Diagnostic review of an accounting practice

Practitioners often want to know “How are we doing?”. Assessment of an accounting practice’s performance and achievements is often done anecdotally. It is difficult to evaluate one’s own performance objectively. Most practitioners do not have a breadth of exposure to other firms to be able to evaluate their own performance against some external measure.

This service consists of a formal diagnostic process developed over 25 years and as a result of having analysed the performance of hundreds of practices of all sizes and configurations: large and small, single and multi office, new and well established, boutique and niche, various partner mixes, and so on.

The diagnostic review of an accounting practice consist of the following elements:

• Information gathering

• Confidential partner and senior professional staff questionnaires and follow up interviews

• On site review of findings

• Preliminary report to partners

• Design of future tasks flowing from findings

• Follow up report to partners

• Partners retreat (optional – see Partners Retreat service description)

• Plans are adopted to realize on potential strengths

• Strategies are developed to overcome or minimize weaknesses

• Client base and sources of firm income are better understood

• Specific performance goals are adopted for individuals and the firm