practice-management

27 Tough Questions for Evaluating the Performance of a Managing Partner

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Including: Managing Partner Evaluation Forms, Parts 1 and 2.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Management & Governance

This is really an upward evaluation.  Like all upward evaluations, people evaluating the managing partner should be limited to those in a position to offer informed input.  This means that at firms of fewer than 10 to 15 partners all the partners will probably want to participate.  But once a firm gets beyond 10 to 15 partners, an increasing number of partners may not be in a position to respond to the evaluation factors listed in the form.

More CPA Firm Management & Governance:  18 Things Partners Owe their Firms – And Each Other   |  17 Ways to Measure a Partner  |  How The Structure of an Accounting Firm Changes through the Years    |    Congratulations! Your Firm Needs a Human Resources Director    |    The 19-Point Marketing Director Job Description    |    Checklist: How the Best Managing Partners and Firm Admins Work in Concert     |    21 Questions for Managing the Managing Partner    |    No Partner Vote Needed: 17 Decisions Best Left to the Managing Partner Alone    |    New Rules: 13 Items that Should be in Your Managing Partner’s Job Description    |    When Is It Time to Shift Your Firm from Partnership-style to Corporate-style Governance?    |    Not Every Firm Needs a General Patton    |

Firms with management or executive committees may wish to limit the evaluation to the partners on those committees.

Once you have decided who will be allowed to participate in the evaluation, each partner should complete the evaluation forms.  READ MORE →

Collecting Past Due Fees

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Ed Mendlowitz, CPA, ABV, PFS
Author of “Implementing Fee Increases“

Question: Client didn’t pay his bills to me, doesn’t return my phone calls, and his secretary keeps sending me the tax notices he gets with notes of “when are you going to take care of them?”  I tell her that I need the client to call me before I can do any more work and she ignores this and keeps sending me the notices and other tax correspondence he gets. I don’t want to tell him I am dropping him because then I don’t think I’ll ever be paid.  Every year he goes on extension and he usually pays me half of what he owes when he sends me his tax info, but the past due amount has really accumulated to about three year’s fees.  What should I do about getting paid? READ MORE →

Why Good Accounting Firms Make Bad Decisions

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The dysfunctional partner team and three ways to get them back on track.

You’ve tried management by committee. And by now, you know it doesn’t work. In a new analysis of CPA firm management practices, Marc Rosenberg finds, “Management by committee rarely works.”

There must be a better way. And, yes, there are a few. Here is a five-point spectrum of approaches that firms use to make decisions. One of them may work for your firm.

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Back to the Future: Staff Shortages Re-Emerge as Top Worry for CPA Firms

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A sign of economic recovery and increased competition.

Bringing in new business and finding top-notch staffers to handle anticipated growth are emerging as the new, most pressing challenges for CPA firms today.

With a rebounding economy, the AICPA says in its new PCPS “Top Issues Survey” that client retention, which had been a significant concern for firms in the 2009 survey, has been overtaken by a tilt toward growth issues.

“Finding qualified staff” was a top issue from 1997 to 2007 for all but the smallest firms, but disappeared entirely from Top 5 lists in 2009. Now it’s back.

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The Three Biggest Money Leaks in Your Practice

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Sandi Smith Leyva
Sandi Smith Leyva

Start with a clean spreadsheet.

By Sandi Smith, CPA
Accountant’s Accelerator

There are dozens (and maybe hundreds) of ways your practice can leak money. Here are three ideas that are fairly simple to implement and may be some great goals for you to consider.

More for soloists and small firms: New Client Opportunities with Mobile Apps  /  Six Questions to Launch Your Strategy Sessions  /  What Most Accountants Miss in the Five Simple Steps to Get More Clients  /  10 Ways to Add a “Money Maker” Hour to Your Day  /  11 Sources of Wealth We Can Celebrate  /  Nine Value-Adds to Command a Higher Fee  /  How to Design Your Business Around Your Strengths  /  How to Make It Easy for Clients to Hire You   /  12 Fast, Low-Cost Tips for a Stress-Less Practice  

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