119 search results for jody padar

process maps: methods, meetings and materials

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closeup of businesswoman writing on a flipchartbonus checklist: 3 key points for mapping a process.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

there are several ways to gather the information you need to create your process map.

more on radicalism: basics of process mapping: how and who | who, me a consultant? | target prospects for best fit | keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line | the radical approach to bundling services | get ready for radical transparency

depending on the scope and length of the process, you could observe the process in action. this works best for a process that cycles quickly. if a process can be started and com­pleted several times in a day or an hour, this is a good candidate for observation. if you can observe multiple operators performing the process, you will begin to get an idea how consistently it is followed.

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the basics of process mapping: how and who

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woman drawing flowchart on a blackboardconsider your “pain points.”

by jody padar
the radical cpa

in creating a process map, there are several choices to be made that will determine who and what is needed. since, as we mentioned before, almost everything is a process, consider this the process mapping process.

more on radicalism: process mapping for improvement | who, me a consultant? | target prospects for best fit | the radical approach to bundling services | get ready for radical transparency | 10 radical steps into the cloud

the first decision is which process to map.

what do you want to select?
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lessons from adam smith: process mapping for improvement

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bottles of sunflower oil on an assembly linefour ways adam smith can help you run your firm better.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

adam smith discovered a basic truth of process improvement: you can’t improve a process if you don’t know what the process is.

more on radicalism:  | target prospects for best fit | keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line | the radical approach to bundling services | let’s get radical about content | each social channel has a language | 10 radical steps into the cloud | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa

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around the time of the american revolution, adam smith made the first recorded attempt at process improvement by mapping out the 18 distinct opera­tions involved in creating a single metal pin. by documenting and understanding each step, he was able to suggest improvements to make the best use of the labor and machines available at the time.

while this is easier to see in a manufacturing environment, it still applies in a service-based industry like ours.

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4 questions for choosing the right digital workflow tool

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work flow decision choiceare you ready to experience the process?

by jody padar
the radical cpa

without standardization, your customer isn’t going to be able to expect consistent results.

more on radicalism: who, me a consultant? |how spiritual value affects pricing | radical pricing fixes cash flow problems | keep scope creep and seep from hurting bottom line | the radical approach to pricing | let’s get radical about content | 5 radical ways to be social and strategic | how i got started being social | radical customers are on their way | 5 radical transparencies; are you ready?| 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.

workflow is just a fancy name for an electronic process and how information moves through a firm. in the old days it was the way a paper file moved from desk to desk. today it is how a digital file of data moves through an office or firm. it’s every­thing from customer input to tax return delivery. email is not a good solution for keeping track of where everything is within an office.

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who, me a consultant?

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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

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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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target prospects for best fit

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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 →

how spiritual value affects pricing

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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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radical pricing fixes cash flow problems

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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

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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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why more firms are trashing timesheets

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recommended: two books to read.

by ed mendlowitz

question: i’ve read that many firms are no longer using timesheets. how do you feel about that?

more practice doctor q&a: how much overhead is too much?|clear billing procedures make collecting easier | change your thinking about ‘small’ clients | why adopting new technologies is a must | when fees don’t keep up with cost increases | lowballing and why it (usually) doesn’t work | why the average fee doesn’t matter | how to apply value pricing to bundled services | 8 times when hourly billing trumps value pricing | 14 ways to switch to value pricing | pricing, billing, costing: don’t blame clients

answer: there is a growing group of firms that no longer use timesheets. the leader of this movement is ron baker, who explains his reasons and provides a model in his many books, many of which i have read and recommend.

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the radical approach to bundling services

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package your knowledge, and don’t forget client personality.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

how do you take that tax planning, that small business exper­tise or whatever insight it is that you own and package it so it’s similar to a product? that’s what the next generation of firms has figured out how to do.

i started doing this pre-cloud. i had to figure out a way to keep my customers engaged with me all year without doing book­keeping because i didn’t want to do bookkeeping. i productized my year-round tax services.

more getting radical: the radical approach to pricing | a radical close look at value pricing | get radical about pricing | let’s get radical about content | each social channel has a language | get ready for radical transparency | 5 radical ways to be social and strategic | how i got started being social | how social media transforms firms to their core | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa | radical tenet #1: embrace the cloud | radical customers are on their way | 5 radical transparencies; are you ready? | 4 questions radical firms must face | being radical is all about your customer | being radical starts with being the change | why start being radical now? | going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | why should cpas be radical? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas

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

i also took every piece of work i could take outside of tax season and separated it from the tax return. we do the work outside of tax season and charge for it as a separately stated item. today, so many firms are still doing accounting cleanup work that can be done outside of tax season in tax season and they’re not charging for it separately. i’ve heard firm leaders say, “oh, that’s part of doing a tax return.” no, it’s not. getting accurate books before you do a tax return should be priced and completed outside of tax season. it shouldn’t clog up your firm in march.

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the radical approach to pricing

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calculator in shopping cartbonus checklist: the 3 prices you need to set.

by jody padar
the radical cpa

you should know your relative costs and assumptions to value. when i say, “know your cost,” you’re not going to know every freaking minute that it takes to do something. but you should know approximately what the accounting file is like.

when you’re thinking about pricing your cleanup work with either a cloud-based product or let’s say you’re not even in the cloud, you should have already done a diag­nostic on that quickbooks file or whatever accounting software the prospect is using.

more on radicalism: a radical close look at value pricing | let’s get radical about content | each social channel has a language | get ready for radical transparency | 5 radical ways to be social and strategic | how social media transforms firms to their core | 10 radical steps into the cloud | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa | radical customers are on their way | the market is moving toward the radicals | 5 radical transparencies; are you ready? | being radical is all about your customer | being radical starts with being the change | why should cpas be radical? | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas

you also should analyze the five traits of their financial personality:

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