New survey findings may surprise you.
by CPA Wealth Management Insider staff
Based on research findings from Bay Street Group LLC
Study after study shows that CPAs are the most trusted advisors to small businesses and to many high net worth individuals. But when it comes to keeping their own savings and retirement plans on track, more and more CPAs are admitting they have some work to do to get ready for their golden years. READ MORE →
Hudson Survey Finds Manager Supervision Effective at Curbing Personal Internet Use
NEW YORK /PRNewswire/ — One-quarter (23 percent) of U.S. workers who use a computer at work admit to having searched for a new job on their companies’ time and resources, according to a new survey by Hudson. On top of that, three in ten send and receive personal e-mails at work at least most days, if not every day. Another 28 percent say they do so occasionally.
Most workers who use computers say their employers know they use the Internet for personal business. In fact, three-quarters of them believe their bosses are aware of how much they use the Internet for non-work related activities, and half (48 percent) say their companies monitor their computer use. Of those who believe their Internet use is screened, 74 percent report that their companies have formal policies regarding e-mail and Web usage.
Does Your Retreat Advance Your Firm?
By Bruce W. Marcus
We’re at the beginning of the retreat season. This Spring, accountants, lawyers, and consultants will assemble, dressed informally, at fine resorts throughout the nation, to explore the futures of their firms and what can be done to sustain their firms? present status or to alter their futures.
A retreat can be a good time to relax, rest, and become reacquainted with your partners, even as it addresses the firm?s mundane housecleaning efforts. It can be a better time, and a great opportunity, particularly in this era of economic turmoil and technological change, for real accomplishment by recognizing new realities of the marketplace and professional environment, and calculating what must be done now to make the firm viable in the future.
INCLUDING: The Top 10 Issues You Can’t Afford to Ignore. Go to the Download page now.
Whether working remotely or remotely working: 1,600 surveyed CPAs say mind your P’s & Q’s.
by Rick Telberg
At Large
With finance and accounting professionals increasingly working outside a normal office ? and outside normal office hours ? a new discipline and set of professional working standards appear to be taking shape.
In the networked, always-on, always-available world of work these days, time and space have been conquered. CPAs are working anywhere and everywhere. Unfortunately, many are also working too much.
But some tips from those who have done it may smooth the trail for those who follow. Whether you are working remotely (or remotely working) or supervising those who are (you think), the new world of work has a set of new rules. Successfully working from home or in small offices can require the same work rules and decorum that’s expected of the regular Rat Race CPAs working in big offices. By one measure, there are 80,000 tax and accounting practices in small or at-home offices, and another several hundred thousand employees working at home for firms and companies. READ MORE →
Staffers Speak Out, Share Some Tips. But Are Managers Listening?
The finance and accounting profession, already facing a crisis in recruitment, is failing to utilize proper retention strategies, such as an enlightened system of mentoring, coaching, goal-setting and performance review and remediation.
45% percent of finance and accounting professionals surveyed would consider changing jobs because of the managerial atmosphere of their office.
The participants:
– 46% of participants represent public accounting firms, 32% business and industry.
– 42% work in offices of 11 to 50 persons.
– 45% are senior executives, owners or chief executives.
What Managers Are Doing Wrong:
1. Managers wait until problem is out of hand to confront it. And by then it?s too late to handle it productively or with sensitivity.
2. The feedback is not confined to the facts, but ranges further afield.
3. It feels like a verbal attack on the employee.
4. The feedback gets personal, instead of remaining business-like and professional.
5. There are comments on issues beyond the control of the employee.
6. Feedback is delivered without privacy.
INCLUDING: Verbatim comments from dozens of staffers.
GET THE FREE EXECUTIVE PREVIEW HERE.
TOP-LINE SURVEY DATA
Tax and accounting firms use a mix of strategies to price their services. But the billable hour still reigns supreme and most practitioners are getting increasingly frustrated with the method.
READ THE ARTICLE THAT INSPIRED THE STUDY.
KEY FINDINGS
– 35% of firms set pricing based on costs, usually as a multiple of the cost of labor.
– 27% set prices based on the client?s perceived value of the service.
– 26% set prices based on competitive market conditions.
– But most also say they consider all factors in setting prices
– 60% of firms set prices to retain clients, 36% to maximize revenue; and 27% to maximize profit.
– 75% of firms say their pricing strategy could be improved.
– The firms most dissatisfied with their pricing strategy tend to rely on a cost-based strategy.
– 60% of firms vary pricing by service line.
– In first 100 responses, the overwhelming majority bill by the hour.
– Based on verbatim answers, actual realized collections fall far short of wished-for billing rates
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOP-LINE SURVEY DATA, KEY FINDINGS
METHODOLOGY, HOW TO USE THIS REPORT
BACKGROUND
TOP-LINE SURVEY DATA ? DETAIL
– Which pricing strategy is mainly used in your firm?
– What is the rationale behind your pricing strategy?
– How did your firm arrive at this pricing strategy? Would you change it in any way? Verbatim Responses
– How well do you think your pricing strategy is working?
– Does your firm use different pricing strategies for different products or services? (With verbatim Responses)
– What’s the average fee-per-billable-hour you earn or your firm charges?
DEMOGRAPHICS
– In what type of business do you work?
– How many people work in your office or location?
– Which best describes your position?
BONUS CROSSTAB
– How well do you think your current pricing strategy is working? vs. Type of Pricing Strategy in Use
APPENDIX
– About the AICPA, Bay Street Group LLC
– Information Request
1. The number of new clients in a given time period.
2. The number of new matters from existing clients in a given time period.
3. The number of new matters in new practice areas from existing clients in a given time period.
4. Any revenue increases or decreases by client in a given time period.
5. The regularity o f billing (by lawyer).
6. Any revenue increase or decreases in a particular practice area in a given time period.
7. Difference in profitability for clients who pay retainers vs. those who don?t.
8. The number of new clients or new matters that have been opened as a result of a specific event and follow-up efforts.
9. The amount of time posted currently, and the impact of timely billing on A/R and write-offs.
10. What position your firm occupies in the marketplace (determined by professional market research) and how that changes over time. If you do advertising, measure the firm?s name recognition prior to and after the ad campaign.
11. The number of proposals/beauty contests in which the firm is asked to compete; the percentage of beauty contests won; and revenues from these new clients.
12. The percentage of proposals won that received assistance from the marketing department versus the percentage of winning proposals that did not receive assistance from the marketing department.
13. The way a lawyer?s non-billable time is used.
14. The percentage of clients who remain with the firm for longer than X years.
15. Changes in the level of client satisfaction ? use information gathered during an initial client satisfaction meeting to compare against future surveys.
? LFDG Publications
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