EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR A MODEST INVESTMENT within reach of any small to midsize firm, a 48-member, seven-partner office of J.H. Cohn drew on football as a model for a team incentive program (TIP). THE FIRM’S GOALS WERE to bring in new business and develop a team approach, encourage nonpartners to
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TOPICS
Firm practice management
Strategic Planners Lead the Pack
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THERE’S NO COOKIE-CUTTER STRATEGIC PLAN that works for all firms, but all strategic plans encompass clear initiatives that enable a practice to analyze the effectiveness of alternative actions and logically link tasks and relationships designed to move an organization in a particular, or perhaps new, direction. FIRST, CLARIFY
How to Build an Outsourcing Niche
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THERE’S WIDER RECOGNITION OF OUTSOURCING as a tool for day-to-day management. Outsource services CPA firms provide most often are accounting and finance functions—payroll, accounts receivable/payable, financial statement preparation and analysis, budgeting, cash management, internal audit and tax—but the possibilities include CFO functions, too. REDUCING THE COST IS THE
Put Me In, Coach
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY COACHING IS A HYBRID PROFESSIONAL and personal service that has potential as a popular CPA service niche. CPA coaches do everything from assisting practitioners and other entrepreneurs to improve staff productivity to helping businesses target, acquire and integrate technology or other niche acquisitions. A COACH HELPS THE CLIENT
The Internet as an Investment Tool
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPA/FINANCIAL PLANNERS NEED TO BE WEB SAVVY. The Internet makes it possible for CPA/financial planners and individual investors to be notified on-screen when news breaks about a particular stock. INVESTORS FOLLOW A STOCK BY WATCHING its price and trading volume and factors such as the P/E ratio and
Reverse Exchanges Come of Age
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PAST PROBLEMS WITH CERTAIN SECTION 1031 exchanges had led to the development of the reverse or “parking” exchange in which a third-party “warehouses” the new property until the taxpayer sells the existing property. Although the IRS didn’t attack parking exchanges, questions about their validity remained unanswered until revenue
Auditor Independence and Tax Practitioners
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE SEC’s NEW AUDITOR INDEPENDENCE RULES could have a significant effect on some tax practitioners. The SEC includes tax among the non-audit services CPA firms provide. AS PROPOSED, THE SEC RULES PUT IN DOUBT whether an auditor can do anything other than review the tax provision in
Avoid Taxes in Liquidation
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE IRS SAYS DISTRIBUTIONS of customer-based intangibles to shareholders are taxable. When a firm or corporation distributes to its shareholders all of its assets, both tangible and intangible, and ceases doing business, the IRS says there is a taxable distribution of its intangible goodwill. THE CRITICAL ISSUE FOR
Be a Standout on the Web
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A WEB SITE IS A VALUABLE DIRECT MARKETING TOOL when it has action-oriented copy and graphics, reader involvement devices and promotional offers that prompt readers to respond. FOCUS ON WHAT CLEARLY SEPARATES YOUR FIRM from the competition and can be locked into the minds of your prospective clients.
Nine Ways to Make Your Firm More Exciting
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE EFFORT TO CREATE EXCITEMENT rewards modest expenditure with a generous payoff, fostering a pleasant, energetic workplace and making clients look forward to your visits. An exciting business will grow more than one that isn’t. SEMINARS, WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES are an important opportunity to learn and network. Motivational
How to Be Careful and Still Be Clear
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY IN AN EFFORT TO SIDESTEP POTENTIAL LIABILITY, CPAs may obscure rather than clarify important information presented to clients. The types of documents least affected by professional standards are the ones that are most important for practice development. A CPA WHO SPEAKS AND WRITES PLAIN ENGLISH develops a reputation
Pay Your Staff for Performance
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INCREASING THE PRODUCTIVE, efficient, billable use of each staff member’s time well into the 1,500 to 2,000 hour annual range is the key to a firm’s bottom-line improvement. ANY FIRM THAT BILLS AND COLLECTS less than an average of 2.4 times base salary for staff time should
The Downside of Good Times
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A PRACTITIONER FOUND ONE RISK OF A STRONG economy is that small business clients may loosen their internal controls, discovering fraud or theft only long after it has happened. THE MOST VULNERABLE ARE PRIVATE COMPANIES in the $10 million to $30 million range because they are large
A New Standard of Tax Practice
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE AICPA HAS ISSUED EIGHT STATEMENTS on Standards for Tax Services as enforceable standards for AICPA members. Effective October 31, they replaced the advisory Statements on Responsibilities in Tax Practice. COMMENT LETTERS RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT the necessity of enforceable tax practice standards. The strongest argument for enforceable
CPAs Add HR to the Mix
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY STAFFING IS EVERY COMPANY’S NUMBER ONE problem, and CPAs are in an excellent position to offer human resources (HR) consulting services to clients in need of financial professionals. HUMAN RESOURCES OUTSOURCING IS GOOD for clients that don’t feel they need a full-blown HR department. It can help
The SEC’s Proposed Auditor Rule Threatens Our Profession and the Public.
SEPTEMBER 2000 VOLUME 190, NUMBER 3 Editorial Staff Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Colleen Katz Executive Editor Barbara J. Shildneck Managing Editor Elizabeth Uva Senior Editors Katharine W. Coveleski Peter D. Fleming Michael Hayes Raj Rangarajan Robert Tie Cynthia Waller Vallario Stanley Zarowin Assistant Editors Sarah Cobb Vincent Nolan Contributing Editors Maria
Golden Business Ideas
Marketing by Database Most businesses have a powerful marketing guru at their disposal—and they probably aren’t even aware of it. The guru is any staff person who is savvy about the use of databases. Most businesses have some of their customer information on computer—probably in the accounting software database—and they
Making It—As a Consultant.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY NOT EVERY CPA FIRM that tries its hand at consulting can report financial success, and although there’s no such thing as a single universal cure for an unhealthy consulting business, the one that comes closest is strategic planning. IF CONSULTING FIRMS WITH LOW PROFITS have one thing
For Better Direct Mail
full-color mailer with a tired approach is no more a promotion than a Volkswagen Beetle painted red is a Ferrari. Think creatively to grab your readers’ attention; focus on a key idea; and make it worthwhile. “Mailings that offer a special promotion encourage a response,” says John Schulte, executive
Confronting Retirement
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ALTHOUGH MOST CPAs HAVE their own personal retirement accounts, a surprising number of practitioners don’t have formal retirement plans for their businesses. AS RETIREMENT PLANS ARE DEVELOPED, senior partners may have doubts about whether their successors can honor future obligations, intend to stay with the firm or
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