The Firm of the Future: A Guide for Accountants, Lawyers, and Other Professional ServicesISBN: 978-0-471-26424-8
Hardcover
360 pages
April 2003
This is a Print-on-Demand title. It will be printed specifically to fill your order. Please allow an additional 15-20 days delivery time. The book is not returnable.
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"In The Firm of the Future, Ron Baker and Paul Dunn create an intellectual challenge for firm leaders. They are truly two of the best critical thinkers today. Together they provide the reader with a wealth of thought-provoking ideas. This is an intellectual masterpiece."
—August J. Aquila, Ph.D.
Managing Director, American Express Tax and Business Services and Co-Author of CPAs That Sell and CPA Firm Mergers That Work
"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
For the Front Matter of the Book:
Praise for The Firm of the Future
"This is an absolutely must read for any business (and that
includes accounting practices) who want 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 -
I've thoroughly enjoyed the philosophy as well as the practical how
to and why and 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 explains
the methods and FEELINGS that must exist in The Firm of the
Future."
—Harry Rosenburg, 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. It's a book that will
change your practice and your life—for 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.)
"I have no doubt that the revelations that Paul and Ron draw run
a parallel. Sometimes the answer is obvious, but only to those not
already under water that if they stood on their toes they could
lift their heads above water, and it needs someone from outside the
pool to see it. You have done this, you have the answer, and like
all brilliant business findings it is simple, it is available to
all, and it is practical. It requires only a willingness to accept,
to change and to grow - a willingness that some have and some will
never have, as like troglodytes they cannot accept change."
—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, President - R. 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 will
be touted through the ages as a seminal work on the new evolution
of the profession."
—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 wisdom a plenty Paul and Ron
have to impart. The profession has a vital role to play if our
capitalist system is to continue its enormous record of success,
and to prove to the doubters that 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: you'll 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 wouldn't 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 leader's 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
Bowman's Accounting Report
"It's refreshing to see a book that focuses the accounting
practice on who we truly are - and more importantly, who we should
be. We didn't 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
"Ron Baker and Paul Dunn have done it again. Living up to their
reputation for challenging conventional wisdom, Baker and Dunn
present a new paradigm for the professions to understand the
dynamic forces at play in the professional practice of the 21st
century. The Firm of the Future is a brilliant work that
adds a new dimension to the old formula for success in a
professional service firm. Baker and Dunn clearly lay out a new
road map to help leaders understand the differences between
leveraging people and leveraging knowledge; between billing for
time and pricing for value; and between doing things right and
doing the right things. This new paradigm for the firm of the
future will help professionals more accurately plan and structure
their firm in a way that acknowledges and capitalizes on today's
marketplace, technological opportunities, customer expectations and
human capital needs. Any practice leader who wants to ensure
success for their organization should be compelled to read The
Firm of the Future."
—Michael Platt, President & CEO, AccountingWEB
"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 re-evaluate what they do—and 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
business—and the rest of your life. The future of the firm
you inhabit will undoubtedly be shaped by The Firm of the
Future. Ambition fulfilled."
— Paul O'Byrne, Partner, O'Byrne and Kennedy, Chartered
Accountants, United Kingdom