The Small and Medium Practices Committee of the International Federation of Accountants has released the third edition of its Guide to Practice Management for Small- and Medium-Sized Practices.

The guide includes eight standalone modules on a broad range of topics to help practitioners effectively market, manage and grow their accounting practices.

“As 2012 comes to a close and economies globally remain sluggish, proper practice management is more important than ever for SMPs to achieve long-term sustainable success and remain competitive in the global marketplace for professional services,” said SMP Committee chair Giancarlo Attolini in a statement. “The revised content in this edition reflects the rapid changes in technology, business needs, internationalization and competition that continue to transform how practitioners and their clients operate. Smaller practices need to keep pace with these changes that can both enhance their own practices and form the basis of valuable advice for their clients.”

The latest edition of the guide includes new and updated material on value pricing, knowledge networks, social media marketing, building a business advisory practice and cloud computing. The eight tables of contents are now cross-linked to improve navigation, and the lists of further readings at the end of each module have been updated.

The guide is designed to be culture-neutral with easily translatable language for distribution by IFAC members to practitioners worldwide. The SMP Committee has developed a supplementary user guide, Companion Manual: Guide to Practice Management for SMPs, to help organizations understand the various ways they can use, translate, and adapt the PM Guide.

The third edition of the PM Guide can be downloaded free of charge from SMP Publications & Resources.