Steven Sacks, Author at CPA Trendlines

Don’t Overlook Office Relationships

They’re simple, but not easy.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals

Business can usually be conducted by phone, videoconference or in person. It really doesn’t matter the approach; what is important is how you comport yourself – irrespective of whether the individual(s) with whom you are dealing are superiors, peers or subordinates.

MORE: How to Deliver Authentic Value | Making the Jump from Small to Mid-Sized Firm | What Sets Your Firm Apart … If Anything? | Why Deadlines Get Missed | Too Busy? You May Need to Reprioritize | Is It Time to Outsource?
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I can’t tell you how many times I have witnessed conversations that were best conducted behind closed doors. The old adage of praise in public, criticize in private is underused or completely ignored.
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How to Deliver Authentic Value

Consider it from the client’s perspective.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals

Do you ever wonder if events you attend have an air of authenticity around them or are they simply staged? What about the options offered on new cars or the latest and greatest upgrades to a tech gadget? Is the hype greater than the actual product? Is what is considered innovation really just an incremental change that competitors can duplicate, albeit with minor modifications?

MORE: What Sets Your Firm Apart … If Anything? | Why Deadlines Get Missed | Five Reasons You’re Not SWOT-Ready | Are You Productive or Just Busy? | Accounting Is a Profession, Not an Industry
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As for professional services firms, are they providing a unique service in a unique fashion? Today, clients are looking at the cost of traditional audit and tax work. Because they are commoditized services, the decision is price-driven, so lowballing becomes routine for firms.
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MANAGEMENT

Making the Jump from Small to Mid-Sized Firm

Bigger firms require bigger thinking.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals

There has been talk about consolidation within the accounting profession for the last several years. Will the Big 4 become the Big 2, or will there be the Big One?

MORE: What Sets Your Firm Apart … If Anything? | Why Deadlines Get Missed | Too Busy? You May Need to Reprioritize | Is It Time to Outsource? | Five Reasons You’re Not SWOT-Ready | Who Needs Another Meeting? | 4 Questions for CPA Firm Boards
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Or, on the other hand, will there be a combination of regional firms whose size will be in the neighborhood of the Top 10 or Top 15 firms that are considered super-regional firms – and who may consider themselves direct competitors to the Big 4?
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Private Equity vs. the CPA Firm Partnership

Watch the video or listen to the podcast.

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With Steven Sacks
For CPA Trendlines

The CPA profession is entering another period of shifts in how firms will attain growth levels – the main force being the influx of private capital entering the accounting profession, according to David Bergstein, CPA, CITP, CGMA.

MORE: The FinTech Flood: Accounting Will Never Be the Same | The Disruptors: Re-Inventing Accounting with Tyler Anderson | The Disruptors: How to Scale with New Padgett COO Amanda Aguillard | Eat that Frog: Asking for a Prospect Meeting | Growing Revenue Through Client Service | Lease Accounting Is About to Get Very Real | Google Ads for New Tax Season Clients | Exclusive: Eisner CEO Charly Weinstein Explains the Private Equity Deal | Flash Briefing: A “Call to Arms” after Private Equity Deal | Four Ways to Beat the Staffing Shortage, with Pasha Malik

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New, external investments will change the way firms are structured, operated, and financially managed, as well as granting them increased capabilities to make more strategic decisions, Bergstein tells Sacks for CPA Trendlines.

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What Sets Your Firm Apart … If Anything?

How to be different in a changing market.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals

Your firm conducts audits, prepares tax returns and offers some consulting services. Yours is one of 42,000 non-Big 4 firms in this country, a large majority of which offer the same three packages. Firms in the same geographic market may not serve the same slate of industries, but through hiring niche expertise or merging in a firm can make inroads into the same markets.

MORE: Why Deadlines Get Missed | Too Busy? You May Need to Reprioritize | Who Needs Another Meeting? | The Five Big Rules for PowerPoint Presentations
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This happens frequently, making a competitive market even more crowded. The challenge that your firm faces is how do you show a real value-added distinction from the firms you compete against? Differentiation does not mean a relaxed dress-code policy.
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Why Deadlines Get Missed

You might have to rethink how they’re established.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals

Distractions, distractions and more distractions, coupled with deadlines. Ah, deadlines! Those are the bête noire of executives, journalists, record producers, book authors and anyone else in the workforce whose deliverables are expected by a certain date.

MORE: Too Busy? You May Need to Reprioritize | Is It Time to Outsource? | Five Reasons You’re Not SWOT-Ready | Who Needs Another Meeting? | 4 Questions for CPA Firm Boards | Are You Productive or Just Busy? | The Five Big Rules for PowerPoint Presentations | How Aging Boomers Impact the Accounting Profession | Accounting Is a Profession, Not an Industry
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And what about those dates? Are they arbitrary or do they have the real urgency of, say, a court order?
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Too Busy? You May Need to Reprioritize

Five steps to better time management.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals

Some firms encourage expanding workloads, creating questionable tasks or keeping people occupied under the pretense that their actual activities provide real value. What is the meaning of busy, really? And how are outcomes from efforts measured for value?

MORE: Is It Time to Outsource? | Five Reasons You’re Not SWOT-Ready | Who Needs Another Meeting? | 4 Questions for CPA Firm Boards | Are You Productive or Just Busy? | The Five Big Rules for PowerPoint Presentations | How Aging Boomers Impact the Accounting Profession | Accounting Is a Profession, Not an Industry
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Part of the illusion of being busy is that you can master many things at the same time. It certainly would keep you busy (or occupied) but you won’t nurture new skills and discover what your real aptitude is to help yourself and/or your firm.
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Is It Time to Outsource?

A swiftly changing environment demands flexibility.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals

One of the revelations arising from the Great Recession was that CPA firms found they could do more with less human resources, or at least maintain the same level of productivity. We are now operating in what is referred to as the gig economy, in which important functions can be outsourced and firms and companies can still focus on core competencies that impact growth and profitability.

ROUND 3: Five Reasons You’re Not SWOT-Ready | Who Needs Another Meeting? | The Five Big Rules for PowerPoint Presentations
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Because it is increasingly challenging to maintain high standards in all functions while still focusing on core competencies that drive growth, seeking outside help is becoming an attractive option. So, when should you outsource services?
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Steven Sacks

MORE AT STORE.CPATRENDLINES.COM

Steven Sacks, CPA, CGMA, ABC, has been at the forefront of the accounting profession for 30 years.

He is the author of
"The NEW Fundamentals: Practical Guidance for Today’s Accounting Firms,"
available here from CPA Trendlines.

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His involvement included the development of the first set of consulting standards, the creation of the Accredited in Business Valuation credential, the publication of practice management guides and award-winning newsletters, and addressing business development and organizational management in both the public and private sectors. He has served professional service firms and membership associations through the deliverance of leading-edge conferences, presented to colleges and universities on careers in accounting, and created workshops, webinars, and webcasts on a variety of accounting and consulting topics.

As the CEO and founder of Solutions to Results LLC, Steven assists professional service firms and organizations to solve the challenges of human capital development, workplace culture, and developing effective internal and external communication strategies and techniques. Previously, as executive director of Moore Stephens North America, he served CPA firms with conferences, webinars, workshops, various communication vehicles (including a multi-year, award-winning association newsletter), and a skills database for the development of domestic and international engagement referrals. At the AICPA, he developed strategies and business plans for growing the consulting services membership section; published technical service and practice management guides; participated in the creation of the first set of standards for consulting services; led the creation of the Accredited in Business Valuation credential; developed niche conferences in valuation, litigation support and forensic services; and presented to colleges and universities about CPA consulting careers.

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