Today's Features

Compensation’s Up, but Up Enough to Retain Staff?

young woman seated at laptop counting money

People are leaving the profession. More money is one solution.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The AICPA’s 2023 National Management of an Accounting Practice (MAP) Survey came up with an odd statistic. Kind of hard to believe until you get the context.

The finding: the median employee turnover rate across all CPA firms is … 0 percent.

Yes, that’s a zero.

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But wait. A median, as they say, is only half the story.

The bigger story – the broader context – is that more than half the responding practices had zero turnover, so the median fell at zero percent. But that goose egg doesn’t reflect the reality of firms at the other side of the spectrum.
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Lack of Relevance Drives Audit Commoditization

Premium service providers collect premium fees.

By Alan Anderson, CPA
Transforming Audit for the Future

We are all willing to pay more for something that has been custom-created just for us or when we see that the service provider has gone above and beyond to deliver additional value for us. But without relevance, there is little chance that your clients will see any additional value in the audit. For the client, the only reason to get an audit is to meet a regulatory or banking requirement.

MORE: Five Crucial Attributes for Successful Audit Leadership | Traditional Audits Don’t Deserve Premium Billing | Put the Ethics Code to Work for Your Clients and Your Firm | Turning Audit & Accounting into Assurance & Advisory | Is Audit in Crisis Because of Definitions? | Stop Sending the Wrong Message to Audit Teams | Closing the Audit Expectations Gap
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As a profession, our actions have contributed to commoditization, but every CPA firm I talk to complains about how audit is becoming commoditized. When someone complains to me about commoditization, the first thing I ask is, what do you do when you’re under a little fee pressure from your client? Oh, lower my fee. So, why are you lowering your fee? Because quite often, whether you’re thinking about it or not, you probably haven’t delivered anything more than 24 pages with an audit report on it.

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Why Exceptional Service Matters

server holding carafe of water points at menu item; two women seated at restaurant table

And why it has to come from EVERYONE.

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

This time, I have a question for you. But I’ll start with a story.

Last Sunday evening my wife and I went into a reasonably upscale restaurant and we had terrible service from everyone we interacted with.

MORE: Courting a Client? Don’t Give Too Much Away for Free | How to Start Providing Family Office Services | Every Accounting Firm Needs Quality Control | No One Listens to You? Change How You Talk | 47 Types of Business Valuation to Provide | Thirteen Things to Consider Before You Sell Your Practice | Uncooperative Partner Might Not be the Problem
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When we were seated, the table wobbled and we asked if they could do something or move us to another table. Ten minutes later someone showed up with a wad of napkins that made it worse. Five minutes later they asked if we were okay, and put us at another table. Ten minutes after that they took our order, but we asked for some drinks right away, which we only got after we complained to the manager.
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Tax Practitioners Say Happy Days Are Here … Again

bar chart
Seventy percent report as good or better year than last year.

 

For most, anyway.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The first results of the 2024 Busy Season Barometer: Emerging Issues, Opportunities, and Trends are in, and so far, halfway into the tax season, accountants and tax practitioners are reporting another pretty good year.

That’s two in a row!

MORE: The IRS Is Coming! Get Your Clients into Compliance | End Tax Season Meetings with Clients … Seriously | Brandon Hall: Firms Try to Make Too Much on Tax Prep | Eight Steps to Getting Started with AI: A Guide for Tax Professionals | The Nightmare of Non-credentialed Tax Preparers | Tax Pros Are Expanding and Earning More
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Last year, 58 percent of survey respondents said their year was much better or somewhat better than 2022, which, as you may recall, had been a rather rotten year.

So when only 32 percent of this year’s contributors say this season is better than 2023, it doesn’t mean fewer are having a good year. It means almost a third are reporting a year better than a good year.
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Got FOMO When It Comes to AI and ChatGPT? You Should: Here’s What You’re Missing

… not to mention $856 per week per employee in savings.

By Sandi Leyva

In the 10 months that I have been teaching ChatGPT, I’ve noticed about a third of my webinar participants have set up a free account with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, where they have access to ChatGPT version 3.5. Another third have invested a whopping $20 per month for the paid version, and the remaining third don’t have an account at all. A tiny number of participants are lucky enough to have companies that have invested in the Enterprise version of the software.

