Daily Archives: January 22, 2013

Why Value Billing Won’t Transform Your Life

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What do CPAs have in common with French fry cooks? Maybe more than you think.

by Frank Stitely, CPA
Stitely and Karstetter 

A French fry professional, who was employed by a national franchise with a creepy clown for a mascot, wondered how he could make more than his current $7.25 per hour.  So he attended a value billing seminar.  When he returned, he opened an Excel spreadsheet and calculated his worth to his employer.

More about pricing and billing:  The Problem with Timesheets? Not Enough Timesheets!   |   The Problem with Frank Stitely? We Need More Frank Stitelys!  |   Who’s Missing in Action From Your Workflow Processing System?  | How to Make an Extra $72,000 by Working Smarter  |  Seven Ways to Increase Fees in 2013  | The Big Issue for 2013: Fee Pressure   |   Five Ideas to Reduce Client Price-Sensitivity  |

He determined that he was personally responsible for the frying of 1,126,438 french fries in a year.  While he earned only $15,000 in a year, his employer sold his output for $30,000.  Using what he learned in the seminar, he scheduled a meeting with his boss to ask for a raise, because he wasn’t making what he was worth. READ MORE →

SURVEY RESULTS: Busy Season Outlook 2013

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What accountants talk about when they talk about busy season 2013

Mergers, tech and the economy create a volatile mix in forecasting filing season.

by Rick Telberg
Join the survey; get the updates.

Washington gridlock, last-minute tax changes and continuing economic uncertainty are undermining tax professionals’ outlook for the 2013 filing season, according to new CPA Trendlines survey results.

The new survey results shed light on:

  1. The changing mood of the profession and it’s leading competitors and decision-makers,
  2. The effects of mergers and new technologies,
  3. The chief operational, competitive and economic concerns,
  4. Expectations for key financial metrics, including revenues, profits and number of clients, and
  5. The strategies firms are implementing to cope with the issues and opportunities.

Despite political gridlock and economic uncertainty, practitioners are trending increasingly confident about how well their firms will perform this season. Most are looking at advances in total revenue, net profit, number of clients, number on extension, revenue per client, and profit per client.

For example: READ MORE →