CPA Trendlines

Today's Features

Where Is Your Next Money Coming From?

Five questions to help forecast your firm growth.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

If I could give you one tip that would assure that you could predict your consistent practice growth, it would be to look at your calendar.

MORE: Forged in Fire: The Pains of Leadership | Perception Is Reality, Client Version | 10 Questions for Reconsidering Your Prices | Would You Make Yourself a Partner? | A List Is Not a Pipeline | Prepare the Next Generation Now | Are You Committed to Your Firm? | Nine Points to Check Before Hello | Why Clients Struggle with Growth
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You need to look at what is on your calendar and to look at today’s date and ask, “Where is the money coming from this month?” Look at what recurring fees you have, look at the value of those fees and what they bring in. Then consider what would happen if any of those fees did not recur. Look at what would happen if those fees dropped out of the equation and think about how you would replace that income.
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Heather Smith: Try Not Growing Your Business

Heather Smith: We are the oxygen for the businesses around us.

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

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr for CPA Trendlines

Heather Smith has loved accounting since she was 14 and loves the flexibility the profession offers. Since the mid-2000s she has been one of the original cloud accounting nomads, with an accounting business that she says fits in a lovely Italian handbag.

MORE: 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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In 2022, the ANISE Consulting founder based in Brisbane, Australia, demonstrated that nomadic lifestyle by attending all three live Xerocon events: London, New Orleans and Sydney. Heather is a tireless advocate for her small business clients and a fan of technology to improve our lives, including staffing. READ MORE →

ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Insurance You Might Not Know You Need

These are often overlooked.

By Ed Mendlowitz
77 Ways to Wow!

The following are brief descriptions of insurance coverage not usually obtained or obtained in inadequate amounts. Insufficient insurance can expose you to serious losses and could also jeopardize your future financial comfort and security.

MORE: Price Not Always the Top Consideration in a Sale | Eight Ways to Value a Family-Owned Business | Are You Ready for a Co-Owner to Drop Dead? | Simple Controls Can Prevent Fraud | Charity Directors Must Take Theft Seriously | Forensic Techniques Can Be Fraud Deterrence | The Hazards of Poor Internal Controls | Rule #1: Start with Cash
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Note that I am not covering all types of insurance and this guide’s purpose is to alert you to the importance of the right insurance protection. Some of this coverage can be as riders to existing policies.
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OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Why VC Is a Bigger Threat Than AI

How big money could change everything.

By Seth Fineberg
At Large

Here is some truth, at least that I believe, accountants need to know: Accountants in practice today, particularly firm owners, should be more afraid of venture capital entering the profession than AI or any like form of automation. A bold statement, I know but stay with me and see if you agree.

MORE SETH FINEBERG: What Does Taking Control of Your Firm Mean? | Accountants Need Each Other More Than Ever | Marchternity: Just Say ‘No’ |

Some Thoughts on In-Person Events | So You Think You Know Accountants? | What Bogs Down Accountants

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At the core of this viewpoint is how I believe the two will, respectively, impact the profession at large. The major difference, to me, is that one has the potential to help the profession move forward while the other could change its dynamic for the worse.

ADVISORY & CONSULTING

The Why Behind Your CAS Why

Four ingredients to consider.

By Hitendra Patil
Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide

“WHY did I start my accounting firm/practice?”

If you are the owner of your firm, print this in a bold, big font and post it somewhere in such a way that you can see it, even if it is just in your peripheral vision, every moment when you are working at your desk.

MORE: Who Is the Professional?
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If you are a partner of the firm or an employee, print the following question to post it where you can see it all the time:

“WHY did I get into the accounting profession?”
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PRO Member Exclusive

Trust But Verify… Everything

Fight back against fake reviews.

By Beth Ziesenis
App of the Week

Magicians practice the art of illusion and National Smoke and Mirrors Day (March 29) celebrates their skills.

But in today’s world, technology can also deceive us very easily.

MORE APPS of the WEEK: Make Your Computer a Clean Slate | Recycle and Repurpose Old Devices | Enlist AI for More Productive Meetings | Keep Teams on Task with Project Management Apps | Apps to Put Your Affairs in Order | App of the Week: Celebrate Black Business Month | App of the Week: Cheap Flights | Help Your Clients Save Money | Time to Upgrade Your Spreadsheets | App of the Week: Secretly Stash Cash | Easy Apps for Increasing Client Engagement with Video | App of the Week: Grow Your Business Knowledge and Career Skill Sets | App of the Week: Upgrade Your Resume | App of the Week: End Procrastination |
SEE ALL: Apps of the Week here |
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Fight back against fake reviews on shopping sites like Amazon, Ebay, Best Buy and other shopping sites with Fakespot.

How does it work?

AUTHORS in the NEWS

Five Reasons That Leaders Fail

Do you have these habits of highly ineffective CEOs?

By August J. Aquila
What Makes a Great Partnership

Several years ago there was an interesting article in Fortune magazine. It dealt with the topic of why CEOs fail. For example, “Chainsaw Al” Dunlap was let go by Sunbeam after two years of dismal performance and questionable conduct.

