Monthly Archives: December 2012

Three and a Half Ways to Get Your Own CPA Practice

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And 11 good tips for once you 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.

More from Ed Mendlowitz, The Practice Doctor Q&A: Novice Manager Needs to Know: How To Do It All? | Why No One Listens to You | Fun Reads for Busy Season  |  When NOT to Offer a Free Initial Consultation | Measuring Growth in Yourself, Staff and Partners  |  What Do You Think You’re Doing?  | Can You Teach Judgment?  |  Clients’ Calls At Home  | What You Need to Know before Expanding into Business Valuation |

Question: I am working for a CPA firm, but would like to start my own practice.  Can you give me some suggestions?

Response: Essentially, you have three options (four if you count my pet project, but I won’t belabor it).

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Three Strategies to Improve Buy-In for Change

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Feeling the frustration?

by Dustin Hostetler
Flowtivity

Dustin Hostetler

How many times has your CPA firm implemented a process change or new technology, only to find out on the back-end after implementation, that only a fraction of the firm is following the new process or using all the features?

RELATED: The Coming Storm in Staff Turnover (VIDEO)

If you answered something along the lines of “all the time” don’t worry, you are not alone. Obtaining the much needed buy-in for process and technology improvements within firms is a concern I hear regularly. READ MORE →

Five Ideas to Overcome Client Price-Sensitivity

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Just in time for busy season.

by Sandi Smith
The Accountant’s Accelerator

No matter how small or large your practice is or how experienced you are, you’re probably going to meet some prospect or clients this busy season who are price-sensitive. Many of you try to run from them as far away as possible, and others of you tell me you have to take these clients or you wouldn’t have a full practice.

Sandi Smith
Sandi Smith

More for soloists and small firms from at CPA Trendlines: Rise to the Top with a Fresh Elevator Speech  •  Four Ways to Practice Entrepreneurial Perseverance • 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Seeking New Clients •  The Success Secrets Women Already Know  • His and Her Brains at Work in Tax and Accounting  • The Power of Deadlines in Closing a Deal • On the Road to a Stress-Free Life: Identify Your Character Strengths • The Missing Ingredient in Your Marketing That Will Make All the Difference  •

So you might already have a solution to dealing with price-sensitive clients that you’re happy with. If you don’t, or are ready for more ideas, this article is for you. READ MORE →

How to Change a Partner

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August Aquila
August Aquila

Take a lesson in change management from Weight Watchers.

by August Aquila
aquilaadvisors.com

David Maister in “Strategy and the Fat Smoker” notes that there are two elements needed in order for us to change. The first is a willingness to do it. The second is determination. But alas, we know the path to hell is paved with good intentions.

There are a multitude of platitudes about change. But unless we change we don’t grow and the skills that got us to where we are, won’t get us to the next level. None of us can achieve more unless we become more. If I fail to change, I will not produce different or better results, but only the same thing. This is extremely dangerous because the world around us – our clients, our employees, the market place continue to change.

Take a quick acid test. What do you know today that you did not know five years ago? Ten years ago? If your list is short, you haven’t changed much. If your list is long, congratulations! The longer the list, the better.

Is there a change process?

The quick answer to the question is yes. READ MORE →

Hackers Show How to Break into Major Accounting Software Systems

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The hacker transfers receivables credit balances to payables in GP Dynamics (from the white paper)

PRO members: Get the details in an instant download.

by Rick Telberg

When finance and accounting professionals worry about computer security, they may think about stolen laptops, purloined passwords, or lost backup drives.

But few worry about hacker attacks against their accounting system software, the kind of attacks that could bring down an entire business or even up-end part of the global accounting system.

Well, start worrying.

A pair of computer science security experts has unveiled new research that shows just how easy it might be to crack into such commonly used software systems as SAP, Oracle, or even QuickBooks, Sage or Microsoft’s Dynamics.

Get the details in an instant download. Click here…

READ MORE →

Novice Manager Needs to Know: How To Do It All?

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15 strategies for a first-time supervisor’s success.

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.

Ed Mendlowitz CPA The Practice Doctor Q and AMore from Ed Mendlowitz, The Practice Doctor Q&A: Why No One Listens to You | Fun Reads for Busy Season  |  When NOT to Offer a Free Initial Consultation | Measuring Growth in Yourself, Staff and Partners  |  What Do You Think You’re Doing?  | Can You Teach Judgment?  |  Clients’ Calls At Home  | What You Need to Know before Expanding into Business Valuation |

Question: My boss asked me to call you.  I am a staff accountant with five years experience.  I am having a lot of stress trying to manage everything I have to do. I am juggling supervising people that I don’t know how to supervise, being managed less by those above me and having to figure out more for myself – including things I never did before or in industries I never worked on previously, keeping current with changes in accounting rules and taxes (since I am more like a generalist and clients ask me everything) never seem to have any free time, juggling my schedule because most of my clients are never ready when they say they will be and being accountable to my boss for everything I do plus what the staff working under me does. So how do I do it all? How can I prioritize all my responsibilities? READ MORE →