today's features
outlook & analysis

beware the work-life/workload doom spiral

man on spiral staircase

five strategies for keeping your firm out of it.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

is your firm in a doom spiral?

more: business model transformation: do it or die | misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | three ways to raise the bar for your business | accountants’ advice: be careful, quick, creative … and lean
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

here’s what it looks like:

  1. a cpa quits or retires.
  2. the firm can’t attract a replacement.
  3. the firmwide workload remains constant.
  4. increased workloads get redistributed.
  5. a cpa quits because of stress.
  6. workloads increase again.
  7. someone else quits. no one gets hired.
  8. the firm turns away clients.
  9. revenue drops. salaries stagnate.
  10. uncompetitive salaries hinder hiring.
  11. a cpa quits or retires.
  12. repeat.

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2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: be intentional

today’s bissett bullet: “when you reach retirement and look back on your career, how would you like to be remembered?
as a trusted advisor who helped their clients in times of need perhaps?
as a leader who invested in and developed their people?”

by martin bissett

if you can’t define that, your career will be subject to external factors. you will get that promotion only if it is offered. you’ll get that pay raise only if it is offered.

start with the end in mind. your career goals may evolve over time but know this: whatever you decide, they are unlikely to happen unless you are intentional.

today’s to-do:

decide today what you want your career to be remembered for.

see more bissett bullets here

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pricing, fees & billing rates

value pricing requires defining your clients

choose your client personas wisely.

by jody padar
radical pricing – by the radical cpa

one drawback of the hourly pricing model is its one-size-fits-all nature. every client is charged the same rates per hour, with the only difference being the number of hours each uses.

but the world isn’t made up of identical people working in identical businesses and driving identical cars to and from their identical homes. thank goodness!

more: how value pricing impacts your employees | six steps to start value pricing | what are you selling? | three critical factors drive the value pricing trend | accounting disruptors are heading your way … with deep pockets | the convergence of trends makes pricing changes imperative | stop looking for talent that does not exist | advisory work must be priced by value, not hours
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

clients are as different as you or me, but we can group them into buckets called personas based on shared values or traits. in a client-centric firm, it helps to understand these basic personas so you can more efficiently meet each client’s needs. you probably have a handful of personas in your firm right now. you just haven’t seen them as a grouping because, in your bill-by-the-hour model, it doesn’t matter who they are.

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podcast

steve yoss, quick tech talk: cloud computing, anywhere, everywhere, all at once

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.

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quick tech talk
with steve yoss
cpe today

the cloud is probably one of the most meaningful technologies to have been invented and deployed. the easy, free exchange of information has never been better than it is today. cloud computing gives financial professionals the ability to make the world their workplace. you can do a bank reconciliation while standing in line waiting to check out at the grocery store. you could send a client invoice while on a road trip with your family; although you should probably be enjoying their company. the point is that you’re no longer limited to having to be in one physical geographic space.

click here for more steve yoss

if the system is online or on the internet, if the data is available, you can work anywhere. and that gives you the ability to have clients in any part of the world. it allows you to hire and have staff anywhere in the world. it allows you to grow your business in ways our forefathers could never have seen possible. it’s crazy to think just a couple of years ago, the only employment opportunities you might have had were within an hour’s drive of your home. now you can work anywhere, and anywhere can work for you.

marketing & sales

do you deliver on your website’s promises?

man viewing desktop computer screen

hint: undercharging might be to blame.

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

  • 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.

more: showing leadership through customer service | firm not thriving? five fixes | five questions for grading prospects | health, wealth, stealth: challenges on the path to partnership | don’t let recurring fees kill your practice | rate your personal purpose | five ways to make selling easier | six keys to getting a proposal accepted | tell the world your worth | four surprising keys to communication | culture can’t be ignored
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

you’ve seen all those, haven’t you? are these or similar promises on your website?
read more →

outlook & analysis

why the dry pipeline? it’s about time

serious young man studying

and it’s about time the profession took action.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

it’s been with us from the beginning. we can measure it but we can’t see it. it’s our friend and our enemy. it’s infinite, yet we never have enough of it.

and it may be the big leak in the cpa pipeline.

more: business model transformation: do it or die | misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | three ways to raise the bar for your business | accountants’ advice: be careful, quick, creative … and lean
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

yes, it’s time.

so concludes the illinois cpa society’s 2024 “re-decoding the decline” survey and report on why the pipeline of incoming accounting talent has been going from dribble to drip.
read more →

pro member exclusive

fool’s gold may not be so foolish now

extracting lithium from oil and gas activities could ease the shift from greenhouse gas-producing fossil fuels.

by rick richardson
technology this week

lithium is a component of electric automobiles, laptops, cell phones and even nuclear fusion reactors. as such, it is rapidly emerging as the most significant element of the future.

more: ai-engineered enzyme could be solution to plastic pollution | german researchers develop ev motor with no rare-earth magnets | educators can benefit from new generative ai course | ai named the highest-paying in-demand tech skill for 2024 | ai generates revolutionary new battery design | breakthrough implant uses excess blood sugar to generate electricity | nuclear battery could keep your future phone running for 50 years | mit tests new ingestible vital signs sensor | study: solar will lead global energy by 2050
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

however, there are significant financial and environmental expenses associated with lithium extraction, so it’s exciting that a recent study shows that pyrite, sometimes known as fool’s gold, may be a viable supply of the metal.

read more →

outlook & analysis

business model transformation: do it or die

pair of diagrams
adapted from aicpa and other sources.

