After stints in both public accounting as an auditmanager and in industry as a software consultant to CPA firms, AlexanderVuchnich was driven to start his own practice because of what he described asthe continued resistance of traditional firms to change.
"What I have learned is that audit risk keepsincreasing while fees don't and that tax practices keep facing more competitionfrom home tax-prep software," said Vuchnich, 31, a sole practitioner inCharlotte, N.C. "When I made the leap it was because I didn't want tospend years working for a firm to buy into a service industry that ishigh-risk, low-reward, or where my services would be regularly compared to a$40 software package."
He's not alone in his exodus.
Jody Padar, 37, left her position of four years at amidsized firm after feeling management saw her as just a stay-at-home mom witha part-time tax job. "The sacrifices I was making to be a competent,exceptional professional were never appreciated. So I left."
Padar has since joined her father's practice in ParkRidge, Ill., and plans are in the works for her to take it over. In the lastthree years, the firm's gross revenues have tripled, she said.
"It's happening," said Mark Koziel, director ofspecialized communities and firm practice management for the American Instituteof CPAs, of young CPAs hanging their own shingle. "I don't think it's atthe rate you would have seen in the 1970s, when a lot of these firms you seetoday were founded. But there are folks doing it today. You have the opportunitiesdue to layoffs and reductions of workforce. It's a great possibility."
While there may not be a surge of young CPAs leavingfirms and starting their own practices, young people are catching on that it isindeed an alternative to the more conventional course of staying within anestablished firm.
Younger CPAs leave their firms for a multitude of reasons,experts say.
"Why would employees leave? Because they're notgetting the development experience they want at their current firm and thinkthey can do better on their own," offered Rebecca Ryan, chief executive ofNext Generation Consulting in Madison, Wis. "Firms that don't challengetheir young talent to stretch and grow will lose them to new ventures, industryand competitors."
Large firms usually have the resources to offerleadership development and mentoring programs, so it may be the small and midsizedfirms lacking funds in these areas that might be faced with losing theirup-and-coming stars, Ryan said. "Young professionals will leave if they feelthat they can innovate better than their firm and 'do' CPA work in a betterway. This may be as a free agent, or it may be as a solo practitioner."
Ryan also points to another option for younger CPAs withan entrepreneurial streak - those second- and third-generation partners likePadar, who are taking over their parents' and grandparents' firms and transformingthem.
We caught up with a few young CPAs who are taking thewheel, starting from scratch and learning as they go.
CEDAR BOSCHAN AND MATTHEW HUREWITZ
Age: 31 and 44, respectively
Firm: Hurewitz, Boschan & Co. LLP | Royalty Auditors
Location: Century City, Calif.
Number of auditors: Cedar: HB & Co. so far has sixauditors. Additionally, we have relationships with several accounting firms worldwide,including the international firm BDO Seidman. Such relationships have enabledus to conduct audits around the globe, from Asia, to Europe to America.
Type of services offered: Cedar: We audit majorcorporations worldwide on behalf of intellectual property rights holders (e.g.,recording artists, video game developers, motion picture directors and patentholders). In addition to such royalty and participation examinations, weprovide litigation support services including expert witness testimony, damagetheory consulting, catalog valuations and royalty statement preparation. Weoften work very closely with our clients' attorneys and sometimes assist withcontract negotiation.
Reason why you struck out on your own: Matthew: I wantedto create and work at a firm that has the values and culture that I believedwere integral to success - a firm with whom clients want to work and for whomemployees want to work. It's important to me that clients benefit greatly fromthe end-results of our work, but also that the process is mutually satisfyingfor both the client and our firm members. We all spend so much time at work, soI wanted to create an environment that enhances our lives, with an opportunityto feel vested, valued, connected, and to be an integral part of the firm'ssuccess.
Cedar: I had to start my own business because I am anentrepreneur. (I may be a "bean counter," but I am not risk-averseand I have a long history of launching successful ventures.) Establishing a newroyalty audit practice was a logical next step for me and joining forces withMatthew Hurewitz was a unique opportunity, because it can be very difficult tofind a business partner that you can depend on.
