August 2, 2011
A standard consulting practice rule is that switching software is expensive. Disruptions to procedures occur, retraining is required, and without careful analysis you may force your organization into a product that has less capability or is more difficult to use. We expect clients to switch software as frequently as they switch physicians or religions. The...…
June 24, 2011
Sometimes, things need mixing up. Chris Farmand, who grew up in a Florida family centered around the accounting practice led by his father and two uncles, was destined for a career in accounting. His parents knew it, the rest of his family knew it, and his teachers knew it. But even though he’d been in...…
June 6, 2011
Imagine an accounting practice where you rarely met your clients, didn’t market to the local business community or belong to chambers of commerce … and don’t even have a sign on the office. You worked pretty much when you wanted to and tried to focus on anything but tax returns. This is probably nearly impossible...…
May 23, 2011
The literal definition of a well-oiled machine is … well, a machine that is well-oiled. It’s a term I use figuratively quite often to describe a business that is producing strong revenues and operating at peak efficiency … without an excess amount of effort. When I think back 10 years to what I thought was...…
April 26, 2011
Where does innovation come from? While this may be a rhetorical question for some, it was precisely the intent of the inaugural CPA Practice Advisor Thought Leader Symposium, which brought together 25 of the most influential tax and accounting professionals, technophiles and consultants for three days of collaboration and dialogue. As the host of the...…
October 4, 2010
Not too many years ago, accounting professionals had a reputation for being stodgy, stubborn and even curmudgeons, especially when it came to technology. Most of the professionals I meet today agree that reputation was usually appropriate, but it was driven out of the conservative and skeptical nature that drives them to provide valuable service to…
November 1, 2009
Column: My Perspective