January 28, 2015 - CPA Trendlines

The Real Reasons Small Businesses Love Their Accountants [INFOGRAPHIC]

January 28, 2015

Accountants relieve their worst headaches.

CPA Trendlines sources are reporting on how much time and money small businesses spend each year on accounting and tax preparation and each month on payroll administration.

The data should support practitioners’ value proposition to small business owners: Some 40 percent say bookkeeping and taxes are the worst part of being in business.

Owners were also surveyed on their opinions of the most burdensome small business management tasks. Next time you talk to your clients — or prospective clients — these pain points might be worth including in the conversation…

Why You’ll Get Less from Your Partners in a Buyout than You Might by Selling the Whole Firm

January 28, 2015

By Marc Rosenberg

How to determine partner retirement payout terms and annual limits.

By Marc Rosenberg

The vast majority of firms pay retirement benefits over a 10-year period, according to our research.

MORE ON RETIREMENT: Three Ways to Calculate Goodwill Payable in Partner Buyouts, None of Them Great | Eat What You Kill? Then Maybe ‘Book of Business’ Is for You | The Multiple of Compensation Method, Fully Explained | The Ins and Outs of AAV for Goodwill | 5 Points to Consider When Paying Out Goodwill | Clients Leaving? Time to Reduce Retirement Benefits | How to Set Terms and Limits for Goodwill Payouts | 4 Ways to Decide How to Pay Out Capital | Partners May Balk at Guaranteeing Retirement Obligations

We occasionally see five to seven years at lower payout levels. And some firms under $10 million adopt five-year payouts for goodwill, reasoning that because five-year payouts are common for the purchase of a CPA firm, the same term should apply to their own buyouts.

But external purchases of firms are quite different than internal buyouts. READ MORE →