Benefits of owning your own practice: Matthew: Onebenefit to owning your own practice is that you can implement a new ideaimmediately, and thereby dramatically improve the experience of clients andemployees. Also, the infrastructure is flexible, so when a client needs help inareas that are outside the usual scope of royalty audit services, we can easilyand readily adapt to provide assistance. On a personal level, I have athree-year-old daughter, Maxie. I can now be flexible with my time and have along breakfast with her and her stuffed animals, visit her pre-school, and taketime off for Train Town or Disneyland trips, even if it means meeting my clientand work obligations after she is asleep.
Cedar: Being an owner of HB & Co. gives me theflexibility to adapt to the market immediately, which was impossible as anemployee at a larger firm. For example, at HB & Co. we are experimentingwith different fee structures, which have made our services accessible to a newmarket segment. Also, we have fewer conflicts of interest than a large firm, ata time when conflicts in the accounting industry are emerging as a realproblem. I now exercise greater control over the timeliness and quality ofwork, which clients appreciate.
Biggest thing that has helped you: Cedar: It is a cliché,but networking is critical to the success of HB & Co. Through networking wehave found clients, employees, consultants, allied accounting firms and PRopportunities. A referral from a trusted source is more valuable than ever tothose who seek to minimize risk by selecting an auditor with an establishedreputation. Thanks to the individuals in our network who attest to ourexperience, clients understand we have a proven track record.
Matthew: The biggest thing that has helped me is thereputation for dependability and quality that I've earned during the 18 yearsI've been doing this. As a result, prior clients continued to use my services,new clients sought us out, and we attracted a dedicated and talented team ofauditors. I feel very fortunate with how well things have come together.
Challenges: Matthew: When you first start a firm you haveto do everything yourself - there is no HR department to set up a healthinsurance employee plan or to screen resumes, and no marketing department tocreate the Web site and firm brochures. It all falls on the shoulders of youand the other team members, which makes it challenging when you also haveclient obligations to meet.
Cedar: The down economy and the decline in royalties overthe past decade caused clients to demand that we compete on cost at a time whenthe cost of auditing and providing litigation support is actually increasing.There is always someone out there who will charge significantly less money, butthis is a case where the adage "you get what you pay for" rings true.This is because the low bidders simply cannot spend the time to do a good joband still make a profit. What usually happens when a client chooses anaccountant with the lowest fee estimate is that either the work ends up costingfar more than the original estimate, or low-quality work costs clients dearlyin the end. Either way, it's important to demonstrate the additional value thatwe bring.
Typical day for you: Cedar: Although we travel severaltimes a year to conduct on-site fieldwork at various locations throughout theworld, most days I work from our offices in Century City. Here are some typicaltasks:
9-10 a.m. - Read and reply to e-mails that take lessthan five minutes to respond to (e.g., I may advise a client's attorney on apatent license audit provision or suggest revisions to the definition of"Net Sales" in a video game development agreement that is beingnegotiated).
10-10:30 a.m. Receive royalty statements from a potentialclient and ask a staff person to summarize the royalty statements in Excel.
10:30 -12 p.m. Conference call with client's legalcounsel and business manager regarding settlement of an audit of a major recordlabel (we discussed the record label's response to each of the claims set forthin our audit report).
12-12:30 p.m. Like other accountants who normally workon an hourly basis, we record our time for billing purposes. We areexperimenting with Internet-based timekeeping software that our employees canuse from their iPhones.
12:30-2:30 p.m. If we aren't attending or speaking atan educational panel discussion over lunch, we often dine with attorneys withwhom we work on various matters to discuss industry trends and developments.
2:30-6 p.m. Check in with staff, review their work, andfocus on tasks for which I am responsible, such as following up with companiesthat we are auditing regarding outstanding documentation that we requested buthave not received. I delegate the analysis that can be done by others withlower billing rates, but there is much analysis that I need to do myself.Typically, I use Microsoft Access or Monarch database software to identifypotential audit claims and prepare royalty statements, but I use Excel toprepare schedules and Word to prepare the text for the reports that we issue toclients.
6-7 p.m. I send follow-up e-mails or invitations toconnect on LinkedIn to new contacts. Also, I am on the board of directors of anonprofit organization called the California Copyright Conference, which has meattending monthly dinner meetings and editing the newsletter. I am speaking ona CCC "Legal Update" panel discussion in October and planning tomoderate a "Music Rights" panel discussion in the spring.