MORE: What Managing Partners Must Be Doing | Managing Partner: The Toughest Job in the World | Eleven Things Partners Must Do | Do Your Partners Pay Their Own Way? | Why Partners Need Written Goals | Seven Keys to Becoming an Equity Partner | How to Create Firm Accountability | Eight Criteria for Partnership | How to Achieve Partner Unity | Five Questions to Ask Your Partners about Accountability | How You Can Get Partners to Change | The Seven Building Blocks of a Great Partnership
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What do CPA firm managing partners have to learn from corporate America?
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PRO Member Exclusive

Public Accounting as a Business, 101

Know your profession.

By Marc Rosenberg
How to Bring in New Partners

“Engaging your employees – involving them in the business – can drive revenue growth. An educated workforce can also make better decisions, work more efficiently and seize opportunities faster. Teaching your employees to be smart businesspeople can be a big investment, but it’s one that can have a significant return.” – Keith Lamb, Inc. magazine

MORE: Nuts and Bolts of Mentoring Staff | It Shouldn’t Take So Long to Make Partner | Three Types of Skills You Need to Become a Partner | Seventeen Basic Expectations of Partners
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Personnel in any organization, from widget manufacturers to hospitals to baseball teams to charities, work with more enthusiasm and commitment when they genuinely feel part of the organization. When people understand how they fit into the overall scheme and what their role is and grasp the essentials of how the organization operates, they produce higher quality work and are more energized. CPA firms are no exception to this rule.
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PRO Member Exclusive

Five Skills for Emotional Mastery

Every successful practice owner needs them.

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

There are courses and conferences to help you build the technical skills you need to succeed in accounting. But if you think about it, there is no CPE to help you with the emotional side of your business, and there are plenty of times on a daily basis that the emotional side of business comes into play:

MORE: Why You Need a Link-In-Bio Tool | What’s In a (Domain) Name? Plenty | Four Tips for Tough Times | Nine Thoughts on Self-Marketing for the Introvert | 13 Reasons to Master Consumption Marketing | When to Talk About Fees | Take a Moment for Appreciation | Beyond Compliance: What More You Can Provide | The Biggest SEO Secret of All: Google Business Listings
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1) Making a price increase or setting your prices in the first place

2) Firing a client from you-know-where
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PRO Member Exclusive

The Last Thing a Tax Reviewer Does

Whose error is it this late in the game?

By Ed Mendlowitz
How to Review Tax Returns: The Field-Tested Update

The reviewer needs to conduct their own top-side review before the return gets passed on to be printed (either paper, digital or PDF) and assembled to be sent to the partner to sign and be released to the client.

MORE: Tax Reviewers Can Advance, with a Push | What Makes an Excellent Tax Return Reviewer | 10 Errors That ‘Smart’ Scanners Make | Tax: The Procedural Checklists Your Firm Needs | The Best Way to Review a Tax Return | Why You Can’t Skip Checklists | How to Turn Tax Returns into New Business
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The partner will do their own top-side review before signing it – so why shouldn’t the reviewer do it first to catch any error that might have slipped through?
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CLIENT ACCOUNTING SERVICES

How to Get Clients to Adopt CAAS Tech

Focus on the meaning, not the mechanics.

By Hitendra Patil
Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide

Q: What suggestions do you have to help with client adoption of CAAS software and technologies?

MORE CAS Q&A: There Are Only Three Growth Strategies | Eight Steps to Optimize Capacity | Battling CAS Cost Pushback | Will My Clients Find CAS Expensive? | CAS: Much More than Bookkeeping
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A: Thank you for this very important question.

Client accounting and advisory services (CAS/CAAS) are services that leverage accountants’ E³, i.e., expertise, experience and education. Your clients do not have the E³.
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Jackie Meyer: Be a Problem Solver, Not a Number Cruncher

Jackie Meyer: Redefine your boundaries and stop conforming to inappropriate behaviors.

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

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr for CPA Trendlines

Jackie Meyer is a fan of value pricing and niching your practice. Her favorite area is tax planning, which doesn’t require a huge investment of time to provide huge financial benefits for clients.

Her own firm tripled revenues by focusing on tax planning.

MORE: 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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Firms that focus on low-volume, highly-niched areas solve several problems at once.

CHARTS & GRAPHS

Tax Pro E-filings Up 3%

Average refunds are down by double digits.

By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research

More people have gotten tax refunds in 2023, but fewer dollars have gone out. This is as the IRS kicks back refunds nearly as fast as it receives returns.

MORE: Pros Handle 45% of Income Tax Returns | IRS Processing Returns as Fast as It Gets Them | Only 39% of Tax Returns Filed by Pros | Tax Season Opens with Refunds Up 85%
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As of March 10, the latest data available, the IRS had received 63.4 million individual income tax returns, down 0.1 percent from the same period in 2022. It had processed 63.2 million returns, up 2 percent, for an impressive 99.6 percent completion rate. READ MORE →