Firm Management

Public accounting firms all have the same business goal – to make a profit. It sounds simple, so what keeps so many practices from being as profitable as they’d like? The answer is poor planning and inconsistent delivery.

A weekly roundup of professionals in the tax and accounting profession that have changed jobs and/or been promoted.

Now that the Internet has made networking virtual, you can focus more on your business by having an online strategy to secure referral sources and get warm, and hopefully hot, leads.

Client relationships are the lifeblood of any accounting firm and should be maintained in an efficient, organized system. Too often, firms relay on a number of disparate back office systems to manage this critical information resulting in redundancy, inconsistency and missed opportunities.

Column: My Perspective

As changes are made to tax laws and technology, the business owners interact with their customers and tax and accounting professionals change. Many tax professionals find themselves moving from the role of tax return preparer to year-round consultant.

Every business owner knows that flexibility is a requirement for success. Being able to adapt to changing customer needs, vendor issues and work schedules is a part of the job requirement, whether the business is a shoe store, a restaurant or an accounting firm.

There is a good lesson here for small firms. It’s been my experience that many firms are challenged in the areas of hiring the right people and applying the appropriate level of leadership to allow staff to expand business. Instead, many small firm owners build their business around their individual skill set and then wonder why their business model depends so heavily on them.