During evenings and weekends I spend some time writingentries for my new blog. I also network socially and professionally at IPlicensing and entertainment industry events, and give back by donatingresources to causes. Although I prefer LinkedIn for professional networking,some of our clients and their attorneys prefer to connect on Facebook, so I tryto add to my "wall" on Facebook links to my blog and interestingwork-related articles.
Matthew: A typical day for me depends on whether or notwe are out in the field performing fieldwork. If we are, we will usually spendthe entire week at the company's offices that we are auditing for our clients,whether it be in California, the East Coast, or somewhere in between. If weneed to conduct an audit of a company located outside of the U.S., I'll travelto the foreign territory and team up with auditors from BDO Seidman in thelocal territory. I've worked with BDO auditors on international joint projectsfor many years now, and have most recently been involved in audits in Korea,Japan and China. If I am not conducting fieldwork, I am in the office. During atypical day at the office I might be pushing existing audits forward, meetingwith our auditors to analyze the audit issues we've discovered and to helpquantify the amounts due our clients, reviewing a potential client's documentsto assess whether I think a royalty audit or participation audit is warrantedand likely to be cost effective, or finalizing a deposition date for a litigationmatter. My favorite part of any day is when I have the opportunity to be on acall to a client that lets them know that we just uncovered a major mistake andthat they are owed a large check as a result of our work.
How you find clients: Matthew: Through repeat businessfrom prior clients, referrals from existing clients, attorneys or businessmanagers, word of mouth from having a good reputation for handling royalty andparticipation compliance matters, requests for litigation consulting and expertwitness testimony from litigation attorneys we have worked with previously.
Cedar: Ninety percent of HB & Co.'s new clients arereferred to us by attorneys and business managers with whom we have worked inthe past. Therefore, my business partner and I attend and speak at intellectualproperty and entertainment industry events. The other 10 percent of new clientsfind us through our Web site or referrals from other sources.
Biggest misconception you face being a young CPA: Matthew: People assume I am knowledgeable about taxes, and can recite the taxbenefits to owning verses leasing a car, when in fact our work is nottax-related and I can barely prepare my own tax return.
Cedar: People assume I am or should be a CPA or anattorney. I am neither, although I did study accounting and copyright law atthe University of Southern California. Certification is meaningful in manyareas of accounting and it is impressive to clients, but the fact remains thatGAAP, FASB standards and even debits and credits are usually irrelevant in oursearch for unpaid royalties.
Where you see your practice in five years: Cedar: Mypartner and I would like to grow our firm to 12-to-15 core employees by 2014.In the near term, I would like to establish more relationships with accountantswhose clients can benefit from our experience uncovering millions of dollarsfrom licensees worldwide.
Matthew: In five years I see us doing the samehigh-quality work on royalty audits, participation audits and otherroyalty/participation matters, for repeat clients and new clients.
ANGELA WATSON CASTILE
Age: 35
Location: Marietta, Ga.
Number of employees: Two employees and one contractor inaddition to myself.
Type of services offered: We offer tax services forbusinesses and individuals, bookkeeping services, payroll services, divorcesupport (I am also a CDFA and trained in collaborative law).
Reason why you struck out on your own: I never quite fitin at any of the CPA firms I worked for and very quickly tired of workinghorrific hours for someone else's benefit. I have always said that publicaccounting is a very thankless job.
However, it is more rewarding on your own. From myexperience in several public accounting firms, an employee works as hard asthey can to be slammed when raise time comes around so that the employer has anexcuse not to give them more money. Employers are very unappreciative of anyextra efforts and come up with systems where only a certain number of peopleget a certain percent of raises, instead of going by who deserves it. When itis all said and done, it is about politics and not about work or work ethic.
One of the things that I strive for in my firm is to makesure to treat my employees the way that I want to be treated and make sure thatthey know that they are appreciated regularly through money and other means.The hard part about that is making sure that the employees (especially theyounger generations that have never worked in public accounting firms) don'ttake advantage of it. I enjoy rewarding people when they appreciate it, but itirritates me when they expect it or think they don't have to earn it.
Benefits of owning your own practice: I would like to sayit is so I can control my life, but unfortunately, I have over 200 clients thatcontrol it, instead of one employer. However, I enjoy carrying therelationships with the clients. That is probably the biggest benefit and one ofmy biggest reasons for owning my own practice. There are also no politics in mypractice. I try my best to hire employees that fit with the current staffpersonality. It is important that everyone get along and enjoy working together.I generally have found employees through relationships, not by employment adsor distant referrals.
