New website helps local firms find CPA’s

Nick Cronin, corporate staff attorney for Waukesha-based Generac Power Systems Inc., and founder of Lawbidding.com recently launched his newest venture CPAbidding.com LLC in partnership with Keena Johnson, CPA.  CPAbidding.com is a website dedicated to helping individuals and businesses find and retain CPA related services, he said. 
 “After I launched Lawbidding.com, I realized I had the major asset, the website, already in place,” Cronin said. “I always thought the model would work well with other professions and I had a friend who was a CPA, so we decided that was the next step.”
According to Cronin, many CPA’s branch out into solo operations and small practices and one of the most important aspects of the business is gaining clients.
Similar to his lawbidding.com site, the website allows businesses and individuals to confidentially post the needs and services they have for a CPA. Registered CPA’s can then review the information and make bids on cases that they want to handle.
Due to the confidential nature of the information, postings from clients do not contain the identifying information of the individual or business making the post.
“The website creates a virtual marketplace that benefits both parties involved,” said CPA and cofounder of the site Keena Johnson, “Clients obtain competitive bids for the services they are seeking and CPAs build their books of business.”
Interested CPAs can register for the site by signing up for a profile, which requires them to submit their CPA certification number for verification, Cronin said.
Once they are registered, CPA’s can browse through the postings by location, service type or keyword. A public and private question thread is available for communication regarding additional information that would need to be exchanged between CPA and potential client, he added. 
“Once a CPA makes a bid on a service request, clients will be able to see that CPA’s profile with all the identifiable information,” Cronin said.
The website is completely free for both clients interested in receiving services and CPA’s registering for the site.
“Our goal right now is to just expand the site,” Cronin said. “We believe in the format, and things have been going pretty well for Lawbidding.com since its launch at the end of 2009, so we’re focusing now on growing the traffic.”
According to Cronin, both lawbidding.com and cpabidding.com are completely advertisement driven.