Today's Features
OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Employee Retention Is Easier Than Attraction

four people seated around table

Five conclusions from a new report.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The accounting talent pipeline problem isn’t going away. It isn’t even improving.

But it isn’t hopeless.

MORE: Let Interns Fix the Staffing Shortage? | Disruptors: Talent Crisis? What Talent Crisis? | 3 Ways to Raise the Bar for Your Business | Accountants’ Advice: Be Careful, Quick, Creative … and Lean | Seven Steps to a Stronger Future | Accountants Bullish Locally, Bearish Nationally | Top Performers Lead in Leverage, Culling, Outsourcing | Auditing Standards ‘Yellow Book’ Updated | Firms Culling Clients as Staffing Woes Persist | Revenue Up at 59% of Accounting Firms … and More Good News | Compensation’s Up, but Up Enough to Retain Staff?
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A recent report from the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs points out that, though the problem is big and the obstacles many, CPA firms can, with enough effort, hold on to the talent they’ve got.

And retaining talent is a lot less expensive than trying to attract it.
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ABOUT US

Bissett Bullet: First Impressions Start Here

Today’s Bissett Bullet: “Get back to prospective clients in a timely manner following the initial meeting. Leaving them waiting for your proposal for six weeks will do you no favors.”

By Martin Bissett

The excuse, “We’ve been so busy” won’t impress a potential client or serve to persuade them that if you’re so in demand they should sign you on the spot. Rather, it will ring alarm bells. If your service is unsatisfactory or slow when you are supposed to be in the “courting phase,” what will they imagine it to be once they’re on board? First impressions last; make yours favorable.

Today’s To-Do:

For every first meeting in your diary, diarize sufficient time to write their proposal immediately after the meeting, ready to present in that all-important second meeting before too much time has passed.

See more Bissett Bullets here

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PRICING, FEES & BILLING RATES

Stop Selling Time

If you’re billing by the hour, you’re selling yourself short.

By Jody Padar
Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA

Amazing things happen when you stop thinking about what you’re selling and focus on what clients are buying.

Many of the things clients don’t value are compliance-related like:

  • Tax returns
  • Payroll
  • Accounting services

MORE: Why Pricing Is So Disruptive | The Radical Pricing Model: Start with $25K | Three Critical Factors Drive the Value Pricing Trend | Accounting Disruptors Are Heading Your Way … with Deep Pockets | The Convergence of Trends Makes Pricing Changes Imperative | Stop Looking for Talent that Does Not Exist | Advisory Work Must Be Priced by Value, Not Hours
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But much of what they do value is less defined, though of higher value to their business lives:

  • Small business expertise
  • Management support and confidence
  • Any service requiring specific knowledge or experience

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CHARTS & GRAPHS

Payroll Leads Job Gains in Tax & Accounting Sector

line chart
Overall accounting profession employment

 

Everyone is earning more this month, and most downs are slight.

By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research

The tax and accounting profession is not a bad place for job seekers, it seems. A new analysis by CPA Trendlines shows a lot of up notes, including some in the double digits.

MORE ON JOBS: Let Interns Fix the Staffing Shortage? | Accountants Bullish Locally, Bearish Nationally | Accounting Hiring Hits Another High | Compensation’s Up, but Up Enough to Retain Staff? | Staff Wages Hit Record High | Despite Staffing Crunch, Firms Freeze Pay Raises | Tax & Accounting Firms Grow for 9th Straight Month | Tax & Accounting Profession Grows, but Wages Don’t
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New highs are coming in:

  • The accounting profession overall
  • Staff earnings
  • Payroll staff
  • Payroll staff earnings
  • Women overall and in CPA firms

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SPECIAL

Educators Can Benefit from New Generative AI Course

A teacher’s aide unlike any other?

By Rick Richardson
Technology This Week

Many people focus on the potential benefits of generative AI for kids when considering its application in the classroom. Still, teachers can gain as much, if not more, from the technology. Google and MIT Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education (RAISE) have launched a free Google Generative AI Educators course to assist middle and high school educators in utilizing generative AI tools to improve their workflow and their students’ learning environment.

