Today's Features
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Merging Up? Settle These Twenty Items

green marker checking boxes

 

The smaller firm gets a say, so decide what you want.

By Marc Rosenberg
The Rosenberg Practice Management Library

When a small firm considers merging upward, they listen to the terms offered by the larger firm and decide whether they can accept them. Through a combination of face-to-face meetings, negotiation sessions, telephone calls and review of materials, the seller should be comfortable with each of the following:

MORE by Marc Rosenberg
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

1. Hopefully, you have identified the problems and the goals you have for the merger (retirement, access to staff, technical expertise, management capabilities, etc.). Do you see each of these problems and goals actually being addressed and resolved with the merger?
READ MORE →

MARKETING & SALES

Three Things That Rich Accountants Do

woman using calendar planner on tablet

Make them second nature.

By Martin Bissett
Business Development on a Budget

You may be thinking right now, “Well, very good, Martin, but we have finite time. We’re very, very busy people and we need to get business in the door, and therefore creation of opportunity becomes the issue.”

MORE by Martin Bissett
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

Regardless of whether we’ve got 20 opportunities on our plate today or none, when the next one comes along we can’t afford to be anything other than confident, comfortable, assured relationship builders who have tremendous value to offer. Because people will see that body language, those voice tones and hear those words and it will be attractive. They will want to get to know more – they’ll want to be able to look at options. They’ll want to know what you’ll charge, and they’ll want to know what they’ll get for what you charge.
READ MORE →

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Poe: What P.E. Really Wants from Firms | The Disruptors

Beyond revenue and margins, buyers are scrutinizing teams, culture, and operational health.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.
Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Brannon Poe, founder of Poe Group Advisors, says the key to a successful firm transaction is fit.  

“I think having a good deal is really about having a good fit,” he says. Besides technical skills, “you have to have management styles that mesh well, you have to have client service philosophies that are aligned,” he explains.  

MORE STREAMING: Oliver: Build a Biz that Runs Without You | Daiber: Use Succession as a Growth Strategy | Cannon: Busy Season is Self-Inflicted | Carroll: When One Person Can Break the Firm |  Rampe: Build a Roadmap Even When the Road’s Not There | Chang: Killing SALY, One Agent at a Time | Vanover: 5-Star Firms Don’t Bill by the Hour | Kless: Profit Is a Result. Flourishing Is the Purpose | Whitman: Build Culture on ‘Progress,’ Not Change | Shein: No PE? No M&A? No Problem | Hood and Weber: Time to RISE | Proctor: Turn Dumb Ideas into Brilliant Solutions | Carter-Gray: How 1 Poor Review Strengthened the Firm | Hartman: Upwork to “40 Under 40” in 3 Years |

GoProCPA.com Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

For sellers, choosing the right buyer matters as much as the price. “I find that the sellers in particular, who keep their focus on fit and choose the right buyer, usually are the happiest with their exit.” 

The last few years have created favorable conditions for accounting firm sales, but not for everyone.  

READ MORE →

AUDIT & ASSURANCE

Regulators Put PE Under the Microscope

Private equity meets public trust.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The nation’s accounting regulators are signaling that private equity’s rapid expansion into CPA firms has reached a point that demands closer scrutiny.

MORE Private Equity

In a new white paper, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy lays out a framework of questions that could shape the next phase of regulation for firms backed by private equity or operating under alternative practice structures. At the same time, senior officials at the Securities and Exchange Commission are warning CPA firms to remain focused on “the basics.” The AICPA is also considering revising its independence regime.

READ MORE →

ADVISORY & CONSULTING

How to Price and Package Advisory Services

Hand moving triangle along beam to indicate balance between price and value

Three reasons that hourly billing fails.

By Hitendra Patil
Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide

For decades, hourly billing was the primary pricing method in the accounting industry. Charging based on time seemed fair and simple. However, as your firm shifts into Advisory-CAS (Client Accounting Services), that model starts to show its flaws.

MORE by Hitendra Patil
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

Why? Advisory services focus on the impact and outcomes they provide, with time becoming less of a priority. If a CPA firm partner spends 45 minutes advising a business owner and that conversation prevents a six-figure mistake, what is that advice worth? Much more than what a typical $200/hour rate suggests. In this case, the time spent is less important than the value provided.
READ MORE →