TALENT & CAREER DEVELOPMENT

Four Reasons People Struggle with Communication

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Chart showing Passport to Partnership's 7 levels of communication managementPlus two things you must demonstrate with existing client relationships.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

Ultimately, when we have to interact with clients, subordinates, superiors or peers, the questions are always the same: Who do I need to deliver this information to and what approach would they respond most favorably to?

MORE: Five Questions for Measuring Partner Potential | Culture Can’t Be Ignored | Three Questions About Your Competence | 10 Can’t-Skip Steps for Business Development | Attract Clients, Don’t Chase Them | Success in Business Comes Second | Business Won’t Come to You | Forged in Fire: The Pains of Leadership | A Lesson in Customer Service and Reputation | Prioritize Your Prospects | Good Enough Is Not Enough
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In arriving at “Communication” we come to the most intangible of all the components to obtain a “passport to partnership.”
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Use Organization Charts to Rewrite the Future

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woman's hand drawing an organization chart

How do people view themselves?

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

An effective way to review key staff is to have them separately draw up two organization charts to see how they view their role.

MORE: What Clients Don’t Know about Cost Variances | Why and How to Track Payroll Costs | Use Constraints to Make Improvements | The Role of Strategy in Pricing | Wow Clients with Trend Analysis | 26 Ways to Wreck a Financial Projection | Three Ways to Run a Break-Even Analysis | Price Not Always the Top Consideration in a Sale | When an Owner Dies Without a Buy-Sell Agreement | Due Diligence Is in the Details | Manage Better with the Right Financial Tools
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The first chart is what they think their role is showing who they report to, who reports to them, lateral associates and support personnel. The second chart is what they would like it to be. Rarely would the two be the same.
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Sandra Wiley: Staffing Problem? Check Your Culture

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Whether it’s clients or talent, if you build a better business culture, you’ll get better results.

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With Liz Farr
The Disruptors

As shareholder and president of Boomer Consulting, Sandra Wiley has been speaking with firm owners and leaders for nearly three decades and clearly sees the need for change in the profession.

“The business model that was built before cannot be the business model that you have going forward. It simply doesn’t work,” Wiley said. “Now, we’re still living in the old business model,” and we have to get out of it.

MORE PODCASTS and VIDEOS:  Peter Margaritis: The Power Skills Every Accountant Needs | Joe Montgomery: Find the Sweet Spot of the Right Clients, Right Services and Right Prices | Marie Green: Your Bad Apples Are Ruining You | Megan Genest Tarnow: Hire for Curiosity Rather Than Compliance | Clayton Oates: One Way to Keep Clients for Life | Randy Crabtree: Follow These Three Rules to Keep Employees Happy | Erik Solbakken: Yes, You Can Work Less and Make More | Donny Shimamoto: Future Firm Growth Requires a Mindshift | Jennifer Wilson: Empower Young Workers to Build the Firm Everyone Loves | Mike Whitmire: Re-Think Your Hiring and Training Practices | Hector Garcia: Success Strategies of a Quickbooks YouTube Superstar | Blake Oliver: Why Tax Work Yearns To Be Free| Private Equity Explodes in U.K. | Brannon Poe: The Status Quo Must Go  | Accounting Nerds, Unlock Your Super Powers  | Disruptor: Jason Statts Shakes Up the Status Quo | Think Small to Think Big with Matt Wilkinson | When Financial Statements Go Extinct with Corey Schmidt | Can Geraldine Carter Save Accountants from Themselves? | Re-Inventing Accounting with Tyler Anderson

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When she does exit interviews to find out why people are leaving a firm, she said they all say it’s because of the hours. They need to find more balance in their lives, and they need to work less. While accountants do have government-imposed deadlines for tax returns, there are ways to reduce hours, Wiley explained. We can do extensions to spread the work out over time and people, and we can outsource. Most importantly, we can be more selective in the clients we work with. “We don’t have to work with every client we’ve ever worked with,” Wiley said. READ MORE →

Twelve Questions That Prospective Partners Should Ask

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Plus 11 questions your firm should ask prospective partners.

By Marc Rosenberg

This post should be read from the perspective of two different audiences: prospective partners and existing partner groups.

  • Prospective partners: Well before accepting a partnership offer, prospective partners should ask basic, critically important questions to help them judge whether accepting it would be a smart decision.
  • Existing partner group: Well before extending a partnership offer, the firm should get its house in order to avoid being embarrassed by smart questions posed by partner candidates.

