A year out from writing the original version of this piece, the pattern is even clearer across the firms we coach: the firms working more hours are not the ones earning more profit. They simply carry too many non-target clients, priced too low. That model will never produce a 40-hour week, no matter how hard you work.
They have alignment on their target client, they are premium pricing, and they are packaging services, so clients get clarity and the firm dictates the terms of the relationship. Exhaustion should NOT be considered normal.
The work becomes enjoyable again. This isn’t theory for us. We see it every day in our coaching (a combined 60 years of one-on-one strategic coaching with partners in accounting firms). And we see it in our Annual Benchmarking Assessment, where the numbers improve every year. Stronger pricing and a focus on target clients correlate directly with fewer partner and team hours. It’s predictable, and achievable by firms of all sizes.
You can’t build a 40-hour week on an outdated model. You need the mindset to run the firm on your terms instead of everyone else’s.
If the thought of tax season still brings that familiar pit in your stomach, you’re not stuck. You’re just overdue for a reset. That’s exactly what we’ll be walking through in our upcoming web session with CPA Academy (CPE available): the key moves firms are making before year-end to avoid repeating tax season.
Register here and take the first step toward a 40-Hour Firm:
https://www.cpaacademy.org/s/webinardate/a0HPB00000QGwVh2AL/1242025?ref=renewgroup
This is how you stop surviving tax season and start playing to win.
