CPA Trendlines

Congratulations! You Bought a Tax Practice. Now What?

How to make a money merging in low-priced work.

QUESTION: I bought a tax return practice in December from a person that was charging $180 per hour. My rate is $300 per hour so I did not make money and I would like to know what I could do to raise fees so I don’t continue to lose on it.

Here at CPA Trendlines, Ed Mendlowitz answers some of the toughest questions practitioners can throw at him. He’s the right one to ask. After more than 40 years in the business – building his own practice, running the firm, and eventually selling it to a major regional firm, WithumSmith+Brown, where he remains a senior partner and consultant to professional services clients – he has the answers. We’re happy to have him at CPA Trendlines. Send your questions for Ed here, or chime in with Comments below.

– Rick Telberg
President / CEO

ANSWER: After a long discussion, it appears that he bought a good practice with good fees charged for the returns. His problem is that he has no employees and did all the work himself – about 750 tax returns; and was totally overwhelmed with non-stop work.

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If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going, How Do You Know How to Get There?

The essential first step for any growth strategy.

by Bruce W. Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0

Because an accounting firm’s marketing program must do more than accumulate clients, and because it must function in a dynamic world that’s constantly in flux, an effective marketing program can’t be a static list of activities that use a static list of marketing tools.

More Professional Services Marketing 3.0 by Bruce W. Marcus:

– Eight Tips for Staying One Step Ahead of the Competition (And Maybe the Client, Too)
– Nine Things We Know For Sure about How to Grow an Accounting Firm
– The CPA’s Castle Is Crumbling
– My Address in Space: The Dynamics of Change at Accounting Firms
– Six Quick Reasons Why CPA Firms Will Never Be The Same
– 14 Steps to Find the Right “Value Price”
– It’s Not Just Accounting Anymore. Today, Everyone’s in Marketing

Instead, It must have clear objectives that are flexible enough to accommodate the dynamic nature of the market. It must focus on specific aspects of a practice, predicated on the distinctive needs of each aspect of the prospective clientele. For example, a marketing program to attract high asset individuals is different from one to attract corporations. A program to attract real estate developers is different than one to attract builders.

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21 Awesome Ways to Show Appreciation

One of the key ways to improve client and workplace relationships is by showing appreciation.

“Too often” Leo Buscaglia, the author, once said, “we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

We can extend appreciation anywhere and everywhere — at home, at work, at school, and wherever you want to acknowledge those who make your life brighter.

Here are a few ideas that might work for accounting firms: READ MORE →

Five Tech Questions Before Adopting Value Pricing

Keys to success in value pricing.

by Drew West and Ken McCall
Boomer Consulting

In order to avoid competing on price for commoditized services in the face of a wider array of competitors, more and more firms are evaluating value pricing as a model for the future. Industry leaders including large firms such as Kennedy & Coe, LLC in Kansas and smaller ones like Lawhorn CPA Group, Inc. in Tennessee have already made the move.

Perhaps your firm is already considering adopting a value pricing strategy but you wonder if your processes and technology will support it. READ MORE →

Eleven Easy Ways to Deliver More Value to Clients

(And add to revenues.)

By Sandi Smith, CPA
CPA Trendlines / Accountant’s Accelerator

As you build your relationships with your clients, it’s always a good thing to see how you can serve them even better.

Here are eleven ways you can add value to your existing services which will enable you to stand out from the competition, serve the client better, and put more green in your bank account.

As you go through the list, check them off to see which ones you are doing, and which ones sound good to add to your business.

1. Offer add-on peace of mind services

If you are in the information business, offer to run or setup a backup system, store a backup of what you just did, or otherwise keep copies of your work so that the client does not have to worry about recovery issues. If you offer products, this may translate into an insured package that can be tracked and monitored. What kind of safety net can you think of to create for your clients?

Sandi Smith

More from Sandi Smith at CPA Trendlines:

• Nine Networking Tips to Speed Sales and Referrals
• Five Things Accountants Take for Granted That Costs Them Revenue
• What’s in Your New Client Funnel?
• What’s In Your Welcome Kit for New Prospects?
• Five Fun and Easy Ways to Wow Your Clients
• Six Ways to Give Yourself a Raise
• Strategies to Stop Losing Business to Competitors
• Five Tips to Manage Your ‘Overwhelm’ Level
• Easy Ideas for a Quick Business Boost
• Four New Mega-Trend Marketing Strategies
• How to Stop Leaving Money on the Table

READ MORE →

Another Bad Accountant Joke

Order Here

A patient was at her doctor’s office after undergoing a complete physical exam. The doctor said, “I have some very grave news for you. You only have six months to live.”

The patient asked, “Oh doctor, what should I do?” The doctor replied, “Marry an accountant.”

