The stock market crash, plummeting real estate values and the credit crunch have created general-purpose anxiety for most CPA clients. But for those with children someday headed for college, that looming burden weighs particularly heavily.According to the most recent College Board survey, the average tab this academic year at a four-year private college is $37,390. And total expenses at four-year public institutions average $18,326 for in-state residents, and $29,193 for out-of-state students.

This new term, "blended living" might come in handy when formulating work/life plans in your firm.It means blending together the different aspects of your life rather than having the silo approach, according to Carol McLachlan, a professional-development coach. The philosophy has efficiency/time optimization advantages, but also allows staffers to reap the rewards of synergy between the different aspects of their lives.

"Women have been in the profession in equal numbers to men for more than 20 years, yet women represent just 19 percent of the U.S. public accounting shareholder/partner population," reads just one statistic in "The Attraction, Retention and Advancement of Women Leaders: Strategies for Organizational Sustainability, a report released in October by the AICPAs' Women's Initiatives Executive Committee.Part- and full-time flexibility programs within many accounting firms have beefed up the number of female senior managers and female managers. The report added that turnover or stagnation of these managers is still apparent as they approach higher levels or directors and owners.

The Internal Revenue Service has given Section 529 tuition programs the ability to change their investment strategies more frequently in response to the financial crisis.

More than a third of CPA firms plan to supplement their workforce in the next 12 months, according to a newly released survey.

Despite dramatic changes in the accounting profession, nearly one in five corporate accounting departments are not planning to offer training to their accountants in the next two years, according to a new survey.

Payroll and benefits outsourcing provider Paychex Inc., said the combination of a widening credit crunch and continued weakness in the economy forced a 5 percent drop in second-quarter profits, to $140.2 million, compared to the second quarter of last year.

The New York State Senate and Assembly have unanimously passed a groundbreaking bill that would amend the laws governing CPAs and provide greater public protections for their clients.

Are you trying to establish a mentoring program within your firm that sticks? Consider these words of wisdom from a CPA based in New York who co-founded a mentoring initiative that is celebrating 10 years.

It’s one thing to be a leader within your firm, however, it’s quite another to also be a leader within your community.

While staffing, training, new software applications and the latest tax law changes are at the top of every practitioner's to-do list for the tax filing season that looms ahead, the overriding concern this year is the economic crisis and the changes facing both themselves and their clients.

Firms today are facing succession-planning issues at an unheard-of pace. Blame it on the Baby Boomers and the overall demographics of the accounting profession and the population in general.Over the past year I have worked with several managing partners in helping them transition from one set of leaders to another. The question I often get is, "When is the time right?" Managing partners decide to pass the baton to the next generation at different times. Some decide it's time when they are in their early or mid-50s, since they want to do other things in life. Others will hold on until the last possible moment. Some never make a transition.

Accounting firm Weiser LLP has hired an unemployed investment banker and Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate who gained fame last summer for wearing a sandwich board on New York's Park Avenue that advertised, "Experienced MIT Grad for Hire."

If you’re any type of news junkie, most likely you’ve heard the story regarding the unemployed investment banker with the MIT degree who flanked himself in a sandwich board, parading on New York’s Park Avenue this summer, bearing his credentials.

My editor, Bob Scott, called me from an Information Technology Alliance conference this week to report some seemingly unbelievable news: Several attendees were complaining about candidates who didn’t show up for job interviews.

Online payroll service PayCycle unveiled the latest version of its software, with improved set-up and export features.

If you are interested in how the accounting profession is evolving, you might want to keep Mark Koziel on speed dial.

On the heels of weak results for its North American operations, Sage has laid off 150 out of its 5,000 North American workers, citing the move as a response to the economic climate.

Employment in the private sector fell by 250,000 in November, according to the latest monthly report by payroll processor ADP.

Looking to get younger accountants through your doors? Try hosting a speed-dating event along with cocktails.