767 search results for mendlowitz

don’t pass up opportunities

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businesswoman working on laptop giving thumbs up signare you ready to say yes?

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

i certainly have been fortunate in my career to become involved in a wide range of activities including interesting clients, great staff and partners, appearing on television, writing articles and books and presenting speeches. people always ask me what i did to get started. my answer is simple: “i never passed up an opportunity that came my way.”

more: when to say no to pro bono work | large clients we landed from quickbooks consulting | 26 value-added benefits clients need to know | how an out-of-work tax preparer ‘saved’ our lives | i always want to be ’the other guy’s accountant’
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

i have seen many accountants and others pass by – literally kicking aside – opportunities immediately in their path, and then they wonder when they will get their “big break.” what a shame for them.
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when to say no to pro bono work

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young businesswoman putting hand out in "stop" gesture while sipping coffeesome people can afford to pay for your efforts – and should.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

i just finished reading john grisham’s novel “gray mountain,” about a young attorney working in a legal aid clinic. at one point she is asked to prepare a will for a woman with property worth about $200,000. this reminded me of some pro bono work i have been asked to do for people who could clearly afford it, and that caused resentment by me.

more: large clients we landed from quickbooks consulting | why we train on excel, word and adobe | stop pricing by the hour | getting by giving back | some mistakes i made | growing with a client | getting a referral from an adversary | start with the cash | why a break-even analysis matters
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

i have done my share of real pro bono work and was glad to do it. it left me satisfied that i was able to help someone. but for those who could afford it, i felt like a sap.
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large clients we landed from quickbooks consulting

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two women in office shake handssometimes small bait catches big fish.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

i’ve written about quickbooks and how we became the largest qb consultants in new jersey along with receiving a few clients with very substantial fees. i’ve gotten some calls asking about them and what we did, so here is a description of three of them.

more: why we train on excel, word and adobe | i used to hate quickbooks | things change | how to be ’the other guy’s accountant’ | why we ‘kill’ to get partnership returns out quickly | my first thought is to never turn down business | becoming an expert in irs collections
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the first client was someone who called asking to spend only one hour with us. at the time our minimum was five hours. we figured we would do him a favor and we told him the hourly rate if he would come to our office. he was a very nice, well-dressed man and spent the hour. he called us about a month later and asked if he could “buy another hour.”
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why we train on excel, word and adobe

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woman training man at computerare you losing time every day?

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

i’ve written about my introduction to quickbooks and how we took our entire staff to a training course for it.

more: i used to hate quickbooks | 26 value-added benefits clients need to know | how an out-of-work tax preparer ‘saved’ our lives | i always want to be ’the other guy’s accountant’ | learning from lee iacocca et al. | i lost a client to an accounting firm with cheaper fees
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

today i am writing about training for the most basic software we use: excel, word and adobe. we have taken our staff to courses for these programs and have periodic in-house training, but i realize many firms do not.
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i used to hate quickbooks

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businessman looking thoughtfulthink about who you’re serving.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

i really used to hate quickbooks, but not anymore.

more: 26 value-added benefits clients need to know | stop pricing by the hour | getting by giving back | some mistakes i made | growing with a client | getting a referral from an adversary | start with the cash | why a break-even analysis matters
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

when qb came out, most of my small business clients were using dos-based accounting software, and we were using similar software for our after-the-fact work. at some point we were getting new clients that had purchased qb and we needed to learn how to use it. the first few times i worked on such clients i started compiling a list of the specifics of what was “wrong” with qb.
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live 1-hour webinar: best practices for client communications and interactions in accounting firms

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卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 “practice doctor” ed mendlowitz shares best practices in networking and personal branding in this webinar. thursday, oct. 31 9 a.m. pt, 10 a.m. mt, 11 a.m. ct, noon…卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 “practice doctor” ed mendlowitz shares best practices in networking and personal branding in this webinar. thursday, oct. 31 9 a.m. pt, 10 a.m. mt, 11 a.m. ct, noon… (search hits: 1 in body, 0 in title, 0 in categories, 0 in tags, 0 in other taxonomies, 0 in comments. score: 40062.4)

farm-aid for accountants?

