We are in the midst of the “Great Resignation,” an inflationary period, changing and increasingly complex regulations and standards, coming off of a pandemic that literally rocked our world, and experiencing the highest volume of work most firms have ever seen. To compound this, we are seeing declining accounting undergraduate and Master’s degrees, lower college [...]
Clients need their CPAs and consultants now more than ever before. Change is constant and the future is unpredictable. To become true advisors to clients, professionals must shed old ideas and habits that no longer fit current client expectations. Our remote Client Advisory Program™ (CAP) is designed for experienced leaders who manage client relationships. The program will help develop advisory skills [...]
The amount of change in our profession can be overwhelming at times but it definitely is the word of the hour. Everything feels like it's changing, and every one of us needs to change in a lot of different ways. Thus, we've named this first episode, The Change Imperative. Why is so much change happening? [...]
Transition is top of mind for most CPA firms today. The topic emerges in almost every conversation we have with clients, at conferences and in our everyday interactions with firm leaders. Whether we’re talking to firm leaders or emerging leaders, client loss is one of the biggest fears commonly shared by BOTH transitioners and their [...]
The succession of Baby Boomer professionals is a topic on the minds of most firm leaders today. A significant component of the succession process for many is the transition of clients. There are many best practices when transitioning clients, including those covered by my colleague in this CPA Insider blog. What I find, however, is that [...]
“The foundation of the client relationship is in jeopardy.” “How can I build rapport with someone if I’m never face-to-face with them?” “I need to shake someone’s hand to feel related to them.” When we talk about moving toward a more remote service and staffing model and embracing Anytime, Anywhere Work™, we often hear objections [...]
Most of us, if asked, would say that we are committed to delivering exceptional client service. However, when asked what exceptional client service looks like, we hear things like “delivering the engagement on time (or early) and within (or under) budget” and “being available and responsive to client requests and questions.” I assert those represent [...]
Wow! It is hard to believe that on April 1, our ConvergenceCoaching team celebrated our 16th anniversary. What a wonderful and blessed journey we’ve enjoyed so far! Since co-founding our firm with my dear friend, Jim Metzler to growing to an 11-member team focused on making life-changing differences for our clients, I am so grateful [...]
There’s a lot of talk these days about the need for a new public accounting business model. In fact, we’re spending a lot of time ourselves driving change to many fundamental business model elements including pushing for not-to-exceed pricing, unlimited paid time off and uber-flexibility, and turning over the reins to younger leaders earlier. And [...]
