Rita Keller Blog

Wednesday, April 5th, 2023 The Subject Line “As I often lecture businesses, it is not the email you send that matters, but how people feel when they read it.” – Katie Hopkins Emails continue to be a challenge for those working in the CPA profession. While things are evolving to other means of communicating with clients, email is still a staple for accounting firms. It has become so overwhelming that some CPA partners have others “handle” their emails for them.

Friday, March 31st, 2023 Better Than The Alternative “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” -Nelson Mandela Here’s a Flashback Friday post that will help you get through these last couple of weeks of tax season. It is titled “I Like Living.“ "If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor. "

Wednesday, March 29th, 2023 Explore Leadership “Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” John C. Maxwell The AICPA provides a great resource that I hope you will consider for some of your younger, up-and-coming leaders. It is the AICPA Leadership Academy.

Thursday, March 23rd, 2023 Two Busy Seasons “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” – Charles R. Swindoll Some firms extend all tax returns at the beginning of tax season. Some firms wait until early April and then extend as many as possible. The plan is to have work to do after April 15. Of course, some extensions make sense and are necessary. Many extensions are because of the client’s lack of action.

Tuesday, March 14th, 2023 Go With Your Own Inner Voice “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs The following is a segment of a graduation speech given by Steve Jobs. I think it has a message for CPA firm leaders: Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.

Friday, March 10th, 2023 Flashback Friday – Leadership Flaws “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” – Peter Drucker This Friday, take a moment to consider the Ten Fatal Flaws of Leaders. Numbers 1 and 2 seem to speak to the CPA profession. "The speed of communications is wondrous to behold. It is also true that speed can multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue."

Monday, March 6th, 2023 ChatGPT “I would say in the past couple months it’s come a long way, but I still don’t think it’s there yet,” Katie Tolin, CPA Growth Guides There has been so much discussion about ChatGPT and what it means for many varying situations. Of course, I wonder about CPA firms. My first inclination is that it could be very helpful. Would it actually replace a portion of what a CPA firm marketer does?

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023 Clients Who Appreciate You “Although your customers won’t love you if you give bad service, your competitors will.” – Kate Zabriskie The following is a recent blog post by Seth Godin. It seemed like a good message for CPAs in public practice. Are you attracting clients and keeping clients who appreciate what you do for them? Are you ridding yourself of clients who are frustrating? Think about your clients.

Tuesday, January 31st, 2023 Strengthening The Relationship With New Clients “Don’t say, ‘if I could, I would.’ Say, ‘If I can, I will.’” – Jim Rohn A new client is landed by one of the firm’s partners. They met several years ago at a Chamber of Commerce business event. The client knows the partner, but how much does he/she know about the firm? It is important that clients become attached to the firm and not just the partner – for various reasons that some of you know all too well.

Wednesday, January 25th, 2023 Nominate Your Marketer “Marketing’s job is never done. It’s about perpetual motion. We must continue to innovate every day.” — Beth Comstock, Former CMO & Vice Chair, GE I bet your firm has a great marketing director. You have a chance to recognize them. Here’s a press release from The Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM).