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What Are Your Clients’ Children Inheriting? They Need to Be Prepared 

portrait of Randy Fox
Fox
 Randy A. Fox, CFP, AEP is the founder of Two Hawks Consulting LLC. He is a nationally known wealth strategist, philanthropic estate planner, educator and speaker.

Consider options beyond donor advised funds.

By Randy A. Fox
The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

After interviewing several thousand high-net-worth families, The U.S. Trust Study of the Philanthropic Conversation found that one-third of respondents (31%) would switch to a new advisor if that advisor could talk to them meaningfully about philanthropy.

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Think about that for a second. One-third of affluent families would switch to a new advisor if that individual was more adept than their current advisor at helping them give their money away. It has nothing to do with investment returns, asset allocation or finding hot alternative investments. It has to do with understanding the client’s values and seeing the whole picture.
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MARKETING & SALES

Four Questions for Setting Firm Strategy

businessman turning compass labeled "strategy" like a steering wheel

Which segment will you target?

By August Aquila
MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention

We’ve discussed marketing audits. Once we have some firmwide objectives, we need to select strategies. There are many ways to accomplish something, and it is necessary to select how you are going to go about doing it.

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Let’s look at four different strategies.

  1. Cost Reduction. As new forms of technology and artificial intelligence enter the workplace, it is increasingly possible to achieve a competitive advantage by using them to reduce the cost-of-service delivery. Tax processing software is a common example that firms have used over the last 20 years. AI could help firms reduce costs in multiple areas of the firm, from tax research to improving processes.

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ABOUT US

Bissett Bullet: Give Your Clients a Commercial Hug

Today’s Bissett Bullet: “How are your clients, really?”

By Martin Bissett

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, accounting firms all over the world went into reactive mode. They adapted, they got their own houses in order – which is an entirely appropriate response to an unprecedented crisis – and then those who really cared reached out to their clients. They called them on a regular basis just to see how they were faring.

This should be something you do routinely in the interests of relationship building. Call your clients, no charge, no sell, no angle, just a commercial hug. Ask how they are, if they need anything and offer your help. That may be in the form of expertise, of monetized help or of goodwill, that is at your discretion; but cement that relationship by showing you care after their signature has dried on the original contract.

Today’s To-Do:

Start with your biggest or most vulnerable clients. Diarize one call a day starting today; pick up the phone and add value.

See more Bissett Bullets here

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ACCOUNTING ARC

Will AI Make Students Better Learners — or Just Faster Workers? | SLC

Educators explore ethics, creativity, critical thinking and the future of learning in an AI-powered world.

Sponsored by True Advisor: The Definitive Success Guide for Client Advisory Services by Hitendra Patil |
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The step-by-step operating guide for firms building, pricing, and scaling advisory services that clients value—and pay for.

Student-Led Conversations
With Harshita Multani
Center for Accounting Transformation

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future issue in education. It is already shaping how students study, how teachers prepare lessons, how universities think about access and admissions, and how employers evaluate readiness for the workforce.

MORE SLC: Why the Next Generation May Be Accounting’s Greatest Competitive Advantage | Students Redefine Career Readiness | Savage: Using Your License as a Megaphone |  Baker: Interpreting Pricing Psychology | Royalties, Residuals, and Reality Checks | ARC-SLC 

In this episode, host Harshita Multani, a Center for Accounting Transformation intern and Indiana high school business student, leads a thoughtful discussion on AI in education with Markus Ahrens, Ph.D., CPA, CGMA, FMAA, of the American Accounting Association, and David Wood of Brigham Young University.

What makes this conversation stand out is not just the topic. It is the perspective.

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