Challenges: My two biggest challenges are work-lifebalance and collections. I want to be all things to my clients and them beinghappy is very important to me. As such, it has taken me years to get to thepoint of knowing where to draw the line, and it is still a work in process. Iconstantly remind myself that I am a CPA, not a doctor. Even when the InternalRevenue Service comes calling, the taxpayer still has time to respond. Thefunny thing I have learned over the years is that the clients that scream theloudest and wait until the last minute where everything is an emergency are thesame clients that take forever to pay and that I have to fight to get to pay.That's the "thankless part of the job" coming through.
Typical day: There is no such thing as a typical day.Some days I'm with clients all day either in planning meetings or looking attheir books. Some days I'm in the office preparing and reviewing tax returnsall day. I have also had my days in court and depositions for divorce work. Ido drive all over metro Atlanta so that I can meet my clients where they are. Ihave found over the years that it is better for me to be on site with my clients.I learn a lot more about them and their needs that way, and it is a lot easieron them. However, it does have its challenges when you are driving over 100miles most days that you're not in the office. I do spend at least an hour ortwo checking and returning e-mails and voicemails daily.
How you find clients: I have been very blessed that Ihave never had to look for clients. As soon as I went out on my own, mypractice grew. My clients were referring me to other clients immediately. Istarted with a handful that had followed me through several firms or had beenpicked up along the way. I also aligned with a personal financial planner thatwas new to the area and growing his practice at the same time.
When I went out on my own, I was nervous about it justbeing me and my knowledge. To make sure that I could service my clientsappropriately, I immediately began making relationships with people inadjoining industries that could pick up with services where I left off. It wasvery important to me to be able to refer my clients to people that I couldtrust for services that I couldn't provide. The people I sought out were doingthe same thing. The relationships were never about "what can you do forme." They were about "what can you do for my client so I canstrengthen my own relationship with the client and know they are taken careof." Although never the purpose, these relationships did create a strongreferral network. My network consists of PFPs, attorneys, insurance agents,mortgage lenders, bankers, etc.
Biggest misconception you face being a young CPA: Thebiggest challenge related to my age has been my own confidence. I was 29 when Iwent out on my own and worried that people would not give me credit because Iwas so young. However, I don't recall really having problems with that. Myreferral sources had such strong relationships with their clients and with methat if they referred clients to me it was generally a done deal. Very seldomdid I actually have to sell myself, as my referral sources were generally doingit for me. I obviously had to prove myself once the client enlisted myservices, but it never seemed to be a problem. Even if I had been older, Istill would have had to work to build their trust.
I do get frustrated with clients not listening to me ormy advice, but I don't think that has been age as much as that they are goingto do what they are going to do and don't always want to hear what you have tosay. They are not always looking for the right answer but the answer they wantto hear. I am also fairly risk-averse personally and warn them that I am givingthem a conservative answer while trying to show them all sides. I have alsolearned that it is not about giving them answers as much as it is aboutproviding all of the information they need and helping them understand theinformation so that they can make informed decisions for themselves. Since mostof my clients are small-business owners, I believe I actually increased myvalidity to them by being a small-business owner myself. I believe age actuallyaffected me more when I was working for other firms than when I began my own.
Where you see your practice in five years: I am not sureat the moment. My goal over the past few years has been to increase in size andemployees but remain small. Now, I think I may stay with hand-picking clientsand the core employee group that I have. The economy has affected my currentmodel and plans, but I believe that once the economy begins to pick back up wewill see a surge of small start-up businesses due to the large unemploymentrate. This area seems to be our specialty, so I believe we will grow again too.We have not really lost clients due to the economy, but we are struggling tocollect money from many of our clients. I believe retracting a little at thecurrent time and making the most of our efforts and resources will serve uswell until cash flow begins to ease up for our clients as we come out of therecession.
MAXIMO MUKELABAI
Age: 35
Location: Durham, N.C.
Number of employees: Two
Type of services offered: The firm offers accounting,consulting, tax, training and payroll services.
Reason why you struck out on your own: The realization thatbeing an employee came with many constraints and independence allows one tospeak freely, with the hope of effecting change without consequence.
Benefits of owning your own practice: Ability toimplement a vision, and make strategic decisions with ease. More importantly,the ability to structure work with flexibility to respond to family needs.
