CPA Trendlines

Accountants’ Top 10 Issues for Tax Season

CPAs brace for pain and uncertainty with cautious optimism, buoyed by signs the economy may have stabilized.

by Rick Telberg

As busy season lurches into high gear, accountants are expressing more confidence in the outlook for their own firms and organizations, buoyed by signs the economy may have stabilized.

Indeed, on a scale of one to five, with five being the best outlook for their organizations, accountants are reporting an average grade of 3.26, up a marked 20 percent from the year-ago 2.62 index level, according to CPA Trendlines research for the AICPA.

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How Much to Charge for QuickBooks Work?

QuickBooks Advisors average $64 per hour.

But certified ProAdvisors outrun the uncertified. And CPAs outperform most.

Since 2007 rates for Certified ProAdvisors rose by seven percent; during the same period, rates for uncertified ProAdvisors actually declined, according to Intuit.

While Intuit asked about various hourly services, they are using hourly bookkeeping rates to provide a thumbnail sketch of the changes between 2009 and 2007. The 2007 rates are shown in parentheses, followed with the percentage change.

• All Respondents $64 ($61) 5%
• Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors $64 ($60) 7%
• QuickBooks ProAdvisors (Uncertified) $56 ($59) -5%
• All QuickBooks ProAdvisors $63 ($60) 5%
• All ProAdvisors Who Are Not CPAs $58 ($53) 9%
• All ProAdvisors Who Are CPAs $75 ($68) 10%
• All CPAs $77 ($71) 8%
• Bookkeepers $55 ($48) 15%

As shown in the “bookkeepers” category, the most pressure for rates to increase comes from the lower end of the spectrum, according to Intuit. After that, the subset of ProAdvisors who are also CPAs saw the highest increases overall.

More at  2009 QuickBooks Survey.

If I Were an Auditor: The Video

CPA romance in Second Life

“If I Were an Auditor,” a song parody of “If I Were a Carpenter,” is the first ever music video about accounting performed and filmed in the virtual world of Second Life. Conceived by Edith Orenstein, author of the Financial Executives International blog, and performed by Orenstein and Steven Zelin, aka “The Singing CPA,” the video features a cast of accounting and financial bloggers.

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How to Make Every Contact Count

Without a solid system for networking, what good are good connections?

How can you gain the trust of your contacts so they’ll start connecting you to all the people in their network? The greatest networkers have a simple, practical system for making a lasting impression and building a strong foundation for future professional success.

1. Start off strong: Give new contacts a firm handshake and look them in the eye. An upbeat attitude and a sincere eagerness to meet them will be reciprocated.
2. Listen more than talk: You can’t really start to build a relationship until you’re locked into the other person’s hot buttons and listening to what makes him tick.
3. Ask questions to build rapport and understanding: Once you hear his answer, do you have him go into greater detail? Great professionals know how to move the conversation forward with the right open-ended questions.
4. Find common ground: Doing so allows you to connect with contacts on a deeper level, whether it’s sports, hobbies or family interests. When customers start talking about their kids and how they are interested in the same activities as yours, the conversation flows.
5. Do your homework: When the customer sees you’ve invested time into understanding his business, there is a certain level of trust established right away. Even better is when the homework you did brings new ideas and additional value to the customer.
6. Sell what they sell: You know who your customer is, but do you know who your customer’s customers are and how you can help sell more to them? Help your customers build their businesses, and they’ll end up building yours.
7. Offer outside help: Can you offer a resource–say, a personal trainer or a good book–that assists them in an area outside of what you sell? Going out of your way to help can get you in the door and keep you connected.
8. Keep your network strong: Surround yourself with people your contacts would want to meet. I am always thinking about the company my contacts keep. It tells me a great deal about their intelligence and integrity.
9. Be true to who you are: People cannot connect with you when you’re trying to be someone else. Being honest about what you do, who you are and what you believe in says a lot about your character.
10. Follow up and follow through: In the world of networking, connections and building relationships, this is the glue that holds it all together.

Nothing really new here–it’s common sense. And guess what? Common sense isn’t so common anymore, but it’s what the best professionals have.

