CPA Trendlines Identifies Five Habits of Highly Successful Accounting Firms
CPA Trendlines research shows that the keys to success may be simpler than it seems…
Monthly Archives: August 2012
The Essence of CPA Firm Profitability
What Mickey Mouse can teach accountants about accounting.
by Marc Rosenberg, CPA
Author of The Rosenberg MAP Survey
It has been said that organizations should never have profitability as a goal. Why? Because profitability should be the result of an organization’s efforts, not its goal. Profitability is a measure of success in accomplishing core business goals. The Disney Corporation probably says it best in their mission statement, which is short and sweet, but very powerful: “Our mission is to make millions happy.”
Related: Compensation Issues for the New Managing Partner | 20 Decisions for Your Firm’s New Partner Compensation Committee | 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” | More…
Disney super-pleases parents by creating hundreds of quality movies and lovable characters children grow up with and adore, and by creating theme parks that tap into our fantasies and imagination.
What’s a Tax Practice Worth Today?
Five key ingredients in the calculation.
By Ed Mendlowitz
The Practice Doctor Q&A
QUESTION: How much can I sell my practice for? And how do you value a tax practice for sale?
More Mendlowitz: Why Selling Your Practice Is Not a Retirement Strategy | Congratulations! You Bought a Tax Practice. Now What? | How Accountants Can Keep the Business When a Client Wants to Sell Theirs | 10 Reasons Clients Don’t Pay, and What To Do about It | 13 Reasons Timesheets Will Never Die
RESPONSE: Good questions and ones I get all the time. Here is a listing of some of the things that need to be considered in the pricing. When you sell your practice, the elements that need to be dealt with are: READ MORE →
Is Your Marketing Program Really a Program?
The tools of marketing are not a program – they are simply tools.
by Bruce W. Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0
A marketing program is not simply a catalog of tools. It’s a plan — a strategy and a tactical plan. It’s the sum total of all relevant activities, supporting one another, and not just random activities designed without objective, nor relevance to the needs of the prospective client.
It begins with a realistic understanding of the needs and opportunities of the markets you serve. It defines your abilities to meet those needs. It develops a strategy to persuade your market that you can serve its needs. And it formulates the tactics needed to make that strategy functional.
More on Professional Services Marketing 3.0 by 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
By defining the target audience first, you can devise the strategy to address that audience, by… READ MORE →
15 Off-the-Hook Ideas for Accountants to Dream Big
Start your business ‘bucket list’ today.
By Sandi Smith, CPA
CPA Trendlines / Accountant’s Accelerator
Do you have a business bucket list?
Did you see the movie “The Bucket List?” Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson played men who didn’t have too long to live. They each wrote up a bucket list, a list of things they wanted to do or accomplish before they kicked the bucket (as we say in the South).
Why not apply the concept to your business? You can do this whether you have your own business or a job, although you have a bit more control when you’re the boss. What do you want to do before you retire or sell your business?
More from Sandi Smith at CPA Trendlines: 3 Money Leaks that May Need Plugging in Your Business • Seven Tips to Keep the Clients You Have • How to Attract Clients Like a Magnet • Eleven Easy Ways to Deliver More Value to Clients • 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
Here are some ideas: READ MORE →
Another Bad Accountant Joke
An accountant applies for the position of Chief Financial Officer.,,
The Essence of CPA Firm Profitability
What Mickey Mouse can teach accountants about accounting.
by Marc Rosenberg, CPA
Author of The Rosenberg MAP Survey
It has been said that organizations should never have profitability as a goal. Why? Because profitability should be the result of an organization’s efforts, not its goal. Profitability is a measure of success in accomplishing core business goals. The Disney Corporation probably says it best in their mission statement, which is short and sweet, but very powerful: “Our mission is to make millions happy.”
Disney super-pleases parents by creating hundreds of quality movies and lovable characters children grow up with and adore, and by creating theme parks that tap into our fantasies and imagination. They create the Disney magic by operating their entertainment facilities with fastidious devotion to efficiency and cleanliness, and fanatical attention to the tiniest details, and by countless other efforts. Disney’s customers not only pay for their access to Disney, but they do so with a smile on their face, and they keep coming back for more. At Disney, the philosophy is clear: Create and maintain a world-class organization that satisfies the customers’ needs, and the profits will come as a result.
Related: Compensation Issues for the New Managing Partner | 20 Decisions for Your Firm’s New Partner Compensation Committee | 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” | More…
The same theme is true with CPA firm profitability. To be truly profitable, firms need to achieve successfully business goals other than profitability. Then, and only then, will firms be profitable.
If Business Development Is a Circus at Your Firm…
…then shouldn’t you be the ringmaster?
by Nick Keseric
What job would you like in a circus? Selling tickets to enter the circus knowing that the people purchasing tickets from you will be treated to a great show? A clown? Acting like a kid and making people laugh? A lion tamer? Thrilling the crowd with your nerves of steel? A high wire artist? Silencing an entire venue while you walk across a razor thin wire?
More on practice development by Nick Keseric at CPA Trendlines: My Attitude??? What’s Wrong with My @#$%! Attitude? | Curious Minds Want to Know: Are You Helping or Selling? | The Six-Step Roadmap for CPA Change Agents | 20 Biz Dev Ideas for Your Career and Your Firm |
I’m thinking the ring master would be a pretty good gig. Many people might look good in a black top hat and a red coat with tails. I on the other hand would look like a bad imitation of a member of a 1970 British rock band. However, the ring master does have the perception of someone with a good chunk of control.