Client retention

Capability, courage, commitment and confidence will help you move up the value chain.

This summer a couple of my columns dealt with developing a specialization, and I had a ton of feedback. One person I spoke to is a young accountant who is trying to figure out a career path with a specialization. She has about five years of experience and feels she needs to choose a specialization to be able to start the next phase of her career.

Acquiring high-quality clients can prove difficult -- which may help explain why so many firms are willing to serve clients that don't provide much value.

So what are the most important changes to make for the New Year, and how should accountants best implement them? A panel of thought leaders let us in on what changes need to be made and what will make the year tick.