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rain on the keyboard, blood on the mouse: changes in the accounting business recall the plight of the small farmer in the 1980s.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

john mellencamp’s hit song, “rain on the scarecrow” chronicle the decline of the small american farmer in the 1980s.  farmers faced economic devastation caused by new technology and emerging international competitors.

more by frank stitely: wip-ing clients into shape |  how the annual tax meeting died  |  whittle down wip | maximize your role as visionary | the land mines in tax returns | give your people the resources they need | 4 tips for managing advanced preparers | the right way to assign staff projects | workflow for dummies | how effective project management makes your life easier
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

expensive new machinery and international competition transformed farming from a sleepy vocation handed down between generations to international global commerce driven by technology and sophisticated business metrics.  farming became a real business.

small farms disappeared as expensive machinery demanded economies of scale that could create a sufficient return on capital investment.  international competition lowered prices to where new technology was required to compete with lower-cost international labor.

farmers needed to raise the level of planning beyond pushing seeds into the ground and waiting for favorable weather.  they began to pay attention to detailed yield metrics and weather patterns, planning irrigation to effectively use natural rain patterns.  they used monte carlo simulations to plan which crops to plant and sell.

the ones who didn’t change went bankrupt or sold and retired.  musicians held a concert, farm aid, to call attention to the farmer’s plight.

driving to work this morning, i realized that changes in the cpa industry parallel the plight of the small farmer in the 1980s.

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26 bonus benefits clients need to know

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businesspeople having a meeting over coffee sitting together at a table discussing a document, young man and two middle-aged women presentare you letting your clients know all the value-added ways you can make their business lives better?

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

here are some value-added benefits to consider when performing obligatory services such as an audit or tax return, or any work for a client.

more: stop pricing by the hour | things change | how to be ’the other guy’s accountant’ | why we ‘kill’ to get partnership returns out quickly | my first thought is to never turn down business | the background to saving a business
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

this is not – cannot be – a complete list, but you can use this to help think about the benefits and value you bring to the client on every project or assignment you do for them. have a look, and let me know in comments what you think. what would you add to the list? what would you eliminate? read more →

stop pricing by the hour

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scale with coins on one side, alarm clock on the otherwhat are you really selling?

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

when i was starting out i read a number of books by master salesman elmer wheeler, who said, among many other things, “sell the sizzle, not the steak.”

more: things change | how an out-of-work tax preparer ‘saved’ our lives | i always want to be ’the other guy’s accountant’ | learning from lee iacocca et al. | how i saved a business | the staffer who was too smart | how i got a mercedes as a fee
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

this left me with thoughts of always telling clients, or whomever i interacted with, about the value and benefits of dealing with me while de-emphasizing the cost.
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things change

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businessman holding a wastebasket with a desktop computer in it“we have to use what has become almost universal if we want to be connected.”

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

innovation requires change, and many of us resist or are reluctant to change. but hopefully not me.

more: how an out-of-work tax preparer ‘saved’ our lives | getting by giving back | some mistakes i made | growing with a client | start with the cash | why a break-even analysis matters | how i owned a printing company and restaurant | kennedy’s acceptance speech | what consulting is
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

i continually look for what’s new that can be adapted to what i am doing. sometimes it’s hard to keep up and it seems it is getting harder and harder.
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how an out-of-work tax preparer ‘saved’ our lives

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portrait of a cheerful businessman smiling at the cameraalways be ready to help others.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

a number of years ago we purchased a practice in late february to get the business clients. however, we had to agree to service the individual tax clients, of whom there were about 180, with each paying a very low fee. the seller did not want to hang up his longtime clients.

more: getting by giving back | how to be ’the other guy’s accountant’ | why we ‘kill’ to get partnership returns out quickly | my first thought is to never turn down business | the background to saving a business
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

we had just moved the files into our office and were really concerned about how we could get the returns done without totally straining our system when lenny called asking if we had any per-diem tax season work for him.
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getting by giving back

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professionals don’t operate in a vacuum.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

i had lunch recently with a colleague who was surprised when i mentioned that i helped another accountant with a problem and “did not charge him.”

more: how to be ’the other guy’s accountant’ | i always want to be ’the other guy’s accountant’ | learning from lee iacocca et al. | getting a referral from an adversary
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

i know this colleague and he is a very nice person. he’s a sole practitioner and seems to like what he does, but he has always complained to me that he wasn’t growing and just kept doing the same things over and over again. he told me at the lunch that he would never help someone the way i did without charging for it.
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how to be ’the other guy’s accountant’

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9 concrete tips.

by ed mendlowitz
call me before you do anything: the art of accounting

i’ve written about wanting to always be the “other guy’s accountant.” i received a number of calls and emails asking how i do it, so here is a followup.

more: i always want to be ’the other guy’s accountant’ | some mistakes i made | growing with a client | getting a referral from an adversary | secret success formula: e=fs4uh
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

no matter what client i meet with and no matter what the reason, i try to engage them to find out what’s on their mind.
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