staff

when staffers stagnate

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and ahigher-level staff person isn’t supervising or mentoring anyone.

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

question: i have a staff person who does great work, but she seems to be deadened. the good news is that her clients love her and she doesn’t bug me about becoming a partner.

more practice doctor q&a: yes, you should send rejection letters | 7 ways to lose a client’s trust | 12 must-knows for niche markets | 6 ways to take a client beyond tax prep | 18 ways to blow a partnership opportunity | 8 times when hourly billing trumps value pricing | when a staffer stops listening | 44 critical criteria for accounting staff performance evaluations | 5 time management tips for an overworked accountant | pricing, billing, costing: don’t blame clients

any suggestions on what i could do to move her forward?

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can accounting firms lead with work-life vision?

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and 5 practical ideas to implement measures to create real work-life balance at your firm.

work life balanceby hitendra patil
pransform inc. 

do you want employees who have:

  • greater engagement in their jobs
  • higher levels of job satisfaction
  • stronger intentions to remain with their employers
  • less negative and stressful spillover from job to home
  • less negative spillover from home to job
  • better mental health

aren’t these the things most accounting firms would want their employees to experience?

in a 2014 national study of employers conducted under the “when work works” project, families and work institute and the society for human resource management noted that employees in more effective and flexible workplaces are more likely than other employees to have such desirable traits mentioned above.

do you and/or your employees work 12-14 hours a day or 50-60 hours a week, don’t exercise, always feel tired, sleep poorly, eat junk food more often (mostly at your desk) and find it difficult to meaningfully engage with your near and dear ones? read more →

how to build a powerhouse learning team for your cpa firm

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create competitive value by combining practitioners and educators on the same team.

by michael ramos and cate miller

cpas bring a diverse range of skills to any business problem. at small firms, partners wear many hats, including management of the learning function. but as firms grow, it soon becomes apparent that one of the firm’s partners – no matter how talented he or she may be – is not functioning at their highest and best use if they have to manage the entire learning function on their own.

training and development  part 3 in a 3-part series: run training like a business

     part 1: 4 steps to get more from your training budget

     part 2: how to manage cpe by the numbers

     part 3: how to build a powerhouse learning team 

 

with size comes a diversity of learning needs and management of the learning function becomes more complex. the opportunity cost of having firm partners and managers limit their billable hours to coordinate training begins to outweigh the costs of engaging the help of a learning professional.

thus is born the need for a learning team.

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and now, a few words about sex (and 14 tips)

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businesswoman and businessmanyour protégée may have concerns. you should anticipate them.

by ida o. abbott
sponsoring women: what men need to know

if you are concerned about the possibility of sex-related problems, consider the degree of risk involved and whether you are willing to assume it.

before you decide, consider

  • first that you might be exaggerating the risk, and
  • second that this is a risk that can be prevented and managed.

more on sponsoring women for leadership: your protégée needs your feedback |  9 ways to promote your protégée to others | 8 ways to help your protégée focus on career opportunities | how to start an effective sponsorship … and follow through | 3 roadblocks to women and men working together well | fear of sex and rumors inhibits sponsorship | why women resist networking and powerful role models | different standards, double binds challenge women | 3 reasons why men don’t pick women protégées | beyond mentoring: why sponsoring women for leadership matters

some men use these concerns as rationalizations to avoid sponsoring women for other reasons. don’t be one of them.

read more →

make flexible scheduling work for everyone

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businesswoman holding a clockyour protégée needs you to have her back.

by ida o. abbott
sponsoring women: what men need to know

a talented, ambitious woman who works less than full time or takes extended family leave is extremely vulnerable to being derailed professionally.

whether because she is “out of sight/out of mind,” or because people doubt her commitment, she may be disregarded for promotions or high-profile projects.

more on sponsoring women for leadership: your protégée needs your feedback |  9 ways to promote your protégée to others | 8 ways to help your protégée focus on career opportunities | how to establish a sponsor-protégée relationship | women must see politics as leadership to get ahead | mommy bias persists | different standards, double binds challenge women | 5 ways gender bias plays out at cpa firms | men advance 2 to 1 over women without sponsors | 18 ways sponsors can help their protegees | beyond mentoring: why sponsoring women for leadership matters

a sponsor can ensure that she has access to those opportunities and support when she accepts them. he can make the difference between this woman staying on track and ascending to top leadership posts or leaving the company for another job.

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we’re back! tax and accounting employment hits new high, surpassing january 2008 peak

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it’s a 1.8 percent hike from boom times. we’ll take it.

tax, accounting and bookkeeping employment, through january 2015
tax, accounting and bookkeeping employment, through january 2015

the u.s. tax, accounting and bookkeeping industries have fully rebounded, surpassing the previous january 2008 peak, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 sources.

here 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 reports on:

  • current hiring trends in each of the bookkeeping, tax, payroll and cpa segments of the industry.
  • average hourly wages for key segments.
  • typical hours worked per week.
  • and trends concerning women in the accounting workforce.

while cheering the recovery, the new employment trends represent intensifying competition for talent, as well as clients.

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how to manage cpe by the numbers

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developing and monitoring learning metrics. by michael ramos and cate miller accounting is the language of business. cpas help business owners understand and manage their business by analyzing financial and non-financial metrics. to improve the results of the firm’s professional development efforts, … continued

when experience doesn’t add up

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aby ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: i need to hire an experienced person and am looking for someone with two to three years’ experience. i know you don’t think this is advisable. why not?

response: if you hire people who already had their first job, the chances are they were not trained your way, and something happened that made them want to leave that is still in them and will be duplicated in some form in your firm.

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beyond money alone: how college accounting students choose their first job

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par differentiators students consider in accepting job offersey and ut austin top professors poll.

in considering job offers from competing accounting firms, the most highly sought-after students weigh three criteria equally, and it doesn’t much matter whether the offer is for big money or whether it’s from a big four firm anymore, according to a leading survey of several hundred college accounting professors.

students today consider compensation and benefits, “work/life balance and a family-friendly environment” and a desirable geographic location each about equally, according to the 33rd annual professors survey for 2014 by public accounting report.

the difference is barely discernible, par reports. on a scale of 0 through 10, with 10 being the most important, professors marginally differentiated between the three in order of importance. they rated compensation and benefits an average of 8.10, quality of life/family-friendly environment 8.09 and desirable geographic location 7.99. read more →