Rita Keller, Author at CPA Trendlines

Six Reasons You Don’t Want to Be the Boss

Life changes when you move up the ranks.

After years of coaching partners and partners-in-waiting, Sam Allred of Upstream Academy knows a thing or two about what it takes to succeed as you climb the executive ladder at an accounting firm.

But rarely has he put it so succinctly. The skills you need in the new job are hardly like the skills that got you there. Executive-level leadership bears little resemblance to being a good partner or manager.

Allred offers Six Things Leaders Need to Do When You Become a Partner. Think twice about whether you really want the job.

Give up The Right to Remain Silent – When you become a partner, you must speak up – not nod your head and then go door-to-door after the meeting talking to the other partners. Not speaking up, in the proper forum, creates artificial harmony.
Keep an Open Mind – Learn how to listen and question before deciding and acting.
You Give Up The Right to Make All Decisions – Sole-practitioners don’t need to worry. But when you join a partnership, you give up that right.
Learn to Make the Proper Commitment – Saying or thinking, “I will stay out of the way” is not making commitment. It’s a case of “grudging compliance” vs. “spirited commitment.”
Willingness to Get Outside Your Comfort Zone – You cannot stand still. Becoming partner doesn’t mean you “made it” and now you can coast. You must keep moving, maybe faster and bolder than ever.
You Become a Leader for Change – They hired you to do things differently, or better. Change is the mandate. You must be in front of it.

via Rita Keller

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Who’s that with Rita Keller?

Yesterday, in “The Three Ms of Success for CPA Firms,” I wrote about business icon Herb Kelleher’s reputation for chain-smoking, Wild Turkey whiskey and his “dressing up as Elvis.” And I added, “As for the Keller I know, she does … Continued

LEADERSHIP

Three Ms of Success for CPA Firms

What Rita Keller teaches us from Southwest Airlines’ legendary founder.

by Rick Telberg

It’s been a rollercoaster ride in the past few years, with firms at first drowning in work, followed by a crippling staff shortage, then a market crash and belt-tightening, then re-expansion with a broadly profitable busy season. So a few weeks of peace and quiet this summer could seem appealing to staff and management alike.

But management guru Rita Keller is here to tell you that you can’t afford much rest. “There’s work to do,” she says about cleaning up rusty and outmoded CPA firm management practices. Keller has a message for firms to focus on marketing, mentoring and managing — the three Ms.

MANAGEMENT

‘Next Gen’ CPA Firm? “Now We’re Talking…”

…says famed practice management consultant Rita Keller. Talking about “New Rules for the Next Generation Accounting Firm,” Rita writes in Comments: Now we’re talking. I absolutely agree that in the next 10 to 15 years (probably even sooner) we will … Continued

PRO Member Exclusive

Rita Keller on: The Staffing Crisis

How to encourage and celebrate CPA exam candidates. by Rita Keller Brady Ware Many firms, especially the large nationals and regional’s, have so much work that they do not want their young accountants taking time away from billable work to … Continued

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Tough Love or Team Play?

Maybe they’re both right!

Mark Bailey (pictured at left) at Mark Bailey & Co. and Rita Keller (pictured at right) at BradyWare are having a spirited discussion about ranking employees based on performance and value to the firm, and then being frank with them about where they stand in the rankings.

Rita agrees with the Moss Adams method, and quotes CEO Bob Bunting as saying: READ MORE →

GROWTH STRATEGIES

4 Steps to Firing a Client

Have something difficult to say to a client? Like “You’re fired!” READ MORE →

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Consulting for Pigeons

Rita Keller reports on the closing day of the Winning is Everything conference in Las Vegas this week with a story from consultant David Maister. He talks about the difficulty of coaching people and the critical importance of bringing them along step by step.

Read Keller’s post at David Maister — The Person…

And then visit Maister’s blog here.

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Rita Keller

MORE AT STORE.CPATRENDLINES.COM

Rita Keller, President and Founder of Keller Advisors, LLC, is a nationally known CPA firm management consultant, speaker and author.

She is a co-author of Bridging the Gap: Strengthening the Connection between Current and Emerging Leaders in the CPA Profession.

Keller is a former shareholder and Chief Operating Officer of a successful regional CPA firm and has over 30 years hands-on experience in the management, marketing, technology and administration of a successful firm.

She is widely known for her leadership, presentation and implementation skills, and passion for CPA firm management. She works as a change agent for firms throughout the country focusing on the people, internal management, operational, implementation and partner issues. She also provides a mentoring/coaching program for the firm’s management team.

Keller provides unique facilitation for partner retreats, bringing the people issues, succession issues and processes into the spotlight. As a facilitator and speaker,

She has been featured at nearly every prominent management conference, such as Management Summit, The Advisory Board’s Forum for Women in Accounting, AICPA Forum on Staffing Issues, the AICPA Practitioners’ Symposium, the AICPA Leadership Forum, the AICPA National Advanced Accounting Technical Symposium, The Association for Accounting Marketing, and The Association for Accounting Administration National Management Conference, plus numerous CPA firm association and state society management meetings. Rita has frequently been named among the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting.

She has received the Everest Award from Management Summit, established to recognize major/ongoing contributions to the CPA profession and the Association for Accounting Administration ACE Award for achievement, commitment and excellence in CPA firm management and administration. In December 2009, her popular daily blog, devoted to CPA firm management, was named one of the Top 50 Blogs for Accountants. She serves on the AICPA Practitioners’ Symposium Committee as past Chair and is also on the advisory board of the CPA Practice Management Forum and the AICPA Seasonality Success newsletter.

Keller served on the national Board of Directors of The Association for Accounting Administration for seven years, two of those years as National President and is past president of the Indiana Chapter and cofounder of the Ohio Chapter. She is a contributing author to the AICPA MAP Handbook, AICPA PCPS Human Capital Center and has been featured on the cover of The Practical Accountant. She is often quoted in CPA management publications, Internet newsletters, blogs and Twitter. She has been featured four times in the Journal of Accountancy (February 2009, April 2007, September 1999 and September 1997) and authored the article, Make the Most of Mentoring, for the August 2008 issue of the Journal.

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