Rita Keller, an award-winning and widely respected voice to CPA firm management, is uniquely positioned to help CPAs and their teams face rapid and significant change.
You’ve worked diligently and have built a glowing reputation grounded in your excellent skills in tax, accounting, and auditing. You’re known as the “go-to” person when a client is faced with tax and financial decisions. You have a very successful firm — but that’s not enough.
I am pleased to present a timely webinar titled “The Evolution of Your Firm From Compliance to Consulting” for Accountant Advocate.
The webinar will be on February 16th, 2023, at 11:00 am PDT, 2:00 pm EDT, and 7:00 pm BST.
Join me for an insightful discussion on:
Why change is now more important than ever
How to convince your partners to move out of complacency and embrace new challenges
Learn how to overcome the battles you will face with technology, talent, growth, and client services
“The safest principle through life, instead of reforming others, is to set about perfecting yourself.” –B. R. Haydon.
You’ve worked diligently and have built a glowing reputation grounded in your excellent skills in tax, accounting, and auditing. You’re known as the “go-to” person when a client is faced with tax and financial decisions. You have a very successful firm — but that’s not enough.
I am pleased to present a timely webinar titled “The Evolution of Your Firm From Compliance to Consulting” for Accountant Advocate.
The webinar will be on February 16th, 2023, at 11:00 am PDT, 2:00 pm EDT, and 7:00 pm BST.
Join me for an insightful discussion on:
Why change is now more important than ever
How to convince your partners to move out of complacency and embrace new challenges
Learn how to overcome the battles you will face with technology, talent, growth, and client services
“It’s time to embrace a whole new personality as a skilled business consultant and finally become a business consulting firm.” – Rita Keller
You’ve worked diligently and have built a glowing reputation grounded in your excellent skills in tax, accounting, and auditing. You’re known as the “go-to” person when a client is faced with tax and financial decisions. You have a very successful firm — but that’s not enough.
I am pleased to present a timely webinar titled “The Evolution of Your Firm From Compliance to Consulting” for Accountant Advocate.
The webinar will be on February 16th, 2023, at 11:00 am PDT, 2:00 pm EDT, and 7:00 pm BST.
Join me for an insightful discussion on:
Why change is now more important than ever
How to convince your partners to move out of complacency and embrace new challenges
Learn how to overcome the battles you will face with technology, talent, growth, and client services
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T.S. Eliot
This year, 2023, January 2nd falls on a Monday. It did the same in 2006. I posted my first blog post on Monday, January 2, 2006. Here it is:
Happy New Year 2006 and Welcome to Rita Keller’s Blog.
I know that many of you visiting this Blog are a part of my expanding team of CPA firm management explorers – seeking new ways and revisiting proven, old ways of efficiently and profitably managing the CPA firm of the future – the firm where young professionals will want to build their careers.
I am just getting started, so check back soon for more information.
I have been writing about CPA firm management every workday for seventeen years. It amazes me that I never seem to run out of topics to cover, observations to share, and, sometimes, create amusement for people working in the CPA profession.
Here’s my second post on January 3rd, 2006. It is interesting how most of it still applies.
The first work day of 2006 – CPA firm style
After having a couple of shorter work weeks and counting down the days until “busy” season, it has finally arrived. Here are some thoughts and questions that might trigger ideas and actions:
Have you conducted your six-month or quarterly goal-setting sessions with all of your direct reports? Did you set expectations clearly and high enough to help them grow, no matter how long they have been with you? Assign some professional reading to your admin team – you might be surprised how much they enjoy it Are you focusing on the individual strengths of each person and using them to make the entire firm better? Have your partners and managers done the same with their direct reports? What about the scheduling system for your accountants? Have you thoughtfully re-engineered it within the last two years?
We have several new hires joining the firm this week. I give each of them their own copy of “True Professionalism” by David Maister. If you haven’t read it yourself, it should be on your 2006 reading list. A more complete reading list will follow later this week.
