CPA Trendlines

Today's Features

Tax Refund Numbers Down, Amounts Up

Tax pros handled 54% of e-filings.

By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research

More than 100,000 individual income tax returns have flowed in and out of the Internal Revenue Service, and for the most part, we’re slightly ahead of the 2023 season.

MORE: Tax Pros Own 53% of E-filings | Tax Stats Still Playing Catchup | Tax Pros Take the Edge in E-Filings | Tax Pros Gain Ground, and DIYers Maintain Lead | Tax Pros Handle 46.4% of E-filing | Tax Refunds, Tax Pro Market Share Trending Up | Refunds Up as Tax Pros Tackle 41.5% of E-filings | Tax Pros Handle 37.7% of E-filings | Tax Pros File 33% of Early Returns
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With 10 days before deadline – as of April 5, the latest data available – the IRS received 101.9 million returns, up 0.5 percent from the same period the previous tax season. It processed 100.1 million returns, down 0.3 percent.
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PRO Member Exclusive

New Phase-Change Concrete Melts Snow and Ice Without Salt or Shovels

New self-heating concrete mixes could eliminate the need for snowplows, salt trucks and shovels.

By Rick Richardson
Technology This Week

Researchers have devised a self-heating substance that can melt snow and ice for up to 10 hours without the need for shovels or salt by incorporating a phase-change compound into concrete. The new substance may lessen the requirement for salting and plowing while helping maintain road surface integrity.

MORE: AI Generates Revolutionary New Battery Design | ChatGPT Is Getting Humanlike Memory | One State Is Now America’s Clean Energy Paradise | Did Ancient Romans Find a Solution for Climate Change? | Telehealth Advances with AI-Powered Clinics | FCC Approves Superfast Wi-Fi Tethering | Major Websites Blocking Content from AI Crawlers | Printer Ink: Not Just Expensive, but a Blatant Scam? | Generative AI Coming to Microsoft 365 | Electronic Skin That Can Sense Touch Will Transform Robotics
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The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) reports that over 70 percent of roadways are in areas with snowfall. Accumulation of snow and ice decreases vehicle mobility and road friction, slowing down traffic and raising the possibility of collisions.
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MANAGEMENT

Hold Staff Accountable If You Want Them to Listen to You

Concrete steps for effective staff management.

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

Question: My staff doesn’t listen to me. To be able to manage and control my business, I need them to prepare a monthly schedule of what they plan on doing that month. I further need to know each morning if they did what they were supposed to do the previous day, and whether there was anything not done, or anything extra that wasn’t planned on.

MORE: When Selling a Firm to Staffers Is Tricky | Want to Merge? Six Steps to Take | How to Start Providing Family Office Services | Every Accounting Firm Needs Quality Control | No One Listens to You? Change How You Talk | 47 Types of Business Valuation to Provide | Thirteen Things to Consider Before You Sell Your Practice
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My problem is that they don’t give me the schedule and then don’t call or email me to tell me what they did. I really need to know this stuff and can’t figure out how to get them to do it. What can you suggest?
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MARKETING & SALES

Clients Buy Solutions, Not Features

Four elements to consider in every selling situation.

By August J. Aquila
Price It Right: How to Value Accounting Services

Selling professional services is not as difficult as some accountants and consultants believe. I like to define sales as solving a client’s problem. If you think in these terms, you’ll realize that this is what we do every day.

Sales is the lifeblood of every business out there. If we did not sell our services and products, we would not have a firm or business. So, don’t think of sales as something unprofessional. It’s an integral part of growing your practice.