Barry Farber is rated as one of the top speakers of the year by Successful Meetings Magazine and is the bestselling author of 11 books on sales, management and personal achievement. He is also a black-belt weapons expert and a regular on QVC as the marketer and co-inventor of innovative products. Contact him at barry@barryfarber.com.

Via Entrepreneur

Five Questions to Ask Clients Today

Make checking a client’s pulse part of your everyday habit.

by Rick Telberg

Busy season may be hectic and the hours may be long, but if you’re not making time to get to know your clients better, then you’re missing an opportunity that may not come again for another year. By then, a competitor may have beaten you to the punch.

Many accountants, auditors and tax professionals don’t realize how much busy season is, in fact, “opportunity season.” You have your clients’ undivided attention. They should have yours.

Beyond the routine tax preparation and tax planning, beyond the reconciliations and check marking, you need to be using client face-time to explore their greater needs and goals and your firm’s performance and opportunities.

It’s not hard once you know where to start, according to Scott H. Cytron, a 20-year veteran of marketing and communications in the accounting profession.

Cytron

“Your clients may seem happy,” Cytron warns, “but how much do you really know about their satisfaction with your firm and services? Have you asked them?” Mostly, accountants don’t ask, and certainly not in a systematic way. I call it “Don’t ask, don’t know.”

The reason? “Mainly,” Cytron says, “accountants just don’t really know how to ask the question. They’re afraid they’ll hear bad news. And then what would they do? But, honestly, is that any way to run a business? There should be no surprises.”

Take the opportunity to do more than just ask “How are we doing?” Ask how the client is doing. Find out what the client wants from their life and business. See if there are ways you can help, professionally or just as a friend.

Cytron suggests five questions to get started:

• How can we help build your business?
• How do our firm’s solutions help your efficiency and your service to your own customers or clients?
• How can we serve you more effectively?
• What’s changed in your business over the last 12 months? (You should know most of this answer already if you’ve done your homework.)
• We always appreciate referrals. What kinds of referrals are you looking for?

They key is to make checking a client’s pulse part of your everyday habit. When you ask “Hi. How are you?” you should mean it. And be prepared to ask for more.

On another level, the firm should be checking client-satisfaction levels at least annually through methodical surveys. Cytron says the surveying doesn’t always need to be completely scientific, and, in fact, rarely is. “But you can get a pretty good idea of where you stand with a just a few responses,” he says. ”And then you’ll know what you need to do next.” Which could range from damage control on a particular client relationship to more in-depth research.

But accountants need to break the habit of answering e-mail with e-mail, text with text, voicemail with voicemail. Every client query is an opportunity for an old-fashioned conversation. Try the phone. Get lunch.

Who knows what could happen?

Copyright 2010 AICPA

NY CPA Society Falls into Line on Mobility

Society Board Finally Endorses UAA Section 23 on Interstate Practice

The NYSSCPA Board of Directors has voted unanimously  to support Section 23 of the Uniform Accountancy Act, which would, if made law, allow out-of-state licensed CPAs to provide attest services in New York without having to notify the state or pay a fee as long as their home state is deemed to have licensing requirements “substantially equivalent” to those outlined in the UAA.

New York state has had a long and sometimes ambivalent relationship toward Section 23 of the UAA.   In 1999, the NYSSCPA first supported and legislators introduced an accountancy reform bill that included Section 23 UAA mobility.

“Differing requirements for CPA certification, reciprocity, temporary practice and other aspects of State accountancy legislation constitute artificial barriers to interstate practice and mobility of CPAs,” sponsoring legislators said in their memorandum of support for the 1999 bill.

However, the effort failed and continued to do so for as long as the provision was included in the subsequent accounting reform bills over the next nine years, according to NYSSCPA.ORG.

Peace Treaty Signed at H&R Block’s McGladrey Units

RSM McGladrey and McGladrey & Pullen Finalize Definitive Agreements

via PRNewswire

RSM McGladrey, Inc., one of the nation’s leading accounting, tax and business consulting firms, and McGladrey & Pullen, LLP (M&P), an independent, partner-owned public accounting firm, have signed definitive agreements to continue their decade-long business relationship. The two firms previously announced their intention to extend their collaboration subject to this definitive documentation.

