Rate Your Personal Purpose

Young man facing image of himself

BONUS: Experts discuss challenges for new leaders.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

The Passport to Partnership study collated a number of responses in a conversational style. The need for commitment is showcased below and was repeated many times in various different ways.

So many use us as a stepping stone and we’re now trying to determine who those are at the interview stage.

MORE: Nine Checkpoints Before Every Prospect Meeting | Thirteen Ways to Show Commitment | Clients Can’t Grow without You | Seven Mistakes in Winning New Fees | How to Develop Your Communication Abilities | Five Questions for Measuring Partner Potential
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Proof – if any were needed – that long-term commitment is not a given in the next generation of accounting professionals.

One question we ask is: Would we want to pass our firm on to someone like this?
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47 Types of Business Valuation to Provide

serious woman working at two screens

There are great money-making opportunities, but don’t overlook the difficulties in getting started.

By Ed Mendlowitz
202 Questions and Answers: Managing an Accounting Practice

QUESTION: I am exploring the business valuation credential as a way to expand our practice. I’m still (relatively) young to the profession and would (I think) love to expand into this niche area.

A few things:

MORE: Referral Fee? Forget It | Should You Offer Financial Services? | Ready to Retire? Selling Your Practice Is No Strategy | 20 Things You Need for a Business Valuation
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1) We don’t do any BV now so my ability to acquire the ABV credential would be difficult w/o the experience aspect.
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Thirteen Ways to Show Commitment

High angle view of business people stacking hands in a teamwork gesture

Let the partners see that you mean business.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

Rising from senior manager to partner often means being promoted ahead of our peers and contemporaries. It creates a gap in earnings, stature and influence compared to those who were our colleagues on a level playing field just yesterday.

MORE: Five Ways to Make Selling Easier | Three Questions about Conversion | Six Keys to Turning Prospects into Clients | Don’t Overlook Internal Communication | Four Reasons People Struggle with Communication | Why Firm Culture Matters for Partners | Competence Is Step One of Seven | Three Things That Rich Accountants Do | Four Reasons It’s Hard to Sell | Eight Questions to Hold Yourself Accountable | Win Your First Client: Yourself | Perception Is Reality, Client Version
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It can also mean that if we are coming into a firm from the outside, we are being promoted over people who have served at that firm for many years and understand the firm’s culture much better than we do now. We may have to lead these people as the head of a department and if so, they’d better be on our side.

This is where the principle of commitment is applied.
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Train Now Before It Costs You Down the Road

Your time investment now could reap dividends during tax season. 

By Frank Stitely
The Relentless CPA

We’ve all heard it.

Ask if an assigned project has been completed and get the, “It’s done, but …” followed by a few reasons why said project is still – let’s be honest – incomplete.

MORE: Keep Clients from “Balance Due” Shock | Stop Clients from Performing “Favors” | Control Your Time: Avoid Ambush Meetings and Calls | Make Fewer Mistakes, Increase Revenue and Capacity | Six Ways to Create a Millennial-Friendly Firm
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Let’s examine how we got a “done but” society. A lot of this will sound like, “Back in my day, sonny …” old man nonsense, and a lot of it is.

However, I promise you a solution after my sociological exploration of 21st-century culture. You won’t need a degree in sociology to understand this.

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Five Steps to Transition to Partnership

man pointing at laptop screen as woman looks on

Get your senior managers ready.

By Marc Rosenberg
The Rosenberg Practice Management Library

How are the duties and responsibilities of a new partner different from those of a manager? This is one of the grayest areas in bringing in new partners.

MORE: Disturb the Present to Improve the Future
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Ideally, there should be a gradual transition for new partners from their last two to three years as a manager to the first few years as a partner.
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“Done” Only Has One Meaning

“Done but” increases WIP and turnaround time. Profits go … well, you know.

By Frank Stitely
The Relentless CPA

In my last book, I recommended hiring younger staff. In that book, I cautioned that you might have to teach very simple tasks like breathing and using the bathroom to your newbies.

MORE: Keep Clients from “Balance Due” Shock | Stop Clients from Performing “Favors” | Who Needs Fall Tax Planning? Clients … and YouIt’s Okay to Say No to Clients (Even the Large Ones)Control Your Time: Avoid Ambush Meetings and Calls | Make Fewer Mistakes, Increase Revenue and Capacity
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One reader posted that she didn’t believe it was the responsibility of an admin department to teach bathroom use. She was new to this hot new writing technique called sarcasm, but she did a great job making my point that you have to teach your staff a lot of basic things.

One of those teaching tasks is the meaning of “done.”

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