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Give Your Leaders Time to Lead
Put the right people in the right seats. You might have to create some seats.
By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud
As our team was growing and we reached over 30 team members, we recognized the need to establish a formal leadership team. When we were smaller, it worked fine for Adam and me to be the primary decision makers, but as our client base and workload grew, we realized we would become a bottleneck and slow things down.
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At that point, we made a conscious effort to transition our daily tasks and client responsibilities to other team members so we could remove ourselves from the weeds and focus on the higher-level view of the company.
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Client Discovery Meeting? Try Rediscovery
Just watch out for your advice monster.
By Rory Henry
The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management
A client discovery meeting, or even better, a rediscovery meeting, can be an ideal opportunity for you to deepen your relationship with the client. Even better, when done correctly, the meeting can lead to self-discovery for the client.
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Historically, clients turn to financial professionals for help solving a financial problem or for alleviating financial concerns. They ask questions such as:
- “What type of entity should I select and what are the tax implications?”
- “How do I increase my gross margins?”
Bissett Bullet: You Only Call When You Need Me
Today’s Bissett Bullet: “Strategic partners and influencers are often easily forgotten unless you want something from them. If you need a referral or a brand lift, they’re your best friend, but be honest with yourself for a moment. Between such occasions, how often do you reach out to them?”
By Martin Bissett
They are human too. They may have families too and they’re not immune to struggle or the pressures of everyday life. Picking up the phone to check on them when you don’t need anything in return builds loyalty, strengthens relationships and ensures that they’re even more predisposed to offering you new opportunities and new referrals than they were previously.
Today’s To-Do:
Make this a regular to-do. Add checking in with strategic partners to your calendar at regular intervals.
See more Bissett Bullets here
Dominic Piscopo: Crowdsourced Salary Data Sparks Accounting Change | Accounting Conversations
Unpack how market gaps and transparency revise the recruiting game.
Sponsored by True Advisor: The Definitive Success Guide for Client Advisory Services by Hitendra Patil |
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Accounting Conversations
With Chayton Farlee
Center for Accounting Transformation
In the latest episode of Accounting Conversations, host Chayton Farlee sits down with Dominic Piscopo, CPA, founder of The Big Four Transparency, to unpack compensation transparency and the accounting pipeline — two stubborn bottlenecks many firms still struggle to fix. The conversation centers on how accessible salary data and real-world experiences can illuminate a path toward fairer pay and clearer career ladders for accountants at all levels.
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Piscopo, a Canadian CPA now leading The Big Four Transparency, describes a career that reveals both the promise and the pain points of the industry. He starts in a Big Four firm in tax and quickly encounters a supportive leadership dynamic and a stellar coach, experiences that underscore what’s possible in a healthy culture. Yet even with that backdrop, he confronts a truth many early-career professionals feel but few talk about openly: compensation does not always align with effort or market realities, especially for younger staff trying to break in and prove their value.
How to Have Difficult Conversations
Four points to consider.
By Matt Rampe
A common stumbling block for partner groups is poor execution or complete avoidance of hard conversations. We can have all the best goals and systems in place, but if constructive candor is absent, we will likely go off course.
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What Is a “Difficult” Conversation?
While you may not look forward to talking with your dentist about a cavity or listening to the endless terms and conditions when you sign up for a mortgage, those are not what we mean by “difficult” conversations.
A difficult conversation has these elements:
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