Practice Management
Preparing Your Firm to Grow Through M & A
We find firms seeking to grow using mergers and acquisitions often start the process with too little advance preparation. This can lead to many false starts. In the worst case scenarios it can lead to: 1) failing to close a deal your firm would have benefitted from or 2) a failed merger. This blog summarizes…
Read MoreThe Keys to Establishing a Proper Company Culture
We hear a lot of conversation today about company culture and the impact it can have on the many aspects of an accounting firm’s success. We could debate what that means, but I want to focus instead on how you can create a proper company culture. Most people know they want to change or shift…
Read MoreIs Meeting the Deadline, Meeting Your Client’s Expectations?
“Our installers will be there between 12 noon and 5 pm” We’ve all been there. Whether it’s hooking up a new cable or satellite provider package, getting appliances delivered and installed, or new furniture delivered, often these services come with a huge window of delivery time. And while this window may be convenient for the…
Read MoreA Call For Change: An Open Letter To Each Generation
With three distinct generations in the workplace today, the impacts are phenomenal. Firm leaders are challenged to balance and blend each generation’s unique historical context, motivators and somewhat differing values systems to create a unified team and a sustainable firm. To ensure that the generations co-exist and collaborate, it is helpful to understand the…
Read MoreRansomware Awareness
There has been a recent surge of Ransomware attacks on accountants whose workstations were not adequately protected and backed up, leading to some firms paying a ransom and others recreating the data (and wishing they would have paid the ransom instead). For those of you not familiar with Ransomware, it is a term for malicious…
Read MoreHIRING TRENDS FOR 2015
According to a recent article on Fast Company, 70% of today’s workforce is actively looking for another job or is open to hearing about a new job opportunity. Another study tells us that a recent college graduate will hold between 15 to 20 jobs in their career. That means they are going to change jobs every…
Read MoreProtecting Your BYOD Exposure
Bring your own device (BYOD) is becoming the standard in accounting firms as we not only allow our personnel to connect to firm data from their home computers, but also access email and other firm applications on personal tablets and smartphones. When one of these devices gets lost or stolen, or if an employee is…
Read MoreFlexibility- Not Just About Part Time Work Schedules
Flexibility?? …Been there done that? Or that won’t work here…our customers and clients are too demanding? Do these comments sound familiar? Read on to learn how flexibility may not be what you think. Building flexibility into a work culture impacts so much more than your employee’s intention to stay and contribute their very best to the organization. While…
Read MoreDon’t take things from other people.
I thought I learned that as a kid, but apparently I didn’t. In this all too true story about the early years of my accounting practice, I took things from other people without realizing it and ultimately of course I paid the price. As you read this, consider if you’ve unwittingly taken things from others.…
Read MoreRethinking Credit Card Merchant Fees
Today, we see the majority of firms reluctantly accepting credit cards from some clients to pay for their accounting services. A relatively small number of firms advertise this option and most only bring it up either when a client specifically asks to use their card or when the firm is trying to collect on a…
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