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January 1, 2012 |  BY Jeff Drew |  Article

It’s no secret that CPAs take pride in their standing as trusted advisers to their clients. What’s not so well known is that CPAs can gain—and in many cases, literally profit—from the advice of those same clients. Client advisory boards offer CPA firms and other businesses the opportunity to deepen their relationships with top clients, gather valuable feedback on service and generate new business that far exceeds the cost of having the board.

January 1, 2012 |  BY Jeff Drew |  Article

It’s no secret that CPAs take pride in their standing as trusted advisers to their clients. What’s not so well known is that CPAs can gain—and in many cases, literally profit—from the advice of those same clients. Client advisory boards offer CPA firms and other businesses the opportunity to deepen their relationships with top clients, gather valuable feedback on service and generate new business that far exceeds the cost of having the board.

January 1, 2012 |  BY Jeff Drew |  Article

It’s no secret that CPAs take pride in their standing as trusted advisers to their clients. What’s not so well known is that CPAs can gain—and in many cases, literally profit—from the advice of those same clients. Client advisory boards offer CPA firms and other businesses the opportunity to deepen their relationships with top clients, gather valuable feedback on service and generate new business that far exceeds the cost of having the board.

January 1, 2012 |  BY Jeff Drew |  Article

Editor's note: Also read "Board of education: CPA firms, businesses can profit from clients' advice," in the Jan. 2012 issue of the JofA. Here is a step-by-step client advisory board implementation plan developed by the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section. More client advisory board tools are available to PCPS members at tinyurl.com/3m3tvqd.

December 1, 2011 |  BY Kevin Kelso |  Article

Financial close systems, processes, people and their interconnectivity can be complex, but successful improvements to the process can be achieved by introducing some simple building blocks that are inexpensive to implement. Regardless of company size or complexity, all successful financial close processes require continuous communication, comprehensive documentation and a flexible, responsive organization.

September 1, 2009 |  BY STEVEN L. MINTZ |  Article

Coping with a downturn often means restructuring for companies. Every restructuring has many moving parts—including layoffs, impairments, asset revaluations and debt relief. To engineer a favorable outcome, stay ahead of events, says Scott Davis, a partner in the Corporate Advisory and Restructuring Services practice at Grant Thornton. He offers these tips: Conserve cash.

August 1, 2009 |  BY KENNETH A. MERCHANT and TATIANA SANDINO |  Article

In casual, everyday language, it is often said a corporation’s primary role is to generate profits. However, the primary role of a corporation is not to generate profits; it is to create shareholder value. When corporations focus their internal performance measurement systems on short-term profits or accounting returns—not shareholder value—bad things often happen.

November 1, 2007 |  BY Cynthia Bolt-Lee |  Article

This second installment in a series of columns on accounting research summarizes results from the field of management and cost accounting. The 2006 through June 2007 issues of five top-tier journals in management and cost accounting research were examined. Those publications included, alphabetically, Accounting, Organizations and Society; The Accounting Review; Contemporary Accounting Research; the Journal of Accounting Research; and Management Science.

December 1, 2004 |  BY Bill Bufe, Leslie Murphy |  Article

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A REGIONAL FIRM, PLANTE & MORAN (P&M), developed and implemented a strategy called “rerecruiting,” an ongoing program based on staff recognition and appreciation, to maximize staff retention. Its turnover rate for the past decade ranks between 8% and 15% annually—well below industry standards.

February 1, 2004 |  BY Bruce I. Winters |  Article

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPAs CAN PROVIDE A VALUABLE service to their employers or clients by helping them plan their strategic approach to compliance with section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. NEW SOFTWARE PRODUCTS CAN IMPROVE corporate governance and external communications about financial performance.