The accounting industry is evolving and struggling to keep up with the changing markets, which has been exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. The remote workforce has become more common, but it has also made it harder to maintain the leadership connection from people in different offices.

The current market trend for accounting firms is to move heavily into the advisory sector in order to better service their clients' needs. This can be done through building up an internal team, acquiring another firm, or partnering with another company.

The first step to selling a business is to have a conversation about what the firm is worth and what kind of expectations there are in the market. This will help to set a realistic price for the business.

The decrease in the talent pool for accountants has left many firms struggling to maintain their businesses. Without enough young people coming into the profession and an aging baby boomer population, firms are having to rely on outsourcing and other methods to keep up. This can often be difficult and unprofitable, leading many firms to consider selling or merging.

Bob, who is among Accounting Today's Most Influential People, has dedicated his life to advancing the CPA profession for the past 25 years. In order to combine or purchase a CPA firm or a non-accounting company like a computer company, VAR, or consulting group, he works with the Top 10 on down. His deal help comprises full deal cycle management, from inception through discussions and closing, as well as deal counseling for prospects a firm independently identifies. Bob holds more than thirty speaking events annually on average.

He attended DePaul University in Chicago where he earned both an MBA and a degree in finance. He has vast experience working with the leadership of CPA firms and supervised a regional accounting team for a Fortune 36 corporation. He helps with businesses to help their partners and staff improve their selling skills, mine clients, and build referral networks. He also teaches value pricing, specialty development, and can set up outsourcing options.

The budgeting and forecasting process is not sexy, but it is important. Large companies embrace this process because it allows them to accurately predict the future. As a business adviser, you should be familiar with this process and be able to help your clients solve problems.

If you're looking for tips on creating and sticking to a budget, this episode is a must-listen. In it, the importance of delegating budget decisions to employees is discussed, along with the cadence and monthly review process that are critical to making a budget work. You'll come away from this episode with a better understanding of how to budget effectively and make it work for your business.

The benefits of using a rolling forecast process for businesses. This process allows businesses to track their progress and make adjustments as necessary, based on actual results for past months. This is an essential tool for businesses of all sizes.

At Playing Guru, we provide budgeting, forecasting, and financial modeling software to businesses of all sizes. Our software is flexible and easy-to-use, allowing users to get down into the weeds and create detailed forecasts. I'm the CEO of Playing Guru and have 12 years of experience with the company. Prior to Playing Guru, I worked at IBM in their finance department.

Christian formerly worked for IBM's Global Technologies Group as the Worldwide Plan Analyst before joining PlanGuru. Before it, he worked in a comparable capacity for IBM North American Operations. He has assisted hundreds of companies, non-profits, and financial experts since joining PlanGuru in creating more precise budgets, projections, and plans faster.

In PlanGuru, they assist businesses in carrying out this type of analysis faster and more effectively than they could with Excel. Additionally, they help small firms carry out these crucial procedures for the first time by working closely with them or allowing their accounting company or consultant to do so.