Business Commons^™

Relationship-Based Persuasion: A Guide For The Cpa, Maryanne Atkinson, James H. Thompson

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

An issue faced by a CPA on a regular basis is how to persuade a client to take a recommended action. Maybe your client is unprepared financially for the future and needs to establish a retirement account. As much as your client understands the importance of planning for retirement, the allure of a new car or a kitchen renovation may be too great, and that sensible alternative you are recommending may be ignored until some uncertain future date. Or, maybe the client’s internal controls are inadequate. For many small businesses, where trust in employees is paramount, internal controls may be …