MORE: Could Mobile Phones Be Next on the Extinction List? | AI Named the Highest-Paying In-Demand Tech Skill for 2024 | AI Generates Revolutionary New Battery Design | Breakthrough Implant Uses Excess Blood Sugar to Generate Electricity | Nuclear Battery Could Keep Your Future Phone Running for 50 Years | MIT Tests New Ingestible Vital Signs Sensor | Study: Solar Will Lead Global Energy by 2050 | New Tech Could Let EVs Go 3,000 Miles on a Single Charge | AI + MRI = Diseases That Doctors Might Miss | Your Boarding Pass Could Onboard Hackers | The First Police Officer on the Scene Might Be a Drone
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The self-paced, two-hour course is designed to help educators leverage generative AI to save time on routine tasks. From email composing to adapting content for various reading levels, creating innovative evaluations and organizing activities around students’ interests, generative AI can streamline these processes, freeing up valuable time for educators.

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AUDIT & ASSURANCE

How Do We Drive Relevance in Audit?

The insights you deliver don’t just add value to the client but also result in a better audit. 

By Alan Anderson, CPA
Transforming Audit for the Future

Business owners and organizations typically regard the annual audit as a cost or “a necessary evil” that adds little or no value to the business. In contrast, auditors routinely say that their audit is different and absolutely does add value to the company or organization. To be sure, all audits have a purpose, as they are generally required to maintain financing or to meet regulatory requirements. But is the auditor genuinely adding value?

MORE: Before the Audit: More Than Just Planning | Are You Correctly Identifying the Relevance Intersection? | Lack of Relevance Drives Audit Commoditization | Five Crucial Attributes for Successful Audit Leadership | Traditional Audits Don’t Deserve Premium Billing | Four Basic Understandings Every Auditor Must Master | Put the Ethics Code to Work for Your Clients and Your Firm | Turning Audit & Accounting into Assurance & Advisory | WANTED: Great Audit Mentors | Is Audit in Crisis Because of Definitions? | Stop Sending the Wrong Message to Audit Teams | Closing the Audit Expectations Gap
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There are numerous dictionary definitions of “value,” all centering around the concept of something being useful. “Adding value” should then mean making something more useful.  When you plan an audit, are you thinking of ways to make the audit more for your client? You will only convince your clients that you deliver value when you back up your words with action.

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MARKETING & SALES

How Life Cycle Changes Your Marketing

illustration of business life cycle

Startups have different needs than mature businesses, so the messaging must be different.

By August J. Aquila
Price It Right: How to Value Accounting Services

The business life cycle refers to the stages that a business goes through from its inception to its eventual closure or exit. Each stage presents unique challenges and opportunities, and it is essential for accounting firms to adapt their marketing strategies accordingly.

MORE: Eleven Possible Pitfalls of Mergers | Dodge the Four Curses of a Production Orientation | Client Acquisition Never Stops | ‘Sales’ Is Not a Four-Letter Word | Maybe What You Need Is a Marketing Audit | Three Types of Marketing Message, and Which Is Best | Why You Need Progress Billing | Five Tips for Cross-Selling and Upselling | Five Keys to Successful Marketing | Twelve Fundamentals of Planning | One Question to Guide Your Growth Plans | Four Ways to Prepare for New Business Development
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Here are some marketing strategies that can be effective during different stages of the business life cycle. Take a fresh look at your existing clients, and sort them according to their business life cycle: startup stage, growth stage, mature stage and transitional/decline. You want to make sure that as your clients go through these different cycles, your marketing messages and services change and address the right business concern.
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PODCAST

Accounting ARC: Unraveling the Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank

Delving into financial disarray and what contributes to the shutdown of community banking institutions

Accounting ARC 
With Donny Shimamoto, Liz Mason, and Byron Patrick
Center for Accounting Transformation

In the labyrinth of financial intricacies, the collapse of a bank sends shockwaves through the economic landscape, leaving stakeholders scrambling for answers. In this episode, “Accounting ARC: Unraveling the Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank” dissects the demise of Silicon Valley Bank to unravel the intricate web of factors that precipitated its downfall.

MORE: Harper & Co. CPAs: The Perspective of a Non-Accountant is Imperative | Menlo Innovations: Improve Office Culture by Overhauling Internal Reviews | Dustin Wheeler: For Serious CAS Success, Hire Tech Teams | Chase Birky: Overcoming Paralysis By Analysis |

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Hosted by seasoned financial experts, this Accounting ARC episode, featuring Terry Sherrill, CPA, a managing director with TPS Thayer in Sugar Land, Texas, dives deep into the underlying causes of bank collapses while offering invaluable insights for CPAs, auditors, and financial professionals to fortify against such catastrophes.

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