today's features

more big firms shut their doors to new college grads

some 88.7% of top firms rate problem-solving skills among the most important criteria in hiring new college grads. technical skills rank fifth, at 67%. (nace)

firms that overhired in the covid-19 boom are now trimming their ranks.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

despite widespread concerns in the profession about a talent shortage, the largest accounting firms in a new survey are cutting back on their hiring of new college accounting graduates by 16.1 percent this year.

more in staffing & recruiting: employee retention is easier than attractionpayroll leads job gains in tax & accounting sector |  disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? |  letting staff go after tax season? bad idea |  firms culling clients as staffing woes persistcompensation’s up, but up enough to retain staff?

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reflecting broader economic uncertainties and budgetary constraints, half of all the biggest firms surveyed are gearing down for a recession, marking a sharp turnaround from the hiring spree sparked by a global pandemic that forced industries across the globe into transformational change, often staffed and driven by the biggest accounting and consulting firms.

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should you merge? here’s how to chart your path

businesswoman at crossroads, facing two paths

lease renewals trigger this concern, but they’re not a good reason.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice

question: i signed up with a broker who introduces buyers and sellers of cpa practices, to find someone who would buy my practice when i want to retire. i don’t want to retire yet, but am starting to think about it. the broker suggested a merger now combined with a buyout deal when i am ready to retire. am i going about this in the right way?

more: a friendly chat or a billable discussion? | busy season is over, so it’s time for some resolutions | want to merge? six steps to take | how to start providing family office services | every accounting firm needs quality control | no one listens to you? change how you talk | 47 types of business valuation to provide | thirteen things to consider before you sell your practice | uncooperative partner might not be the problem
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response: i get a lot of calls similar to this when lease renewals are coming up, or a tenant is lost and a merger could fill up the space, a key employee is lost or a major client is lost. in my opinion, these are not reasons to merge. merging is a major change of life and needs to be done with great care.
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planning lays the foundation of audit relevance

if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. 

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

next time you have your planning meeting about an upcoming audit, print out a page or two of what you say on your website. share those pages around, and ask the planning team members, “how are we going to deliver on what we’ve said on our website?”

more: how do we drive relevance in audit? | 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?
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most people think of planning an audit as an exercise in filling out forms. planning an audit is certainly much deeper than that. the ultimate foundation for success in your audits depends on what you do during the planning stage.

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big change comes with deep reflection

chalkboard saying indicating that time to change is now

are you ready to redefine the accounting profession?

by seth fineberg
at large

what can be accomplished in a year for any individual or organization is amazing. in this case, i’d like to draw attention to the efforts and, for some, the existence of the accounting alchemy network.

more seth fineberg at large: 3 ways to raise the bar for your businessrandy crabtree: stress management for overworked accountants | make it ‘productive season’ | it’s time to do the uncomfortable | three ways to improve next tax season | jeremy sulzmann: can intuit mend fences with accountants at qb connect? | meet basis, the new ai bookkeeper on the block | is this when accountants start taking freshbooks seriously? | you’re doing email wrong | careful… you may be advising!
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in march of 2022, ingrid edstrom, alina nikishina and mathew heggem helped put aan into the world to build a network of like-minded individuals dedicated to seeing accounting’s higher purpose come to fruition. i wanted to take some time in this post to familiarize you with what aan accomplished over the past year and peek into where it’s headed.

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steve yoss, quick tech talk: automation for accountants

subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: applegooglespotifyiheartdeezer, amazon music and audibleplayer fmaudacygaana (india), and boomplay (africa).

 

quick tech talk
with steve yoss
cpe today

to stay relevant in this new era of a.i., accountants must find new, higher-value ways to engage with clients. “automation may take over lower-value tasks, but it’s up to us to evolve and focus on areas where we can add significant strategic value,” steve yoss says in the latest episode of quick tech talks.

click here for more steve yoss

“the existential risk of automation is a pressing issue for today’s financial professionals,” yoss says.

