Ten Tech-Driven Mega-Trends Changing the Way You’ll Do Business

… and challenging finance executives and accounting firms with new threats and opportunities.

by Rick Telberg

As technology reshapes the world, accounting firms and finance executives must aggressively reshape their business strategies and their own corporate hierarchies, according to a new manifesto from leading thinkers at McKinsey & Company.

Given McKinsey’s “reach and influence in the senior executive community” (as even a competing Gartner analyst admits), finance and accounting professionals need to know the firm’s new list of “10 tech-enabled business trends to watch.” Pay attention: Your boss or your client (or both) could quiz you about any or all of these hot topics.

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Posted on September 2, 2010
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Have Audit Fees Hit Bottom?

Click to enlarge

Not quite yet, according to a new analysis by CFO magazine.

But CFO says “the trend has begun to slow.”

“Only three of the top eight audit firms showed a drop in fees charged as a percentage of client revenue in 2009,” CFO says, compared with a dramatic drop from 2007 to 2008 for all but Crowe among the top eight firms.

Audit fees have been dropping since 2007.

In 2004, more than a third of auditor changes were the result of audit firms walking away from clients.

Last year, 82% of auditor changes resulted from companies firing their auditors. And among the Big Four, the number was 90%.

via CFO.com

Posted on September 1, 2010
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The 2011 Tax Season Outlook: Busy, Bordering on Crazy [VIDEO]

Professional tax practitioners should be bracing for a difficult but potentially highly profitable tax season.

John Sapp, vice president of sales, marketing and education at Drake tax software, provides two reasons: Taxpayers never needed a professional’s services more and professionals rarely have had such an opportunity to prove their value.

What are accountants expecting for Busy Season 2011?
Join the survey, get the results.
Find out what your colleagues are saying.

“Preparers are going to succeed by selling their services and their knowledge,” says Sapp at the Illinois CPA society’s annual trade show.

Big question for workflows: Will the IRS be ready for full e-filing Jan. 15? Or will the agency push back some dates because of last-minute changes wrought by Congress?

Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Posted on September 1, 2010
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How to Flourish in Tough Times [VIDEO]

Stalled economy separates the quick and the dead.

With marginal clients falling by the wayside, it may be time for accountants to rethink how they do business, according to Dave Pollack, vice president of sales at AccountantsWorld, makers of the Power Practice cloud solution.

“The people who are proactive and seizing new opportunities are flourishing,” he says in this interview at annual the Illinois CPA society trade show.

What’s YOUR forecast for the economy?
Join the survey, get the results.
Find out what the profession thinks.

Posted on September 1, 2010
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Bank CPA/CFO Explains Why Lenders Aren’t Lending [VIDEO]

You can get a loan… if you don’t need it.

But if your business needs credit these days, banks would rather keep their money in the vault, according to Sara Mikuta, CPA, CFO of Leaders Bank, Oak Brook, Ill., and 2010 chair of the Illinois CPA Society.

“I always worry that the people who need money now are the ones you don’t want to loan to,” Mikuta told us the state society’s annual trade show. “Until the economy picks up there’s just not a whole lot of need.”

With borrowers under economic pressure and banks still chary, CPAs have an opportunity in producing the kind of financial statements that banks can have confidence in. That, she says, could benefit well-positioned CPA firms.

Mikuta is blogging about her year in office here.

Posted on September 1, 2010
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Are Your State Society Dues Worth the Money? [VIDEO]

Illinois CPA Society 2010 chair tells CPAs what your state society should be doing for you.

Sara Mikuta, CPA and CFO of Leaders Bank in Oak Brook, Ill., says “the role of the state society is to make sure we give you value for your dollar.”

We asked Illinois CPA Society CEO Elaine Weiss the same question and her answer sparked a flurry of spirited comments, pro and con, here.

She also had some interesting comments on why banks aren’t lending and how CPAs can provide real value. See the complete Mikuta interview here:
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Posted on August 31, 2010
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Four Generations in the Workplace: Who Are They? What Do They Want?

And why can’t we all just get along?

So… here’s the fix: Succinct descriptions of the four distinct generations working side-by-side in the workplace along with their most significant values, as provided by author, speaker and consultant Ira S. Wolfe of Success Performance Solutions.

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Posted on August 30, 2010
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Should You Be the Boss?

Many CPAs dream one day of owning their own firm.

But are you cut out for the entrepreneurial life? Are you any good at it? And how do you improve? If “yes” to any of the above, then Congratulations! You could be one of the millions of people every year who take the plunge and start their ventures.

Daniel Isenberg, a professor of management practice at Babson College says he’s “learned in my own years as an entrepreneur that there is a gut level “fit” for people who are potential entrepreneurs. There are strong internal drivers that compel people to create their own business.

So he has developed a 20-question, 2–minute “Isenberg Entrepreneur Test,” below, to help you test your temperament for running your own business.

Just answer yes or no to each question, and at the end, count up your answers.

1. I don’t like being told what to do by people who are less capable than I am.

2. I like challenging myself.

3. I like to win.

4. I like being my own boss.

5. I always look for new and better ways to do things.

6. I like to question conventional wisdom.

7. I like to get people together in order to get things done.

8. People get excited by my ideas.

9. I am rarely satisfied or complacent.

10. I can’t sit still.

11. I can usually work my way out of a difficult situation.

12. I would rather fail at my own thing than succeed at someone else’s.

13. Whenever there is a problem, I am ready to jump right in.

14. I think old dogs can learn — even invent — new tricks.

15. Members of my family run their own businesses.

16. I have friends who run their own businesses.

17. I worked after school and during vacations when I was growing up.

18. I get an adrenaline rush from selling things.

19. I am exhilarated by achieving results.

20. I could have written a better test than Isenberg (and here is what I would change ….)

If you answered “yes” on 17 or more of these questions, Isenberg says you could have a future running your own practice.

via Should You Be An Entrepreneur?

Posted on August 29, 2010
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The Power Of Charisma: Yes, It Can Be Learned

Charisma effectively deployed can have electrifying results.

According to Richard Wiseman, psychology professor at the University of Hertfordshire, in England, you don’t need divine powers to be charismatic. He estimates that charisma is half inborn and half acquired, which means you have to be blessed with certain qualities at birth but you can also nurture and develop them.

He says every charismatic leader shares three qualities:

  1. He or she feels emotions very strongly,
  2. excites them in others and
  3. is impervious to the influence of other charismatic people.

But exactly what do charismatic leaders do differently? Here’s a list of traits to learn from:

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Posted on August 28, 2010
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