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And these are accounting and tax professionals who are eager to learn ChatGPT. If you haven’t embraced the paid version of ChatGPT (individual, Teams or Enterprise), it’s time to learn what you’re missing.

 

 

Check out our courses on ChatGPT,
offered as a deep discount bundle or separately.
Webinar Schedule:
MORE ChaptGPT here

While the free version of ChatGPT can generate answers to thousands of questions, it can’t:

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Ten Questions to Refine Your Successful Marketing Plan

Stack of cards labeled with question marks

Is the right message reaching the right audience?

By August J. Aquila
Price It Right: How to Value Accounting Services

The main reason most marketing programs don’t work is that not enough time is spent up front in the planning stage. Marketing, like anything else, takes careful planning as well as execution. I’m going to propose 10 key questions that you need to answer before embarking on your next marketing program.

MORE: ‘Sales’ Is Not a Four-Letter Word | Three Pillars Support a Successful Accounting Firm | Clients Have Six Reasons for Needing You | Six Ways to Market Your Technology Consulting Practice | Sixteen Marketing Activities to Try | The Four Steps of Your Personal Marketing Process | How Does Your Firm Measure Up? | Six Questions Before Asking for All the Referrals You Deserve | Five Rules for a Marketing Orientation | Ten Keys to Marketing Success
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  1. What one purpose do you want to accomplish? Too often, accountants begin a marketing program without really knowing what they want to accomplish. Sometimes there are so many things they want to do that it becomes unrealistic to achieve all of them. The result is confusion and dissatisfaction.

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Why Accountants Should Be Nice to Journalists

woman interviewing man in front of full-wall city window

Or else you’ll turn into a pumpkin – or something.

By Bruce Marcus
Professional Services Marketing 3.0

EDITOR’S NOTE: CPA Trendlines was privileged to have a long relationship with Bruce W. Marcus, who was ahead of his time in his thinking and practice in marketing for accounting. We are publishing some of the late expert’s evergreen work, which retains wisdom for the present.

Your mother raised you to be nice to everyone, and you’ve always been taught to be nice to journalists. Answer their questions. Tell them everything. Stop what you’re doing and cooperate. Be polite.

That’s the conventional wisdom. You’ve even read that in The Marcus Letter. But are there ever times to tell the press to bug off, and leave you alone? Maybe.

MORE: When There’s a Leak in Your Firm | Creating the Perfect Ad | How Hard Do You Work to Keep Your Clients? | When Clients Think They Know Marketing | How to Put Target Marketing into Context | Everyone in Your Firm Is Marketing | Accountants vs. Lawyers: Who Wins the Marketing Battle? | Professional Services Marketing Requires Flexibility | How to Set Marketing Objectives | How Marketing in Accounting Has Evolved | Accountants Don’t Sell Soap.
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On the face of it, the media seems to have all the power. They speak to a lot more people than you do, and they do it with what the general public accepts, usually unquestioningly and with little reason, as objectivity.
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Transformation Talks: Scharrell Jackson: Lead with Diversity of Thought

Every smart leader knows to look for blind spots. 
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Transformation Talks
With Donny Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation

Center for Accounting Transformation
Center for Accounting Transformation

In the latest episode of Transformation Talks, renowned international speaker, leadership coach, and business consultant Scharrell Jackson emphasizes the pivotal role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in ensuring the sustainability of businesses across diverse industries. Jackson delves into the profound benefits of DEI, extending beyond business culture to impact recruiting and the overall bottom line.

MORE TRANSFORMATION TALKS: Harper & Co. CPAs: The Perspective of a Non-Accountant is ImperativeMenlo 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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The discussion unveils a critical factor contributing to the failure of many organizations in implementing DEI initiatives – the lack of a clear definition of success. According to Jackson, organizations often struggle because they fail to articulate specific outcomes tied to business success. She advocates for a shift from merely increasing diversity percentages to a more focused approach, urging organizations to identify and commit to the desired outcomes.

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