Even Accountants Get the Blues

That’s when you need an “appreciation room.”

By Sandi Smith Leyva, CPA
Accountant’s Accelerator

Most of the time, being an entrepreneur is a delight, an honor and a great way of life.  Every once awhile, there can be those days where you just need a little moral support for one reason or another.

That’s when it’s useful to create an appreciation room (or even a corner or shelf).    Right now I have an appreciation cabinet in my home office and an appreciation shelf in my business office.

An appreciation collection can consist of seven items: READ MORE →

10-Point Checklist for Bringing in a New Partner

The steps to take today to exit gracefully in the future.

By Mark Rosenberg
How To Bring in New Partners

Succession planning has hit CPA firms hard.  As Baby Boomer partners approach retirement age, they naturally are focusing on who can take their place and eventually write their retirement checks.

There are two primary exit strategies for partners: 1) Sell or merge out of existence. Or 2) Stay independent, retire and get bought out by younger partners who write the partners’ retirement checks with smiles on their faces.

The vast majority prefers method No. 2, but unfortunately, this option is not available to many partners and firms.  For various reasons, these firms have not developed new partners to take their place.

Here is a 10-point checklist for what firms need to do to bring in a new partner: READ MORE →

Every Partner’s First Question: ‘What’s in It for Me?’

 

By August J. Aquila and Robert J. Lees
Creating the Effective Partnership

Although the whole purpose of engaging the partners is to commit them to the firm’s future, they also have to see a personal upside in the final destination. That upside can take many forms but it has to be spelled out. It’s critical that the descriptions are honest. Smart people quickly stop trusting their leaders if they believe they are being lied to or the downsides glossed over.

Creating the Effective Partnership:   The 9 Building Blocks of a Winning Vision that the Big Four Have Discovered  |   The Politics of an Accounting Firm Partnership  |  Nine Rules to Creating Highly Effective Partnership Teams   |   Audacious Vision and Grand Purpose Prove Essential to CPA Success | Are You Creating a Sustainable Firm? | The Debilitating Effects of Denial at Accounting Firms | The Five Psychological Hurdles that CPA Firms Must Confront Today

If, for example, achieving scale is achievable only through a merger, the likely impact of the merger on partner earnings must be addressed. Smart people know that earnings may be flat, or even drop, in the short term. The key thing is that the upsides to both the firm and the partners make the initial sacrifice worthwhile. READ MORE →

Crowdsourcing for Accounting Practices

Going beyond outsourcing and virtual workers.

By Sandi Smith, CPA
Accountant’s Accelerator

The days are long gone when the only way to build your business was by hiring full-time employees. Now there are so many more choices. Many employees are interested in part-time work. Some prefer to work virtually, which frees a company up from being limited to local talent. And then there’s crowdsourcing, a whole new way to tap into talented labor on a project-by-project basis.

Crowdsourcing is a special way to outsource a task. With outsourcing, you know exactly who will be doing the task. With crowdsourcing, you don’t; people just show up and contribute. Wikipedia calls it “distributed problem-solving.” READ MORE →