Challenges: Refusing to take on a new client given theyare not a fit especially in this environment.
Typical day for you: While my daily activities vary andare never the same, what is typical each day is the fact that I work in varyingcapacities. In general, each day contains elements of roles as visionary,manager/supervisor, worker, salesman, teacher and advisor.
How you find clients: The firm has used various forms ofadvertising; however, client and business associate referrals have been theprimary means by which new clients have been obtained.
Biggest misconception you face being a young CPA: Thatthe young CPA is not as committed to work and the profession as CPAs in priorgenerations
Where you see your practice in five years: I envision thefirm retaining much of the personalized, high-touch offerings of today with astaff of five to seven.
Biggest thing that helped you: A good support network offamily. Family here includes relatives, close friends and close professionalfriends. The people that say they have your back, and they mean it!
Your take on work/life balance: LOL - I'm working on it.Sometimes I'm in balance and other times I'm way off center. I must say,however, that as a firm owner it's actually easier to balance things out.Family understands when I have to work, and the firm understands when thefamily needs time. Scheduling is also flexible to create that balance. As anexample, on some days I have to leave the office for two hours between 2 and 4p.m. to pick my daughters up from school and take them for piano and balletlessons. I'm able to schedule as necessary to ensure that this can beaccomplished. When dinner is done, I can take care of the work front with ease.It's the whole notion of juggling three glass balls representing faith, familyand firm. All three are important, none can be dropped and, therefore, abalanced juggle must occur.
BYRON K. PATRICK
Age: 32
Location: Baltimore
Number of employees: Two
Type of services offered: Hosted and outsourcedtechnology services for CPAs.
Reason why you struck out on your own: I realized wecould have an impact for many to simplify their firms and resolve a major issuein the marketplace. After seeing so many firms struggle with technology, wewanted to close that gap.
Benefits of owning your own company: Greater sense ofpride in what I am doing each day.
Biggest thing that has helped you: Involvement with theMaryland Association of CPAs has been pivotal. I have grown as a leader and nowhave the honor of sitting on the board of directors.
Challenges: Creating awareness for who we are and what wedo. Our services are so new that many firms can't even imagine what we can dofor them, let alone know to look for us. There is a lot of education in oursales cycle, which slows things down. But now that the buzz of cloud computingis starting to get out there, it is helping to create some awareness.
Typical day for you: Since we are just starting off, mypartner and I wear many hats, so we spend a mix of our day handling supportcalls from users, working on our internal infrastructure to make sure thingsare running their best for our clients, making sales calls and following up onleads in the queue. Most weeks I have a few meetings related to the variousmembership organizations I am involved with, primarily MACPA and the AmericanInstitute of CPAs. I also participate actively with many blogs and forums, sosomewhere in the middle of the day I will find time to write posts or makereplies in both. Throughout the day I'm constantly checking Twitter for anytopics I feel are relevant or sharing any topics I come across that seem to beworth sharing. Mid-evenings are spent with my family - dinner, soccer, dance,homework. Then often, I will pick up my laptop again and do some additionalwork in the evenings. And if there are updates to be done I will either waittill about 1 or 2 a.m. to perform them or go to bed somewhat early and get uparound 4 a.m. to complete them.
How you find clients: Most of our clients right now haveeither been direct referrals or developed from relationships that were alreadycreated from things like the MACPA. We attend tradeshows on a regular basis andwe are slowly starting to see leads coming in from the Web, where they arefinding us on a blog or forum then checking us out on the Web.
Biggest misconception you face being a young CPA: Do youdo taxes?
Where you see your business in five years: As awell-known industry leader.
Philosophy on work life balance: It's like flipping acoin. There is never a 50/50 split over the short run, you're always going toget heads more or tails more when looking at the short term, but over the longterm there can be a balance. With work/life balance the challenge is knowingwhen it's the right time to work and when it's the right time to play. It's achallenge!
Best strategy on keeping customers happy: Know andunderstand your clients. For us it is easy because it is second-nature and wefind that in general many technology consultants don't know much beyond bitsand bytes. We don't offer technology as the solution, we use technology to helpsupport solutions and meet actual needs. Clients that know you are sincere inyour support and response to them will be happy.
SHERRI D. CHINSKI
Firm: Reiser, Chinski & Co. LLP
Age: 36
Location: Bloomington, Ill.
