Partner's Report for CPA Firm Owners
Provides actionable information that firm owners can use to enhance their profits as well as their leadership of the firm. Offers practical guidance on compensation and benefits and distributions, retirement plan alternatives, partnership agreements, professional liability coverage, "rainmaking," profit and operating ratios, and other management/leadership issues. Each issue also includes digests of pertinent management articles from scores of publications.
January 2007 - Table of Contents
How much financial information should a CPA firm share with its staff? All of it, answer several firm leaders where this practice is followed, and they attest that if you do, you may find staff have more motivation and a sense of ownership in your firm.
Even if you and your fellow owners haven’t yet set strategic parameters for 2007, there is still time to do so before the rush of busy season.
Marketing has become an accepted practice at many CPA firms, but there is still a way to go before it becomes one that all owners embrace.
Sarbanes-Oxley will be changing—but there will still be work for CPA firms. The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a proposal that would allow smaller public companies to choose a somewhat looser interpretation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s Section 404 internal control provisions. This leniency would also be permitted for less complex public companies.
RSM McGladrey is going global. Continuing its bid to be a leading worldwide provider of accounting, tax, and business consulting services, RSM McGladrey (Minneapolis) has agreed to acquire the non-attest services of London-based RSM Robson Rhodes, a firm in the McGladrey firm association network (run by McGladrey & Pullen). The agreement is subject to final due diligence and execution of definitive agreements.
Tight staff supply continues to drive up CPA firm pay. Year-round recruiting, more aggressive college recruitment, and internships are just some of the tactics that CPA firms are using to increase hiring, but the market remains tight and salaries reflect this reality, according to the 2007 Salary Guide from Robert Half International.
Strategies for CPA firm owners to stem costly turnover. Turnover of valuable staff—especially those in the mid-to-senior years—may be the worst thing your firm has to fear as you enter this busy season.
Every partner believes he or she is a leader—but are you a thought leader? It’s a basic characteristic of a resourceful leader: the ability to convey your thoughts and outlook to the managers and rank-and-file of your firm and to your outside network of clients and friends—even competitors.
The forthcoming 2006 edition of Candidate Performance on the Uniform CPA Examination will provide information on results from the four computerized format testing windows in 2005.
CPA firms may want to pay attention to the ways in which law firms are getting astronomical fees from their clients. Two trends are pushing up law firms’ hourly rates: First, there is a business-like push at most law firms to raise the rates for both partners and associates at both the high and low ends of their ranges when corporate profits are strong.
Advice for CPA firm owners looking to rein in expenses in 2007. No matter how well your firm did financially in 2006, there is always room to improve when it comes to controlling expenses. Staff and partners at your firm know better than anyone where you can cut costs without a major sacrifice.
Four suggestions for CPA firm owners in the market for a merger partner. The recommendations presented below should help firms plan and execute deals that will stand the test of time:
Insights for CPA firm owners who work with family-owned businesses: Most CEOs of fast-growing private companies ultimately expect to be acquired by another company; however, they place relatively low priority on planning for this significant event or for their own succession.
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