Featured Online Content for April 2011
FEATURED VIDEO
Three Key Steps for Managing Young CPAs
To keep young CPAs engaged and polish their communication skills, start by setting expectations right out of the gate about the number of hours they will spend on soft skills training and client service, and ask them to account for those hours. Then require them to practice their public speaking, says Troy Waugh, CPA, CEO of FiveStar3 LLC. And make sure they concentrate their networking within your existing client base, adds Waugh, who sees a big potential downside to asking young CPAs to go outside their firm’s client list to prospect for new business.
Also on journalofaccountancy.com, find tips for becoming a better mentor and retaining your firm or organization’s top talent.
ONLINE EXTRAS
Gary Previts, chairman of the Department of Accountancy at Case Western Reserve University, says distance learning is opening up new opportunities for accounting education and that FASB’s online Accounting Standards Codification is powering a more research-based approach to learning.
AUDIO
10 Tech Answers Every Nontechnical Executive Manager Must Demand
JofA Senior Editor Alexandra DeFelice interviews CPAs about how they can challenge employees in technology-related positions to think like entrepreneurs to provide greater value to the company.
DOWNLOADS
Foreign Currency Management Tools
Take your management of foreign currency exposures to the next level with a written policy statement, cash flow worksheets and checklist (also see “How to Manage Fluctuations in Foreign Currency Rates,” page 19). Notice: This Microsoft Excel template is for the personal, noncommercial use of the reader.
YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACTION PLAN
The AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) recently released “Establishing a Social Media Presence Action Plan,” an Excel file that helps you track the critical learning and implementation steps of getting your social media strategy off the ground.
The spreadsheet, available at tinyurl.com/38vrsqd as part of the PCPS’s Social Media Toolkit, outlines 15 key action items to follow when establishing your presence on social media sites. The items are split into three sections: create your plan; get started and follow your plan; and evaluate, analyze and update your plan.
Each action item includes links to additional guidance related to the goal, including JofA articles and videos and resources from several state CPA societies, and fields to assign deadlines and owners for the action item.
The Social Media Toolkit also includes Social Media Matters, a booklet that outlines how CPA firms can use social media. It contains a chart that compares the top social media tools—LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and blogs—based on usefulness for firms.
For more social media tips, visit facebook.com/JournalofAccountancy and click the “Tips” link in the left column.
—By Megan Pinkston (mpinkston@aicpa.org), the JofA’s senior online editor.
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