think you know what motivates people? [video]
here’s something we should have known before the banking crash…
management
the 10 basic ways to boost profits at an accounting firm
the new practice management discipline.
by august aquila
aquilaadvisors.com
no profits no mission, as one of my partners is fond of saying.
while leadership, balanced life, outstanding client service and efficient processes are critical for success, they mean nothing if the firm is not sufficiently profitable to make investments for the future and compensate performers. i want to focus on ten ways to make your practice more profitable.
these ten areas form the basis of my practice operational review. read more →
the recession has battered most accounting firms. here’s a seven-step plan to start rebuilding trust
a framework for action.
if trust has been broken in your accounting firm—and given the great recession, odds are, it has been—you must start now to rebuild it.
michelle and dennis reina, authors of “rebuilding trust in the workplace: seven steps to renew confidence, commitment, and energy” (berrett-koehler, 2010), recommend a seven-step process, drawn from two decades of research, for healing and rebuilding trust.
to be sure, the seven-step process isn’t a silver bullet. but it may provide a framework for leaders to demonstrate courage and to take concrete, constructive, and compassionate action. read more →
winning firms know the secrets of keeping good accountants
work/life balance proves essential to recruiting, retaining staff.
by rick telberg
if that cpa working next to you appears stressed out by the job, take a long, hard look because you may not see him or her again in the future.
while cpas in all walks of the profession are strained and face tough workloads, those feeling the greatest stress and workplace demands are more likely to be seriously in the market for another job. at any given moment, according to my studies, about one on three cpas would consider changing jobs, even it meant a pay cut, in exchange for better working conditions. among the most stressed-out cpas, the ratio of job seekers jumps to about half.
so it’s imperative for managers of cpas to offer state-of-the-art workplaces if they want to retain hard-to-find staff. read more →
six steps to building firm-wide accountability
start by stopping.
stop doing things that undermine accountability, says skip reardon at six disciplines business coaching, “stop overseeing, legislating and micro-managing.”
reardon, a veteran of the accounting business dating back to solomon software, says “accountability is not something you ‘make’ people do – it has to be chosen or accepted by people within your organization. people must ‘buy into’ being accountable and responsible. for many, this is a new, unfamiliar way to work. most importantly: individual purpose and meaning come from assuming responsibility and accepting accountability.”
so, how do you build company-wide accountability?
16 rules to $2.25 billion: godaddy founder’s homespun wisdom
now that internet services provider godaddy has been sold for $2.25 billion, founder bob parsons is looking pretty smart.
so maybe it’s worth looking at the entrepreneurial, controversial parsons’ self-written “16 rules.” (by the way, after serving in vietnam, parson graduated with an accounting degree.)
1. get and stay out of your comfort zone. i believe that not much happens of any significance when we’re in our comfort zone. i hear people say, “but i’m concerned about security.” my response to that is simple: “security is for cadavers.”
what people want from you
the 14 strategies to build better business relationships.
it’s been said that when you look for the good in others, you discover the best in yourself.
it’s nowhere so true as in the accounting business. contrary to the cliche, accounting is a people business — most accountants spend a lot of time working directly with staffers, colleagues, superiors, clients and maybe-clients.
how some thrive in tough times
they make all the hard work pay off.
by rick telberg
some tax and accounting practitioners are showing how to deal with the same problems as their peers and competitors, and yet rise above them.
the results can be dazzling.
overall, 45% of accountants say this busy season was better than last year’s, including 12% who said “much better.”
indeed, for those lucky few, it was better by almost any measure. among those who reported operations were “much better” this year: read more →
can you really change a partner?
take a lesson in change management from weight watchers.
by august aquila
aquilaadvisors.com
david maister in “strategy and the fat smoker” notes that there are two elements needed in order for us to change. the first is a willingness to do it. the second is determination. but alas, we know the path to hell is paved with good intentions.
there are a multitude of platitudes about change. but unless we change we don’t grow and the skills that got us to where we are, won’t get us to the next level. none of us can achieve more unless we become more. if i fail to change, i will not produce different or better results, but only the same thing. this is extremely dangerous because the world around us – our clients, our employees, the market place continue to change.
take a quick acid test. what do you know today that you did not know five years ago? ten years ago? if your list is short, you haven’t changed much. if your list is long, congratulations! the longer the list, the better.
11 clues your clients are losers
sevenkeys cpa research shows that the best firms are three times more likely than laggards to fire clients. via accountingweb firing clients is an effective way to manage growth and profitability. clients should be evaluated on a variety of criteria … continued
succession planning: what’s your excuse?
are you scaring away the next generation of owners?
via accountingtoday
you know it’s important. so why do only 35 percent of multi-owner firms and 9 percent of sole proprietors have written succession plans in place?
“most firms don’t have any plan,” robert fligel, president of rf resources tells accounting today. “even to do a memo would be a major accomplishment… it’s human nature; we don’t want to deal with mortality because it’s a very daunting thing. but there’s a fantastic sense of relief when you do these things. and you should think about your clients – you don’t want to leave them in a lurch.”
good-bye annual budget. hello rolling forecast
world moving too fast to plan even a year ahead.
so an increasing number of companies are abandoning the age-old tradition of annual budgeting and adopting instead a system of constantly updated forecasts. they call them rolling forecasts, flexible budgets, or event-driven planning. but they aren’t annual budgets.
cfo.com cites as examples: unilver, norton lilly international, statoil, and american century investments. “meanwhile, other companies continue to execute a budget but, for the most part, manage the business without it,” russ banham reports. “call it a sign of the times, literally.”
seven secrets of high-performing cpa firms
in this newly competitive environment, the difference between success and failure can pivot on the smallest competitive advantage…