Number of Employees: Three full-time, one part-time, twoseasonal.
Type of services offered: Accounting services, financialstatement review and compilation, payroll, tax preparation.
Reason why you struck out on your own: One word-- opportunity. In 1996, I began working for Martin Reiser as a staff accountant.In 1998, Martin asked me to be his partner and we formed the firm Reiser,Chinski & Co. LLP. I purchased the practice from him in 1999 upon hisretirement. I did not envision this being my career path. I did not seek to bepartner. Without Martin's encouragement and vision of that role for me, I wouldnot have pursued it.
Benefits of owning your own practice: Setting the firmculture. I can decide what types of services the firm offers (for example, wedon't audit). Choosing the clients we work with. I love the relationships Ihave with clients and being a trusted advisor to help guide them. Changing themisconception of what a CPA firm partner is like - breaking the stereotypes ofage, gender and personality. Deciding the direction of the firm - such as goingpaperless and niches to pursue.
Challenges of owning your own practice: Being the oneresponsible for bringing in new clients. Staffing - finding the right people,terminating those that aren't. Work/life balance. The never-endingadministration - peer review, insurance renewals, 401(k) responsibilities,license renewals and billings.
Typical day for you: The days usually start out followingmy action plan for the day, but then the phone rings or the mail comes or ane-mail hits the inbox and I'm set on a different path. I am constantlyreprioritizing as new things arise. As a small-firm owner, a typical day caninclude client work, client meetings (new and existing), networking events,reviewing staff work, and firm administration.
How you find clients: Referral only. We don't advertiseother than having a Web site, which we just set up in January 2009, and havenot obtained any clients from that source.
Biggest misconception you face being a young CPA: I don'tthink it meets the misconception definition, but it was a challenge. When Itook over I hadn't been around long enough to have any establishedrelationships with the non-client referral sources (i.e. bankers, attorneys,financial advisors). As the years have passed I have built a network of peoplethat I trust to refer clients to and vice versa.
Where you see your practice in five years: I want to growthe practice, but not in astronomical terms. I like having a small firm and theatmosphere that comes along with that. I'd like to see revenue increase tosupport one or two additional full-time accountants.
Biggest thing that has helped: The thing that helped methe most, especially in the earlier years, was having Martin as a mentor and aresource that I could bounce ideas off of and seek advice from.
On work/life balance: I think the work/life balance issueis more of having a small firm versus being a young CPA. The issue is alwaystime-related. There are many times when I work later or on the weekend becauseI feel an obligation to the clients to get a project done immediately or I wantto exceed their expectations or I simply feel buried under all the things thereare to do. I have an obligation to manage all the work I've accepted, and ifthat means I need to be the one to put in the hours to get it done then I dothat.
The reasons for the extra hours are not a constant,stable thing, so adding additional staff is not the solution, as we would needto fill their time during the other times. Tax season is a given for extrahours, so the extra hours I'm referring to above are the remainder of the yearwhen I should get to have a semi-regular set of hours. I try to think of thatwhen the reason for the extra hours are because of a client delay ,and I havegotten much better about letting those projects not work on my conscience orsteal my personal time.
PRIYA KRISHNA SRINIVASAN
Age: 38
Location: Minneapolis.
Number of employees: Nil. My practice at this time issmall and part-time. I am not big enough to keep the practice as my only sourceof revenue. I have been working a full-time job for the last four years. I workas a chief financial officer of an IT company and do accounting work for abusiness process outsourcing company in India.
Type of services offered: Tax, accounting and payrollservices and business consultation services to small businesses
Reason why you struck out on your own: I love challenges,taking ownership for my work and wanted to see if I could make it on my own.
Benefits of owning your own practice: Flexibility in workhours.
Biggest thing that has helped you: Considerate family.
Challenges: Keeping up with changes in law, investment insoftware, how to grow to the next level.
Typical day for you: Client e-mails in the morning, dayjob, evening client work, and then family time.
How you find clients: Mostly by word of mouth, referral.
Biggest misconception you face being a young CPA: Too youngto be any good.
Where you see your practice in five years: Quitting myday job and working on my own full-time.
Best strategy on how to keep clients happy: Communicatewith them periodically and be up front and truthful.
Philosophy on work/life balance: Still trying to figureit out.
