Accounting marketing gets savvier, embracing new technologies and metrics.
by Rick Telberg
(Appeared originally at AICPA/CPA2Biz)
Marketing has come a long way in CPA firms. It’s no longer a matter of talking up neighbors at cocktail parties, buying someone lunch, and/or even offering new services to existing clients – although all those things still happen and remain essential ingredients to practice growth.
Today’s professional CPA firm marketers are becoming savvier in research, branding, competitive intelligence and strategic planning – with new techniques, leading-edge technologies and ever-more-precise measurements of returns on investment.
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Microsoft, which has just launched a new thrust into the CPA channel, is already the market leader in accounting applications with its Microsoft Business Software and a 23% slice of the mid-market segment (companies with 500-999 employees. Best Software follows closely, with 21% of mid-market companies.
The Microsoft package also leads among medium-sized companies (100-499 employees), at a 21% share. Second place goess to Oracle, at 18%.
Among the smallest companies (1-19 employees), Intuit’s QuickBooks remains the unchallenged leader, with a 68% share. Best has a slight lead among companies with 20-99 employees, at 30%. QuickBooks takes 29%
Source: Yankee Group
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Technology overload? Too much, too fast? How do you sort it all out?
by Rick Telberg
At Large
(Originally appeared at CPA2Biz)
With more technological power in the cell phone in your pocket than was carried aboard the first mission to the Moon, accountants and financial executives are struggling to absorb it all.
But at the same time, worries about security, privacy and piracy are overtaking the discussion.
Just ask some of the people who should know: organizers of next month’s Tech 2005 AICPA Information Technology Conference in Las Vegas. Their responses weren’t in perfect unison, but they came pretty close. READ MORE →
With a shortage of good, qualified staff in the CPA market, managers are scrambling for talent.
Here are some clues to what job-seekers may be looking for….
And what they have now… READ MORE →
TRENDS IN CPA FIRM ASSOCIATIONS
Patrick Riley, CPA, the MGI North America coordinator, deputy chairman of MGI and Managing Shareholder of Braver and Co., P.C., talks about the profession’s new global landscape.
Rick Telberg (RT): What are the major trends or issues impacting your members and your association today?
Patrick Riley (PR): The most significant trend affecting our MGI members is the impact of changes to the profession caused by Andersen, Enron, WorldCom, Sarbanes Oxley, PCAOB, and Parmalat. These changes have created substantial opportunities for second and even third-tier firms. Those firms that have proactively recognised the importance of membership of, and active participation in, an association like MGI are well positioned to take advantage of these opportunities.
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When sleeping gets tough, some CPAs go back to work.
by Rick Telberg
(From AICPA Career Insider)
Does work keep you awake at night? If so, you’re not alone.
Roughly four in 10 accountants and financial managers report that the relentless whip of topsy-turvy 1040s, forgotten Schedule C’s, impending SOX 404 reports, and deadlines, deadlines, deadlines leads to “regular” sleeplessness. And even those who said work didn’t keep them awake weren’t all that sure about it. Another third admitted that work did indeed keep them awake at least “sometimes.”
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Succession deals can go more smoothly if good operations are considered.
by Rick Telberg
At Large
You’re a successful CPA. You’ve spent your professional life building a successful practice. But the sands of the Caribbean beckon. A certain golf course calls your name. Your babies have graduated from college.
It’s time to think about retirement, and maybe merging out is the way to do it. If you want, you (and your equally aging partners) can just dump your practice: Sell it to another firm and each go your merry way.
But according to Joel Sinkin, president of J. Sinkin Consulting Group Ltd. and a principal in Accounting Transition Advisors, LLC, slipping slowly out the back door is the better way to go. He calls it a Two-Stage Deal.
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