During a recent podcast interview with hosts Jason Ackerman and Scott Scarano, I told some of the story of my accounting life and how I and my partners were able to adapt, innovate and take on the challenges of running an accounting practice as a business along with some personal tips and tricks.
The podcast was part of a series on "Sons of CPAs." My father became a CPA in 1938 (New York State Certificate 6756) and immediately started his practice as a sole practitioner, although he was working as an accountant since 1930 for his brother who was also a CPA. Jason and Scott's fathers are also CPAs, and Jason is working with his father, helping to build the firm for the next generation. Scott has a unique and interesting concept of developing a new practice model with Dark Horse CPAs. By the way, my daughter-in-law is also a CPA, so there are three generations of Mendlowitzes who were or are CPAs. Here is a link to the one-hour podcast:
- 04:00: I wanted to be a CPA like my father. It seemed to me that my father was a powerful person because he had all these people calling him who couldn't make decisions without getting his advice. Today this is the consulting we typically do on a regular basis for our clients.
- 07:00: I explained why I was using a fixed-pricing model long before it was hyped. I've written a lot about using fixed prices, but I explain here how I got started with it.
- 14:00: You've got to look for the cracks. Not every situation is the same (see the next bullet point).
- 16:00: "I have to charge you for what I did and it's pretty high." This when I billed a client almost $100,000 extra based on my time. While I primarily used fixed prices, there are some situations when you need to look for the cracks.
- 17:00: I love accounting, believe me. I love it, but it's not a hobby, it's a business, and I've got to make money from it.
- 19:00: Any client who paid me a fee was a good client. Whether I liked them or not was irrelevant. I did a great job for them, they appreciated it, and they paid my fees. My ego would not permit me to do anything less than a great job, no matter how I felt about the client. Everyone got 100%.
- 24:00: You don't want to put your fortune or your life at risk by dealing with people who are dishonest or out there breaking the law. That's stupid!
- 25:00: Hot stuff — how I arranged for one of my biggest clients to not pay taxes for seven to eight years.
- 30:00: My partnerships are explained somewhat: Siegel Mendlowitz & Rich PC, Mendlowitz Weitsen LLP and WithumSmith+Brown PC.
- 35:00: If you want to grow, you've got to build an infrastructure, and you've got to do it right.
- 37:00: If I could hold onto what I've got, I'm never going to do badly. I may not do great, but I'm never going to do bad.
- 45:00: What has changed are the things that haven't changed. What hasn't changed is the attitude toward staff, except possibly getting worse.
- 49:00: My favorite part of accounting? Every single thing I've done. Everything!
- 51:00: My advice on starting a firm is to get a client from whom you expect a check every month. Get that annuity business.
- 55:00: My parting tip is you've got to raise the fee every year. Your expenses go up every year. When you raise the fee nominally, you're not increasing the fee, but just passing on your increased costs.
I recommend listening to it. Put it on and have it play in the background and, if necessary, you can stop to take notes or replay some of what you want to think about. It is free and the link is above.
I thank Scott and Jason for allowing me to reminisce about and share some of the fond memories of things I did. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did being interviewed.
Do not hesitate to contact me at
