CPA Firm Practice Management

This is the story of Kim Furrh, who bought a CPA practice...

There are accounting firms that are struggling to get the work
done and completed in a timely fashion. In Kim Furrh’s practice
they had an entirely different problem — they couldn't get the
work done if their life depended on it!

In 2006 Kim bought the firm from its previous owners who were
leaving the practice and though she was competent enough she had
never run a business before and when the owners left she was on
her own with all the problems that the former partners had dealt
with. Not only couldn't the files be found, but nobody knew
where the audits were for the Worker's Comps and so they drowned
in confusion.

Moreover, she had a receptionist on staff who only answered the
phone and did little else. She regularly got sick and burdened
the other employees with her duties. When she left the firm they
had other five or six receptionists who couldn't stand the calls
from irate clients and left too.

In addition to the receptionist Kim had three bookkeepers who
waited for orders to get the next job and didn't speak up when
they had completed their tasks. It was a nightmare and she was
at the end of her wits.

Kim worked 60 hours a week in the off-season and during the tax
season, she worked from 6 am to 11 pm, seven days a week. Her
husband meanwhile filed for divorce as she was never at home and
when she was, she was grumpy and in no mood to talk to him. To
make matters worse, they had a daughter whom she didn't spent
any time with either and so she grew close to her husband and as
a result hated her mother.

Needless to say, she was desperate for change and couldn't wait
anymore. Kim was already familiar with Sterling and sent away
for their DVD and got an introductory consultation into CPA
practice management. In January 2013, she did their full
training in Accounting Practice Management, which included
tailor-made consulting and management courses. Having already a
sterling record in bringing management training to practices,
she asked Sterling to come and train the staff.

Sterling did exactly that. They came to her practice and
untangled the mess they were in. They defined the duties of the
staff and put them up on an organizing board which was posted in
the office so everybody could refer to it. Kim further made job
descriptions for every staff which determined the exact duties
so each staff knew exactly what to do.

Sterling furthermore introduced a management by statistic system
where each employee keeps a graph that shows how much they
produced on their particular function. That was particularly
helpful for Kim so she could evaluate their productivity. She
discovered that some people of whom she thought were good
producers actually were not. That really opened her eyes as to
who was producing and who was not and using Sterling personnel
tests she replaced the staff who were not pulling their weight
with creative, energetic and upbeat staff. She realized that
although the applicants can fake it in a job interview they
can't fool the tests.

Since starting with Sterling on the CPA firm practice management
course, almost a year ago, the profitability of her firm has
increased by 6 times. The staff are motivated and productive and
they come forward with ideas on how to improve the workflow to
service the clients better. She is now working on opening a
second location, something that she would have never conceive of
before they started working with Sterling. The Sterling
expertise in CPA practice management really has made all that
possible.

Better yet, she is far happier, much less stressed and has more
time for her friends and family. But the greatest benefit to her
was one she never expected: the relationship with her daughter
has completely changed. They get along great. Even though she
left for college, they are on the phone three to four times a
day just to chat. She attributes the change in her to the change
in me.

Sterling gave her the life back, she thought she had lost and
for that she is forever thankful.

About the Author: Peter Breyer has worked with CPA's and
Accountants for many years. This story was particularly relevant
as it shows what can happen when the owner doesn't have any
experience in managing a practice and Sterling Management helped
her out.  http://practice-management.sterlingcpa.net/  


By : Peter Breyer


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