I must have a dozen books on my shelf all designed to take the mystery out of something; what to expect with pregnancy, potty training, raising teenagers, home ownership, raising chickens, and so on. All these books have one thing in common; minimizing uncertainty; they help us anticipate and prepare for the unknown.

Johnson Lambert has appointed two CPAs to principal. The Washington D.C.-based accounting firm has promoted Megan Hubbuch CPA, CPCU, and Scott Hall,CPA, to that position. Hubbuch joined the firm in 2006 and is a principal in its Jacksonville, Fla., office, while Hall works in the Raleigh, N.C., office.

Bookkeeping and the processes for accounting for financial activities in a business center on the collection, categorization, summarization, and reporting of data generated from all aspects of business operation. In smaller businesses, the activities required to perform the bookkeeping task required the bookkeeper or business owner to be directly involved in reviewing and entering the data for each transaction.

There is no question that the most profitable firms (defined as high per partner income) in our profession have figured out that leverage and a well-managed pyramid is one of the key ingredients. Why is it then that so many firms, and I would suggest the majority, are struggling with just the opposite – an upside down or inverted pyramid where there are lots of partners and managers but few staff.