The New Fundamentals: Practical Guidance for Today’s Accounting Firms

By Steven E. Sacks, CPA, CGMA, ABC

It is human nature to be distracted by a shiny bird or the elusive unicorn. This malady can often occur when technology is the culprit. Whether it’s the latest version of the iPhone, a new social media platform,  an app that can do everything including brushing your teeth for you (or at least attempts to), the more we become transfixed by these and other new technologies, the more we get away from the basic elements of daily life: human interaction and civilized discourse, common courtesy and respect, and the ability to communicate clearly and concisely in written and verbal form.

My book, The New Fundamentals: Practical Guidance for Today’s Accounting Firms, discusses how important it is to adhere the elemental practices of leadership, communication, operations and business development within accounting firms. The fundamentals are not really “new,” they just have been purposefully ignored or inadvertently overlooked.

The purpose of the book is to identify and address some of the non-technology issues that CPA firms and their new and mid-career professionals need to consider in order to be successful. The topics and observations have been collected through the years of working with CPA firms, accounting membership associations and clients. Apart from the sole practitioner, the size of firms does not really matter because the human factor is the real driver. The components include emotion, behavior, trust, authenticity, ambition and relationships.

No matter if you are in your 20s or 50s or anywhere in between, reading The New Fundamentals may give you a wake-up call or reemphasize concepts that you may have shied away from as you sought to build a profitable and growing practice.

For more information on the book, visit https://cpatrendlines.com/shop/ss20tnf/.

Like chicken soup, it can’t hurt.

 

About the Author

Steven Sacks is the CEO of Solutions to Results, LLC, a consultancy that specializes in helping individuals, firms and organizations meet the challenges of communicating with clarity and purpose.