Instant CPA - Just Add Coffee

There is nothing instant about finding a CPA that both understands your business and that, ahem, you can afford.  Well, I am going to let you in on a little secret, from the CPA side, there is also nothing instant about getting the good referrals - the clients that match your personality, your skill set and that, ahem, want to pay you.

CPA's are continually targeted by people that want to help them market - they say we need to advertise, do mailers, do monthly newsletters, etc.  I think there is value in a newsletter when there is news and we really don't need to become part of the noise that fills your inbox each day.

And ultimately, is your financial information something you generally trust to a name that shows up on a postcard in your mailbox?

I don't think so...

Well, then how do people find their perfect CPA?  And how do CPA's find their good clients?

I am not sure that there is an easy answer to that, but I would like to propose the idea that it starts with coffee.  Coffee with a friend in your industry.  Ask them who does their work and do they like them?  Coffee with a mentor, same questions.  Get a couple names from friends.  Call those names.  See who calls you back.  Meet them for coffee, pick your favorite and begin the relationship. 

I believe that financial services is still an industry that works best through personal referral.  There are good on-line matches, but one should not overlook the personal relationships.  I am not saying finding a CPA is like getting married, but I suspect that your CPA (the right one) will understand and communicate about your finances better than most spouses.

By the way, when I choose to market, and I do choose to market, I do it through community events - a table at a non-profit event; a hole on a golf course for charity, a sponsorship of a festival for kids who don't have festivals. I calculate that I get about as much return on this marketing as I would get on sending out mailers (nearly none), but at least I feel a whole lot better about where the money went.

I have written a companion piece to this called How Much Should You Pay for Bookkeeping if you would like to read more (much more - it was a tad wordy).

Employee Turnover - Only Cost or Possible Opportunity?

I was at lunch today with my husband who works for another CPA firm as their IT Director. As often happens when we lunch, our discussion turns to firm management (yes, we are an exciting couple). One of the things we discussed was the companies we know that appear to be "overpaying" for audit and tax services. In each of those cases, the CFO at the company is alumni from a Big Four firm that "gave" the work directly to their old firm. Sometimes without a bidding process. I wondered aloud how many firms are seeing a return on their former employee's new companies?

There are many reasons that former employees are so loyal to Big Four firms. One is the clubbish atmosphere that there are certain things only a Big Four firm can accomplish. Even large local and regional firms can successfully push this atmosphere. In real life, there are small firms everywhere that specialize in various industries and transactions that can also get the job done, but until you have seen that in person, it is easy to believe that if you want quality service you have to go to a Big Four firm. (I am not going to get into all the reasons that your actual experience may differ from this assumption - under-trained staff, inadequate supervision, etc. Conversely, in some cases, it may absolutely be true.)

Another reason the big firms engender loyalty is the on-going offering of CPE to alumni, the alumni phone books and the general attitude that once you are family, you are always family. Whether or not they do it on purpose, these firms seem to plan that people will leave and work towards having them as walking marketing people even after they go. You can hate public accounting, but you don't hate Deloitte. Ever.

Other large firms that I know of don't do this well. When they turn over their staff, for whatever reason, they choose to be wounded that the individual would choose to leave the firm and they "cut all ties". Firms like that do not seem to pick up as much business from former employees as they should or could. The lesson here seems to be that public accounting, as great as it is, is not for everyone and in your marketing plan, you should determine how you can turn the employees that leave into future business for your firm. Turnover is always a cost, but I believe that there is also opportunity for recovery in future business.

10 Rules to Surviving Your First Year in Public Accounting

The first year for a public accountant can only be described as extremely difficult. (It sucks!?!?!?) An over-acheiver with excellent grades and superior intellect is the type of person that is going to land in public accounting. And then they are going to find out that they don’t know much. And they are not going to like that part. And even if they are doing really well for a first-year professional, they are going to become depressed, stressed and angry. They will question their intelligence, their career choice and the sanity of all these other idiots who have somehow risen to the top of this “profession”.

While the profession is attempting to change the “hazing” of the first year, unfortunately there are people like me. My heart is in the right place, but unfortunately, in the middle of busy season (aka tax season), there will be a stressful moment. And in that stressful moment, I might revert to how I was taught. By screaming, irrational idiots who didn’t think I knew anything. Hey, it made me good at what I do, didn’t it? No excuses, it is just tough to turn that ship around and behave better in the heat of the moment. Sorry.

Which brings me back to my original point. You have decided to enter the public accounting profession. Maybe you are just here to get a license and get out. Maybe you think this is your career. Maybe you have no idea why you are here and you are looking for a quick exit. The stress, drama and trauma your head and physical body are experiencing may be helped by taking some time to understand the term professional. You are in a world that requires a lot of education AND a lot of experience. You have the education part done and done well and we are truly excited to have you in our profession, but now you have to dig in and get the experience. You will succeed if you learn how to get along with who you are working for and who you are working with and work will be rewarding. Both spiritually and financially.

Here are 10 rules that will help you to not only survive your first year of public accounting, but to succeed:

1. Use last year’s workpapers. If they found the number last year, you can find it this year. (This rule will be reversed in a later year.)
2. Do not try and finish the whole project perfectly. This is an unattainable goal and will only keep it from ever getting finished.
3. Do EVERYTHING you know how to do, even if there are other items on the very same workpaper that you don’t know how to do.
4. If you have reached a question that is stopping you in your tracks, let your in-charge know. Trust me, if you can get a hold of 50 friends at any moment in time, you can get a hold of your in-charge if you are truly stopped.
5. If you have reached a question that is not stopping you in your tracks, put it on a list.
6. Check in every day and let someone know what is going on.
7. Do not check in with every single thing that you do.
8. If you have questioned a client on a complex accounting transaction or some such item, document it immediately. You will not remember it in one week or even the next day. You will not have time to write it next week or even the next day.
9. Shut up and listen when someone with more experience is sharing information. Sorry to be so blunt, but over-acheivers are usually pretty bad at this one, myself included.
10. If that person is telling you something and you have absolutely no idea what it has to do with anything, write it down! You will need that information later.

I believe these 10 rules will get you through the first and most of the second year in public accounting. Before you know it, 3 or 4 years will have passed and you too will be the idiot who somehow managed to rise up through the ranks to make life miserable on first years. Hopefully, you will do a better job than I am doing. And hopefully I am doing a better job than those who came before me.

A final note (warning): If you do really well or even kind of well, you will not get an A as you are accustomed. No, you will only get more work. Good luck!

NOTE: Originally written in October 2006.