Posts Tagged ‘Firm Administration’
Protecting 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 MoreTying a Transition Plan for Retiring Partners to Your Partner Agreement
The valuation used to determine the terms for paying retired partners will never make sense unless you assume the firm will at least perform as well as it did before the partner retired. Some firms can never get comfortable with the concept of fixing the obligation to retired partners at the date of retirement. The…
Read MoreBridging the Gap: Staying Independent vs. Selling or Merging
Most of the firms we work with on succession planning start off with a strong preference to remain independent, and not sell or merge in order to address the need to payoff and replace retiring owners. The common reasons we are given for this inclination are- Control-Most owners of small to mid-sized CPA firms like…
Read MoreMarketing is Not Just for Partners Anymore
Marketing in the accounting industry has an interesting, and fairly short, history. It is not unusual to find partners who still remember when it was against AICPA rules to advertise, market, directly solicit or even participate in competitive bidding. Virtually non-existent for most of the 20th century, accounting marketing has evolved at a rather slow…
Read MoreKeeping Your Team Members Connected, Engaged and Energized
A recent survey conducted by the AICPA showed one of the biggest concerns accounting firms are facing today is employee retention and engagement. This is no surprise and is endemic throughout the entire profession. As the economy takes a turn for the better, the rate at which team members are leaving their current employment or…
Read MoreA Winning Culture is an Intentional Culture
“People will typically be more enthusiastic where they feel a sense of belonging and see themselves as part of a community than they will in a workplace in which each person is left to his own devices” ― Alfie Kohn, Author Your firm’s culture is the essence of its being and the way it feels to work…
Read MoreThe Culture of Continuous Improvement
Lean Six Sigma and Change Management are popular concepts in accounting firms today. Most firms start their “Lean Journey” with an eye toward improved efficiency and controlling engagement costs. But after a successful first project, many leaders in our profession rave about all of the ancillary benefits they are beginning to see within their organizations. …
Read More6 Tips for Fostering Leadership in Your Organization
Leadership is one of the top issues facing accounting firms today. We often hear firms say they can’t find or don’t have good leaders in their organization. As most of us know, leaders don’t usually fall off trees. In any organization, fostering leadership takes time and intention. As a current leader, you have to be…
Read MoreA Simple Way to Dissolve the Gap
There is a fundamentally false assumption that’s responsible for the gap between current and emerging firm leaders. This gap limits what we can accomplish, makes things harder than necessary, and undermines the very quality of our lives. What is this false assumption? That the reality we experience is “the reality” when in fact it, is…
Read MoreSurvey says… Using survey results to improve your business
Can you name the top two key factors to an accounting firm’s success? If you said Employee Satisfaction and Client Satisfaction, then you are exactly right. You have probably thought about it, some of you may have even tried to conduct a survey before, so why the hesitation and procrastination? The topic of surveying comes…
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