By Vincent Howard, CPA | Managing Partner, Howard, Howard and Hodges | SkillAbility for Accounting Firms Last updated: November 5, 2026 | 48-minute read TL;DR — The Short Answer CPA firms retain accounting talent when people can see a sustainable workload, a credible future, capable managers, fair rewards, useful technology, and evidence that the firm
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staff development Archives - SkillAbility
17 Sep
AICPA Profession Ready Initiative: What CPA Firms Should Do Now to Prepare Early-Career Accountants
By Vincent Howard, CPA | Managing Partner, Howard, Howard and Hodges | SkillAbility for Accounting Firms Last updated: September 17, 2026 | 38-minute read TL;DR — The Short Answer CPA firms should not wait for the AICPA Profession Ready Initiative to publish its final framework before changing how they develop early-career accountants. The research is
By Vincent Howard, CPA | Managing Partner, Howard, Howard and Hodges | SkillAbility for Accounting Firms Last updated: July 23, 2026 | 31-minute read TL;DR — The Short Answer Month-end close training for staff accountants should teach employees to produce complete, supported, accurate, timely, and explainable financial information—not merely finish a checklist before the deadline.
By Vincent Howard, CPA | Managing Partner, Howard, Howard and Hodges | SkillAbility for Accounting Firms Last updated: July 20, 2026 | 24-minute read TL;DR — The Short Answer Accounting managers should hand off work when another employee can own a clearly defined outcome within approved authority; review work when risk or development requires independent
17 Jul
CPA Firm Capacity Planning Template: Calculate Workload, Review Bottlenecks, and Hiring Needs
By Vincent Howard, CPA | Managing Partner, Howard, Howard and Hodges | SkillAbility for Accounting Firms Last updated: July 17, 2026 | 23-minute read TL;DR — The Short Answer A CPA firm capacity planning template should calculate demand and usable capacity separately for preparation, review, manager judgment, client leadership, and specialized work—then identify the first
By Vincent Howard, CPA | Managing Partner, Howard, Howard and Hodges | SkillAbility for Accounting Firms Last updated: July 15, 2026 | 27-minute read TL;DR — The Short Answer A staff accountant is ready for promotion to senior when the person can consistently produce review-ready work, recognize and escalate issues, understand client context, manage assigned
By Vincent Howard, CPA | Managing Partner, Howard, Howard and Hodges | SkillAbility for Accounting Firms Last updated: 2026 | 12-minute read TL;DR — The Short Answer Accounting staff need five layers of capability, not just technical knowledge: (1) technical execution — completing reconciliations, bookkeeping, tax workpapers, and closes accurately; (2) software and workflow fluency
09 Jun
How to Turn Order-Taking Tax Staff into High-Ticket Advisory Engines (Without the Recruiting Tax)
By Vincent Howard, CPA | Managing Partner, Howard, Howard and Hodges | Skillability for Accounting Firms Most accounting firm owners are trapped in an expensive, defensive talent game. We look at our existing team and see compliance processors who require constant oversight. Then, when we want to expand our firm’s capacity to deliver lucrative advisory
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