Art of Accounting: 400th column

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors.

Reaching 400 consecutive weeks of practice management columns is, I believe, an admirable achievement. I wanted to “celebrate” it with a fantastic column today. However, it occurred to me that most things in running an accounting practice are not super flashy or dramatic, but more or less small, low-key achievements. The success comes from the consistency of those achievements and the growth they foster.

Four hundred columns is a great body of work. I’ve had some memorable columns, but I am particularly proud of all of them. Writing these columns takes time, and I try to get my points across with brevity. Most of the columns address single topics and were written to solve a problem that arose, precipitating that column. I track the applicability of the columns by the email links I send to readers whose questions can be answered by a particular column. I also occasionally provide a copy of an article or speech or webinar handout.

About a dozen times a year, I offer a goody to readers. I do this to get a sense of the interest level in a subject or to track readership numbers. It also puts me in touch, however fleeting, with readers, some of whom are all over the world. My three most distributed speech handouts are on how to start an accounting practice, my practice continuation toolkit and a self-assessment template. My most distributed articles are suggestions for new partners and exit planning for CPAs. If you want these, email me at GoodiesFromEd@withum.com and just put “400th Column Goodies.” No messages necessary.

I encourage readers to contact me with their questions. This puts me in touch with real problems and gives me information for future columns. I do not know everything, and some questions lead to me learning about something I previously did not consider.

About a year ago I received an email from someone who said he was taking me up on my offer to speak to readers. We spent a bunch of hours, and I had about a dozen pages of notes from our conversations. He had some interesting issues and, while I’ve written about each issue, his combination of them was very interesting to me. I got three columns out of this call. He also knows I meant what I said about calling me.

When I started, I originally expected to write about 20 columns at most, and now it is up to 400. I feel great about this. When I look back, I realize that I tried to do what I could to help my colleagues in our great profession. That is a good feeling and one that I wish for all of you.

Thank you for reading my columns and I look forward to posting many more.

P.S.: I just realized that today is the 13th anniversary of my wife and I becoming grandparents, so I could not have picked a happier day to celebrate my 400th column posted here.

Do not hesitate to contact me at emendlowitz@withum.com with your practice management questions or about engagements you might not be able to perform.

Edward Mendlowitz, CPA, is partner at WithumSmith+Brown, PC, CPAs. He is on the Accounting Today Top 100 Influential People list. He is the author of 24 books, including “How to Review Tax Returns,” co-written with Andrew D. Mendlowitz, and “Managing Your Tax Season, Third Edition.” He also writes a twice-a-week blog addressing issues that clients have at www.partners-network.com along with the Pay-Less-Tax Man blog for Bottom Line. He is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Fairleigh Dickinson University teaching end user applications of financial statements. Art of Accounting is a continuing series where he shares autobiographical experiences with tips that he hopes can be adopted by his colleagues. He welcomes practice management questions and can be reached at (732) 743-4582 or emendlowitz@withum.com.