preserve your sanity, amaze your clients.
by frank stitely
asking clients great questions is central to ruthlessly efficient workflow management (r.e.w.).
more: there are no easy answers | the 3 biggest tech failures of accounting firms | debunking the demise of the cpa firm | how to thrive as a 21st-century firm | 7 steps to effective project management | how many tax preparers do you need? | wip-ing clients into shape
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
great client questions can save hundreds of hours of time during tax season and prevent projects from falling behind schedule. here’s an example of questions done badly.
3 steps to making their lives easier.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
you know who we’re talking about here. they show up in early april with everything you need to prepare their taxes. but it isn’t on a cd. it’s in a soaking-wet shoebox. or they’ve got everything ready on january 2, except it turns out they aren’t sure whether they made their quarterly irs payment last july. or when you ask for their total payroll tax paid, they say, “payroll tax?”
or their numbers just don’t add up. or they desperately need a refund this year, no matter what. or they say they’ll get back to you but don’t. or they keep asking your for legal advice. or they just don’t have time, what with mom and her broken hip, the kid needing to be picked up from ballet class, the dog that needs to go for a walk at 5:30 or else. or they can’t get their capital gains records from their financial advisor…guy named madoff…he just disappeared!
5 reasons to reorient your networking.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
last century’s networking model still works and is still worth doing, but you can do better in the 21st century by inverting the old model. rather than going to the chamber of commerce and rotary meetings to promote your services, go with the intention of gathering other people’s services.
as a cpa, you, more than anyone else, are at the center of local business. you know more about a bunch of businesses – your clients – than virtually anyone else. you know what they’re doing. you know what they need. and they most certainly need far more than what your firm offers.
but your firm can offer more. you can offer the services of dozens of indirectly related companies and professionals, among them:
read more →
this is one of those times when a small investment pays a big return.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
nobody knows your clients like you know your clients. you know them from deep inside. even a simple tax prep gives you insight into the nature of a business – its services, its efficiency, its growth or stagnancy, its honesty and dependability. some of this you can glean from the process of tax preparation, audits and such, but it also comes from the chats you have with the client during the course of the year.
as you have certainly noticed, none of your clients run a perfect business. they could all be more efficient. they could all come closer to their potential. they could all use something that you can help provide – even if it’s not one of your services.
read more →
… unless you want to grow your business.
by wesley middleton
middleton raines llp
this is not only directed at the profession of cpas of which i am a proud member, but to the clients we serve. i see so many posts on how we need to change and evolve that i am almost disgusted. we have what everyone wants: trust. the absolute trust of our clients. more than doctors, more than lawyers, more than any profession that i can think of. and we need to evolve? what we should do is not lose it!
related: why my people take 5 days off (yes, in a row) | four major misconceptions about millennials
well, yes, we do need to evolve. but not from the perspective of being more to our clients than what we are. it is our business model that must evolve as cpas.
read more →
when you’re weeding out, make sure you’re asking the right questions.
by august aquila
creating the effective partnership
if your partners are putting up a fight to keep clients who should be let go, take a look at your compensation system. it’s not just about billable hours.
more on leadership for pro members: 5 questions about your firm’s direction | 6 reasons to keep partners from retiring | 6 reasons why cpa firms fail in innovation | 6 steps to handle staffing problems in a merger | 7 signs your firm is headed for an implosion | eight key goal areas for partners | like herding cats: partners must ‘walk together’ | managing partners must remember partners’ needs | new times call for new cpa firm metrics | partners have love-hate relationship with leadership | six tips for leaders in tax and accounting | the 8-point financial tune-up for your accounting firm | three ways to run a firm: but only one is sustainable | what does being a partner mean?
here are 16 tweaks to your firm’s compensation system. while the list is not exhaustive, it does provide criteria that firms can consider beyond revenue. read more →
the best strategies from the best companies.
by arnold sanow
arnoldsanow.com
in today’s fast-changing and competitive environment, excellent customer service is not only nice but essential for success.
in fact, the only way to differentiate yourself and to become less of a commodity in the marketplace is through outstanding customer service.
