Art of Accounting: Books to boost your practice

Accountants spend a lot of time learning their craft and keeping current. What many do not do as well is keep up with practice management. An easy way is to read some of the many books on that topic.

If you implement one new idea a month, you would be doing 60 new things over the next five years. This would greatly improve your practice, staffing, client services, profitability and work-life balance. So, get started and look for that one idea you can implement each month.

Included are some of my books and I am offering you some free downloads, so read on.

Overall practice management

• "8 Steps to Great" by Domenick Esposito. The eight essential strategies driving success at the world’s largest CPA firms (CPA Trendlines)
• "Power Bites" by Edward Mendlowitz. You can buy this at Amazon and BN.com, but if you email me, I’ll send you a free PDF. GoodiesFromEd@withum.com
• "101 Questions and Answers for Managing an Accounting Practice" Volumes 1 and 2 by Edward Mendlowitz (CPA Trendlines)
• "Call Me Before You Do Anything : The Art of Accounting" by Edward Mendlowitz (CPA Trendlines)
• "Accountaneur / The Entrepreneurial Accountant" by Hitendra R. Patil (CPA Trendlines)
• "On Your Own : How to start your own CPA Firm," 2nd ed., by Brannon Poe (AICPA)
• "The Relentless CPA : A New 21^st Century System for Driving Success at Tax and Accounting Firms" by Frank Stitely

Managing staff and establishing processes

• "Talent Development & Career Planning: Practice Manual & Planning Workbook" by Glenn Alan Cheney, managing editor (CPA Trendlines)
• "The Checklist Manifesto" by Atul Gawande
• "The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It" by Michael E. Gerber (HarperCollins)
• "30:30 Training Method" by Edward Mendlowitz (CPA Trendlines) Free download by clicking here: (http://cpaclick.com/free-30-30).
• "CPA Firm Staff: Managing Your No. 1 Asset" by Marc Rosenberg (The Rosenberg Associates). Marc has written over two dozen books (he calls them monographs) and they are all highly recommended. They are all on sale at CPA Trendlines.

Introducing clients to a higher level of service and practicing at a higher level

• "Improv Is No Joke: Using Improvisation to Create Positive Results in Leadership and Life" by Peter A. Margaritis (Advantage Media)
• "Taking the Numb out of Numbers: Explaining and Presenting Financial Information with Confidence and Clarity" by Peter A. Margaritis (Silver Tree Publishing)
• "Remaining Relevant: The Future of the Accounting Profession" by Rob Nixon (Vivid Publishing)
• "Firm Forward: A Journey from the Land of Compliance to a World of Reliance" by Edi Osborne (Oz Publishing)
• "The Radical CPA: New Rules for the Future-Ready Firm" by Jody Padar (CPA Trendlines)
• "From Success to Significance: The Radical CPA Guide" by Jody Padar (CPA Trendlines)
• "Accountant’s Flight Plan: Best Practices for Today’s Firms" by Brannon Poe
• "The Art of Client Service: 58 Things Every Advertising & Marketing Professional Should Know" by Robert Solomon. Yes, I am recommending this to accountants!
• "The Personal CFO : The Secret to Getting More Out of Your Money and Your Life" by Kyle Walters (Lioncrest Publishing)

Pricing and billing

• "Bill What You’re Worth," 3rd ed., by David W. Cottle (AICPA)
• "Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms" by Ronald J. Baker (Wiley)

Marketing

• "Business Development on a Budget" by Martin Bissett (CPA Trendlines)
• "How to Build a Stronger Tax Practice : The Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How for Delivering More Client Services and Making More Money" by Edward Mendlowitz (CPA Trendlines)

Tax season management

• "Managing Your Tax Season," 3rd ed., by Edward Mendlowitz (AICPA)
• "How to Review Tax Returns" by Edward Mendlowitz and Andrew D. Mendlowitz (CPA Trendlines)

Social media

• "Social Media / The Accountant’s Social Media Handbook" by Becky Livingston (CPA Trendlines)
• "SEO for CPAs: The Accountant’s SEO Handbook / Get Found Online – Organically" by Becky Livingston (CPA Trendlines)

Free practice management interview download

• Interview with Edward Mendlowitz by Chris Frederiksen for 2020 Group USA. A one-hour audio recording and a free download by clicking here.

You can get a 25 percent discount off any book CPA Trendlines sells, not just mine, by entering the discount code "EdSentMe" at www.cpatrendlines.com.

I have many other books I could recommend that are equally as good, but space restricts what I can include here. I know many of the authors, have heard them speak and read their blogs and articles. There is a treasure trove of assistance in the books out there. You just need to pick them up instead of passing by and pushing them aside.

Happy reading!