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disruptors: chase birky builds the anti-cpa firm

don’t reinvent the wheel. join a better wheel. 

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).


the disruptors
with liz farr

chase birky wanted “a better way to cpa,” so he and co-founder max fritz created dark horse – the “anti-cpa firm,” which would be “the opposite of what a client would expect of a cpa firm, of what talent expects of a cpa firm.” dark horse democratizes access to the resources, tools, and technology available to larger firms so sole practitioners and small firms have an easier path to the modern cpa firm.

more podcasts and videos: jason blumer & julie shipp: move leaders out of client service | james graham: drop the billable hour and you’ll bill morekaren reyburn: fix your marketing and fix your business | giles pearson: fix the staffing crisis by swapping experience for education | jina etienne: practice fearless inclusionbill penczak: stop forcing smart people to do stupid worksandra wiley: staffing problem? check your culture | scott scarano: first, grow people. then firm growth can follow |

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dark horse was born out of the realization that small businesses were underserved by their accountants. many small business owners have “these horror stories about the large firm that deprioritizes them and charges them an arm and a leg, or the one-off practitioner or micro firm that wouldn’t return their emails or phone calls, and never provides advice, just tells them to sign on the dotted line,” birky says.

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the secrets of great business developers

man in office writing notes at desk

how to turn a goal into action.

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

i speak with a lot of accountants and consultants every week, and i look for those recurring characteristics that make some of them outstanding in various areas of building and managing a professional practice. those who are great at business development all seem to follow the same process, especially when the going gets tough.

more: how life cycle changes your marketing | eleven possible pitfalls of mergers | six ways to expand your client services checklist | ten questions to refine your successful marketing plan | four questions for choosing your marketing audit strategies | four steps to a successful email marketing campaign | five reasons to implement change orders | make your practice better | eleven marketing strategies for smaller firms | five questions for developing your marketing plan | you only have four strategies | the damage that traditional fee methods do
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briefly stated, these professionals are successful because they have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish. they reinforce that vision with positive phrases and affirmations that reinforce their success. the following quiz will assess your business development acumen. give yourself one point for each correct true-or-false answer. (the correct answers are at the end of this post.)
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how mindset affects your marketing

smiling businesswoman

even after years of experience, confidence may not come easy.

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

in school, during both my undergraduate courses and my mba classes, i took marketing 101, or something close to that. i learned the four p’s: product, price, place and promotion. i aced the class.

more: three steps to becoming a millionaire | five business development mistakes to avoid | how to leverage chatgpt during this crazy tax season | eight steps to getting started with ai: a guide for tax professionals | you don’t have a time problem | three money leaks and how to plug them | eleven ways to serve clients even better | eight ways to build busy-season stamina | make your prospect kit stand out | six ways to beat the competition | grow your revenue with three marketing strategies | what can chatgpt do for accounting professionals?
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when i started my first business at age 13, i ran an ad and was able to get clients. it was no big deal. when i wanted to earn some part-time money during college doing bookkeeping (before i passed my cpa exam), i answered an ad and found clients. it was no big deal. when i started a part-time photography studio in the 1980s, i sent out press releases and direct mail and got clients. it was no big deal. i was doing all of this on the side while i had full-time jobs paying the rent and everything else.

but when i got laid off in the 1990s and needed clients in order to go out on my own and pay my own rent, something in me snapped. i was scared to death. i suddenly had no idea how to get started getting clients. i could have run an ad, but i didn’t. i could have sent out direct mail, but i didn’t.
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what kind of leader are you?

cartoon of good vs bad leader

good vs. bad leadership.

by liz farr

i am fascinated by leadership. that’s likely because i’ve had way more experience with poor or mediocre leaders than with great leaders. let me tell you about examples at the extremes.

