Voices

CEO Thinks CPAs Should Be the Biggest Losers

Rick Solomon, president and CEO of the RAN ONE network of accounting and professional services firms, thinks that CPAs should compete to be the biggest losers, of clients, that is.

Solomon, who is himself a CPA, stopped by the Accounting Today and WebCPA offices last week to talk about the trends he has been seeing. One of them is CPAs who are cutting loose the unprofitable and just plain annoying clients they deal with, even in the current economic climate.

“Most of our members are experiencing the value of letting go,” he said.

That can be a bit scary, though, especially with an uncertain economy that has made it harder for many firms to land new clients or get much business from their existing clientele, not to mention the traditional philosophy that firms should hang onto their clients through thick and thin.

RAN ONE has 170 firms in its accounting network in the U.S., and Solomon said those firms buy into the message that it’s OK to let go and lose the extra weight.

The Stony Brook, N.Y.-based network has been expanding its online resources, developing an “Adviseopedia” information reference and a “professional wellbeing calculator.” Those resources were developed with the help of a technology partner, Bullseye, with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Bali, which has also been developing a video blog for the site.

RAN ONE is planning its upcoming annual conference and firm retreat in October in Orlando. For more information, visit www.ranoneannualconference.com.

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