MORE: Adding New Partners: 19 Reasons to Choose between Equity and Non-Equity | What Firms Should Address in Partner Agreements | 11 Best Practices for Partner Compensation | Why Buying Into a Firm Is Such a Great Investment | The Business Side of CPA Firms | It Shouldn’t Take So Long to Make Partner | Three Types of Skills You Need to Become a Partner
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Questions Prospective Partners Should Ask Their Firm

It’s one thing for a staff person to join a CPA firm, enjoy the job and experience success via nonstop promotions, feeling all along that the firm is a great place to work. But it’s quite another thing for a staffer to consider whether or not to accept a partnership offer that may come in the future.
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Which is Better: A Year of Education or a Year of Experience?

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The 150-hour rule is facing harsh criticism in the accounting staffing crisis.

With Steven Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals: Thriving in Disruption

There is a movement afoot by the state CPA societies to reconsider whether the fifth year of an accounting program that offers the student a Master’s in Accounting is worth the cost, not to mention the increased complexity of business requiring as much exposure and experience as necessary to groom the younger professionals.

MORE STEVE SACKS: Sell Service, Not Hours | Fine-Tuning the Subscription Fee Model | When Cyber-Crime Hits Close to Home | How to Build a Winning Proposal | Six Ways to Fix Your Firm Agreement | The Great Resignation or a Reshuffling? | Listen to Learn | Build the Framework to a Solution with Five Answers | Try for Success, Not a Win
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However, there is a shortage of 300,000 CPA candidates entering the profession’s pipeline. That’s why several states are seeking to eliminate, modify or enhance the educational/experiential model.

Steve Sacks, CPA, CGMA, ABC, discussed the dilemma of education versus experience with accounting expert David Bergstein, CPA, the chief innovation officer for Bergstein CPA and teaching adjunct for Valencia College.

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Culture Can’t Be Ignored

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Three questions to evaluate your firm.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

This second C is a stormy and choppy one, often fraught with political icebergs but navigated diplomatically and with maturity, will lead you through.

MORE: Why Firm Culture Matters for Partners | Five Ways to Rally Your Firm to Its Culture | When Would-Be Partners Aren’t Candidates | Make Your Expertise a New-Client Magnet | Don’t Think of It as Selling | Experts: What It Takes to Become Partner | Where Is Your Next Money Coming From? | Your Website Promises. Do You Deliver?
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Case study on culture

Deborah had done well. She was bridging the firm’s culture gap and fulfilling its desire to be seen as an equal opportunities employer by becoming the practice’s standout rising star.
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What an A.I.-Powered Workforce Means for Accountants

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Ready or not, AI is here to stay.

By Rick Richardson
Technology This Week

The complicated relationship that humanity has had with its technological creations throughout time has shaped many executives’ views on adapting to change and remaining in demand in any industry or profession. The various cycles of emerging technology always enlighten, frighten and inspire the masses until we adjust and change our mindsets to embrace the disruption.

MORE: ChatGPT Passes CPA Exam on Second Try | Smartwatch Saves Two Lives | ChatGPT Unlikely to Replace Accountants | Looking for Investments? Check Out Smart Home Technology | Solar Sensors Detect Wildfires Early, Saving Lives, Money
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Even though it has been present for decades, artificial intelligence (AI) is currently promoted as the dramatic change that threatens to upend our society. People are terrified as they try to imagine how it will change the way they live their lives, how they view their employment and what the future of their professions might bring. READ MORE →

Three Questions About Your Competence

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Confident businesswoman looking straight at cameraHow do others view your partnership readiness?

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

The Passport to Partnership study collated a number of responses in a conversational style.

MORE: Competence Is Step One of Seven | When Would-Be Partners Aren’t Candidates | Make Your Expertise a New-Client Magnet | Don’t Think of It as Selling | Experts: What It Takes to Become Partner | Where Is Your Next Money Coming From? | Your Website Promises. Do You Deliver?
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But two brief but succinct examples on the realities of how a firm assesses an individual’s “competence” for leadership are showcased really stood out:

  1. They need to explain technical data to me in a way that I know they understand.

  2. What kind of lifestyle does this person have outside of work? We’ll be looking at Facebook, Twitter, and Google to find out.

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