“Will that make me live longer?” asked the patient. “No,” said the doctor, “but it will SEEM longer.”
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20 Decisions for Your Firm’s New Partner Compensation Committee

Partners need to be something more than production machines. [Checklist included.]

by Marc Rosenberg, CPA
Author of How to Operate a Compensation Committee

Increasingly, CPA firms are adopting the compensation committee system for allocating partner income.  Firms are finding that systems such as formulas, pay based on ownership percentage or pay-equal no longer work.  When we compare the usage of the compensation committee today to 5 years ago, the increase in usage ranges from 16% to 26%.

If there is one overarching cause for this significant trend, it’s that firms are understanding that their partners need to be something more than production machines.  In addition to bringing in business, managing a client base and working billable hours (all of which continue to be important values in a compensation committee), partners need to excel in intangible areas such as helping staff grow and develop, developing specialized expertise and teamwork.  The compensation committee is one of the best systems available to CPA firms to allocate income based on this diverse array of performance criteria.

Rosenberg

More Marc Rosenberg practice management trends and guidance: Three Ways to Break Partner Gridlock in an Accounting Firm  | What Partners Are Entitled To, and What They’re NOT Entitled To | How to Make Partner?  |  Why Accounting Firm Partners Are “Popping Prozac like M&M’s”  |  The 15-Item Checklist for Your Next Partner Retreat |  Five Key Responsibilities for a New Partner  |  Planning a Partner Retreat for Real Results  |  6 Steps to Get Your Business to the Next Level  |  The 10 Biggest Mistakes in Reading MAP Statistics  |  Re-Engineering Partner Accountability  |  Marc Rosenberg: Why CPAs Aren’t Making More Money [VIDEO]  |  Marc Rosenberg: Slow Learners Need Not Apply  |  10 To-Do’s for a Partner Buyout

When firms begin operating their new compensation committees, there is a lot of initial confusion and bewilderment about how to get started.  For example: READ MORE →

How Accountants Can Keep the Business When a Client Wants to Sell Theirs

The four-step process to use when a client asks for an outside consultant.

QUESTION: I have a client who’s thinking of selling his business, and he asked me to recommend a “consultant” to help him get his business in shape to sell.  I am afraid that if he finds someone on his own I’ll lose control of the client. He might end up not selling and I could lose the client. I do not know anyone to recommend.  What do you suggest I do?

Here at CPA Trendlines, Ed Mendlowitz answers some of the toughest questions practitioners can throw at him. He’s the right one to ask. After more than 40 years in the business – building his own practice, running the firm, and eventually selling it to a major regional firm, WithumSmith+Brown, where he remains a senior partner and consultant to professional services clients – he has the answers. We’re happy to have him at CPA Trendlines. Send your questions for Ed here, or chime in with Comments below.

– Rick Telberg
President / CEO

ED’S RESPONSE (including the 20-item checklist, “Preliminary document request for a business valuation”):

I suggest that you decide what is best for the client and proceed that way.  You can find consultants by contacting other CPAs, attorneys or business brokers that work in this area.

However, I also think that this is something where you can probably do most of the work yourself or through your firm.  It is not a magic process, but a four part process.

READ MORE →

Eight Tips for Staying One Step Ahead of the Competition (And Maybe the Client, Too)

A guide to trend-spotting for accountants.

by Bruce W. Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0

Learn to question everything you do. Ask yourself the question, “This is the way I did it yesterday. Is it the best way to do it today?” You’ll be amazed at the answer.

In every aspect of life, there is nothing – not an article, not a process, not an event – that is unaffected by something else. That’s why everything you do – large or small – will ultimately change, whether you choose it or not.

Is change a marketing tool? Absolutely, if understanding and dealing with it puts you a step ahead of your competitors. And remember, evolution is constant, and change is coming – whether you participate in it or not. Change is not an option, when the old way is made obsolete by competition.

And so the response to the changing needs of the marketplace, and the need to compete, completely altered the nature of the practice – and continues to do so. In three and a half decades, there has been a substantial evolution. It’s a microcosm of the evolutionary cycle. It continues today.

More Professional Services Marketing 3.0:

Bruce W. Marcus

Nine Things We Know For Sure about How to Grow an Accounting Firm
The CPA’s Castle Is Crumbling
My Address in Space: The Dynamics of Change at Accounting Firms
Six Quick Reasons Why CPA Firms Will Never Be The Same
14 Steps to Find the Right “Value Price”
It’s Not Just Accounting Anymore. Today, Everyone’s in Marketing

While evolution can rarely be accelerated, nor its ultimate destination be accurately foreseen, there may be ways in which it can be accommodated. Accommodation is essential, simply because control of events, when possible, mitigate unpleasant surprise.

Several things beyond outright behavior modification can make it possible for both professionals and marketers to participate in the change process: READ MORE →

Give Employees Freedom and Creativity to Get Results

Mark C. Thompson

Examples from Nokia and Bechtel.

by Mark C. Thompson

Setting and maintaining goals is a fundamental part of our lives, but also one of the most challenging. Two companies which do it better than most are Proctor & Gamble and Nokia: they work with their customers to set mutual goals so they can achieve joint outcomes. This is a great way to do business.

