Archive for the ‘Firm Administrator’ Category
Thursday, July 5th, 2018
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstoy
One practice management question that has been asked many times over the years is whether administrative team members should charge their time to a client.
If your firm is still billing by the hour, all employees whether admin team or accounting team should record any time expended on behalf of a client. Whether it is billed or not is up to the discretion of the biller, usually a partner. I have observed that in many firms, most, if not all, of this time is billed.
The accounting firm administrative team spends a great deal of their time on client work. They are providing service on behalf of a client. Serving the client is a valuable and important activity.
Some clients are more “needy” than others and often much of that neediness for service falls to the admin team.
I have also observed that administrative team members focused on client work are usually only about 30-40% chargeable.
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Time has more value than money. You can get more money but you cannot get more time.
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Jim Rohn
Monday, June 18th, 2018
“A plan that starts next week is a comfort to stagnation.” – Dan Rockwell
It is past mid-June. You have conducted your after-tax-season debriefing. You made a list of things to work on for next year. Action steps were discussed.
Many partner groups have already had their retreats. You came out of that session excited about the future and with some definite action steps.
How many steps have you taken? Have you taken even one? Get moving – summer is flying by.
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I will prepare and some day my chance will come.
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Abraham Lincoln
Thursday, June 7th, 2018
“We are drowning in information but starved for knowledge.” – John Naisbitt
My friends at ConvergenceCoaching®, LLC, are committed to helping firms succeed through the adoption of NextGen strategies, including flex. They are seeking participants in their Anytime, Anywhere Work™ Survey 2018.
The goal of this survey is to collect data on the adoption of flexible work programs (Anytime, Anywhere Work™ programs) by public accounting firms and the experiences firms have had with these initiatives.
Follow the link to find out more and please consider participating in the survey. The survey is open through June 15. By participating you will receive a copy of the survey results.
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It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
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Arthur Conan Doyle
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018
“To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking.” ~ Goethe
Read the above quote again.
Many CPAs working in public accounting will soon be participating in their firm’s annual partner, management or firm retreat.
You will THINK and explore many great ideas.
I urge you – act in accordance with your thinking.
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You will never plow a field if you only turn it over in your mind.
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Irish Proverb
Wednesday, May 16th, 2018
“Knowledge is power.” – Francis Bacon
I eagerly look forward to the release of the Rosenberg Survey each year. I use it extensively in my consulting work. Now is the time for your firm to fill out the survey and participate.
Here’s the information to that you can take part:
THE ROSENBERG SURVEY – SURVEY NOW OPEN
For two decades, The Rosenberg Survey has provided accounting firms with key benchmark statistics.
Did you know?
The Elite Firms from our 2017 survey (firms with income per partner > $500k) had the following metrics:
- Ratio of staff to equity partner – 8.6 (vs. an average of 5.1 for firms with fees between $2-10 million)
- Net fees per equity partner – $2,180,000 (vs. an average of $1.2 million for firms with fees between $2-10 million)
- Charge hours for professional staff – 1,510 (vs. an average of 1,492 for firms with fees between $2-10 million)
Why is The Rosenberg Survey Valuable?
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Customized comparison of like-sized firms in similar markets for participating firms.
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Accurate and valid results reviewed by three CPAs.
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Reliable year to year comparison with a return rate of 82% from previous year’s participants.
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Robust pool of participants of nearly 350 firms makes our data relevant to firms of all sizes.
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Clear cut data displayed by firm size for comparison.
The deadline to participate is July 16th. (Thank you to those firms that have participated thus far.)
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Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit.
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William Pollard
Tuesday, May 15th, 2018
“I do not like to repeat successes, I like to go on to other things.” – Walt Disney
Interesting post by Bill Carlino of Transition Advisors last week about the value of the numerous conferences that are held each year targeted to those work in or with the CPA profession.
Already, and it is just mid-May, I have observed (via Twitter) numerous conferences and meetings focused on educating CPAs on many of the same, recurring topics I have listened to for years and years. In addition to the re-run experience, it is very expensive to attend these conferences. While CPA firm administrators, new to the profession, obtain huge educational value from their national practice management conference, many partners refuse to spend the money to send them.
Take a minute or two to read Carlino’s post. Great post, Bill!
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Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress, but I repeat myself.
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Mark Twain
Tuesday, May 1st, 2018
“Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.” – William Shakespeare
May 1 is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 244 days remaining until the end of the year. Historically, it originated as a Roman festival honoring the beginning of the summer season (in the northern hemisphere). Many, when they think of May Day, think of people dancing around a Maypole (a pole painted and decorated with flowers, around which people traditionally dance on May Day, holding long ribbons that are attached to the top of the pole.)
Mayday, an international radio distress signal used especially by ships and aircraft, has a more linguistic origin than the pragmatic approach of S.O.S. Although a connection to the month of May might seem likely, it is actually an anglicization of the French m’aidez or m’aider, meaning “help me”.
Where am I going with this as it relates to public accounting?
