careers

Accounting and Bookkeeping Jobs Hit New All-Time High for Month of August

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Best August ever.

Accounting and bookkeeping services, via cpatrendlines.com

by Rick Telberg

The U.S. accounting and bookkeeping sector of the economy added 3,500 new jobs in August bringing the full-time workforce in the industry to 955,000, a new all-time record high for the month, according to preliminary new data obtained by CPA Trendlines.

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In addition, the CPA Trendlines analysis shows: READ MORE →

The Keys to Success for Compensation Committees

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Why firms need comp committees and how some of them do it right.

by Marc Rosenberg, CPA
Author of How to Operate a Compensation Committee

CPA firms are increasingly turning to the use of formal compensation committees for a number of reasons. Chief among them: It’s the best way to achieve a balance between recognizing traditional production accomplishments and rewarding intangibles.

The Convergence of Three Aspects of CPA Firm Management

The compensation committee approach aligns the firm’s (1) strategic plan and core values with how partners are (2) evaluated and how they are (3) compensated. It motivates partners to produce what the firm needs them to produce.

Related:  Compensation Issues for the New Managing Partner  |  20 Decisions for Your Firm’s New Partner Compensation Committee  | Three Ways to Break Partner Gridlock in an Accounting Firm  | What Partners Are Entitled To, and What They’re NOT Entitled To | How to Make Partner?  |  Why Accounting Firm Partners Are “Popping Prozac like M&M’s”  | More…

At most firms, there is a disconnect between these three functions. But at the better managed firms, they are integrated.

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Accounting Industry Adds 500 Jobs

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Marks 16 months annualized expansion. But CPA firms are a different story.

Accounting and bookkeeping services, All employees in thousands, thru July 2012

The accounting and bookkeeping industry, which includes CPA firms and payroll agencies, added a statistically meaningless 500 jobs in July, according to new data sourced by CPA Trendlines. July ended with 953,200 FTE’s, up from June’s 952,700.

But it’s in the year-over-year gains where the trend is more clear. And the story at CPA firms is much different.

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21 Awesome Ways to Show Appreciation

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One of the key ways to improve client and workplace relationships is by showing appreciation.

“Too often” Leo Buscaglia, the author, once said, “we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

We can extend appreciation anywhere and everywhere — at home, at work, at school, and wherever you want to acknowledge those who make your life brighter.

Here are a few ideas that might work for accounting firms: READ MORE →

Is Business Too Good for Your Own Good?

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Business is good, but CPAs say the workload never eases up.

by Rick Telberg

CPA across all areas of the profession this summer are confirming the best hopes and worst fears that the profession felt when the year was beginning. Yes, business is up across all sectors and should continue to improve, especially for public practice firms, but there are not enough people to handle the work.

Our readings are showing that two-thirds of CPAs in all sectors of the accounting profession are enjoying better business than last year. Asked to look 12 months into the future, roughly the same number expect their business conditions to be even better, although members in public practice are slightly more optimistic than members in business and industry.

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Accounting Sector Shrinks by 4,200 Jobs

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Marking the fourth consecutive month of decline, the bookkeeping and accounting industry contracted in June, shedding 4,200 full-time employees from May, ending at total employment of 954,800 workers and professionals, according to new data available to CPA Trendlines. Still, June’s … Continued

Pay Raises for Management Accountants Show Scant Signs of Improvement

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A new salary survey of management accountants isn’t bad news. but it’s not great news either.

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Accountants’ average total compensation held relatively steady in 2011, increasing 0.9 percent from $128,486 in 2010 to $129,591, according to IMA’s 23rd Annual Salary Survey, released this month in Strategic Finance magazine.

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