today's features
marketing & sales

be clear about your roi proposition

woman's hand pressing words "ask an expert"

consider what the next generation of practice leaders faces.

by martin bissett
passport to partnership

the passport to partnership study collated a number of responses in a conversational style. the need for professionals who can remain calm in the storm is showcased below and was repeated many times in various different ways.

more: keep business development going during busy season | 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.

the expert council

what is going to be the single biggest challenge for the next generation of practice leaders?
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pro member exclusive

end tax season meetings with clients … seriously

clients who want to meet should be more than willing to pay for that meeting.

by frank stitely
the relentless cpa

what did dorothy and her friends fear in the wizard of oz? “lions and tigers and bears, oh my!” dorothy feared the wrong things if she was a partner in a cpa firm. we don’t see much wildlife in our offices during tax season unless you count fast-food delivery people and the occasional crazy client.

more: get clients to understand firm processes … or say goodbye | train now before it costs you down the road | keep clients from “balance due” shock | it’s ok to say no to clients (even the large ones) | you train your clients, whether you mean to or not | business owners face one of three exits | how small firms can win the talent wars | do you know your turnaround time?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

we should fear the events that destroy our priorities and drain hours from productive work. meetings and phone calls and emails, oh my! from a practice management standpoint, let’s look at why these communication methods are so destructive.

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charts & graphs

tax refunds, tax pro market share trending up

data table

* total refunds issued represents returns received and processed in 2024 – the current year only. the number of direct deposit refunds represents returns received in the current and prior year but processed in 2024.

 

how long before more figures flip positive … or might they not?

by beth bellor

the 2024 filing season has been seven days shorter than 2023’s, but that’s making less difference as individual income tax returns keep dropping into the internal revenue service inbox, just 3 percent off last year’s pace.

more: tax pros handle 37.7% of e-filings | tax pros file 33% of early returns
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the irs had received 44.6 million such returns as of feb. 23, the last week for which data has been released. it had processed 44.1 million returns, down 3.6 percent.
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audit & assurance

traditional audits don’t deserve premium billing

relevance empowers staff to do their best work because an audit isn’t reduced to checklists.

by alan anderson, cpa
transforming audit for the future

if we can’t demonstrate to our clients that our work is relevant, then the audit will go the way of the dinosaur. relevance underpins the other attributes.

more: four basic understandings every auditor must master | put the ethics code to work for your clients and your firm | turning audit & accounting into assurance & advisory | wanted: great audit mentors | is audit in crisis because of definitions? | stop sending the wrong message to audit teams | closing the audit expectations gap
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

relevance is not a one-time event. it’s a continuous process woven through everything your firm does. you build it one step at a time. this should be done with every audit, so this becomes core to the fabric of the firm’s culture.
read more →

management

courting a client? don’t give too much away for free

businesswoman shakes client's hand across desk, both seated

what to say instead.

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

question: i usually give away too much info at a meeting to get a new client.

more: how to start providing family office services | higher fees to start: ten ways to make your tax season better | three ways to start an accounting practice | free consultation? not always | referral fee? forget it | how much is your tax practice worth? | merge in lower-priced work without losing out
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

we simply answer too many of their questions during the initial meeting. we don’t know how much info to give away so the possible new client will get hooked and not take the information and run to somebody else.
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management

make it ‘productive season’

don’t be busy. be productive.

by seth fineberg
at large

at this time of year, most accountants are considered to be mired in an annual waterboarding-like ritual known as “busy season.” while the moniker has long stirred ire, one way to rally against its implication is to take a good look at what being “busy” means. moreover, why not make it more productive?

more fineberg: it’s time to do the uncomfortable | 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! | when live events fail | getting real: accounting tech decisions you need to make today | accounting tech doesn’t have to be daunting |who’s in control? you? or your clients?

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

perspective is everything. and while i’ve noticed more accounting professionals making concerted efforts to have more of a life/work balance, it is apparent that much of the work that contributes to being “busy” could evolve into productivity.

