Daily Archives: July 31, 2013

Audacious Vision and Grand Purpose Prove Essential to CPA Success

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Plain-vanilla goal-setting may be the single biggest problem plaguing today’s CPA partnerships.

Also in this report: The 11 traits of “one-firm” firms.

by August J. Aquila and Robert J. Lees
How to Engage Partners in the Firm’s Future

More firms now have a vision and a strategy in the hope of engaging partners and employees, according to our research.

But the partners aren’t always involved in their creation and often don’t buy in to the vision.

More on partnership management:  Are You Creating a Sustainable Firm?  |  The Debilitating Effects of Denial at Accounting Firms | The Five Psychological Hurdles that CPA Firms Must Confront Today

This can be because the vision just isn’t compelling enough or because the partners are more interested in their own practice rather than creating a real firm. This type of accounting firm is usually referred to as a “siloed” firm and never succeeds in bringing the full capabilities of the firm to bear. READ MORE →

Take Six Big Steps to Go Beyond Compliance Services

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Beat the billable hour by doing more than just taxes or QuickBooks.

By Sandi Smith, CPA
Accountant’s Accelerator

As compliance services become more commoditized and automated, accountants are faced with how this affects their practice and their bottom line. They can:

  1. Serve a higher level client that requires greater complexity, making themselves fairly immune to these changes
  2. Serve a larger number of clients to offset a drop in revenue per client averages
  3. Add new services to their practice to boost revenue per client

Those are pretty much the options available to keep profits from shrinking. But today I want to focus on the third point above, adding new services, and provide you with some ideas on how you may be able to serve your tax compliance clients in new ways.

More for soloists and small firms:  When Your Business Needs to Be Rebooted  |   Two Steps to Easy Cross-sells   |   The Hot New Tech Product for Automated Data Entry   |   Five Value-Add Service Areas to Take You Beyond Bookkeeping   |   Six Money-Making Strategies to Take You Beyond QuickBooks   |   Proactive Ways to Get More Referrals   |   The Three Biggest Money Leaks in Your Practice   |   New Client Opportunities with Mobile Apps   |   Six Questions to Launch Your Summer Strategy Sessions   |   What Most Accountants Miss in the Five Simple Steps to Get More Clients   |   Accountants, Do You Know Your Opportunity Number? | Five Ideas to Reduce Client Price-Sensitivity | Rise to the Top with a Fresh Elevator Speech | Four Ways to Practice Entrepreneurial Perseverance | 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Seeking New Clients  | The Top 12 Business Card Blunders Accountants Make | Seven Tips to Keep the Clients You Have | How to Attract Clients Like a Magnet | Eleven Easy Ways to Deliver More Value to Clients

Even if you don’t do taxes, you will find some ideas for new related services you can think about offering to your clients. (Remember, it’s easier to sell to existing clients than to acquire new ones.) READ MORE →