Tax Season 2008: This Time It’s Personal

CPAs reveal top competitive strategies for 2008. Get the secrets. Join the study.

by Rick Telberg
At Large

Tax season is right around the corner, so what are tax professionals doing to add value to the service they bring to clients? The answer is simple: They are getting personal.

Jon Neal, managing member of Greenfield, Wis.-based The Neal Group, says he offers “personal attention with explanations and advice on how to make things better.”

Neal is not alone, and many would likely argue that that’s a good thing. Recent research indicates that there’s room for improvement when it comes to tax preparers promoting the value they bring to small-business clients. A National Federation of Independent Business survey found that 88 percent of businesses with fewer than 250 employees used tax professionals to prepare their most recent federal tax returns. However, only about 5 percent of all small businesses, including 3 percent of those with more than 20 employees, said it’s a more cost effective move compared with handling the taxes in-house.
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Posted on November 19, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 1 Comment

The One Lesson No CPA Can Ignore

Even veteran CPAs have trouble with it. CPAs share career secrets: Join the study. Get the tips.

by Rick Telberg
On Careers

If you’re just starting your CPA career and you’re not sure which specialty path to take, don’t fret. Many experienced CPAs are confounded by the same question.

Practitioners from all parts of the profession note that selecting a niche is among the more befuddling issues facing newly minted accountants and that making the right choice is of paramount importance to success. “There are so many areas to branch out into. It’s much more than a choice between public and private,” says Grace Ghezzi, a CPA and senior executive with a consulting firm in Syracuse, N.Y.
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Posted on November 15, 2007
Filed Under BSG FINANCE PROFESSIONAL, BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment

More CPAs Work at Home. You Can Too!

Get the best tips from the most experienced professionals. Join the survey group. Get the answers.

November 12, 2007
by Rick Telberg/At Large

If you’re reading this in your pajamas, you’re not alone. In fact, you may be a fairly typical CPA. Tax and accounting professionals, you see, are a fairly home-oriented bunch of people.

The vast majority of CPAs work at home, for one reason or another, at one time or another. They may be taking work home with them. They may be operating full-time or part-time businesses. They may be moonlighting after their day jobs. Or a little of all of the above. What are you doing?

How do CPAs succeed while working at home?
CPAs share their experiences.

Join the survey; get the answers.

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Posted on November 12, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 2 Comments

Two, Four, Six, Eight… How Do We ‘Decumulate’?

Retirement planning takes on new urgency. Are Baby Boomers ready for retirement? Join the survey; get the answers.

November 5, 2007
by Rick Telberg/At Large

Americans excel at many things, from lawn care to rocket science, but perhaps our most common accomplishment is accumulation. If you don’t believe it, go look in your garage. If you don’t have a garage, well, you have a place somewhere — a certain closet, perhaps, or a kitchen drawer — that I’ll bet is almost too full to shut.

The same goes for investments. For most Americans, accumulation includes a lot of home equity, an array of mutual funds, maybe some annuities, a stash of stocks and bonds, a pension fund or two, some cash under the mattress and, for a lucky few, more than half a tank of unleaded regular.

Are Baby Boomers ready for retirement?

Join the CPA survey. Get the answers.

(Free. Confidential.)

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Posted on November 5, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment