Much has been written about the deficiencies of Millenials, all totally irrelevant in my opinion true or not (and mostly untrue), but what about the Gen Xer’s?  As the current and future generation of business management executives are they worthy of receiving the torch the Codgers (those born between 1945 and 1957 who prefer to be called ‘baby boomers’ and can be identified by their bell-bottom slacks and bee-hive hairdos) want to pass them?  Can they handle it? Read more…

Some of the most common complaints expressed by our assurance seniors are that the client “didn’t complete the schedule request properly, or provide adequate support timely, or apply the appropriate accounting principles properly, or, or, or, yada, yada, yada”. And correspondingly the audit team didn’t meet, or, had trouble meeting their due date. (We assign due dates for projects based on budgets, and allow the team members to determine when, where and how they will perform the engagement, rather than attempting to micromanage their time and daily lives.) After hearing this refrain / excuse for the umpteenth time during one of our recent after action reports for a very good client, I reminded the offending senior of the purpose of our use of Client Service Agreements and why we have change orders. Read more…

Long known for our inability to communicate effectively either orally or verbally (yes there is a difference) as accountants we’ve found new facades to hide behind. Our communication with our clients is typically limited to brief general conversations, and written communications mandated by professional standards, such as engagement letters. The email / text message / voice mail have supplemented the traditional letter facilitating the anonymity so many in our profession seem to prefer, with the frequent result being misunderstanding or no understanding at all. Read more…