SURVEY UPDATE: Busy Season Shifts to Hi Gear
And so, too, the mood of the accounting profession. by Rick Telberg The outlook for a better busy season is improving among [...]
11 Things You Take for Granted Today that Technology Will Kill within Six Years
And what it means for accountants and the client of the future.
David Bergstein
by David Bergstein
Intelligent Solutions
The digital future is coming faster than you think.
Blockbuster, a store featuring rental videos and DVDs, once had over 4,000 locations in the United States. They filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and were eventually sold to The Dish Network, which kept about 500 stores open.
How Listening to Clients Can Shape Success
…And change how firms work.
Bruce W. Marcus
by Bruce W. Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0
Typical proponents of Professional Services Marketing 3.0 are lawyers and accountants who have learned to think and act like marketers, lawyers and accountants who have developed new kinds of law firms and accounting firms, and new kinds of governance structures.
It’s a system that in at least one aspect draws upon a product marketing practice – in that the marketers participate in designing aspects of legal and accounting practice. It’s a system in which lawyers relate to clients in more constructive ways, and in dialogues rather than monologues. In law firms and accounting firms in which the barriers between partners and associates who are skilled and talented have eroded, and client service teams that not only serve clients better, but function as marketing instruments, by virtue of developing better ways of demonstrating the possibilities of extended service.
David Urbanik is one such individual functioning under Professional Services Marketing 3.0. Neither a lawyer nor a trained professional marketer, no lawyer or marketer better understands both the legal profession and its practices, as well as the art of practice development. READ MORE →
Accounting Posts New Record Jobs Number
What recession? More accountants with jobs … ever.
Accounting and bookkeeping services, seasonally adjusted, preliminary / cpatrendlines.com
by Rick Telberg
In the same jobs report that drove the NASDAQ to an 11-year peak, the accounting and bookkeeping sector recorded more people employed in the industry than ever before.
The Profession’s Four Biggest Dilemmas
And four simple solutions.
by Rick Telberg
If this is February, then it’s the season for already forgetting our New Year’s resolutions. I don’t know about you, but I’ve already broken a few of them.
But there are some New Year’s resolutions that we cannot afford to ignore. For accountants, here are just four. That’s right: only four. That’s all we have space for here. But each is hitched to a pervasive dilemma within the profession.
[A&A REPORT] New Guidance on Special Presentation Issues with Comprehensive Income Display
Tom Ratcliffe
Also: A&A and the Recession and SSAE No. 16. Listen free to the current podcast here.
by Dr. Tom Ratcliffe, Ph.D, CPA
Plain-English Accounting
Bi-Weekly Report Executive Summary:
1. Our update on some special presentation issues in financial statements and the new guidance in that regard that relates to comprehensive income display matters.
2. While the accounting and attest engagement technical literature guidance is not new in certain areas, how that literature might need to be addressed in financial statements in the current economic environment continues to pose some challenges in both preparing financial statements and performing attest engagements on those statements.
3. Now that SSAE No. 16 [AT Section 801] is fully in play, some questions have been raised by practitioners who are either performing service-organization reports or using those reports, so that the AICPA has released some guidance to help practitioners understand this new authoritative technical literature.
Listen free to Dr. Tom Ratcliffe’s audio summary
Click here to start the podcast
PLAIN-ENGLISH MEMBERS: Today’s complete discussion materials
are now available through your Plain-English subscription.
NON-MEMBERS: Click here to save 10% on a full year subscription to Plain-English Accounting when you mention CPA Trendlines.
Seven Steps to Building a Great Partnership
August Aquila
What makes an accounting firm great?
by August Aquila
Aquila Global Advisors
Too many firms don’t give a lot of thought to the question.Their main concern is surviving. But the sooner a firm can start focusing on what makes a great partnership, the better off it will be. Think about this, if you don’t address this question, how will you know if you are admitting the right types of partners? What technical and personal skills would you want? What personal values (character) would you look for?
Here are seven characteristics that form the foundation of a great partnership. If you are missing any of them or if you merely need to improve in some areas, now is the time to start strengthening your firm’s foundation.
Accounting Grads Get a 3.7% Raise
Accounting firms hire the most, pay less.
The average salary for accounting majors is averaging up 3.7 percent to $50,500, according to a new survey of college graduates and the employers who hired them.
75% of CEOs See Shortfalls in Accounting for Value
Survey unveiled at launch of new CGMA credential.
About 75% of the world’s CEOs say more emphasis should be placed on measuring the value of non-financial assets such as intellectual capital and customer relationships to drive long-term performance, according to research from the AICPA and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
But just 51 percent of nearly 300 CEOs surveyed in 21 countries say their organizations currently measure the value of non-financial assets well or very well. And only 12 percent now turn to their finance teams for help with the task.
FREE INSTANT DOWNLOAD for CPA Trendlines Pro MEMBERS
For the full report, click: READ MORE →
Seven Tweaks for Your Engagement Letters
Steve Erickson
Get paid and avoid misunderstandings with your clients.
by Steve Erickson
Steve Erickson LLC
In some firms, engagement letters are treated as an afterthought even though they are required as a part of any quality control system. This lack of attention to the detailed management of an engagement often leads to misunderstandings, scope creep, upset clients and increased write-downs.
Here are a few thoughts on how you might improve this process: READ MORE →
Thank You, CPA Practice Advisor
CPA Trendlines Founder Named “Top Thought Leader.”
For the second year in a row, Rick Telberg, president and CEO of Bay Street Group LLC, which publishes CPA Trendlines, has been named one of The Top 25 Thought Leaders in the tax and accounting profession by CPA Practice Advisor magazine.
Telberg joins honorees Greg Anton, CPA; L. Gary Boomer, CPA.CITP; Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP; Jim Bourke, CPA.CITP,CFF; David Cieslak, CPA.CITP; Gale Crosley, CPA; Chris Frederiksen, CPA; Michelle Golden, CPF; John Higgins, CPA.CITP; Tom Hood, CPA.CITP; Randy Johnston; Roman Kepczyk, CPA.CITP; Allan Koltin, CPA; Mark Koziel, CPA; Barry Melancon, CPA; James Metzler, CPA; Edi Osborne; Rick Richardson; M. Darren Root, CPA.CITP; Gary Shamis, CPA; Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP; Doug Sleeter; Brian Tankersley, CPA.CITP; and Jennifer Wilson.
