Finance and Accounting Professionals Forecast Improving Job Prospects through 2013 [PRO Member Exclusive]

Rebound in confidence after two quarters of decline.

Next Question: What’s your best career advice? Join the survey; get the answers.

A leading measure of overall confidence among U.S. finance and accounting workers, rose 5.4 points to 55.8 in 4Q 2012 — ending a two-quarter decline, according to new data reported by CPA Trendlines.

The new survey finds growing confidence in job availability and in workers’ personal employment situations, despite continued tepid sentiment in the strength of the economy.

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No Partner Vote Needed: 17 Decisions Best Left to the Managing Partner Alone

A lesson in leadership from the front lines.

Tony Kendall

By Marc Rosenberg, CPA
Author of CPA Firm Management and Governance.”

Tony Kendall is the CEO of Mitchell & Titus, a firm of over 170 professionals, 19 partners and locations in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.

Shortly after taking over the reins from the firm’s founder, he orchestrated changes in the firm’s management structure, saying this: “I can’t manage this firm if I have to take a vote every time I want to make a decision.”

More on CPA firm leadership and management:  What a Managing Partner Is… and Is Not   •  When Is It Time to Shift Your Firm from Partnership-style to Corporate-style Governance?  •  De-Bunking the Myth about Niche Marketing for Tax and Accounting FirmsPractice Development Is No Longer an Optional Activity10 Good Ways the Achieve Partner AccountabilityPick Your Partners Right to Begin With  Not Every Firm Needs a General Patton Overcoming the Three Biggest Obstacles in Succession Planning at CPA Firms CPA Firm Merger “Non-Negotiables”The “Aha Moment” in CPA Firm LeadershipLeadership Is Overrated: It’s Good Management that Makes Successful Firms40 Great Ways to Improve Firm ProfitabilityFour Management Metrics that Fool Even the Best-Run Firms19 Ways to Improve Accounting Firm Profitability

Marc Rosenberg
Marc Rosenberg

All partners usually vote on major decisions, such as:

  • Admitting or dismissing a partner.
  • Mergers and lateral partner hires.
  • Changes to the partnership agreement.
  • Expenditures in excess of a dollar amount.
  • Annual budget approval.

Beyond that, most well-managed firms with a strong managing partner allow him or her to make at least 17 types of decisions without any approval process: READ MORE →

Seven Checklist Secrets for Turning Tax Season into Opportunity Season [PRO Member Exclusive]

Use your time with the client to ask about more than just this year’s tax return.

By Sandi Smith, CPA
Accountant’s Accelerator

Here are some fast tips to help you make the most out of busy season, which is when you have the highest amount of your clients’ attention all year long.

More for soloists and small firms:  How to Stay Energized, Upbeat, and Thinking Bigger through Busy Season • Seven Ways to Wow Your ProspectRev Up Your Revenue with These Two Daily Rituals • 10 Tips for Creating More Energy this Tax Season  • Take a Cue from Venture Capitalists: Your Firm Needs a Brain Trust Trinity    •   Accountants, Do You Know Your Opportunity Number?    •  Five Ideas to Overcome Client Price-Sensitivity   •    5 Mistakes to Avoid When Seeking New Clients  •  3 Steps to Start Running on Millionaire Time   •  The Missing Ingredient in Your Marketing That Will Make All the Difference   •  On the Road to a Stress-Free Life: Identify Your Character Strengths  •

1. Make a checklist to go through with your prospects during the initial meeting (a/k/a “the sales call.”).

  • This is the time to find out what your prospects need and why they might be switching accounting service providers.  You can get your hands around the scope of a clients’ needs best when you use a checklist.

Some example entries could be: READ MORE →

Why Solo CPAs Won’t Sell Out

And what to do about it if you want to buy their practice. What is it about the sole practitioner that prevents them from doing something that seems to make so much sense? They need to do something soon about … Continued

How many IRS agents does it take to screw in a light bulb?

 … and more tax season humor.

Every tax season for the last umpteen years, Robert E. McKenzie, a tax lawyer at  Arnstein & Lehr in Chicago, has made a tradition of sharing his carefully curated collection of tax jokes. Here are a few of his latest. Enjoy!

Q: How many IRS agents does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: Only one, but the light bulb really gets screwed.
— From Garrison Keillor’s ‘Pretty Good Joke Book’

IRS MOTTO: “We’re not happy until you’re not happy!”

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Can You Hear Me Now?

Eight reasons why accounting firms need to work on internal communications first.

by Bruce W. Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0

A terrific definition of chaos is when a client asks two different people in your firm the same question — and gets two different and conflicting answers.

Bruce W. Marcus
Bruce W. Marcus

More for CPA Trendlines PRO members:   Managing Knowledge as a Growth and Management Tool The Secret Formula for Getting New Clients • What We’ve Learned Since Accounting Marketing Was Legalized  • Do Accounting Firms Really Want an ‘Image’? • What Accounting Firms Need to Learn from Personal Financial Planning Specialists • The Delicate Art of Positioning Your Firm in the Mind of the Prospect

Another form of it is when there’s a crisis, and the press calls and gets somebody on the phone who hasn’t been briefed — but who answers the questions anyway. There’s real horror for you. READ MORE →

New Rules: 13 Items that Should be in Your Managing Partner’s Job Description

And 25 best practices to make a merely good managing partner into a great managing partner.

By Marc Rosenberg, CPA
Author of “CPA Firm Management and Governance.”

An increasing number of firms are asking:  Do we want the firm managed by a leader, which for a CPA firm is the managing partner, or managed by one or more committees of partners? The fact is, most firms are choosing a strong leader – the managing partner.

Marc Rosenberg
Marc Rosenberg

More on CPA firm leadership and management:  What a Managing Partner Is… and Is Not   •  When Is It Time to Shift Your Firm from Partnership-style to Corporate-style Governance?    De-Bunking the Myth about Niche Marketing for Tax and Accounting FirmsPractice Development Is No Longer an Optional Activity10 Good Ways the Achieve Partner AccountabilityPick Your Partners Right to Begin With

But too many firms still lack a clear understanding of what a managing partner is.  Based on years of research, we have compiled a comprehensive managing partner job description. And we’re including the 25 best practices that make today’s best managing partners great.

MANAGING PARTNER JOB DESCRIPTION READ MORE →

Putting the “No Jerks” Rule to Work in Tax Season

And a couple more ideas for high performing firms.

by Ed Mendlowitz
Tax Season Opportunity Guide

Ed Mendlowitz
Ed Mendlowitz

If you have staff, have happy, cheerful, helpful people. Don’t surround yourself with downers and nay-sayers.  Make sure they are team players.

Part of this is your firm’s culture.  It takes work to get people to work together and to focus on doing what it takes to service the client fully, properly and timely.  Everyone working together gets it done.  You need to create that atmosphere.

Here are three things that might help:

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