You have relaxed, taken some time off and recovered from the traditional busy season. May 1st is here and you should celebrate, but you only have 244 days remaining to focus on making improvements to position your firm for success before you are faced with another busy season.
You, as an individual can’t do it alone. Enlist the help of many at your firm. Never hesitate to say, “Help me!”
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With the coming of spring, I am calm again.
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Gustav Mahler
Thursday, April 26th, 2018
It’s that time of year again! Here’s the scoop:
The 20th annual Rosenberg Survey is underway and we would like to cordially invite you to participate. For two decades this survey has proven to be the financial benchmarking standard for CPA firms. The Rosenberg Survey provides highly relevant in-depth analyses and serves as a resource for firms to better understand how to drive profitability.
Why is The Rosenberg Survey Valuable?
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Our results are reviewed for accuracy and validity by three top CPAs including acclaimed industry consultants, Marc Rosenberg and Charles Hylan.
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We deliver clear, valid and unique statistics not available in other industry surveys.
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We provide a reliable year-to-year comparison with a return rate of over 82% from the previous year’s participants.
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A robust pool of 350 participants makes our data relevant to firms of all sizes.
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We display data by firm size for easy comparisons.
Participate in this year’s survey to obtain a great benchmarking tool that can be used in the coming year. The final deadline to complete the survey is Monday, July 16th.
Monday, April 9th, 2018
“Either you run the day or the day runs you.” – Jim Rohn
My consulting work is mostly with the internal management team at CPA firms. I call this team the IMT for short. Who are they?
- CEO/Managing Partner
- COO/Firm Administrator
- Marketing Director
- IT Director/Manager
- HR Director/Manager
- Training & Development Director/Manager
- Controller/Finance Manager
Their titles varying depending on the size of the firm. In smaller firms one person may play multiple roles. As my firm was growing, I served in all these roles, except CEO.
I often find that this team suffers from the Five Dysfunctions of a Team (made famous by author, Patrick Lencioni). There is 1) An absence of trust, 2) Fear of conflict, 3) Lack of commitment, 4) Avoidance of Accountability and 5) Inattention to results.
As with most things, in a CPA firm, it is all about communication, or the lack thereof.
Why should firms facilitate, train, encourage and demand teamwork from this group, even if the team is comprised of just two people, the managing partner and the firm administrator? It creates momentum to keep the firm moving forward. Simple as that.
In some firms, if there is not a strong administrative and support leader (COO/FA) working at the proper level, these managers work independently, maybe reporting to the MP or to “the marketing partner” or the “technology partner,” and so on.
In firms where there is a strong MP/FA team, working collaboratively and leading the IMT members, things get done. When this team is dysfunctional and disjointed problems creep in and then pour in.
Some may ask, “What does technology have to do with marketing?” “What does marketing have to do with HR?” If you think for just a moment, it will become clear. The problem is, in many firms, leaders don’t take the time to simply stop and think. The MP is too busy with a huge client load and solving dysfunctions between partners.
Marketing can be a huge benefit to HR (and has been during the last several years when the hunt for good people was high on the to-do list). Finance helps the entire IMT understand and prepare budgets. HR helps marketing, finance and technology educate the entire team about topics in their areas. And, technology is the foundation for most activities and tasks in all of these areas (websites, digital newsletters, processes and procedures, remote connectivity, portals for client service, on and on). Leading, coaching, coordinating and holding all of these people responsible is the firm administrator or COO.
If your IMT people are disconnected, even if it is just two (MP and FA), it’s time to switch to a “connected” model.
Begin having weekly or bi-weekly meetings involving the COO and the IMT team. Once a month or so, the MP should also be involved in the meetings. Develop an IMT Pipeline (things that need to be done and the progress that is being made).
In smaller firms and with new firm administrators, I always urge frequent meetings between the MP and FA (with a shared to-do list). In both models, frequent communication and teamwork will help the entire firm move forward
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Success is neither magical nor mysterious. Success is the natural consequence of consistently applying basic fundamentals.
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Jim rohn
Thursday, March 1st, 2018
“It is not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” – Roy Disney
When your firm was first founded, probably one, two or three partners (owners) made all the decisions. Somehow, as the ranks of partners grew, they all thought that they should be part of every decision. That’s why the role of the firm administrator was created and the joke that resulted was, “How many partners does it take to decide which copier to buy?”
The theory was that administrative and operational aspects of the CPA firm would be under the umbrella of the firm administrator. Still, many partners thought that they should be allowed to have an opinion and weigh-in on the decision to buy anything that cost more than $100!
That decision-making format lasted with 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 partners. Then an Executive Committee was formed of 3 or 5 partners who still thought they should be involved in daily operations.
Progressive firms decided that the Managing Partner should actually manage the firm with a chief-of-staff type person – the firm administrator or COO. Of course, owners are kept informed but their job is to take care of client relationships, mentor younger staff and bring in business.
Is it time for your firm to actually operate like a business? Is it time for your owners to “decide who will decide”?
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He that has a choice has trouble.
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Dutch proverb
