Seen at the New Jersey CPA Show
The Creative Solutions Team READ MORE →
JOB MARKET: Accounting Is Hot
Accounting Among Top 10 Jobs for 2004-05 Graduates
The Job and the Starting Salaries…
Source: Spring 2005 Salary Survey, National Association of Colleges & Employers. All data is for bachelor’s degree candidates. Rankings are based on number of offers reported.
Crystal Moran had many offers from large firms before choosing to work at Goldstein Schechter Price Lucas Horwitz & Co. Source: KnightRidder
BRUCE MARCUS: AIN’T NOBODY HERE KNOWS HOW TO PLAY THIS GAME?
A Tale Of Two Ads?One Passionate And One Effective
By Bruce W. Marcus
Bruce W. Marcus is the editor of The Marcus Letter (www.marcusletter.com). He may be reached at marcus@marcusletter.com.
It?s amazing, after all these years, that major professional firms and their agencies haven?t figured out yet how advertising works for professional firms.
Now, readers of The Marcus Letter (www.marcusletter.com) know that we don?t believe in hard and fast rules in marketing. Any such rule can be effectively ignored if there?s a distinct reason to do so, and there?s a lively intelligence and imagination behind deviating from the rules. We have also long advocated caution in judging advertising, without fully understanding that advertising objectives differ. For example, an ad may have, as its primary purpose, putting the firm?s staff in tune with the firm?s marketing position.
FIRMS TO WATCH: Ex-Deloitters Find Big Growth as Resources Connection
Resources Connection, spun off in 1999 by Deloitte, now has 60 offices around the world and employs more than 2,500 accounting, technology and business professionals.
The formula: Delivering some of the same high-end consulting services and professional pedigree that the Big Four offer. The company’s hourly rate ranges from $70 to $90 depending on the kind of service. That’s about 20 percent less than the Big Four. Projects are staffed by senior professionals who have an average work experience of 18 years and often have MBAs and CPAs. And the firm calls its services “internal” consulting, which means the firm’s associates act more as temporary workers than as outside consultants. Source: East Bay Business Times
NASDAQ: RECN, about $19 sper share.
AT LARGE: Are You an ‘Operator’ or a ‘Superstar’?
The answer may determine the future of your firm.
by Rick Telberg
At Large
One of the weightiest issues burdening the CPA profession today is the problem of CPA firm succession.
In essence, this generation of firm owners, most of them baby-boomers, are reaching retirement and discovering, unlike the generation before them, that there may be few qualified or interested CPAs interested in buying their practices. In short, it’s fast becoming a buyer’s market for CPA firms.
Now there’s a new look at the problem by Bill Reeb, a CPA and consultant to CPA firms, who says people are looking at the wrong end of the problem. Instead of working to get the best price for what you have, according to Reeb, owners should be working years in advance to build businesses with enduring enterprise value.
READ MORE →
CPAs vs. Banks? The Changing Competitive Landscape
?AT LARGE: CPAs Battle Banks for Business? reported on how community banks seemed to be muscling in on CPA services like tax prep through their trust departments while they are reducing their reliance on CPA-prepared financial reports.
But most CPAs are more worried about clients doing the work themselves and the power of technology to take away business. READ MORE →
MAP SUCCESS: West Coast View from Samantha Deeder
Samantha Deeder, Director of Marketing, Miller, Kaplan, Arase & Co., LLP, North Hollywood, Calif., reports on CPA firm marketing trends with a West Coast perspective…
[See also: MAP SUCCESS: 7 Top CPA Firm Marketing Trends and MAP SUCCESS: Molinar on Marketing]
TOP 3 TRENDS:
1. The evolution of the marketing department:
At our local AAM chapter (AAM Los Angeles) our meetings are often dominated by the challenges we marketers face as we continue to implement a true marketing culture into our firms. … READ MORE →
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