CPA Firm Administration
As one of the key employees with their fingers on the pulse of the firm, Firm Administrators work hard to insure the partners and employees work in relative ease, unaware of the efforts behind the scenes that allow them to do their jobs seamlessly.
National MAP Survey
The CPA profession’s premier benchmarking tool provides a clear picture of how your firm aligns with similar sized practices, both regionally and nationally. Use the key metrics from firms of all sizes to develop a plan for shifting your firm to the next level.
This toolkit is designed to help firms stay on top of new and emerging trends, embrace generational differences and continue to meet client needs and expectations.
Highlighted Resources
Firm Administrators are responsible for many areas of expertise within the firm. These links will provide direction to some of the tools on the PCPS website you will find most useful.
Human Capital Center
All things related Human Resource Management, from Organizational Structure and Governance to Team Recruitment to Employee Retention and everything in between.
- Sample Team Member Handbook (Employee Manual)
- Firm Competency Model (Career Ladder) – This tool provides definitions of the five roles within the firm, the five core competencies and the competency behaviors, all of which drive the Performance Management system.
- Partner Accountability & Unity Guide - This guide presents a Leadership Accountability Model where each element necessary to develop a culture of performance and accountability is explored and ideas within each element are outlined to help identify areas where the performance of the firm’s partner team can be improved.
Strategy and Planning
Strategic planning is the foundation for growth and sustainability. Be the leader in helping the firm achieve short-term and long-term goals with these tools and solutions for practice management.
- Workload Compression Survey - Workload compression has consistently been a top five issue for the AICPA PCPS firms across all sizes. CPAFMA worked with PCPS to survey members of both organizations to identify strategies firms are using to mitigate the impact of seasonality and workload compression.
- Client Evaluation Tool and A-B-C-D Client Explanation Tool - Partners will thank you when you introduce them to the PCPS client evaluation tools, which will aid in acknowledgement of clients that are the money makers and those that are a drain on the firm.
- Creating a One Page Strategic Plan - This one page plan can act as the basis for all firm objectives, including the process of deriving recruiting and performance management goals
CPA Firm Management Association
The CPA Firm Management Association is the home for CPA Firm Administration.
CPAFMA's Public Accounting Firm Manager (PAFM) program provides the opportunity to demonstrate you have the knowledge, leadership, skills, and abilities to operate at a high level of expertise in the field of accounting firm management. The process of attaining the PAFM designation includes meeting the experience-and education-based eligibility requirements, agreeing to adhere to CPAFMA’s Core Values of a Firm Manager, and fulfilling the continuing education/recertification requirements.
Best Practices
These articles, written with input from top performing Firm Administrators provide insight into common problems faced by Firm Administrators.
