Seth Fineberg, Author at CPA Trendlines

Accounting Needs a ‘Rethink’ Not a ‘Rebrand’

Your value is in the knowledge you have and the relationships and trust you’ve built.

By Seth Fineberg
At Large

The field of accounting, and being an accountant, is challenged on many sides – none more so than the very act of being an accountant. In short, given the demand for new services and the growth in automation for nearly all “tasks,” what does accounting or being an accountant mean anymore?

MORE: Big Change Comes with Deep Reflection | Three Ways to Raise the Bar for Your Business | Randy Crabtree: Stress Management for Overworked Accountants | Tax Chat: Eric Green Reveals The Tax Rep Guide to Tax Season | It’s Time to Do the Uncomfortable | Three Ways to Improve Next Tax Season | Meet Basis, the New AI Bookkeeper on the Block | Is This When Accountants Start Taking Freshbooks Seriously?
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Let’s be clear: Accounting’s literal and metaphorical face is, and needs to be, changing if it is to grow and thrive. This, however, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But, as we well know, change is not easy or quick. What should encourage accounting professionals is that at this very moment in time, they have the ability to have a say in what accounting, and being an accountant, actually is and could be.
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PODCAST

Geni Whitehouse: Conquer Client Communication Chaos

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With Seth Fineberg
CPA Trendlines Research

Geni Whitehouse, CPA.CITP, the “Countess of Communication” for Brotemarkle, Davis & Co., LLP (BDCo), says you must meet your clients where they are and understand their personalities to better communicate with them.

Doing so, she says, will provide the ultimate value for your clients.

MORE WHITEHOUSE: Geni Whitehouse: Unlock Your Accountant Super Powers

In this episode of Tax Chat, Whitehouse discusses strategies for improving client communication and efficiency in tax preparation, emphasizing the importance of productivity tools, workflows, and shared files. Whitehouse highlights the need to tailor communication methods to meet client preferences and leverage new tools and technologies to provide interactive and insightful financial information. She also explores the crucial role of communication in tax consulting and accounting, emphasizing the need for empathy, understanding, and adaptability in addressing clients’ needs.

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LEADERSHIP

Big Change Comes with Deep Reflection

Are you ready to redefine the accounting profession?

By Seth Fineberg
At Large

What can be accomplished in a year for any individual or organization is amazing. In this case, I’d like to draw attention to the efforts and, for some, the existence of the Accounting Alchemy Network.

MORE SETH FINEBERG AT LARGE: 3 Ways to Raise the Bar for Your Business | Randy Crabtree: Stress Management for Overworked Accountants | Make It ‘Productive Season’ | It’s Time to Do the Uncomfortable | Three Ways to Improve Next Tax Season | Jeremy Sulzmann: Can Intuit Mend Fences with Accountants at QB Connect? | Meet Basis, the New AI Bookkeeper on the Block | Is This When Accountants Start Taking Freshbooks Seriously? | You’re Doing Email Wrong | Careful… You May Be Advising!
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In March of 2022, Ingrid Edstrom, Alina Nikishina and Mathew Heggem helped put AAN into the world to build a network of like-minded individuals dedicated to seeing accounting’s higher purpose come to fruition. I wanted to take some time in this post to familiarize you with what AAN accomplished over the past year and peek into where it’s headed.

MANAGEMENT

3 Ways to Raise the Bar for Your Business

Stop allowing your business bar to maintain the status quo – or worse, lower.

By Seth Fineberg
At Large

As most accountants prepare to shake off the effects of yet another tax season, the question remains: What will take you and your firm to the next level?

MORE FINEBERG: Make it ‘Productive Season’ | It’s Time to Do the Uncomfortable | Jeremy Sulzmann: Can Intuit Mend Fences with Accountants at QB Connect? | Meet Basis, the New AI Bookkeeper on the Block | Is This When Accountants Start Taking Freshbooks Seriously? |You’re Doing Email Wrong | Careful … You May Be Advising! | When Live Events Fail | Getting Real: Accounting Tech Decisions You Need to Make Today | Accounting Tech Doesn’t Have to Be Daunting |Who’s in Control? You? Or Your Clients?

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Perhaps you’re not thinking about what’s next for your business, but you kind of should. If you’re frustrated with aspects of your business, you need to take a good, hard look at what is making it that way and ask yourself, “What is going to raise the bar?” Staying the same is easy, but it gets harder as you look around you and see other practices making core changes to improve life-work balance and revenue and remove blockers through technology, service, or client mix.

PODCAST

Randy Crabtree: Stress Management for Overworked Accountants

Tax Chat ’24: How to pause and recharge when you hit the wall in tax season.

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, Audacy, Gaana (India), and Boomplay (Africa).

With Seth Fineberg
for CPA Trendlines

Randy Crabtree, perhaps best known as the host of The Unique CPA Podcast, tells Seth Fineberg in this episode of Tax Chat ’24 that tax practitioners can avoid tax-season burnout with just a few simple shifts in their workflows.

MORE CRABTREE: Follow These 3 Rules to Keep Employees Happy

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Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, Audacy, Gaana (India), and Boomplay (Africa).

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, Audacy, Gaana (India), and Boomplay (Africa).