an obligation is a promise to do something. if a company has a financial obligation and fails to meet it, it may go into bankruptcy. if individuals fail to meet their obligations they also fall into a state of bankruptcy – i.e., failure.

more on leadership for pro members: 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

second, it is a personal responsibility. each individual needs to account for his or her own success or failure.

impact of lack of accountability

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target prospects for best fit

young businesswoman speaking with clientfocus on what they need, not what you want to sell.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

when you look at your practice from a sales and a marketing perspective, make sure you have enough leads coming in your door because you have to be okay if someone doesn’t like your fixed price. as accountants, we accept way too much bad work just because it’s there under the guise of the firm needs to “pay its bills.”

more on radicalism: how spiritual value affects pricing | radical pricing fixes cash flow problems | keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line | a radical close look at value pricing | each social channel has a language | get ready for radical transparency | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa | being radical is all about your customer

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

as your firm matures you have to get rid of your yucky customers because your yucky customers will bring you down. they bring down your firm and your team will get frustrated. bad custom­ers are culture killers. part of running a good firm is clearing out the bad customers.

look at those a, b, c and d list customers, and get rid of the d and maybe some c customers so that you have more capacity to serve the good ones. if they’re not the right fit for your firm, you have to be okay with that. just know, there’s another one going to come along soon. as ron baker says, “you can never price the wrong customer.”

delivering what you promise read more →

five ways to raise your prices

money roll, calculator and magnifying glasshint: you don’t have to do it all at once.

by michelle long and sandi leyva

we know some of you might be afraid to raise prices, but there are some painless ways for both you and the client.

more small firm growth strategies: building reputation to build your business | 3 killer lead generation channels | your existing clients are your best leads | need more business? focus on referrals

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

here are five:

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develop your employees or suffer the consequences

businesspeople discussing chartsevery employee, for developmental purposes, needs to directly report to somebody.

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

you may have established a competency model for your firm, but how do you use it to develop your people? let’s walk through what an action plan might look like to drive that development.

it is common for firms to have talented partners and principals.  depending on the firm’s size and organization structure, things start getting fuzzier from a competence perspective from there on down the organizational chart.

more on performance management: 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

for example, some firms have a strong management group with a gap in talent starting at the senior or supervisor level. others might experience their talent gap at the manager level because everyone who shows any self-starting initiative or promise is moved to a principal position early on. it doesn’t matter the size of your firm, you will likely be feeling a big gap or drop in talent somewhere in your organizational chart.

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how spiritual value affects pricing

padar_valuepricingbonus checklist: 34 sources of client value.

by jody padar

what we miss the most when we don’t value price is the intan­gible value, that spiritual value.

more on radicalism: radical pricing fixes cash flow problems | keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line | the radical approach to bundling services | get ready for radical transparency | 5 radical ways to be social and strategic | 10 radical steps into the cloud | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa | 5 radical transparencies; are you ready? | being radical starts with being the change | going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

if it’s lacking in your firm, ask yourself these nine questions:

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5 skills to grow your practice

young businesswoman walking up green line on a graphlisten for your clients’ pain points.

by sandi leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

we’ve worked super-hard on gaining our accounting, tax and auditing skills. those skills alone will keep us working as employees for someone else, but what if we want to go out on our own or grow our business beyond what we have now?

more on small-firm growth strategies: is it time to reboot your practice? | 5 ways to get more referrals | how a spreadsheet can help stop leaks | 9 ways to boost your value (and your fees) | 3 ways to get to ‘yes’ with prospects | two daily rituals: focus and measure | 5 cool ways to streamline data sharing | 7 ways to get new revenue from old clients | 5 things you know that clients don’t

here are five skills to consider adding to your toolbox so you can get ahead faster. how do you rate in each of these areas?
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radical pricing fixes cash flow problems

you’re in the money, year round.

boomby jody padar
the radical cpa

the best part about value pricing and fixed pricing is cash flow.

from a customer perspective, customers like knowing what they’re going to pay up front. they like having a monthly payment over an annual fee. they will buy the payment over the car.

more on radicalism: keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line | the radical approach to bundling services | the radical approach to pricing | a radical close look at value pricing | let’s get radical about content | each social channel has a language | how social media transforms firms to their core | 10 radical steps into the cloud | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa | the market is moving toward the radicals | 5 radical transparencies; are you ready? | going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice

for instance, $6,000 is hard for them to think about but you if tell them $500 a month, that’s instantly more affordable. it’s psychology. customers know the costs and expectations up front.

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keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line

bonus: a new breed of engagement letter.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

scope creep generally takes the form of new services being added once the project has started. typically, these are not properly reviewed and the team is expected to deliver them with the same resources and in the same time as the original scope.

the opposite of scope creep is scope seep. this is when the accountant or team volunteers to do extra work and take on extra requirements and issues. now of course the customer will never turn down “free help” and when this is done over and over, the customers quickly assume all of their issues they vaguely speak to you about are included in the price.

more on radicalism: the radical approach to bundling services | the radical approach to pricing | a radical close look at value pricing | get radical about pricing | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa | the market is moving toward the radicals | 5 radical transparencies; are you ready?

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

because we’re afraid or not used to confronting uncomfortable subjects (ahem, pricing), too often we let them change a part of our project management. we really need to get solid on what a change request is and make sure that when change requests are implemented, that the required pricing comes with it.

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your existing clients are your best leads

sandi leyva and michelle long
leyva and long

and the cheapest. bonus!

by sandi leyva and michelle long
the ultimate accounting virtual conference

i’d be willing to bet that almost all of you have clients who don’t know about a service you offer. and i bet they could use more of your help.

more small firm growth strategies: need more business? focus on referrals

when i was doing web designing, i’d get new business — new requests for work from the client — almost every time i sent out an invoice.  if i had been more proactive, i could have gotten a lot more work. so we have to make time in our business to look a little bit. for example, i could have reviewed the website and made some suggestions and generated more work for myself. you can do the same thing when you’re keeping books for clients.

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cpa firms hit the brakes on increases in billing rates

cpa firm price index through august 2015
cpa firm price index through august 2015

the good news? a lot less volatility.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

after a period of rapid price increases, cpa firms appear to be backing off on rate hikes.

the price index for u.s. cpa firms reached 117.2 in august, representing a 15.1 percent price increase since the january 2005 baseline. this is the second time this year the index has reached this mark, with the other in march, and the highest point except for february’s 117.5. it denotes increases of 0.6 percent for the month and 0.3 percent for the year.

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