One day, you won’t want to work anymore, at least not at your current firm. How do you pass on your firm for the best chances of success for everyone?
That day when you step out the door for the last time may still seem far off, but when it comes – and it will – you’ll be thankful for an orderly departure. That many accounting firms never make it to a second generation indicates that a lot goes into successful succession plans: impressions of senior staff; the bottom line on your firm’s value and future; and, trickiest of all, just admitting that you need a succession plan.
Hammer out details beforehand, especially if you, rather than merging your firm into another or selling your firm, want to groom your firm’s next leaders from within.
How and when to start?
Small Mistakes With Huge Costs for Your Client’s Tax Returns
We’ve all been there. A client walks into your office and, somewhere in the conversation, you realize that a seemingly minor oversight, a missed deadline, a form nobody filed, an election nobody mentioned, has spiraled into a five- or six-figure tax problem. In my years of practice, some of the most expensive mistakes I’ve seen weren’t the result of aggressive planning gone wrong. They were small, quiet errors. The kind that happens when a deadline slips, an election isn’t made, or a form gets overlooked entirely. The tax code is unforgiving in these situations, and the IRS has little sympathy for “I didn’t know.” This article walks through some of the most common, and most costly, small mistakes that can devastate your client’s tax situation, along with practical guidance for avoiding them.
