Today's Features
AUDIT & ASSURANCE

Exceptional Audit Client Service Demands Effective Communication

Drop the devices and go talk with clients.

By Alan Anderson, CPA
Transforming Audit for the Future

Most firms have guidelines for turnaround time and response times but stop there when it comes to delivering excellent customer service. Does your firm have a definition of what superior client service might mean in an audit?

MORE: Deliver More Audit Value by Getting Out of the Conference Room | Know Your Three Audit W’s | Planning Lays the Foundation of Audit Relevance | Are You Correctly Identifying the Relevance Intersection? | Traditional Audits Don’t Deserve Premium Billing | Turning Audit & Accounting into Assurance & Advisory | Stop Sending the Wrong Message to Audit Teams
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Remember that relevance is the intersection of what your client wants, what you think is important and what the stakeholders need. Providing superior client service is definitely contained within that intersection.

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CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

When Board Service Gets Tricky

Businesspeople having a meeting over coffee sitting together at a table discussing a document, young man and two middle-aged women present

Keep the totality of the relationships in mind.

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

Question: I am on the board of directors and am treasurer of a not-for-profit organization. One of the board members is an officer of a commercial bank where we have our accounts.

MORE: Yes, You Have to Share Work Papers | Hiring Experience Vs. Training Inexperience | A Friendly Chat or a Billable Discussion? | When Selling a Firm to Staffers Is Tricky | Courting a Client? Don’t Give Too Much Away for Free | Nine Tips for a Healthier Tax Season | Fifteen Strategies for First-Time Supervisors | Measure Knowledge Gaps (Then Close Them) | 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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The organization wants to get a one-year CD with some excess funds they have. It turns out that the interest rate is less than half of what we could get from a local savings bank. I suggested that we open the CD in the savings bank and the bank officer got very agitated and threatened to cut off the bank’s support of the organization if we did not keep the funds in his bank.
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MANAGEMENT

How Firms Are Compensating Their COOs

bar chart

Real-life examples. About 29% are owners.

By Kristen Rampe
Rosenberg Associates

More and more firms are exploring the benefits of adding a chief operating officer (COO) to their leadership ranks. The COO role often encompasses strategic CPA firm leadership, holding partners accountable, making decisions in line with the firm’s strategy and overseeing all administrative functions.

MORE: Help! A Partner Wants to Retire Really Early
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This position can significantly reduce the time client service partners spend attending to these duties. And often the COO can do them better, as they aren’t distracted by the next fire drill from a high-profile accounting client. Their only client is the firm.
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ACCOUNTING ARC

Accounting ARC: Breaking Barriers – How Becky DuPree’s Love for Data Analytics and Her Identity Shaped Her Professional Path

“Coming out was not an option at that time in public accounting.”

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Accounting ARC 
With Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation

Rebecca “Becky” DuPree, an experienced accountant and auditor, shares her compelling journey on the latest Accounting ARC, hosted by Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP, CGMA. With 17 years in public accounting and internal audit, DuPree’s story highlights the diverse career paths in accounting and the importance of resilience and authenticity in navigating professional challenges.

MORE: Accounting ARC: Forecasting Finance & the 2034 Accounting Landscape | Accounting ARC: Top 10 Strategies for Managing Growth | Accounting ARC: Busting the Big 4 Myth | Accounting ARC: Exploring AI’s Role in Modern Accounting | Accounting ARC: Unraveling the Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank | On a Mission: Introducing Accounting, Reaction, Comedy (ARC) | Harper & Co. CPAs: The Perspective of a Non-Accountant is Imperative | Menlo Innovations: Improve Office Culture by Overhauling Internal Reviews | Dustin Wheeler: For Serious CAS Success, Hire Tech Teams | Chase Birky: Overcoming Paralysis By Analysis |

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DuPree’s career began in Mercedes, Texas, where she earned her degree in accounting from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, followed by an MBA from Sam Houston State University. Admitting she spent much time watching L.A. Law, Dupree says she initially aspired to be an attorney. However, her accounting talent led her to a fulfilling public accounting and internal audit career.

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PODCAST

Steve Yoss, Quick Tech Talk: Blockchain and Regulatory Compliance for Tax, Accounting, and Finance Professionals

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Quick Tech Talk
With Steve Yoss
CPE Today

Blockchain technology, at its core, is all about record keeping. And if we think about accounting, accounting is just an agreed-upon set of principles for record-keeping GAAP: generally accepted accounting principles. Blockchain is a way to keep track of information, no different than how an accounting system keeps track of information.

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It has some specific principles, such as immutability, meaning it can’t be modified or deleted once you create a record. It also has certain principles around transparency, such as anybody can examine a public transaction from a blockchain such as Bitcoin, Aetherium, and others.

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