cpa firms hit the brakes on increases in billing rates

cpa firm price index through august 2015
cpa firm price index through august 2015

the good news? a lot less volatility.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

after a period of rapid price increases, cpa firms appear to be backing off on rate hikes.

the price index for u.s. cpa firms reached 117.2 in august, representing a 15.1 percent price increase since the january 2005 baseline. this is the second time this year the index has reached this mark, with the other in march, and the highest point except for february’s 117.5. it denotes increases of 0.6 percent for the month and 0.3 percent for the year.

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cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions

reeb-and-cingoranelli-with-cpatr-si-logo-200checklist: how to fine-tune your own firm’s performance management systems.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

when evaluating people within a firm, “relative importance” is a way to differentiate expectations regarding the same competency for various levels within your firm. we decided the best way to drill down even further into a competency model was to share some of the details of our competency model with you.

more on performance management:how to target what skills to develop now | what having your employees’ backs means | 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them) | do cpa firms need management or leadership? |  job 1 for the practice owner: client management

it considers the following six levels within a cpa firm (each firm needs to choose whatever breakdown works best for them):

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how to target what skills to develop now

reeb-and-cingoranelli-with-cpatr-si-logo-200bonus checklist: 12 competencies everyone in the firm needs.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

in discussing how to become a more effective people manager and developer, the first question we ask is, “what skills and aptitudes are you trying to develop?”

more on performance management: what having your employees’ backs means | 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them) | do cpa firms need management or leadership? |  job 1 for the practice owner: client management

in other words, just saying to someone, “you need to improve” is weak advice.

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what having your employees’ backs means

why failure is a value proposition.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

i want to start by talking about the phrase “having your employees’ backs.” so what does this mean? simply that, as the boss, you will take the bullets publicly for your people’s mistakes. this is such a rare phenomenon that many of you have never experienced what i am referring to – a boss taking the heat for his or her people.

more growth & succesion: 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them) | do cpa firms need management or leadership? | job 1 for the practice owner: client management

most of the time, when problems are uncovered, company cultures are “at the ready” to quickly identify someone to blame regardless of the situation. in these organizations, those with exceptional cya skills are the most highly valued. no, i did not misspell this acronym as it was not meant to be cia (as in the government intelligence agency or certified internal auditors), but rather those good at covering their butts (i guess i should have referred to it as cyb).

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the radical approach to pricing

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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5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them)

how common management pitfalls hurt firms and employees.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

how do attitudes, misconceptions and bad habits get in the way of our learning to be better managers?

related: do cpa firms need management or leadership? | job 1 for the practice owner: client management

here are five common attitudes, practices and perceptions we find:

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a radical close look at value pricing

pen ready to fill in blank timesheetbonus checklists: 5 reasons not to manage employees by timesheet and 4 factors of fixed pricing.

join the survey; get the results:
pricing strategies and billing rates

by jody padar
the radical cpa

ron baker and ed kless of the verasage institute are the hands-down experts on value pricing. they do a phenomenal job of explaining how it works and why you shouldn’t track time. i’ve done it for the last eight years and i absolutely love it. i would never go back to time and billing. my quality of life has changed dramatically because of it. what it’s done for the culture of my firm can’t be measured. it’s an intangible. i started doing it because i figured out that there had to be a better way to sell my services. i didn’t want to sell myself by the hour and i found out that it worked without reading all the economic theories. so i continued.

more on radicalism: get radical about pricing | make radical connections | 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 starts with being the change | why start being radical now? | going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | 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.

the technology is only getting faster and better. eight years ago my payroll only took two minutes using paycycle. i had to ask myself: how could i make money on it? i believe that the pricing model finally is going to change. ron baker was the early adopter and started this 20 years ago. i believe the technology has now caught up. if firms don’t change our pricing model, we’re either going to have 25,000 customers or we’re not going to make any money if we continue to charge by time.

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do cpa firms need management or leadership?

differentiating between the two, and the two most common styles of management.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

let’s start out with a straightforward question. what is the difference between management and leadership?

from one point of view, leadership is far different than management. for example, leadership might be all about developing a vision for the organization, being innovative, motivating others, empowering those around you, focusing on developing the people around you instead of just developing yourself, looking for positive ways to change, doing the right thing, and keeping the forest in view and not just see the trees.

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clear billing procedures make collecting easier

tips for handling everything from late payers to extra services to minimum fee schedules.

by ed mendlowitz

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

more practice doctor q&a: there’s more to growth than marketing | how to make staff a team again | before you even think about selling your practice | how to make annual staff evaluations work | 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 | what goes in a client’s permanent file? | why the average fee doesn’t matter | how to apply value pricing to bundled services | 6 ways to take a client beyond tax prep

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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how to build a growth-centric pricing strategy

aquila
aquila

with an eight-point analysis of your firm’s pricing strategy.

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

all you need to do is think of any services, professional or commercial, that you have purchased over the last few years. would you pay a premium rate to a bonsai gardener just to trim a regular tree or shrub? most likely not, since there would be many a gardener available to do this simple task. however, the price of an open heart surgery would not matter, if the operation would save your life.

more for pro members: how to combine two firms after merger: carefully  |  six new year’s tips for leaders in tax and accounting  |  mirror, mirror on the wall  |  6 steps to handle staffing problems in a merger  |  new times call for new cpa firm metrics  |  6 reasons why cpa firms fail in innovation  |  7 signs your firm is headed for an implosion  |  why is it always about partner compensation?  |  why merge and what to watch out for  |  13 steps to fool-proof mergers and acquisitions  |  13 questions to ask yourself for personal growth  |  partner problem? first, ask yourself these 21 questions  |  12 reasons cpa firm staff meetings are a waste of time  |  the managing partner’s secret weapon in change management  |  the 10 basic ways to boost profits at an accounting firm  |  12 must-do items for your partner retreat agenda

when pricing your services you need to carefully analyze the three key factors

  1. demand,
  2. competition and
  3. costs.

for example, it’s hard to get a premium price for a basic 1040 return because there are thousands of competitors offering the same service as very competitive prices. however, if you are offering litigation services for high net worth divorce cases, then you need to look at the unique characteristics of your services, what is potentially at risk for your clients and the firm’s overall marketing and pricing strategies.

to find out how marketing oriented your firm’s pricing strategy really is, just complete the following brief pricing strategy questionnaire. there are no incorrect answers. the purpose of the survey is to give you a snapshot of where you are today. you goal, then, is to lay out a plan to get you where you want to be tomorrow. read more →

cpa firms show strength in raising and holding fee rates

auditing and tax rates continue to inch upward.

chart of july 2015 ppi, cpa offices
cpa firm pricing index

pricing strategies and trends in tax and accounting
join the survey. get the details.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the pricing index at cpa firms stands at 116.8, just one-tenth of one point below the six-month average for the year, suggesting firms are maintaining their strong grip on fees. read more →