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By Ed Mendlowitz
One morning, my wife and I were having breakfast, and she asked me, “What do I do if you and Peter get killed?”
This was a Friday, and Peter Weitsen and I were flying together on Sunday to a conference in Palm Springs. My response to these questions was typical: “Don’t bother me. Nothing will happen!”
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Yup, we have a checklist for that.
By Ed Mendlowitz
The CPA Trendlines Practice Doctor
QUESTION: One of my managers does not use the checklists and I need to go over all his work and sometimes go to the client to make sure they are done right.
MORE: Five Ways to Get Staff to Own Their Work | Profit Sharing for a Staffer? | Titles Can Make People Happier | Reasons to Drop Your Book of Business | Are You Marketing for 2022 Yet?
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What can I do to get him to fill out the checklists?
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We look pretty good up on the big screen.
By Ed Mendlowitz
Call Me Before You Do Anything: The Art of Accounting
I digress from my autobiographical stories to give you my top 10 movie roles of accountants.
MORE: Why Accountants Quit | Why CPAs Should Stay in Public Accounting | Readers Rip: ‘She Wanted Her Shoebox Back’ | CEOs Don’t Always Know Numbers | Finding New Business in Sustainability | 14 Simple, Easy Tips for a Better Tax Season | How to Recoup Staff Training Costs | 10 Ways to Stay in Control
1. “Dave” – Dave’s accountant, played by Charles Grodin, helps the president, played by Kevin Kline, trim costs so the first lady’s homeless project can be funded.
2. “The Producers” – Accountant Leo Bloom, played by Gene Wilder, hatches the plan for a Broadway flop. READ MORE →
Help them build careers.
By Ed Mendlowitz
The CPA Trendlines Practice Doctor
QUESTION: How can I get staff to step up and assume more responsibility for their client assignments?
MORE: Profit Sharing for a Staffer? | The Secret Recipe for Staff Retention | Help! Key Staffer Refuses to Supervise People | Get More Done By Saying No | Employee Demands a Raise She Doesn’t Deserve | How Are You Spending the Next Five Years? | How to Get the Most from CPE | Does Your Staff Know All the Services You Provide?
ANSWER: This is an issue every manager and partner deals with at some point.
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Hint: Leadership can avoid these issues.
By Ed Mendlowitz
Call Me Before You Do Anything: The Art of Accounting
I have written about CPAs who leave public accounting and go to work in private industry. Based upon the comments and emails I’ve received, this is an involved topic and I would like to delve into it further.
MORE: Why CPAs Should Stay in Public Accounting | When CPAs Leave to Work for a Client | When Parents, Children Hit an Impasse | How Bickering Can Ruin a Family Business | One Hour a Year Since 1972
I was writing about my observations, particularly of many people in their mid-50s I have known who cannot get jobs in private industry after spending a major part of their careers there. Obviously, there are many people with extremely successful careers in private industry and I was not addressing them, but I do consider them to be in the minority. Also, we are all individuals, and we each decide on how we want to work and what we are comfortable with. No one, including me, has any right to criticize them or tell them they should have done it differently.
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