Summer 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...

Anyone 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...

We 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...

It is no surprise that women now dominate the accounting profession in terms of sheer numbers, just as they do the advertising, law and many other service professions. And while they are still under-represented at the partnership level, it is clear that this dominance by women will both continue and will fundamentally change how the profession conducts itself. Updating its Quick Take on Women in Accounting for 2012, women’s advocate organization Catalyst notes that: Women are 61.3% of all accountants and auditors in the United States. In a 2011 study, women were half of newly hired accounting graduates at CPA firms, and 40% of all CPAs. Women are 21% of all partners at firms, although they are 45% of all accounting employees...