EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SMALL BUSINESS ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE is providing new client-service opportunities for CPA firms because clients need just as much help as ever, with basic installation and weekly bookkeeping to higher-value accounting, financial reporting and management consulting. THE MARKET FOE ENTRY-LEVEL ACCOUNTING software is large because there are so many
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TOPICS / FIRM PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Practice growth & client service
Niche Development Tips
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CPAs WITH DIVERSE EXPERTISE tell JofA readers what niche development techniques or processes helped them accumulate clients in a certain category. To learn about the automotive industry, for example, one firm attended automotive conferences, took dealership classes and interviewed car dealers. TO BUILD A FORENSIC ACCOUNTING, family law
Smart Stops on the Web
Search for Solutions www.knowledgestorm.com Information technology consultants and CPAs can register for free at this Web site and compare hardware and software in categories such as infrastructure and systems management and Web and applications development. The Business Solutions section includes links to accounting and finance, business intelligence and knowledge management
Meyners Pays for Performance
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY MEYNERS INSTITUTED A PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE system to get employees involved in the firm’s growth efforts. It includes an annual salary increase that reflects a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) and three bonus pools related to three areas: core values, core competencies and meeting goals. EMPLOYEES UNDERSTAND WHAT’S EXPECTED of them and
Tell Us More
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CUSTOMER CASE RESEARCH (CCR) can reveal how a company’s people and circumstances influenced it to engage one CPA and not another or to obtain one accounting, tax or consulting service and not another. Such case studies illustrate situations business managers must solve all the time, and CPAs can
Mom-and-Pop Shops
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SMALL BUSINESSES ARE THE CORE of U.S. enterprise—70%—and the backbone of the small and local CPA firm market. Stresses caused by the rapidity and degree of change in the business world and the culture at large are putting pressure on CPAs to provide them with an ever-more-complex range
How to Profit by Safeguarding Privacy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PROTECTING THE PRIVACY of personal information is no longer optional for organizations that collect, use and distribute it. Federal law now requires entities to take responsibility for safeguarding the data they gather from customers and patients. ORGANIZATIONS THAT ACCEPT AND FULFILL their privacy-related obligations will find it easier
Before the Deluge—and After
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BEING ABLE TO REACH STAFF IS PARAMOUNT during and directly after a disaster. To communicate while power and telephone lines are down, a firm can use public service radio announcements to give out phone numbers where employees can get information. ORGANIZE BUSINESS RECOVERY TEAMS AND DETERMINE the resources
Nail a Construction Niche
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CONSTRUCTION OFFERS A DIVERSE MARKET TO CPAs. Major contractors handle federal government projects (such as dams and military buildings) and other heavy construction work including refineries, power plants and utilities, highways, municipal centers and international ventures. Each subcontractor for discrete phases of such projects (wiring and plumbing, for
Period of Adjustment
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE NONAUDIT SERVICES Sarbanes-Oxley prohibits CPAs from providing to their public company audit clients are bookkeeping or services related to the accounting records or financial statements of the client; financial information systems design and implementation; appraisal or valuation services, fairness opinions or contribution-in-kind reports; actuarial services; internal audit
Smart Stops on the Web
BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY SITES Free Web Seminars www.bettermanagement.com Gratis membership to this Web site gains users access to online talks such as “Bridging Technology and Business Continuity Objectives” and “Ethics and Legal Mandate: Survival in the Sarbanes-Oxley Era.” CPAs also can read articles on business intelligence and activity-based management and
It Works for Them
ersonal financial planners help clients identify financial goals, organize ways to achieve them and set timetables for implementation. Together, a planner and client look at the clients total financial picture, including income, savings, investments and debts as well as his or her personal situation. Then, they analyze where the money
Fine-Tune Your Marketing Know-How
MONTHLY CHECKLIST SERIES Both professionals and firms must forge an identity. As the CPA, you are the brand and you have to put that brand in front of your intended audience. You accomplish this by getting the word out about your firm’s services. Prospective clients need to associate you and
Socially Responsible Investing
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AS CONCERN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, SOCIAL ISSUES and corporate governance increases, CPAs may find more interest among their clients in investment strategies and mutual funds that emphasize social responsibility. SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS INVESTORS MAKE DECISIONS by screening for positive and negative issues, shareholder advocacy, community investing and providing social
Difference Between Mergers and Acquisitions
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CLIENTS BENEFIT FROM USING AN INTERMEDIARY such as a CPA/valuator to handle a merger or acquisition. A valuator should know a client’s industry thoroughly and have procedural training. Even experienced CPA/valuators may need to bring in an outside expert for longtime clients in order to avoid bias.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A CPA/VALUATOR PLAYS A PIVOTAL ROLE in merger and acquisition (M&A) engagements. He or she helps to organize the transaction, mitigate trouble spots, establish an objective marketplace value for a client’s business and structure the deal along with attorneys, appraisers, bankers, financiers and regulators. A BUYER’S VALUATOR
Follow the Leader
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY THE FIVE KEY MARKETING ROLES for a managing partner are ambassador, relationship manager, business-development manager, head of research and development (R&D) and communications director. MANAGING PARTNERS SHOULD BE ACTIVE in industry task forces and boards to stay on top of the latest trends and technologies. The ambassador
Make Strategic Relationships a Success
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR ALL BUSINESSES, THE NUMBER of strategic relationships has been growing 25% per year since 1985. A FIRM’S FIRST STEP TOWARD a strategic alliance is to decide what capabilities it wants to add. Then it should decide what it wants to achieve: Does the firm wish to
Meyners Mines Its Talent
The JofA will track the progress of a practice-development initiative under way at Meyners and Co., LLC, an 80-person, seven-partner, 45-CPA firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The firm saw training its people in a range of communication, focus-sharpening and goal-setting methods as the first, essential step to increasing business.
Kick the Tires of a New Niche
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AN AUTO-DEALER NICHE IS recession-resistant. In a poor economy dealers might want to cut CPA services but will need help with expense and inventory control. There are essentially five revenue streams in any dealership, and owners can adapt profit lines to fluctuations in the economy, making for
Features
SPONSORED REPORT
Preparing clients for new provisions next tax season
As the 2025 filing season approaches, H.R. 1 introduces significant tax reforms that CPAs must be prepared to navigate. These legislative changes represent some of the most comprehensive tax updates in recent years, affecting both individual and corporate taxpayers. This report provides in-depth analysis and guidance on H.R. 1.
From The Tax Adviser
October 31, 2025
Recent developments in estate planning
October 31, 2025
Current developments in taxation of individuals: Part 2
September 30, 2025
Current developments in taxation of individuals: Part 1
August 30, 2025