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Three Ways to Break Partner Gridlock in an Accounting Firm

When one-partner, one-vote isn’t working. 

by Marc Rosenberg, CPA
Author of How To Bring in New Partners

Most firms vote on a one-person, one-vote basis despite varying ownership percentages.

Voting done on an ownership percentage basis:

1. Essentially “disenfranchises” the minority owners. Their vote doesn’t mean much, and it becomes tantamount to not having a vote at all. When they have no vote, they tend to get disenchanted and cease acting like partners. They may eventually leave.
2. Gives too much power to the majority owners.

More Marc Rosenberg practice management trends and guidance: What Partners Are Entitled To, and What They’re NOT Entitled To | How to Make Partner?  |  Why Accounting Firm Partners Are “Popping Prozac like M&M’s”  |  The 15-Item Checklist for Your Next Partner Retreat |  Five Key Responsibilities for a New Partner  |  Planning a Partner Retreat for Real Results  |  6 Steps to Get Your Business to the Next Level  |  The 10 Biggest Mistakes in Reading MAP Statistics  |  Re-Engineering Partner Accountability  |  Marc Rosenberg: Why CPAs Aren’t Making More Money [VIDEO]  |  Marc Rosenberg: Slow Learners Need Not Apply  |  10 To-Do’s for a Partner Buyout

One concern with one-person, one-vote is that the “power partners” could be ousted and/or outvoted by minority owners on critical issues, such as: READ MORE →

A&A UPDATE: Going Concern Issues, Audit Planning, and Independence

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Another Bad Accountant Joke

Order Here

The Four Immutable Laws of Accounting:

1. Trial balances don’t.
2. Bank reconciliations never do.
3. Working Capital doesn’t.
4. Return on Investments never will.

READ MORE →

Nine Things We Know For Sure about How to Grow an Accounting Firm

What we know about what works.

by Bruce W. Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0

The fact remains, we know far less than we should about why, when or how people choose to do business with an accounting firm – or with one firm over another.

But, in light of what we do know, and considering the singular nature of marketing professional services (as compared, for example, to product marketing), what works?

Or more specifically, what seems to work?

1. Name recognition. Except for corporations and very large or national companies, people tend to buy names they recognize. The concept of branding seems to have crept in under the door, but in accounting, branding is simply jargon for name recognition. (Professional services marketers seem to be attracted to jargon like flies to honey). Stick to the real world and plain English – it works better. Establishing name recognition, however, is easy – simply inundate the market with your firm’s name. An ad campaign that says little more than “Smith & Dale is a CPA firm. We do good work” and saying it over and over again, will give you name recognition, but little more. It helps, but it’s not everything.

Bruce W. Marcus

More Professional Services Marketing 3.0:

The CPA’s Castle Is Crumbling
My Address in Space: The Dynamics of Change at Accounting Firms
Six Quick Reasons Why CPA Firms Will Never Be The Same
14 Steps to Find the Right “Value Price”
It’s Not Just Accounting Anymore. Today, Everyone’s in Marketing.

2. Reputation. If your firm has a reputation for resolving problems, or for service, or for not overcharging, or for anything good, it goes to building trust – which is an essential element in professional services. Trust is an essential factor in retaining professionals.

READ MORE →

‘Social & Digital Marketing Tips for CPAs’

Now Available as a Free Instant Download PDF e-Book.

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Nine Networking Tips to Speed Sales and Referrals

Keep in mind: It takes up to six months before people get to know you well enough to refer you.

Sandi Smith

By Sandi Smith, CPA
CPA Trendlines / Accountant’s Accelerator

Networking is an essential part of building your business. Whether you network locally, nationally, or internationally, there are some tips that are common to all businesses.

More from Sandi Smith at CPA Trendlines:

• Five Things Accountants Take for Granted That Costs Them Revenue
• What’s in Your New Client Funnel?
• What’s In Your Welcome Kit for New Prospects?
• Five Fun and Easy Ways to Wow Your Clients
• Six Ways to Give Yourself a Raise
• Strategies to Stop Losing Business to Competitors
• Five Tips to Manage Your ‘Overwhelm’ Level
• Easy Ideas for a Quick Business Boost
• Four New Mega-Trend Marketing Strategies
• How to Stop Leaving Money on the Table

1. Be crystal clear about what you do and how people can use you. Also know exactly who your ideal client is in case you’re asked. If you don’t do this, you’ll leave people scratching their heads about you and they won’t know how to connect with you even if they wanted to.

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CPAs: You Need a Vacation

CPAs wish they were at the beach.

by Rick Telberg

And if our straw poll means anything, it would be a beach in Hawaii.

The statistical side of the survey showed most accountants and finance managers taking between two and four weeks off, with only 8 percent getting a week, and 9 percent getting more than five weeks.

Still, 59 percent saw some of their hard-earned vacation days untaken, and 69 percent thought they deserved more vacation than they got. Just over half said they could be tempted to take another job that offered more time off.

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