Firm Management

Jennifer Warawa suggests some New Year's Resolutions for accounting firms.

Olivia Kirtley, CPA, CGMA, has been elected to a two-year term as deputy president of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). She succeeds Warren Allen, the newly appointed president of IFAC. Kirtley is the first female Deputy President in IFAC history, as well as the first representative from the business community to serve in that position.

Public accounting firms all have the same business goal – to make a profit. It sounds simple, so what keeps so many practices from being as profitable as they’d like? The answer is poor planning and inconsistent delivery.

A weekly roundup of professionals in the tax and accounting profession that have changed jobs and/or been promoted.

Now that the Internet has made networking virtual, you can focus more on your business by having an online strategy to secure referral sources and get warm, and hopefully hot, leads.

Client relationships are the lifeblood of any accounting firm and should be maintained in an efficient, organized system. Too often, firms relay on a number of disparate back office systems to manage this critical information resulting in redundancy, inconsistency and missed opportunities.

Column: My Perspective

As changes are made to tax laws and technology, the business owners interact with their customers and tax and accounting professionals change. Many tax professionals find themselves moving from the role of tax return preparer to year-round consultant.