Paul Dunn - The Firm of the Future: A Guide for Accountants, Lawyers, and Other Professional Services

CONTENTS

PRAISE FOR THE FIRM OF THE FUTURE

This is an absolute must-read for any business (and that includes accounting practices) that wants to be in business in the future. Written in a highly readable style and laced with hundreds of practical how-to notes and comments, this book is a prerequisite business manual for any practitioner of any professional service organization. This really is a stunning book. Ive thoroughly enjoyed the philosophy as well as the practical how-to and why, and the book will further refine our approach to the business. Loved the style and class of the book.

Peter Byers, Chartered Accountant, New Zealand

Excited is probably the most appropriate word for how I felt as I read the book. Excited at the learnings, excited at the possibilities that opened before me, excited at what it would be like to work in a practice with no timesheets, value pricing, passionate team members, and clients more than delighted with the concierge service provided by every team member. Ron Baker and Paul Dunn have clearly described what the firm of the future MUST look like. They clearly debunk all the old theories and practices of managing and operating an accounting firm and clearly explain the methods and FEELINGS that must exist in The Firm of the Future .

Harry Rosenberg, BKR Rosenberg + Partners, Melbourne, Australia

For many years now, I have utilized and professed within my firm my working theory, Our next new client has to have a thirst for our knowledge and the willingness and ability to pay for it. The Firm of the Future embraces this theory and provides readers with the sound fundamentals to capitalize on their intellectual, social, and human capital.

Robert A. Gaida, Vice Chairman, BDO Seidman, LLP

Without doubt the single most important book ever written for professionals. It will force the entire profession to question, rethink, and rework everything it does. Its a book that will change your practice and your lifefor the better, forever. Thanks to this book the professions will never be the same again.

Steve Pipe, Founder and Chairman, The Added Value Network (U.K.)

Like all brilliant business findings The Firm of the Future is simple, it is available to all, and it is practical. It requires only a willingness to accept, to change and to grow.

Dr. Chris White, Doctor of Business Administration, PhD, MBA, B.Bus, ALGA, CA, FCPA, CFP JP, Partner KPMG, Cairns

For many years Ron Baker and Paul Dunn have been wonderful drivers for change in how professional service firms can become more successful. As a result of their collective wisdom, they have now co-authored a powerful and insightful book that should require many firms to reconsider their strategy. The true benefit of adhering to their New Practice Equation will not only be a more profitable firm, but one that will also have a distinct competitive advantage in the marketplace. An absolute required reading for business leaders and managers of professional firms.

Robert J. Gallagher, CPA, PresidentR. J. Gallagher and Associates, Inc .

Like everything that challenges conventional thinking, this book takes time to absorb. There were many parts that I just had to read over so that I could filter through the brilliant combination of evidentiary and emotional interplay that Paul and Ron do so well, and reveal the truth for myself. The book reads like the early conversations I was privileged to be privy to, and it will be touted through the ages as a seminal work on the new evolution of the professions.

Jason Johnson, CEO, Kipara Consulting

The Firm of the Future imparts the accumulated wisdom of two key people who are helping to shape the profession, in a readable and memorable manner. And Paul and Ron have wisdom-a-plenty to impart. The profession has a vital role to play if our capitalist system is to continue its enormous record of success and prove to the doubters that it is universally the best system man has invented for improving the well-being of all people on earth, not just those in the wealthy developed nations. Paul and Ron chart the course by which the profession can regain its significance and, more importantly, help achieve the bigger goals, both for the benefit of its own members and the wider world... I heartily recommend The Firm of the Future as a must-have guide for anyone in practice.

David Hartley, Director, ElanElan Ltd .

Between the covers of this book are more good ideas than you typically find in a dozen business books. Take notes. Youll want to remember these ideas for a long time.

David Maister, author and consultant

Paul and Ron have brought together their business philosophies under one cover of a book that should be the practice manual in every professional office. It truly is the answer of having the business do the things the professional used to do in a more effective and profitable manner. Who wouldnt want to work in the firm of the future described here?

Nicholas Newton CA, CMA, Creative Director, Frouin Group

Ron Baker and Paul Dunn have put together the modern almanac of best business practices. Their firm of the future focuses on its intellectual, networking, cultural, and customer-focused capital to build wealth. They demonstrate over and over how making meaning, not just money, is the key to a leaders success. The book is an excellent read for those who want to learn the best-of-the-best business practices proven in the past decade.

Sheila Kessler, Ph.D., President of Competitive Edge and author, Measuring and Managing Customer Satisfaction

The Firm of the Future brings a huge number of great ideas together in one place to provide a road map of what a professional service firm must do to position itself for the future. The book provides key success factors any firm can follow in creating a customer-driven firm.

William Cobb, Cobb Consulting, Houston, Texas

Finally! A book that catapults professional firms to a more sophisticated, more effective approach to management, leadership, and providing value. Any firm that follows the theory and practical advice advocated by Ron and Paul can retain happy and qualified team members, assure growing and loyal clients, reduce the stress of public practice, and reap the benefits of significant profitability.

Martha Sawyer, president of Hudson Sawyer, publisher of Bowmans Accounting Report

Its refreshing to see a book that focuses the accounting practice on who we truly areand more importantly, who we should be. We didnt learn this trade to have our services discounted and be held to a minute-by-minute gauge of value. Ron and Paul keep your focus on the ball rather than the scoreboard and clearly define our role as Intellectual Capitalists, not bean counters!

Mark J. Koziel, CPA, Director, Dopkins & Company, LLP

When I first received my copy of The Firm of the Future I was intimidated by its size and began reviewing the table of contents for the sections that seemed most interesting to me. But, as I am prone to do, I began at the first page. I soon found myself pouring through the book, chapter by chapter. Paul Dunn and Ron Baker have compiled a work that has incredible depth, wisdom, and insight. What I enjoyed most, however, was the conversational tone that makes this book hard to put down. I feel like I have had a personal conversation with wise counselors who understand my business.

Michael C. Knowles, Partner, Frank, Rimerman & Co., LLP, Menlo Park, California

Sometimes, this book takes your breath away with its ambition. Not content with burying a fundamental paradigm of the professions, it offers a new one that challenges all who think about and care about, their profession to reevaluate what they doand why they do it. Brimming with ideas, Baker and Dunn constantly challenge accepted wisdom, but thankfully provide cogent alternatives for your choice. Quotes, illustrations, and examples from all sorts of sources drive home points to ensure the book is a fantastic read and will have profound effects on your businessand the rest of your life. The future of the firm you inhabit will undoubtedly be shaped by The Firm of the Future . Ambition fulfilled.