more from liz farr: jason blumer & julie shipp: move leaders out of client service | brandon hall: firms try to make too much on tax prep | amber setter: coaching helps resolve the tension between safety and purpose | james graham: drop the billable hour and you’ll bill more | karen reyburn: fix your marketing and fix your business | giles pearson: fix the staffing crisis by swapping experience for education | jina etienne: practice fearless inclusion | chris vanover: question the why or stay with the status quo | jason deshayes: what we’re doing isn’t working
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in 2002, my accounting career began with a job at h&r block in rural new mexico. it was my first job where it was important to be at work on time. all my previous jobs had been as research assistants in biochemistry. my schedule was flexible, and as long as i kept up with the necessary work to move the project forward, my supervisors generally didn’t care when i did the work.

what kind of leader do you want to be?

do you want to be the kind of leader people want to follow? who is honored, as julie shipp is, “to go shoulder to shoulder with you”? or the leader who relies on constant and pointless check-ins?

if you’ve never spent time at a retail tax prep office, you may not be familiar with the stampede of people who show up as soon as they get their w2s so they can get their eitc refunds as soon as possible. this office was in a low-income area, so for a few weeks in february, when the doors opened at 9 a.m., we had enough people lined up outside the door to keep us busy until noon or beyond.

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employee retention is easier than attraction

four people seated around table

five conclusions from a new report.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the accounting talent pipeline problem isn’t going away. it isn’t even improving.

but it isn’t hopeless.

more: let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | 3 ways to raise the bar for your business | accountants’ advice: be careful, quick, creative … and lean | seven steps to a stronger future | accountants bullish locally, bearish nationally | top performers lead in leverage, culling, outsourcing | auditing standards ‘yellow book’ updated | firms culling clients as staffing woes persist | revenue up at 59% of accounting firms … and more good news | compensation’s up, but up enough to retain staff?
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a recent report from the pennsylvania institute of cpas points out that, though the problem is big and the obstacles many, cpa firms can, with enough effort, hold on to the talent they’ve got.

and retaining talent is a lot less expensive than trying to attract it.
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bissett bullet: first impressions start here

today’s bissett bullet: “get back to prospective clients in a timely manner following the initial meeting. leaving them waiting for your proposal for six weeks will do you no favors.”

by martin bissett

the excuse, “we’ve been so busy” won’t impress a potential client or serve to persuade them that if you’re so in demand they should sign you on the spot. rather, it will ring alarm bells. if your service is unsatisfactory or slow when you are supposed to be in the “courting phase,” what will they imagine it to be once they’re on board? first impressions last; make yours favorable.

today’s to-do:

for every first meeting in your diary, diarize sufficient time to write their proposal immediately after the meeting, ready to present in that all-important second meeting before too much time has passed.

see more bissett bullets here

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stop selling time

if you’re billing by the hour, you’re selling yourself short.

by jody padar
radical pricing – by the radical cpa

amazing things happen when you stop thinking about what you’re selling and focus on what clients are buying.

many of the things clients don’t value are compliance-related like:

  • tax returns
  • payroll
  • accounting services

more: why pricing is so disruptive | the radical pricing model: start with $25k | three critical factors drive the value pricing trendaccounting 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
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but much of what they do value is less defined, though of higher value to their business lives:

  • small business expertise
  • management support and confidence
  • any service requiring specific knowledge or experience

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steve yoss, quick tech talk: the jobs ai will replace – and those it won’t

subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: applegooglespotifyiheartdeezer, amazon music and audibleplayer fmaudacygaana (india), and boomplay (africa).
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quick tech talk
with steve yoss
cpe today

a lot of work traditionally done by accountants doesn’t need to be done by us anymore. if firms still rely on accountants to perform many manual processes, they will find themselves doing work that doesn’t need to be done, and clients will be unwilling to pay for that work anymore.

click here for more steve yoss

something i often say is that artificial intelligence isn’t going to replace you. but it will replace people who don’t use artificial intelligence, automation, or contemporary and emerging technology. these are tools that are ultimately going to help you become more effective and efficient in your work. as a professional, there’s no extra credit for doing things the good old-fashioned way. there’s no value in doing it the hard way.