training

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.

read more →

winning your first client

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screen shot 2015-01-16 at 8.11.40 amwhy your first sale is to yourself.

by martin bissett

winning your first client is all about understanding why someone would buy from you before you ever speak to them, before you ever meet them before you ever start the preparation for talking to them.

more: martin bissett is the author of: winning your first client | passport to partnership | meet your new best client and | business development on a budget

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

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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

4 steps to get more from your training budget

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how to run your training like a business. by michael ramos and cate miller with cpa firms spending 1.5 percent to 2.0 percent of revenue on learning, budgets can be hundreds of thousands of dollars even for a modest-sized firm. but firms invest … continued

the 6 market advantages of women-led firms

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ida o. abbott, sponsoring women
abbott

changing marketplace demands changing firms.

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

most male leaders today under­stand how important it is to keep high-performing women in the pipeline and help them achieve their potential within the organization.

more on women in accounting: men, women: a tale of two brains for business  |  beyond mentoring: why sponsoring women for leadership matters  |  firms that ‘get’ women stand to win the talent wars

these men are genuinely concerned about their firms’ inability to retain and advance the women they hire because having a substantial number of women leaders is a demonstrably significant benefit to the company, while a lack of gender diversity at the top of organizations can be very costly to the bottom line. read more →

three tips for creating training metrics

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plus: effective budgeting and management.

by michael ramos
michael ramos and associates

cpa firms want to establish metrics for their learning function as a way to monitor and manage their learning activities. ideally, firms would do their learning strategies and goals first and then use these strategies to drive the related metrics.

but we do not live in an ideal world, and some firms choose to establish metrics while simultaneously working on firmwide learning structures and goals.

more: high-impact learning: 4 ways to maximize cpe roi

recognizing the risks inherent in prematurely defining metrics, here are three tips for creating meaningful learning metrics at your firm that will help manage the learning function and drive performance. read more →

when a staffer stops listening

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four issues and solutions in leadership and management.ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a

question: one of my managers is complaining that the staff don’t listen to him. the specifics are that he assigns work and it isn’t completed on time and is usually incomplete and full of errors. he says he doesn’t want to supervise people anymore. any suggestions?

answer: i have many suggestions, sorted into four general areas.

here goes: read more →

tax return reviewer ticking and tying

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aand complaining and correcting…

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

question: my tax return reviewer continually complains to me about the quality of the returns she gets to review. yet, many of the returns she passes on to me have errors. how do i fix this?

response: common problem. also common is the continuing nature of this problem and the apparent inability of cpa firm leaders to correct this.

more practice doctor q&a: 44 critical criteria for accounting staff performance evaluations  |  why i don’t hire on experience  |  5 time management tips for an overworked accountant  |  staff training starts with doing something  |  11 business-getting tips for the young staffer  |  when staffers don’t listen to you  |  questions and answers on selling a practice to staff members  | measuring growth in yourself, staff and partners  |  complaining client? no wonder!

the reviewer blames the preparer, but i see training the preparer as part of the reviewer’s job – if not direct classroom teaching, then an active ojt (on the job training) program where errors are called to the preparer’s attention, and the preparer corrects not only this error, but any returns already in the pipeline that they worked on but haven’t been reviewed with similar errors. read more →

why i don’t hire on experience

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aquestion: i know you advocate for hiring entry-level staff, but is there a situation when an experienced person should be hired?

answer: obviously there are exceptions – but i believe they are few and far between and not worth the overall effort of only hiring experienced staff, which many small firms only hire, and occasionally larger firms do when they think a “gem” is available.

the main reason of the whys and wherefores of the exception and hiring experienced people is that the experienced person you interview has worked for only one firm and you believe that firm has the same quality standards for training and development as you have and the person is leaving because of: read more →

when accountants don’t know they don’t know

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blindfolded at computer by sandi smith leyva
the accountant’s accelerator

early in my career, one of my favorite things to teach was maslow’s four stages of learning.  i still think it’s one of the most valuable and profound pieces of information i have come across in my learning.

maybe you recall, too:

  1. unconscious incompetence.
  2. conscious incompetence.
  3. conscious competence.
  4. unconscious competence.

here’s how it applies to accountants: read more →

high-impact learning: 4 ways to maximize cpe roi

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and the fatal mistake cpa firms make in their training budgets.

by michael ramos

for years cpa firms have tried to measure the roi from their learning and development spend, an effort that has produced mostly unsatisfactory results.

standard learning and development metrics provide some insight into the training function, but firm partners are more interested in measuring something much more elusive: tangible economic benefit from training spend.  what the profession has struggled with is, while measuring costs is easy, measuring direct return has proven to be quite difficult.  faced with an incomplete roi model, firms turn to the only side of the equation they can control, the cost side, which leads them to take the only option that seems viable – cutting costs as a way to drive roi.

the problem is firms are asking the wrong question. instead of focusing on precise measures of return on training dollars, cpa firms would be better served by asking the more subjective question, “what should we do to make sure our training dollars are being spent wisely?”  the answer to that question may lack the precision firm leaders desire, but it does have one distinct advantage over precise objective measures: it is a question firms can answer.  and the answer, if thoughtfully considered, may achieve the ultimate goal: providing high-impact training at an affordable cost. read more →

survey: top 10 ways firms tutor top talent

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screen shot 2014-05-21 at 12.52.39 am

no. 1 method: ‘give them challenging assignments.”

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

it may sound harsh to the uninitiated, but the most common way for firms to turn talented staffers into future managers and leaders is to make their lives a little more difficult, according to a new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 multi-year study.

the questionnaire for “talent strategies: how to identify and develop professionals for management and leadership responsibilities” remains online and open as 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 continues to collect data and refine its analysis.  read more →