Some astute firms are seizing once-in-a-lifetime growth opportunities.
Tell me: What should CPAs do?
by Rick Telberg
The credit markets are frozen. The stock market is crashing. America’s auto makers face insolvency. Job losses are mounting. Consumers are catatonic
Some days it seems as if the wheels are falling off the economy at home and abroad.
So why are some accountants so bullish? The fact is that a number of strategic-minded accounting firms are investing aggressively in mergers, acquisitions, talent grabs, global expansions and capital restructurings.
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Some new polling data indicates that 93% percent of accountants surveyed have at least “a few” clients they would like to fire.
How many of your clients would you like to fire?
Most of them: 1%
Some of them:13%
A few of them: 77%
None of them: 7%
Still, 9 in 10 accountants have terminated a client and many have done so at least once in the last year.
When was the last time you fired a client?
Never: 10%
More than a year ago: 28%
Within the last 12 months: 33%
Within the last 30 days: 22%
Within the last week: 7%
More:
When times get tough, the tough get better.
Is your firm ready? Join the study; get the answers.
by Rick Telberg
How do you rate your firm? Let us count the ways…
Actually, we counted seven ways, or rather seven qualities by which one can rate an accounting practice or finance department: leadership, technology, learning organization, business development, workplace morale, client satisfaction, and strategy execution.
After tallying 1,748 responses in a succession of online surveys and one-to-one interviews over the last six months, it’s emerging as pretty clear that in most ways, most professionals rate most shops as mostly pretty good.
But “good” may not be good enough in today’s tough business environment.
To be sure, there are critical – and critically important – differences between leading firms and lagging firms. And we’ll get to those at another time.
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If you’re still having trouble grasping the relevance of Web 2.0, look no further than the Nov. 4 elections. They served as Web 2.0′s coming-out party in the world of politics, and what a debut it was.
Bill Sheridan explains it all.
Next question: How will Web 2.0 Government work?
If you have the feeling that your office is not as up to speed with technology as it needs to be, you may have plenty of company.
by Rick Telberg
There seems to be a consistent sense of frustration among accountants – in both public practice and in business and industry – that their organizations are falling behind the technology curve and shrinking their bottom lines by failing to move fast enough to the newest efficiency-enhancing systems.
To be sure, the CPA profession is among the most technologically advanced professions in the American economy. But sometimes senior management’s unwillingness to address technology issues can be the biggest hurdle. And with the economy in crisis, finance and accounting workplaces could suffer.
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You’d think the small business market must shrink in a recession. But you’d be wrong.
And it can be a fatal mistake, according to Warrillow & Co. researchers.
The net number of small businesses actually grows during a downturn. The number of start-ups actually increases compared with previous years.
The reason: READ MORE →
What’s your best advice for how the next President should try to fix the financial system and the economy?
Hundreds of CPAs have clicked on the survey link and added their comments and ideas for the next President. You can join the survey here; and get the results. Or, just add your comments directly below by clicking here.
Here are a few of the latest comments from finance and accounting professionals around the nation:
1.     STAY OUT OF IT! What makes our capitalism work is that the government does not control it. I believe things will correct themselves faster on their own, than if the government gets involved. That being said, however, I do think the government should look at the possibility of regulations in the banking and mortgage industries that might prevent situations like the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac fiascos.
2.     Forget about a permanent presidency (i.e. trying to get re-elected immediately after taking office).
3.     Mergers and consolidation of city, county state and federal government. If it is so good for the private sector why not the government?
4.     Get government out of the lives of the citizens. Also, make all people pay some federal income tax. Also, slash government spending in half overnight. Further, send Congress home for six months of each year.
5.     End the tax cuts from the Bush administration effective with the 2009 tax year. Get to work on the country’s infrastructure and health care crises.
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