fee structure

cpas see best outlook in three years, with notable exceptions

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some 76% of cpa corporate executives are now optimistic about the prospects for their own organization, less so about the u.s. economy in general.

cpa execs forecast economic boom.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
via aicpa

the economy is poised to come roaring back in the year ahead, with forecasts for revenue and profit growth not seen since 2018, according to the second-quarter aicpa economic outlook survey of members in business and industry.

more surveys & research: women lag men in accounting jobs recovery  |  tax season ends with pros covering 54% of returns  |  tax pros retake market share from diyers  |  tax pros race to the finish line |  making partner: what managers need to know  |  survey: tax season swings into the red  |  who’s heating up accounting tech?  |  another tax season from hell?

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there are concerns, however. “availability of skilled personnel” reemerged as the top-cited challenge for businesses as job recruitment turns up. and two-thirds of business executives now express concern about inflation, up from 44 percent last quarter.

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the cpa’s best role: leveraging knowledge, not just process

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david bergstein says you’re wasting your time and your client’s money if you’re not focussing on the future.

with steven sacks
the new fundamentals: thriving in disruption

to be more competitive, cpas need to shift their focus from compliance service to process-oriented, value-added work, veteran cpa david bergstein tells 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. this means working with clients to understand their business operations, competition, and financial challenges, such as liquidity, solvency, and profitability.

more on value-add: how cas communications are different | how value billing eliminates guesswork | avoid last-minute deal making | how a great managing partner impacts firm growth | tax season client meetings: kill them now | do you give yourself too much credit? | the 17 rules for making partner at a cpa firm | family feud isn’t just a game show

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see more 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 videos here | see more david bergstein here

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the key takeaways:

  • accountants need to switch their focus to look to the future and real-time accounting, which means that the right way of doing things these days is to take advantage of all technology and automation.
  • it’s a small and mid-size business that doesn’t have a bookkeeper, that doesn’t have an accountant, that doesn’t have a controller, that doesn’t have a cfo that looks to cpas to help them. cpas’ advantage is to use that technology to automate all those processes and then spend time selling value-added services.
  • today, to be successful as an accountant, you must identify what platform or platforms you’re going to use to capture your clients’ data at the source to move it through the system.
  • payroll tax processing services can be expanded by setting up the human resource tools that go with it. beyond processing payroll, cpas can find ways to get lower workman’s compensation; automate the onboarding of employees, and provide various benefit options.
  • as part of the de-emphasis on process, younger staff members don’t want to do vouchering anymore, which will be supplanted anyway by automation. so, it’s great for firms to offer more training opportunities to their younger staff regarding analytical thinking, selling, and how to consult with clients to find out what their needs are.

 

transcript

david bergstein, interviewed by steven sacks
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when value billing eliminates guesswork

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businessmen standing on dollar billplus three other ways to bill clients.

by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud

when i attend cpa conferences across the united states, i often hear from cpas: “i don’t want to bill for my time.”

so, how do you bill your clients?

more: make tech your ally in protecting clients | be more efficient with tech stacks | not all employees will work out | learning to love video calls | be more effective remotely with disc | protect client files from cyberthreats | get ready to launch virtual cfo services | riches in niches
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client billing can include hourly billing, but it can also include flat-fee, retainer-based and/or value-based billing. most people use one of these four methods. some use all of them or even a hybrid.

let’s take a closer look at each of them:
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price-sell-deliver is broken

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what to do instead.

by matt solomon

the way you price your services, how you sell them to clients and whether you can deliver at (or beyond) their expectations are key factors that determine the level of your success. if you do those three activities well, it should be easy to grow a profitable business, earn a great income and maintain a clear work/life balance.

more: the path to a conscious business | are you running your practice by default? | your secret weapon for exponential profits
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the problem is that accountants often don’t know how to price, sell and deliver correctly. in fact, the old (traditional) model that accountants use to price, sell and deliver services to their customers often leads to customer dissatisfaction, employee frustration and you working too many hours under too much stress.
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14 better uses for timesheet data

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woman reading paper document at office desk in front of computerif you just pay people and move on, you’re missing critical information.

by ed mendlowitz

question: i keep timesheets for billing purposes but am not clear how i can use them to better manage my practice. how can i do this?

more: tossing timesheets is just the start | how’s your overhead? | 9 must-haves for firm growth | collect more by clearing up billing | envision your future, then plan for it | 5 ways to build teamwork
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

answer: analyzing time records is a very effective practice management tool and is an essential part of most professional services organizations. some people contend that timesheets should not be used because they should not be the basis of any pricing, with fees solely based on the value to the client.

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hate billing? use a different method

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businessmen standing on dollar billwhat services do your clients value the most?

by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud

when i attend cpa conferences across the united states, i often hear from cpas: “i don’t want to bill for my time.”

more: protect client files from cyberthreats | boost efficiency with tech stacks | the only 3 metrics you need | how we sell audits online | 3 steps to better client communication in a crisis | four key financial metrics for growing any business | transferring clients to a new employee
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

so, how do you bill your clients?
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tossing timesheets is just the start

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pen ready to fill in blank timesheetrecommended: 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: how’s your overhead? | 9 must-haves for firm growth | collect more by clearing up billing | envision your future, then plan for it | 5 ways to build teamwork
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

answer: there is a growing group of firms that no longer use timesheets.

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how’s your overhead?

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//www.g005e.com/2020/09/14/how-to-determine-overhead/plus a tip for increasing revenue if needed.

by ed mendlowitz

question: are there any rules of thumb for a cpa firm’s overhead and salary costs?

more: 9 must-haves for firm growth | collect more by clearing up billing | envision your future, then plan for it | 5 ways to build teamwork
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

answer: the rosenberg survey has excellent metrics and is highly recommended. on a less scientific basis you can use as a general rule of thumb 1/3 for salaries, 1/3 overhead, 1/3 partners salary.
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6 ways to increase your fees … if you dare

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hand moving triangle along beam to indicate balance between price and valuereverse value billing defined.

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

working out how to set fees and using value pricing or value billing can sometimes be daunting.

more: creating a cross-selling culture | when time-based pricing works | how auditing is like a pirouette | ¿que es bookkeeping? | testifying before congress | underpaying others hurts you, too | my top 10 personal game changers | yes, christopher columbus had an accountant | 10 reasons for my success
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

we are in this business to make a living, so we have to become adept at pricing, billing and collections. one thing that vexes me is colleagues who tell me they never would value price or bill, and then they engage in what i refer to as “reverse value billing.”
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collect more by clearing up billing

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how to handle everything from late payers to extra services to minimum fee schedules.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: can you give me some suggestions on overall firm pricing and billing methods?

more: envision your future, then plan for it | 5 ways to build teamwork
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

answer:  here’s how we’ve handled the billing and collection process at my firm.
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value + pricing = value pricing

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//www.g005e.com/2020/08/26/value-pricing-value-pricing/
some 64% of cpas say one of the chief benefits of value pricing is “transparency.” (aicpa)

automation is a key part of the process.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

matching pricing (what an accounting firm figures it can charge) with value (what a client things a service is worth) is always a challenge. a firm may think its capability in compliance is worth a lot, but if the client has nothing to comply with, it puts no value on compliance services.

more: opportunities in common and uncommon services | cloudy forecasts call for rainmaking
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so the question is: what does a given client or potential client value?
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judy trepeck on how to think beyond accounting, with steven sacks

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clients need so much more than basic accounting & write-up.

^ click to play the video

with steven sacks
the new fundamentals

armed with the latest technologies, accountants can do more than ever – faster, better, and cheaper. but too many accountants are missing the biggest opportunity that technology creates, according to judy trepeck, long a leading figure in the profession.

more from steven sacks: bill reeb: new rules for the covid era | is your message open to interpretation? |  effective communications in the age of covid | why proper communication is critical | how to create effective internal communications | how to select your firm’s board | trust is a key organizational ingredient | real influence vs. immediate gratification | fake it ‘til you make it: an ultimate goal? | 4 ways to boost job satisfaction | have you gauged your staff’s enthusiasm? | why knowledge maintenance is key
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

in her conversation with steven sacks, trepeck, currently senior vice president for customized training at the michigan state cpa society,  outlines how cpas can go beyond basic accounting to provide more value-added services. it requires experience, talent, ambition, and, maybe most of all, intuition.


^ click to play the podcast

trepeck provides a framework for any accountant to add advisory services to their menu of offerings.

some of the key takeaways and the full transcript:

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when covid ‘got real’

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tax season turns into ‘advisory season,’ and a whole new niche is born.

^ click to play

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

gabrielle luoma, long one of the profession’s leading innovators, says the future under covid-19 belongs to the quick and the smart, in this exclusive video interview with 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. firms will need to deploy new services to attract new clients who may have not realized that they needed a firm like yours but now do.

more covid conversations: the covid outlook with darren root and joel hughes: a long, slow climb back to recovery | steven sacks: covid crisis management | jean caragher: how to fight ‘fear’ and ‘insecurity’ | sarah dobek: learning how to operate in the new normal | august aquila: what comes next? | jody grunden: covid and client communications | andrew argue: on a mission | martin bissett: covid slams u.k. accountants, too | bill reeb: separating the winners and losers |

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

^ play or download the podcast version

in this conversation, luoma talks about what’s going on in the business, what’s going on with tax season, and what the future holds for cpa firms and the clients of cpa firms.

speaking from her base in tucson, ariz., the ceo of mod ventures is bringing some of her dna to regional powerhouse beach fleischman through a joint venture.

we started by asking about “when it got real?”

she responds, “we truly are affected by the whole world. we have clients in new york. things changed for them rather quickly. and when they started changing, we started realizing, ‘oh, my goodness, we’re going to have to really buckle down.’ in arizona, we started seeing shutdowns mid-march. that’s when things really got real for us because then we started seeing that the businesses that we work with on a regular basis – we’re outsourced accounting, so we work with clients weekly, – we knew that we could be in trouble. we started working really hard on transitioning, and seeing what we needed to do to help our clients quickly.”

for pro members-only: get the transcript:

[pro member bonus]
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