after studying more than 500 companies and organizations – as diverse as lexus/toyota, bristol meyers squibb, lockheed martin, homeland security, forever broadcasting, the medical college of georgia, aspen institute, marin county realtors association, and choice hotels – a few strategies emerge again and again.
here are 25 of the best practices used by some of the world’s best companies to get new customers, keep them, and turn them in enthusiastic fans and referral sources: read more →
to keep both your staffers and clients happy, tax and accounting firms need to gain a thorough understanding of their perceptions and perspectives — and to make they align.
customer service guru arnold sanow suggests 15 questions to ask yourself, your staff, and, above all, your customers. servicethe biggest opportunities will surface when you compare and contrast their responses.
be prepared for an eye-opening, sometimes gut-wrenching, exercise in hard truth: read more →
clients benefit when cpas and investment advisors work together.
by martin e. levine, chfc, cpa, mba
4thought financial group, inc.
even if the client isn’t always right, helping clients understand and make the best financial decisions is always the right course of action.
cpas understand the implications of financial decisions and strive to advise clients in ways that improve their financial well-being. however, clients frequently have multiple – sometimes conflicting – financial goals, and use other financial professionals, including financial advisors, attorneys and business consultants, to achieve them. read more →
fines run $100 per day, per employee.
by stephen l. nelson, cpa
and elizabeth c. nelson, cpa
small business and the affordable care act
by now, many of your small business clients understand they don’t have to provide employees with health insurance. the employer mandate starts when a firm employs 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees.
but here’s an awkward follow-up question: do your small business clients understand that many of the aca’s rules still apply to them and that they may still be vulnerable to the aca’s 4980d excise tax penalty—which runs $100 per day per employee?
can we talk irc code sections?
people sometimes hear references to the 4980d penalty and scoff, say you can’t believe everything you hear on talk radio or read at some blog. so let’s look at the actual internal revenue code section in question.
here are the first few sentences of irc sec 4980d: read more →
how to suggest additional services to clients and why you’re doing them a disservice if you don’t.
by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor
question: i always feel awkward telling clients they need additional services that i should perform for them. can you tell something that could “rev” me up for this?
more practice doctor q&a: yes, you should send rejection letters | when to hire an admin assistant | 7 ways to lose a client’s trust | how much should you pay to buy, sell or merge an accounting practice? | why the average fee doesn’t matter | no more printouts at cpe programs? | 6 ways to take a client beyond tax prep
answer: actually, by suggesting additional services you are doing the client a favor and a good deed. also, you are in business and the easiest way to generate additional revenues is to cross-sell services to present clients.
don’t be distracted by the hot trend of the moment.
in “10 things that accountants didn’t need to worry about 10 years ago,” 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 contributor hitendra patil generated reader reactions with some provocative thoughts about a tsunami of trends. today, he looks at the other side of the coin, starting with a quote from amazon ceo jeff bezos:
“you should build a business strategy around the things you know are stable in time and then invest heavily in ensuring you are providing those things and improving your delivery of them all the time. if you want to build a successful, sustainable business, don’t ask yourself what could change in the next 10 years that could affect your company. instead, ask yourself what won’t change, and then put all your energy and effort into those things.”
by hitendra patil
pransform inc.
what has remained unchanged in the tax and accounting profession over the last few decades? and what will not change over the next couple of decades?
more on the entrepreneurial cpa by hitendra patil here.
being a futurist is not easy. being a realistic futurist is even more difficult. but being a person who knows the foundational value of his or her profession is relatively easy, if you know why and what customers buy from you. a ceo of black & decker once said the almost proverbial “customers don’t buy a drill machine, they buy a hole in the wall.” as an accountant and tax professional, you must figure out what your customers buy from you and why they buy from you rather than from your competitors.
now is the time to think about what they will continue to buy in the future. read more →
12 issues that might not have been addressed.
by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor
question: i was asked to do a quote on a business valuation for a startup that will be raising money on their second stage financing. how do i quote this?
answer: this is a wide-reaching question and it is not possible to know initially what the client really needs. they could need a valuation, a business plan or a method of bringing in the investor.
here are some of the many issues and variables:
read more →