MORE: Six Ways to Expand Your Client Services Checklist | Client Acquisition Never Stops | ‘Sales’ Is Not a Four-Letter Word | Maybe What You Need Is a Marketing Audit | Three Types of Marketing Message, and Which Is Best | Why You Need Progress Billing | Five Tips for Cross-Selling and Upselling | Five Keys to Successful Marketing | Twelve Fundamentals of Planning | One Question to Guide Your Growth Plans
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My goal is to make you feel more comfortable with the sales process. Here goes! Remember, you are selling solutions to problems – or, as I like to say, selling the sizzle and not the bacon. It’s not the service or product that you are selling, it’s the benefits to the clients. Clients and prospects aren’t buying the features of the system as much as what those features can do for them.
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MARKETING & SALES

How to Write Media Releases That Capture an Editor’s Attention

Forget the five W’s and other clichés.

By Bruce Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0

EDITOR’S NOTE: CPA Trendlines was privileged to have a long relationship with Bruce W. Marcus, who was ahead of his time in his thinking and practice in marketing for accounting. We are publishing some of the late expert’s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.

A recent business communication book says that in writing press releases, the lead paragraph should include the five W’s – who, why, what, when and where.

A textbook on journalism written in the 1920s says the same thing – the five W’s.

MORE: Nine Ways to Choose Your PR Person | When Bad News Happens to Good Firms | Creating the Perfect Ad | How Hard Do You Work to Keep Your Clients? | When Clients Think They Know Marketing | How to Put Target Marketing into Context | Everyone in Your Firm Is Marketing | Accountants vs. Lawyers: Who Wins the Marketing Battle? | Professional Services Marketing Requires Flexibility | How to Set Marketing Objectives
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Nothing has changed in more than 70 years? Don’t believe it. Just read any good newspaper in the U.S., Canada or Great Britain. And what newspapers do is what press releases must do. Why?
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ABOUT US

Bissett Bullet: How Are We Doing?

Today’s Bissett Bullet: “How often do you ask your current clients for feedback?”

By Martin Bissett

Building great client relationships is a fundamental part of gaining worthwhile referrals for your firm, and understanding which of your clients are the most satisfied will give you an indication of your most passionate advocates.

How do you find out? Ask them! Ask how satisfied they are, how likely they would be to recommend you to a business and whether they would be willing to provide a short testimonial for marketing purposes.

Today’s To-Do:

How you gather that feedback is entirely up to you. Whether you pick up the phone or send a short feedback survey, keep it simple.

See more Bissett Bullets here

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Accountants’ Advice: Be Careful, Quick, Creative … and Lean

Survey respondents look beyond tax season.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Just about every small business has an accountant, and smart business owners tap their accountant not just for tax prep but for general business advice.

And smart accountants offer smart advice. Because what’s good for the client is good for the accountant.

MORE: Seven Steps to a Stronger Future | Accountants Bullish Locally, Bearish Nationally | Firms Culling Clients as Staffing Woes Persist | Are Accountants Charging Too Little? | Revenue Growth Is Top Priority for Small Firms | Is the CPA Business Model the Clog in the Pipeline? | Accountants Cozy Up to Clients with CAS
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The CPA Trendlines 2024 Busy Season Barometer has harvested quite a bit of smart advice with an open-ended question about the best advice for small businesses.

Responses bounced all over the business ballpark, but a lot of them warned of change and economic turbulence.
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PRO Member Exclusive

Five Questions About Facing Challenges

We all have to do it.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

When challenges come our way, regardless of what shape or form they arrive in, our world seems to lose a bit of brightness, there’s a little knot in the gut and a sense of peace broken.

MORE: The Real Math Behind the Sales Pipeline | Five Questions for Grading Prospects | Be Clear About Your ROI Proposition | Keep Business Development Going During Busy Season | Health, Wealth, Stealth: Challenges on the Path to Partnership | Don’t Let Recurring Fees Kill Your Practice | Rate Your Personal Purpose | Five Ways to Make Selling Easier | Six Keys to Getting a Proposal Accepted | Tell the World Your Worth
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The question is, if we were watching our own responses to these trials, would we appoint ourselves as the next partner of the firm?

Let’s examine five checkpoints to test your own, or your staffers’, abilities to overcome challenges.
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