Last week I conducted a breakfast meeting of the Withum Partners’ Network and I was asked a question that was not answered, so I’ll answer it in this column.

Thanks to technology, we see clients less, but speak and interact with them more, maintaining and strengthening the relationship.

A few months ago I suggested that becoming an expert generalist as a niche was a possible career track for someone in a larger firm. I received a lot of feedback that caused me to rethink the column, and I have.

A month ago I wrote that I “gave away consulting and coaching” services. However, that is not the whole story and because of the calls I got, here is some more of what I did and do.

Many accountants have just completed their “second” tax season finalizing the extended returns, and life must go on.

The reality of being a partner in a firm, regardless of the size, is that you are running a “one-partner business.”

In many firms the reality is that most partners below the “dictator” at the top are treated as employees—maybe a little more respectfully, but still as employees.

Clients buy something they need or solutions to problems, not hours. Here is a situation that has actually occurred in a client’s legal matter.

Besides clients and partners, my primary interactions are with other accountants who call me with their practice management questions.

Actually I do not sell coaching, mentoring or consulting services to clients—I sell solutions to problems.