Monthly Archives: December 2011

Ed Guttenplan, W&G: Every Staffer Gets a Coach

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Strategy 2012: Management Development.

What are your critical challenges for 2012, and what can do you about them? A number of the profession’s leading lights have been sharing their thoughts with Accounting Today. Here’s one:

Ed Guttenplan
Wilkin & Guttenplan

We see the top challenges as being leadership development and building your “bench,” and practice growth profitability. Also, remaining efficient in light of new standards and, of course, preparing for the future.

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Dave Sibits, CBIZ: Five New Niches

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Strategy 2012: Leadership, Pricing, Competition

What are your critical challenges for 2012, and what can do you about them? A number of the profession’s leading lights have been sharing their thoughts with Accounting Today. Here’s one:

Dave Sibits
CBIZ Financial Services

Accounting firms are facing: 

  1. An aging of leadership at the partner level.
  2. Second, firms are facing a continued erosion of pricing in service areas, which is mostly a result of a challenging business and economic climate.
  3. The last concern is the competition for the best and brightest talent, especially among top firms seeking to add specialty expertise or employees to groom for the future. READ MORE →

CPA Trendlines’ Top 20 Topics of 2011

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In case you missed them…

Here are the top 20 posts from 2011 as measured by page-views from CPA Trendlines members.

Clearly, CPA Trendlines members have been focused in 2011 on the rapidly shifting competitive landscape and they’re scrambling to adjust. 2012 may offer much of the same, but at least now we know what we’re facing and how to deal with it. Each of these 20 posts contains a glimpse into a critical trend and potentially winning strategies.

  1. It’s Official: The War for Clients Has Begun: Client retention falls to winning new business as top issue for firms.
  2. Top Tech Habits of High-Performing Firms: The benchmarks for success.
  3. Widening Gap among Solo Practitioners: Deepening divide between high performing firms and the rest of the profession.
  4. Five New Realities for Accountants and Lawyers: Make no mistake: Change is coming, whether the incumbents like it or not.
  5. Super-Sized: Meet the new “CliftonLarsonAllen”:  Deal creates new top 10 CPA firm; top 3 in wealth management. READ MORE →

Larry Autry, WP: Looking to Acquire a Practice Group

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Strategy 2012: Succession Solutions

What are your critical challenges for 2012, and what can do you about them? A number of the profession’s leading lights have been sharing their thoughts with Accounting Today. Here’s one:

Larry G. Autrey
Whitley Penn

The aging of partner ranks. Older partners want to continue when they’re in good health, while younger staff sees that as preventing their career progression.

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New Year’s Resolutions for and by Accountants

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‘Tis the time to be thinking and planning for the New Year.

So, naturally, we’re all making New Year’s resolutions. Here are a few from CPA Trendlines members.

Add your resolutions in Comments at the bottom, or Join the Survey and Get the Results.

  • 90 Day performance plans with all staff.
  • Increase Fees for Tax Prep
  • Provide better information to top management so it better understands cost structures and can react accordingly. READ MORE →

Tom Bonadio: Grow Fees 5-7% with No New Staff

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Strategy 2012: Growth, Profitability, Succession

What are your critical challenges for 2012, and what can do you about them? A number of the profession’s leading lights have been sharing their thoughts with Accounting Today. Here’s one:

Tom Bonadio
The Bonadio Group

The top issues facing our firm at this time are, maintaining growth, improving profitability and firm-wide succession planning. To meet those issues we’ve taken a number of strategic actions.

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