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outlook & analysis

survey shows challenges, priorities shifting

two worried businesspeople having coffee and looking at computer

top concerns vary widely by firm size.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

cpa firms small, midsized and large are facing new challenges and reorganizing their priorities as they shake off the aftereffects of the covid-19 pandemic.

according to the wolters kluwer 2024 accounting industry report, based on a survey of 1,509 accounting firms, pricing and competitive fee pressures are the overall biggest challenges firms are dealing with. the pressure is most prominent at small firms, which comprised 90 percent of the survey respondents. forty percent of those smaller firms said it was their top concern.

more: survey shows that tech remains the great divide | is the cpa business model the clog in the pipeline? | accountants cozy up to clients with cas |  cpas culling clients for better work-life balance | women-owned businesses upbeat but need help | accountants to the rescue as startups struggle | looking for recent grads? good luck
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

this is the first time pricing has ranked among the top five challenges since 2015.

pricing ranked third among large firms, 39 percent of which said it was a problem.
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client service opportunities

brandon hall: firms try to make too much on tax prep

try for a 10-15% margin.

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

brandon hall says that the reason accountants have such long and grueling busy seasons is that “firms try to make way too much money at tax prep.” firms don’t have enough capacity to deliver on services, so everyone – including the partners – ends up working a ton of hours.

more podcasts and videos: 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 | bill penczak: stop forcing smart people to do stupid work | sandra wiley: staffing problem? check your culture | scott scarano: first, grow people. then firm growth can follow | jody padar: build a practice that works for you, not vice-versa |

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

because partner pay isn’t included in payroll, the margin on tax prep is likely much worse than the 30-35% that shows up on the income statement. hall’s target for the 2024 filing season is just 10-15% margin on tax prep.

read more →

marketing & sales

three pillars support a successful accounting firm

three marble ionic pillars

yes, you need all three.

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

some firms go from one marketing activity to another without much success. the firms that are successful do the basics very well. like any athlete in spring training, accountants and consultants need to practice the basics of building their practices.

more: four questions for choosing your marketing audit strategies | 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 | twelve fundamentals of planning | one question to guide your growth plans | four ways to prepare for new business development
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

here are the basics:

  1. creating opportunities to meet people
  2. developing good listening skills
  3. learning how to sell benefits rather than services/products
  4. knowing how to overcome objections
  5. providing client service that makes the client want to say, “wow!”

read more →

marketing & sales

when there’s a leak in your firm

man holding hand to mouth as if telling a secret

never mind who – why?

by bruce marcus
professional services marketing 3.0

editor’s note: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 was privileged to have a long relationship with bruce w. marcus, who was ahead of his time in his thinking and practice in marketing for accounting. we are publishing some of the late expert’s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.

ok, somebody talked to the press, and leaked information that shouldn’t have been leaked. that’s three problems, not one.

primary, of course, is how do we control the damage caused by the leak?

more: creating the perfect ad | ten keys to crafting ads | four things to know about social media | internal communications are underrated | four things better than a company song | let’s lose the word ‘image’ | the risk in not understanding risk | what your marketing program can and can’t do | nine reasons that prospects say yes | how marketing evolved to 3.0
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

then we worry about who did it.
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pro member exclusive

eight steps to getting started with ai: a guide for tax professionals

overcome the chatgpt ai learning curve. 

by sandi leyva and chatgpt

in the fast-paced world of tax preparation and accounting, the adoption of artificial intelligence (ai) tools like chatgpt can be a game-changer. however, the learning curve associated with these technologies can be a bit daunting, especially for technology immigrants in the gen x, boomer, and silent generations (versus natives born after 1985).

check out our courses on chatgpt,
offered as a deep discount bundle or separately.
webinar schedule:
more chaptgpt here

if you’re hesitant or short on time, here’s how to get started:

read more →

2022年世界杯抽签

bissett bullet: are you their most trusted advisor?

today’s bissett bullet: “be your client’s first, last and ultimate line of defense in making sure that their business and personal aspirations come to fruition.”

by martin bissett

the best hope of a business owner’s successful startup, project or even eventual exit remains in the hands of the most caring and proactive accountants.

very often you will be their only support. they carry the burden of ultimate responsibility for the financial security of their business, their team or their own family. show them that you understand, are invested in their success and are there to make that burden lighter. come to them with solutions that save them time, money and stress and you will cement your position as their most trusted advisor.

if your clients can sleep at night because you are there to guide them, to act as a sounding board, to offer a friendly ear and to help them make the most difficult decisions, why would they ever leave?

today’s to-do:

in what ways do you demonstrate you are caring and proactive to your clients? are there any improvements you can make to ensure that your clients feel fully supported at all times by you and your team?

see more bissett bullets here

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