 

four areas ripe for change.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

five ugly facts your firm may need to deal with:

  1. seventy percent of cpas are at or near retirement age.
  2. the numbers of accounting graduates and cpa exam candidates are both dropping.

more: global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | accountants’ advice: be careful, quick, creative … and lean | top performers lead in leverage, culling, outsourcing | firms culling clients as staffing woes persist | compensation’s up, but up enough to retain staff? | are accountants charging too little?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

  1. gen z (ages 20-30) is transforming the labor market with new values on workplace environment, compensation, benefits, leadership, dei policies, culture and corporate mission.
  2. the majority of current cpas have no interest in becoming partners.
  3. roughly half of current cpas might consider finding another firm, and almost 15 percent wouldn’t mind leaving the profession altogether.

read more →

outlook & analysis

misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade

woman mentoring teen girl

five notions you can help correct.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the national pipeline advisory group is worried about the pre-professional pipeline that takes in students at one end and, years later, pumps cpas to a business world that desperately needs them.

more: whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | three ways to raise the bar for your business
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

and there’s plenty of reason to worry. the number of students majoring in accountancy is in steady decline, dropping from 75,153 diplomas in 2018 to 62,318 in 2022.

the number of candidates for the cpa exam is also dropping. it dipped 6 percent in 2023 after a 7 percent dip the year before.
read more →

accounting arc

accounting arc: top 10 strategies for managing growth

the takeaways crucial to ensuring business sustainability and continuous improvement.

subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).


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

when a cpa realizes his business-owner client has never paid sales tax, it can be a jaw-dropping moment.

when they realize the client has owned and operated a successful business for years and is nearing 100 years old, it could cause an aneurysm.

more: accounting arc: exploring ai’s role in modern accounting | accounting arc: unraveling the collapse of silicon valley bank | accounting arc: introducing accounting, reaction, comedy | harper & co. cpas: the perspective of a non-accountant is imperative | menlo innovations: improve office culture by overhauling internal reviews | dustin wheeler: for serious cas success, hire tech teams | chase birky: overcoming paralysis by analysis |

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

byron patrick, cpa/citp, cgma, vice president of client success at the b3 method institute, kicks off the fourth episode of accounting arc by explaining how his experience in this real-world example illuminates the often-overlooked complexities of sales tax compliance. patrick recounts how the scenario underscores the necessity of keeping accurate records and the potential disasters of neglect, emphasizing the long-term impact on business operations.

read more →

marketing & sales

service quality: the key to client retention

smiling man talking on phone in office

bonus: a list of 10 best practices.

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

in an earlier post, i discussed the cost that firms incur because of poor service. you may recall that the firm in question (a $7 million firm) lost $435,000 because of its poor service quality. once it realized this, it took immediate steps to improve its service quality. here are four things that became more evident to the firm:

more: calculate the cost of losing clients | the secrets of great business developers | dodge the four curses of a production orientation | client acquisition never stops | ‘sales’ is not a four-letter word | maybe what you need is a marketing audit | three types of marketing message, and which is best | why you need progress billing | five tips for cross-selling and upselling | five keys to successful marketing
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

  1. the firm realized that when it comes to service quality, there is always room for improvement. the more you give your clients, the more they will expect . don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this; it’s just a fact of life. the firm started to benchmark the best practices in service quality. a list of the best practices they identified is included at the end of this post.

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marketing & sales

bissett bullet: what is your forecast?

today’s bissett bullet: “what if i told you that if you boil it all down, marketing is nothing more than forecasting?”

by martin bissett

imagine you have a vertical and horizontal axis labeled probability and consistency.

if you decide to engage in a marketing activity that has a high probability of success, but your efforts are inconsistent, you’ll see a rollercoaster effect.

if you engage in more general activity with a lower probability of success with inconsistent effort, you’ve guessed it, you’ll see little to no results.

that same general form of marketing activity, executed consistently and frequently, by the sheer law of averages will generate a trickle of inquiries.

high consistency and high-probability marketing will bring an influx of new inquiries that can become fee-paying clients for your firm.

today’s to-do:

plot your current marketing activity. what is the highest probability method for your firm that you can commit to carrying out the most consistently?

see more bissett bullets here

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