If you can do what you do best and be happy, you are further along in life than most people.
“Focus on being productive instead of busy.” – Tim Ferriss
I have always advocated becoming a one-firm-firm. What does that mean, and how does it compare to a silo firm? Listen to a clip from my recent podcast with Earmark CEO Blake Oliver for Earmark CPE. If you listen to the entire podcast, it is considered a course, and you get free CPE. Here’s a link to the entire podcast. Now that you are past the October due date, why not spend an hour with Blake and me?
“Learning never exhausts the mind.” – Leonardo da Vinci
I really enjoyed talking with Blake Oliver of Earmark CPE for his podcast. You can earn free CPE if you listen. They have titled it “If You Want to Grow, You Need a COO” on #EarmarkCPE.
I actually like the title because I think one of my strengths is that I have lived in and observed CPA firms for forty years! I have written about it and been interviewed about it for probably thirty years. I am in my 17th year daily blogging about the inside workings of CPA firms.
I really enjoyed talking with Scott Scanaro and Jason Ackerman, two gentlemen who happen to be sons of CPAs. We had a long conversation so you might want to listen in smaller bites. My interview begins at about 2 minutes and 40 seconds into the podcast.
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions. – Dalai Lama
Be thinking about what you want to accomplish in 2022. Make plans, compose an action plan and get busy. But, before that, enjoy this special holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie
I have spoken to them several times over the years. Of course, then it was in person and I had to travel to Chicago. This week it will be a “Team” presentation and I will enjoy talking with the members during the presentation and after and I do not have to leave my office.
My topic will be Communication – Your Firm’s Biggest Challenge.
Any time I get a call from a firm about a particular challenge, issue, or problem it can almost always be traced back to a communication problem. When I talk with team members without the partners present, I always hear that communication is one of their highest concerns. There are eight different ways of CPA firm communication:
The firm to the outside world
Leaders to Leaders
Leaders to team (downward)
Team to Leaders (upward)
Performance feedback
Mentoring
Male vs. Female
Listening
If you are interested in having me talk to your team or association about CPA firm communication, don’t hesitate to contact me.
When I get ready to talk to people, I spend two thirds of the time thinking what they want to hear and one third thinking about what I want to say.
“Attitude is a choice. What you think you can do, whether positive or negative, confident or scared, will most likely happen.” – Pat Summitt
The newly formed Missouri Chapter of CPAFMA, supported by the Missouri Society of CPAs, has invited me to speak to their roundtable group virtually on Wednesday, June 16 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Central time). If you are outside of Missouri you are invited to attend. Contact Liz Schaetzel at the Missouri Society to register – lschaetzel@mocpa.org.
CPAFMA is so fortunate to have the support of so many state societies such as MOCPA. I know first-hand how much the Ohio and Indiana Societies help and support the Ohio and Indiana Chapters of CPAFMA.
This session (Elevating & Embracing Your Role) is especially helpful if you are new to the role and new to the CPA profession. It also works to motivate and inspire firm administrators even if you have been one for twenty years! I hope you will join me next Wednesday.
Here’s the invitation from the Missouri Society of CPAs:
During this roundtable, we will hear from Rita Keller, an award-winning and widely respected voice to CPA firm management, who will present Elevating and Embracing Your Role. She will discuss: who in your firm supports and encourages the managing partner? Who is the conscience of your firm, the person who always places the firm above their own personal agenda? Is there someone in the firm who enables the partners and staff to be better and more successful CPAs? Join Rita Keller and your peers to explore what a professional, well-trained firm administrator/practice manager can do. It’s time to elevate and embrace your important role.
Click hereto register. We’d love to “see” you. Missouri members, as a reminder, you are invited to stay connected with your fellow firm administrators through MOCPA’s firm administrator online Connect Community and virtual roundtables. Click here for more details.
None of us can change our yesterdays, but all of us can change our tomorrows.
