staff

measuring growth in yourself, staff and partners

by

“knowledge gap” method uses a client-centric approach.

ed mendlowitz answers some of the toughest questions practitioners can throw at him. he’s the right one to ask. after more than 40 years in the business – building his own practice, running the firm, and eventually selling it to a major regional firm, withumsmith+brown, where he remains a senior partner and consultant to professional services clients – he has the answers.

more for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members: what do you think you’re doing?  | can you teach judgment?  |  clients’ calls at home  | what you need to know before expanding into business valuation | asking an attorney for a referral fee  |  are partner retreats really worth the cost? | audit reports without doing the work? | should i really spend the time making checklists? | what’s a tax practice worth today? |

question: i suspect that my partner has “maxed out” and cannot grow further which will retard our growth.  what can i do or how can i deal with this?

read more →

revenues on the rebound for most u.s. cpas

by

billing rates and partner incomes gaining strongly.

most cpa firms are reporting some measure of revenue growth, according to one widely followed survey obtained by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间.

“and while the profession has yet to rebound to pre-recession levels,” the authors say, “it is steadily gaining momentum.”

furthermore, the smallest firms appear to be the biggest winners, with 33% growth in net client fees per professional and per partner.

the report includes data and trends on:

  • increase in net fees
  • fees per partner
  • net remaining per partner
  • average partner billing rates
  • average partner compensation
  • utilization rates
  • paid time-off
  • firm technology
  • online technology

read more →

the five essential building blocks for creating a strong accounting firm

by

the ideal management structure for a profitable cpa firm.

by marc rosenberg, cpa
author of what really makes cpa firms profitable

the vast majority of cpa firms are well under 100 people and therefore don’t need the kind of formalized structure that larger firms need. but virtually all firms, regardless of size, need some minimum form of structure.

marc rosenberg
marc rosenberg

more like this: the seven signs of great leadership in a cpa firm | the 10 biggest mistakes cpa firms make in reading map statistics | new rosenberg map survey says cpa firm revenue growth re-accelerating | five skills that separate winners from losers in the accounting business | don’t ask a cpa what profitability means | the essence of cpa firm profitability | compensation issues for the new managing partner | 20 decisions for your firm’s new partner compensation committee | three ways to break partner gridlock in an accounting firm | what partners are entitled to, and what they’re not entitled to | how to make partner? | why accounting firm partners are “popping prozac like m&m’s” | more…

there is a natural tendency for firms to minimize the role of management. there are several reasons for this: read more →

accounting and bookkeeping jobs hit new all-time high for month of august

by

best august ever.

accounting and bookkeeping services, via www.g005e.com

by rick telberg

the u.s. accounting and bookkeeping sector of the economy added 3,500 new jobs in august bringing the full-time workforce in the industry to 955,000, a new all-time record high for the month, according to preliminary new data obtained by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间.

related
instant download – 2013 salary guide 
join the survey, get the results – the cpa careers and hiring outlook: job satisfaction and retention benchmarks
join the survey, get the results – top talent strategies:  how to identify and develop professionals for management and leadership responsibilities

in addition, the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 analysis shows: read more →

when a partner is unwilling to help

by

maybe the problem is you.

here at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, ed mendlowitz answers some of the toughest questions practitioners can throw at him. he’s the right one to ask. after more than 40 years in the business – building his own practice, running the firm, and eventually selling it to a major regional firm, withumsmith+brown, where he remains a senior partner and consultant to professional services clients – he has the answers. we’re happy to have him at 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. send your questions for ed here, or chime in with comments below.

meanwhile, browse more from ed here: what to do when you lose your biggest client  |  congratulations! you bought a tax practice. now what? | how accountants can keep the business when a client wants to sell theirs | 10 reasons clients don’t pay, and what to do about it | 13 reasons timesheets will never die |

— rick telberg
president / ceo

question: my tax partner gives me a hard time when i ask her for assistance.  is there anything i can do to get her to be more responsive?

read more →

give employees freedom and creativity to get results

by

mark c. thompson
mark c. thompson

examples from nokia and bechtel.

by mark c. thompson

setting and maintaining goals is a fundamental part of our lives, but also one of the most challenging. two companies which do it better than most are proctor & gamble and nokia: they work with their customers to set mutual goals so they can achieve joint outcomes. this is a great way to do business.

read more →

pay raises for management accountants show scant signs of improvement

by

a new salary survey of management accountants isn’t bad news. but it’s not great news either.

see the survey report. get the instant download:
click here for the 2012 management accountant salary survey. 

accountants’ average total compensation held relatively steady in 2011, increasing 0.9 percent from $128,486 in 2010 to $129,591, according to ima’s 23rd annual salary survey, released this month in strategic finance magazine.

read more →

ten do’s and don’t’s for performance reviews that work

by

the art of giving and taking feedback for a happy office.

by rick telberg

we’ve been asking accountants and finance managers how well their offices use feedback to keep folks happy. it’s clear that a little do-and-don’t advice seems in order for some of the nation’s accounting firms and finance departments.

our sources report some pretty big problems on the do side. out of seven questions in a cpa trendlines study, five showed that fewer than half the accounting and finance offices nationwide were doing what they should be doing all (or most) of the time.

more for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members on management skills:

click here to go pro for instant unlimited access

for instance, feedback offered on behavior — rather than on personality: only eight percent of managers do it all the time, and only 37 percent do it frequently. a full 20% do it rarely or never at all. ouch! whoever’s doing the feedback could use a little feedback themselves.

so here goes:

read more →

how to spot top talent

by

what’s partner material at your firm?
 click here to join the survey; get the results.

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 top talent survey 2012
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 top talent survey 2012

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

early returns from the new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 survey into identifying and managing high-potential professionals suggests that, beyond ability, firms are more intent than ever on finding well-rounded individuals capable of taking initiative and developing new business.

above is a word picture of some of the verbatim responses we’re capturing. what are the traits you look for in new hires? here are a few of the more interesting answers: read more →