Blog Archives
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Tablets Speed Adoption of Electronic Signatures
By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP; CIO, Boomer Consulting - Thursday August 30, 2012
Consumer technologies such as the iPad and iPhone are driving the use of electronic signatures using tools like DocuSign and Adobe EchoSign. This has been happening for quite some time in other industries such as real estate but is just now starting to gain traction in the accounting profession. Today, firms are using electronic signatures in the engagement letter process with clients and internal workflow documents. Other firms have used them to get their partner agreements signed in multi-office situations where they were previously mailing paper documents around. In doing so they are recognizing significant efficiency gains. However, the real opportunity for CPA firms lies with IRS Form 8879. Significant time and... -
Have You Accessed the Crowd?
By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP; CIO, Boomer Consulting - Tuesday July 31, 2012Branding and design can be the most intimidating and resource draining areas of business development. Projects such as these have a tendency become delayed and over budget. Branding and design effects lead generation and is vitally important to the image of the firm so this area can’t be ignored. No longer do firms need to employ a full-time graphic designer or pay a premium for a contracted graphic designer. With advances in technology, accessing the “crowd” has never been easier and is perfect for getting branding and design work done in a timely and cost-effective manner. This method is known as “crowdsourcing”. “Crowdsourcing” is commonly defined as “the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or... -
Preventing Summer Burnout
By Sandra Wiley, COO, Boomer Consulting - Tuesday July 31, 2012Summer is a time that for some people equates to less hours and a little more personal time. However, as I have talked to firms in recent years, I have noticed that there is less down time and more “busy season” all year round. This constant state of busy creates the one thing that can slow down productivity, create turnover and ultimately is the cause of depression among individuals throughout our firms - it is called burnout. Below are 10 simple strategies for preventing burnout in your life: Breathe deeply - Have you ever noticed your breathing when you are feeling stressed or moving at warp speed? It is probably shallow and tight. Borrow a tip from professional athletes, and take a few slow, deep breaths to relax and collect... -
Stepping up to Lead: 10 Strategies for Professionals
By Sandra Wiley, COO, Boomer Consulting - Tuesday July 17, 2012Anyone can lead! Leadership is not a title, or a part of a job description, it is the actions that professionals can take every day when they walk through the doors at their firm. Here are 10 strategies that you can use to initiate those actions: Allocate Talent Develop Your Firm 5 Dials Training and Learning Process Improvement Develop a Written Plan Hang Onto Your Genius Following the Rules of Standardization Client Experience Business Development for Everyone Internal Client Relationships As you might guess, you could write a full article on any one of these items, however the overriding theory here is that a leader must look at the firm with a broader and longer term view. Anyone who is leading should think and... -
Did the Recession Kill Training & Learning in CPA Firms?
By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP; CIO, Boomer Consulting - Friday July 13, 2012We recently held our spring meetings for the Boomer Technology Circles program and I heard some alarming discussions related to training & learning in CPA firms. And, I heard it enough to worry that we might be facing a not so positive trend. Firms were discussing a topic that we were attacking 5-7-10 years ago before firms really started to get serious about training and learning. That topic – who is responsible for training? Is it IT? Is it the accountants? The reason these questions were once again coming up is because the recession of the last couple years took a toll on the area of training and learning in many firms across the country. Many firms that had invested in a dedicated resource to focus on training, decided to cut back... -
Stop Complaining and Start Acting
By Sandra Wiley, COO, Boomer Consulting - Tuesday June 26, 2012
I travel often in my career and right now I am sitting in the Chicago O'Hare airport and am listening to two people grump about their jobs. Actually, I am a little amazed that they are being so loud about their feelings. My guess is they feel safe that no one knows them so they can “spill” their feelings without fear of repercussion. So far, they have discussed how their supervisor is not listening to them, not training them appropriately and not telling them what she really wants them to accomplish. In their opinion, it is a lack of setting priorities, no good training program and no clear expectations. A few things occurred to me: Stop complaining and start acting – if you are not getting what you want in your career, the... -
The Key to Accountability: Commitment
By Sandra Wiley, COO, Boomer Consulting - Friday June 15, 2012In a recent exchange with a partner group, we were discussing how to hold ourselves accountable for goals that were being set by each individual - outside of their compensation model. The word that leapt into my mind was commitment. The word commit comes from the Latin word committere, which means to connect, entrust. As leaders in the firm, we make commitments every day to our clients, our partners and our staff. It might be a good practice to think deeply about what those commitments are and ensure that you are not making them too lightly. Each commitment is important and defines what and who is important to you. The demonstration of commitments is a reflection of your character and ultimately says more about you in action than in the... -
Hold Yourself Accountable
By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP; CIO, Boomer Consulting - Wednesday June 13, 2012Accountability should be a key component of your firm’s internal operations and culture. It’s a pretty simple concept – do what you say you’ll do! The difficult part is maintaining the discipline to hold yourself and your peers accountable for what they said they would do. However, if your firm can achieve a high-level of accountability, it will make a huge impact on results and remove any surprises when you look back at what you’ve accomplished at the year-end. Think It – Write It – Share It The primary reason a lot of our goals fall to the wayside is that we often stop at the first step – Think It. We come up with what we want to accomplish and then we don’t write it down or share it with anyone. This keeps... -
Creating Work-Life Balance Within The Firm
By Sandra Wiley, COO, Boomer Consulting - Wednesday May 30, 2012In your firm today, an increasing number of staff members – from the partner level to the administrative staff - are experiencing burnout, low productivity, dissatisfaction and stress related illnesses…due in large part to a lack of balance between their work and personal lives. It is time for your firm to look at how they can create greater balance between work and personal lives of the number one asset in your firm – its people. This is not an easy issue to address, since what looks like balance to one person may differ for another because individuals have different goals, values and definitions of success. A good place to begin to understand the issue of work and life balance is with a common definition: Having a sense that... -
Does Your Firm Have a Technology Committee?
By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP; CIO, Boomer Consulting - Tuesday May 22, 2012Does your firm have a formal technology committee to chart the I.T. strategy for your firm? Is it a balanced group with representation from all functional areas of the firm? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then I commend you and encourage you to continue reading as you’ll probably learn a few things to help you improve. If not, I would encourage you to start building out your committee today. This post will outline some general guidelines to consider when building out your committee, the importance of a balanced membership and why you should consider having an outsider sit on your committee. Firm Projects NOT I.T. Projects The technology committee, if built correctly, can be a valuable asset in building the firm’s...
