How the Best Managers Practice Attentiveness Attentiveness is a common trait for managers who excel in the workplace.  The best leaders treat employees as individuals, make feedback a priority, and listen to what their staff has to say.  Sydney Finkelstein is the author of Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Manage the Flow of Talent from which this article was adapted. To read the full article in the Harv ...

Improving Organizational Well-Being Why have an employee hotline? What are the benefits, if any, of an employee hotline? In this article, Ray Dunkle shares his views and the results of implementation. While many forward-thinking organizations are increasingly implementing hotlines, the best practice of such a hotline is so new to most, that few know how to successfully do so. The remainder of this article p ...

This article covers recent developments in employee benefits, examining, among other things, the Affordable Care Act's complicated reporting requirements, the proposed fiduciary responsibility rules, and updated procedures to correct employee plan failures.  Terry Richardson, principal, and Bryce Tholen, manager, both with PwC LLP in Dallas, take an in depth look at what’s involved.. To find out more on The ...

You and Stress Is work stress inevitable? Something that professionals need to embrace and live with, like it, or not? How does an organization or management know if stress is affecting the well-being of its employees? In this article, Nancy Yeend shares a process management can employ to answer these and other questions. ...

Get Top Value When Selling an Accounting Firm Avoiding these seven key misconceptions can help you avoid getting less than your firm is worth.  Harry L. Olson, president of Accounting Broker Acquisition Group Inc., discusses the misconceptions and what pitfalls to look out for. To find out more about this Journal of Accountancy article, click: Maximize Proceeds in Accounting Firm Sales. ...

Grow and Retain Your Referral Base Today’s valuation firms rely heavily on referrals to produce new leads and revenues. According to a new study by NACVA and Hinge Marketing, most firms could be getting far more referrals if they made a few changes to their marketing. This article shares the findings. ...

How to Turn Business Cards into Meaningful Connections A conference or industry event can be a great networking opportunity, provided you stay in touch with your new contacts.  Alexandra Samuel, author of Work Smarter with Social Media, gives step-by-step instructions for keeping track of the business cards you receive and building stronger relationships. To find out more about this Harvard Business Review ...

Fear is keeping many Americans from seeking help from a financial adviser, according to a survey conducted by the Harris Poll for financial-planning firm McAdam.  More than 70% of respondents said some aspect of dealing with an adviser scares them.  The cost of getting advice was the top concern, at 49%.  Mary Kate Nelson looks at the survey results. To find out more about this Reverse Mortgage Daily articl ...

United we Thrive, Divided we Fail: Brighten your Firm’s Future with Six Unity Strategies   Arguing and disrespect among partners can undermine a firm's effectiveness and productivity.  Here are six strategies for building a cohesive firm.  Jennifer Wilson, partner and co-founder of ConvergenceCoaching LLC, explains that when your leadership enhances partner unity, your firm’s success will go a long way ...

As a Strategic Marketing Tool for Your Organization How valuable is LinkedIn for marketing your firm? Yourself? Sources project that LinkedIn will have over 500 million users by 2020. In this article, Lee Frederiksen discusses how LinkedIn can be used to market an organization. ...

The financial advisory profession is growing, but some states are better than others for adviser pay.  Dan Berman, Contributing Editor for ThinkAdvisor, looks at the best, and the worst, states when comparing the mean U.S. salary for financial advisors. To find out more on this ThinkAdvisor article, click: ThinkAdvisor (best) and ThinkAdvisor (worst). ...

R Programming and Ivy League Classes—For Free There are a host of excellent statistical and optimization software packages available to valuation analysts and litigation support consultants. They are good, but also expensive. “R” is a programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. The R language is widely used among statisticians and data miners for developing statisti ...

Crowdfunding has taken off providing CPAs with many chances to cultivate new business—and also carries risks for investors.  Courtney L. Vien, JofA associate editor, discusses the crowdfunding basics and what an exciting area of opportunity this may be for some CPAs. To find out more on this JofA article, click: Crowdfunding Brings New Opportunities for CPAs. ...

This article provides more than a dozen tips to help transform your computer into a lean, clean performance machine.  J. Carlton Collins, Journal of Accountancy contributing editor, provides some excellent user-friendly instructions to help get your computer running more efficiently. To find out more on this Journal of Accountancy article, click: Boost Your Computer’s Performance. ...

When you "like" a company or group on Facebook, you may unwittingly be surrendering certain legal rights.  J. Carlton Collins, Journal of Accountancy's contributing editor, discusses some of the pitfalls and what could potentially happen. To find out more on Journal of Accountancy's article, click: Social Media: Be Careful What You “Like”. ...

How to Hire, Train, and Retain the Best Employees Training leaders means developing a partnership between the employer and employees. This commitment takes time and involves both bottom line and business metrics, as well as behavioral and team building skills. The issues related to soft skills, such as behavioral and team building skills are explored in depth in Mike Gregory’s book, The Servant Manager, 203 ...

There are many reasons why clients need solid financial advice in these turbulent times.  This article lays out four of them, starting with the observation that nobody—or almost nobody—can time the markets.  Bob Clark, Editor-at-Large for Investment Advisor Magazine, explains the importance of speaking to the client’s understanding and the importance of a financial advisor’s role.   To find out more on ...

Are you covered for data breaches?  The skinny on cyber liability insurance   Finding out that clients' data was stolen or accessed would be a nightmare for any CPA.  To make it worse, the recovery costs may not be entirely covered by standard insurance policies.  Valrie Chambers, CPA, explores cyber liability insurance and offers key points to consider as filing season approaches.   To find out m ...

Tools to Make You More Effective Enhancing effectiveness revolves around listening to employees, providing timely quality feedback, providing resources needed by the employee and giving employees a chance to shine. Several models are presented to allow an employee and the firm to enhance effectiveness including the tips from Stephen Covey’s book, management by wandering around, and the Pareto rule. ...

Reduce Your Stress and Those Around You This article addresses time management, avoiding time wasters, prioritizing what is important to you, setting goals and writing them down, and looking at life holistically to help bring peace to our otherwise turbulent hectic life style. ...