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March 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 3 MY PERSPECTIVE Get in the Habit of Planning for Your Firm's Success t www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com 3 800-547-7377 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com The opinions given by contributing authors are their own and are not the opinions of our staff. All trademarks used are the property of their respective owner. ———————————————————————————————————————————— Practice Advisor, (ISSN #2160-8725 (print), ISSN #2160-8733 (digital); USPS #017-576) is published eight times a year (April/May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December) by Cygnus Business Media, Inc., incorporating two editions known as CPA Practice Advisor and NSA Practice Advisor, 1233 Janesville Avenue, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin 53538. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 and at additional mailing offces. Printed in the U.S.A. Send all subscription inquiries or change of address to: Practice Advisor, PO Box 3258, Northbrook, IL 60065-3258. Phone: (877) 382-9187 (toll free); (847) 559-7598 (local) Fax: (847) 564-9453 Email: Circ.CPA@omeda.com Subscription Rates: The basic annual rate is $3, based on qualifying associations of 10,000 or more public accountants that may also subscribe for all their public accountant members (certain restrictive covenants apply) for a basic subscription rate of $9 per member for a three-year subscription. One year subscription for all others: USA - $48; CAN $70 GST; INT'L $99 GST #131910168. POSTMASTER, please send address changes to: Practice Advisor, P.O. Box 3258, Northbrook, IL 60065-3258. Canadian address changes to: Canada Post PM40612608. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Practice Advisor, PO Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2. Publisher: Jim Baker Executive Editor: M. Darren Root, CPA.CITP Editor-in-Chief: Gail Perry, CPA Managing Editor: Isaac M. O'Bannon Technology Editor: Brian Tankersley, CPA.CITP Associate Editor: Taija Jenkins Columnists: David McClure Doug Sleeter Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP Kristy Short Randy Johnston Roman H. Kepczyk, CPA.CITP Art Director: Rhonda Cousin National Sales Manager: Barry Strobel Site Manager: Brittney Klaas Media Production Representative: Barb Evenson Audience Development Manager: Angela Kelty Editorial Advisory Board: Bob Cedergren, CPA.CITP, CISA, CISM, CISSP, CGEIT Chris Fraser, CPA.CITP, CISA, MCP Jason Lawhorn, CPA.CITP Gary A. Masino, CPA Ryan McCowan, CPA.CITP Linda O'Neal Troy Patton, CPA David Primes, CPA.CITP Donny Shimamoto, CPA.CITP Doug Sleeter Sandra L. Wiley CYGNUS BUSINESS MEDIA CEO: John French CFO: Paul Bonaiuto VP, Human Resources: Ed Wood VP, Audience Development: Julie Nachtigal VP, Technology: Eric Kammerzelt CYGNUS PUBLISHING Executive Vice President: Gloria Cosby Vice President of Production Operations: Curt Pordes VOLUME 24, NUMBER 2 Te ironic thing about planning is that although as accounting pro- fe s s ion a l s we of ten e s pou se t he importance of it to our own clients, many of us fnd it difcult to spend time planning for our own beneft or that of our frm. A ll too ofen we fnd ourselves too busy driving to stop for gas. We keep moving on in our work day doing the work, but not paying enough atention to exactly where all of our activity is taking us. Te problem is, if we don't create a plan for our frms—and implement it, then sooner or later we will fnd ourselves driving down the wrong road far from the end that we had in mind. Tis is why I encourage you to c reate some reg u la rly schedu led t i me for you rsel f (a nd ot her key people in your frm) to create a plan that will give you a roadmap you can use for achieving your objectives. I know, it's the busiest time of the year, so taking some time out of your schedule to dev ise a plan for your frm's future is probably prety far of you r r a d a r s c re e n . Ye t , b e c au s e pla n n i ng is such a component of your frm's success, I ask you, "If not now, when?" I am certainly not proposing you drop everything right this moment to dev ise a strategic plan for your f irm, but I am proposing that you car ve out some time on a reg u lar basis to plan how you are going to fulfll the vision and objectives that you have for your business. As you consider what your planning process will look like, keep in mind that to be efective, planning should not be a singular event. R eg u la rly schedu led , ongoi ng pla n n i ng is requ i red to keep you m o v i n g f o r w a r d ; a n d s e c o n d , accountability within the planning process is crucial. Simply having a plan doesn't ensure that you will take the action required to implement it. In my f irm we do our planning based on 90-day increments which allows us to evaluate our progress, recalibrate our objectives, and cel- ebrate our successes each quarter. It also allows us to prov ide ongoing feedback to sta f f about t he a reas where goals are being met or where improvement is needed. W h i le t here is no a rg u i ng t hat planning takes time upfront—and we all k now how scarce time is— imagine how much time will be lost in your frm if you don't plan and you veer badly of-course. Devoting time to not only creating a plan, but to conduc t i ng a n ongoi ng pla n n i ng process gives you the direction and structure you need to develop and i mplement a business model t hat w i l l a l low you r f i r m to be more produc t ive, more prof itable, a nd more efcient. For reprints and licensing please contact Nick Iademarco at Wright's Media 877-652-5295 ext. 102 or niademarco@wrightsmedia.com. Darren is the Executive Editor of CPA Practice Advisor. He remains in public practice as the principal of Root & Associates, LLC, in Bloom- ington, Indiana, and is president of his consulting practice, RootWorks. He formerly served on the Board of the AICPA's CITP Credentials Com- mitee and is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Indiana CPA Society. He speaks at dozens of professional organizations each year and fequently serves as a guest lecturer at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. By M. Darren Root, CPA.CITP, Executive Editor T he book, Te 7 Habits of Highly Efective People, by Stephen R . C o v e y h a s h a d a p r o f o u n d impact on both my personal and professional life. Of the seven habits that Covey presents in the book, the second habit, "Begin with the end in mind," is my favorite. This habit is directly con- nected to planing, because once we have the end in mind for how we want our frms and our lives to be, we must devise a plan, or a roadmap, to make it a reality. "IF NOT NOW, WHEN?" CPA 0314 1-21.indb 3 3/24/14 9:33 AM