Andrews

“With the completion of these agreements, our focus is on moving forward and building the success of our respective firms by enhancing client service and accelerating growth,” said C.E. Andrews, president of RSM McGladrey, a wholly-owned subsidiary of H&R Block. “We have a clear opportunity to enhance our competitive position by taking the collaboration between our firms to a new level.”

Scudder

“We now have the framework to build on our heritage of delivering the highest quality services to all our clients, while providing growth opportunities for our people and ensuring the independence of M&P,” said Dave Scudder, managing partner of McGladrey & Pullen. “We look forward to increased collaboration with RSM McGladrey and the renewed sense of enthusiasm and commitment that both firms have brought to this process.”

More here: RSM McGladrey: “The sharks are swimming”

Five Quick Tips for Surviving Change You Didn’t Ask For

Change, in business as in life, doesn’t always happen the way we want it.

It’s at those times when we may need some help. Here, from “change expert” M.J. Ryan, author of “Adaptability,” are a few helpful thoughts…

1. Focus on the solution, not the problem. Because society rewards analytic thinking, we believe that identifying the cause of our troubles is the answer: Why is this happening? That’s a starting point, but don’t spend too much time there. What are you going to do about where you are?

2. Because feeling in control is so crucial to resilience, and unasked-for-change can leave us feeling very out of control, try asking yourself this question during the day: What am I free to choose right now?

3. What if you don’t believe you have the confidence or talent to find a solution? Pretend you do. Turns out that “fake it till you make it” has validity in brain science—the thoughts you hold and actions you take really do create new pathways in your brain. “As we act, so we become,” as Sharon Begley puts it in Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain.

4. Find things to laugh about. People who thrive during change work their funny bones. Says psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, “Thrivers’ happiness is not dependent on external factors or life circumstances alone. It derives from their chosen state of consciousness and ability to cheer themselves up when things are looking down.” Laughter has been shown to relieve stress, lower blood pressure, and improve breathing as well as mood. Best of all is when we can laugh at ourselves for not being perfect or when we hit some road block in the direction we wanted to go. It helps us stay lighthearted and resourceful.

5. Celebrate success along the way, no matter how small: a new connection, a possible lead, a small savings. Give yourself credit for moving forward in a difficult situation. At the end of the day, look at what you’ve done and celebrate whatever accomplishment you can. Celebration creates positive energy and forward momentum.

Read the rest of the list by Change Expert MJ Ryan.

Top Five Ways to Get Sued

Camico, the California-based malpractice insurer, describes five ways CPA firms can increase their exposure to lawsuits and what preventative measures to take.

Highlights:

1. Accounting rules: While accounting rules don’t require certain procedures, e.g., confirmation of information in a compilation engagement, juries may not take that rule into consideration. So if something doesn’t seem right to you, it is best to do some probing and make sure it is right. Then be sure to document it and communicate it.

2. Documentation: If you advise a client to take certain steps, or to avoid certain actions, put it in writing and send it to the client. Juries may conclude that if the advice was not written, it was not given.

3. Partnering with clients: Investing in client ventures can backfire. If the venture sours, juries may believe the CPA did not act in the client’s best interest. Disclosure of the conflict of interest may not help, especially if the client’s acknowledgment was given without the advice of its attorney. And be sure to check with your insurance company to see if its policy excludes losses on these kinds of ventures.

4. Advising both sides of dispute: Avoid doing this. One side may assert that the CPA favored the other.

5. Suing to collect fees: This often precipitates a countersuit by the client. And your insurance policy might not cover it.

Source: Camico via CPA Leadership Institute.

Accounting Adds 9,400 Jobs in January

BLS reports workforce at seasonally adjusted 930,500.

January’s 930,500 roster represents a seasonally adjusted gain of about 10%, one of the largest month–to-month changes in recent memory.

January’s gain followed a 2,700-jobs gain in December, to 918,4000, a figure which remained relatively unchanged in the BLS’s monthly revisions.

On a not seasonally adjusted basis, January’s accounting and bookkeeping services payroll advanced to 1.035 million from, 925,600 in December.

Overall, the U.S. unemployment rate fell from 10.0 to 9.7 percent in January, and nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged. Employment fell in construction and in transportation and warehousing, while temporary help services and retail trade led in job growth.