Can Accounting Firms Lead With Work-Life Vision?

And 5 practical ideas to implement measures to create real work-life balance at your firm.

Work life balanceBy Hitendra Patil
Pransform Inc.
 

Do you want employees who have:

  • greater engagement in their jobs
  • higher levels of job satisfaction
  • stronger intentions to remain with their employers
  • less negative and stressful spillover from job to home
  • less negative spillover from home to job
  • better mental health

Aren’t these the things most accounting firms would want their employees to experience?

In a 2014 National Study of Employers conducted under the “When Work Works” project, Families and Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management noted that employees in more effective and flexible workplaces are more likely than other employees to have such desirable traits mentioned above.

Do you and/or your employees work 12-14 hours a day or 50-60 hours a week, don’t exercise, always feel tired, sleep poorly, eat junk food more often (mostly at your desk) and find it difficult to meaningfully engage with your near and dear ones? READ MORE →

Standardize QuickBooks Support for Clients

Word "license" on word cloudLicensing can get expensive.

By Roman H. Kepczyk
Quantum of Paperless

In the United States, QuickBooks is the most dominant small business accounting product on the market and will be the application that the majority of the firm’s clients use.

Therefore, it is obvious that the firm must become proficient with supporting QuickBooks.

MORE ON TECH SPENDING: How to Choose the Right Client Portal Solution | Streamlining Bill-Paying at CPA Firms | Digital Tools Streamline Audit Production | Making Digital Tax Process Easier Is All About the Workflow | When to Adopt Microsoft’s New Office Apps | What Windows 8 Means for How Accountants Will Work in the Future | How to Choose the Right Backup System | How to Know It’s Time to Scrap Your Old Server

Unfortunately, one of the biggest wastes of time is when firms support too many older versions of the software, which often leads to incompatibilities that can corrupt the database and make it unusable for clients.
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Emerging Breed of CPA Rewrites the Rules of the Profession, Smashes Old Business Models

Pisano
Pisano

‘Generation Flux’ embraces adaptability, flexibility, openness, decisiveness.

By Gretchen Pisano
The Radical CPA

With a lifelong commitment to con­tinuous learning, CPAs are some of the most willing learners you’ll ever come across.

Today’s new generation of CPA embraces adaptability and flexibility, an openness to learning from anywhere, decisiveness tempered by the knowledge that business life today can shift radically.

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Is Joint Representation a Conflict?

Ed Mendlowitz CPA The Practice Doctor Q and AMake sure they both agree and you should be OK.

QUESTION: I have a long-term tax client who is going through a divorce and have been asked to meet with both spouses (soon to be ex-spouses) to perform tax and financial planning services. Is representing both of them a conflict?

ANSWER: It has the potential to be a conflict if not handled properly. Here is an engagement letter that Martin H. Abo, CPA/ABV/CVA/CFF uses in such circumstances. It is included here with his permission.

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Do You Realize You’re Failing?

Be proactive, rather than waiting for business to come to you.

By Martin Bissett

Have you noticed all of those titles in the local bookstore or at the airport offering us the “key” to this and the “key” to that, the “six keys” to one thing, and the “four keys” to another?

It also seems that every book is a “game-changer” now, to the point where it is difficult to understand what the game is anymore, never mind how to play it.

MORE ON SELLING: Selling vs. Attracting to Build Relationships | When Selling, Don’t Chase New Fees, Attract Them | Selling Accounting Services Doesn’t Have to Be Hard! | ‘Selling’ Isn’t a Dirty Word | 8 Factors in Practice Development Success | In Sales, Perception Is Reality | Success Begins With Accountability | Do You Realize You’re Failing? | Winning Your First Client

When it comes to winning new work in professional services, we must first build a relationship. The game hasn’t changed at all in that respect. READ MORE →

Are You a Passionate Accountant?

Young Asian entrepreneur reading magazineTake this quiz to see whether you’re phoning it in.

Do you seek out opportunities to learn new things that will help your clients overcome their most difficult challenges?

Selling value-creation advisory services is truly a slam dunk with most modern business owners, according MentorPlus. The bad news is that, although most CPAs would say they are their clients’ most trusted advisor, few could answer the following questions in the affirmative.

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