Rita Keller, an award-winning and widely respected voice to CPA firm management, is uniquely positioned to help CPAs and their teams face rapid and significant change.
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
I have been talking to my clients a lot recently about CAS (Client Accounting Services). To me, for many firms, it is something that they should pursue. Even many of the Top 100 firms are using it and capitalizing on a growing and profitable opportunity.
Smaller firms seem to be less enthusiastic. For most smaller firms, it does require a digital transformation, elevating technology into a much broader role. Jim Boomer of Boomer Consulting, in a recent article, describes digital transformation:
Digital transformation
First is digital transformation. Moving up the continuum of value from transactional and compliance work to performance and strategic services requires elevating technology a much broader role. We must automate “low or no value” steps in the processes to improve the client experience.
Technology is the foundation of your firm’s ability to move up the continuum of value. So start assessing and evaluating available technologies and considering how your existing clients can benefit from new technologies.
No single software will have all the features to meet the needs of every client. Start with a primary, comprehensive accounting software and then use other add-on solutions that integrate with your main accounting software. This will provide the efficiency gains of automation.
If you want your firm to move from compliance to advisory services, Boomer also warns that your business model must also change. You need to address things like:
“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” – Malala Yousafzai
The AICPA Women’s Initiatives Executive Committee recently released the results of their 2nd annual CPA Firm Gender Study.
There has been little change. Women still make up less than one-quarter of partners in public accounting firms.
As usual, the smaller the firm, the more female partners.
Here’s some info from the Executive Summary but I urge you to review the entire report and share it among your partner group.
Partnership on average remains overwhelmingly male, with women representing only 22% of partners in CPA firms.
A growing percentage of women are serving as directors or non-equity partners.
Only 47% of firms have a formal succession planning process and only 2% include a formal gender component in their plans.
Flexible work hours are the most popular program, followed by reduced hours and telecommuting.
Women are key to succession for male partners. Make sure your firm is working on, or already has, a plan to help women (and men) to become future owners of your firm.
“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
In the accounting profession, we have been talking about sabbaticals for years. Few firms offer this benefit.
Some firms established a sabbatical program for partners, urging them to take six weeks away from the office with NO CONTACT. The mission being to prove to the partner that they could get along just fine without them and client service would not suffer. These types of programs were a half-hearted attempt at succession planning. Honestly, I haven’t heard of many firms offering sabbaticals in any form. It seems CPAs love to work!
Rather than focusing on partners, why not establish a sabbatical program for your team members. Maybe it would differentiate you from your competitors and help retain top talent.
Kabbage®, the pioneering financial services technology, and data platform, out of Atlanta is offering a unique benefit to its employees. Perhaps, you can learn from them.
Kabbage is now offering a sabbatical option for team members who have been with the company for 5+ years. And it’s quite the package – a 6-week sabbatical that is fully paid plus the company gives a $6k stipend to encourage its employees to do something memorable ( a trip of a lifetime?)
Competitive Benefits
Unlimited PTO
Equity in the company
Full coverage of individual health benefits
Six-week sabbatical program
Free parking
Annual bonus
Learning & Development
Shadowing program
More than 20 onsite courses
Interactive career development
Leadership development
Mentoring program
All of this makes me ask the big question. How does your firm’s career webpage stack up?
Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.
“I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.” – Maya Angelou
One of my favorite sessions from PSTech this year was “Mom, Manager, Mentor…Maniac?” by Lindsay Stevenson, CPA.
I so often hear sad… should I say “sob” stories from women in accounting. They, and often rightly so, are challenged by the difficulties facing them as CPAs trying to advance their careers and the important life role of mother and wife.
That’s why Lindsay’s presentation was so refreshing and inspiring. She didn’t mince words about the difficulties but she was so energetic and positive about the fact that women, working in the CPA profession, can succeed in both roles. She provided a lot of good information and strategies that are helpful to finding work/life integration specific to mothers.
Female CPAs, you can do it too – you can succeed in both roles. What you learn as a mom can also apply to your role as manager at your firm.
Join your local women’s initiative groups or the one sponsored by your state CPA society. Continually reach out to other working moms and seek positive, can-do mentors.
Don’t just let things happen to you – blaze your own trail.
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” – Oscar Wilde
I’m sure you have heard the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. It is from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack album and has been immensely popular. Here’s the lyrics to the chorus:
Because I’m happy Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof Because I’m happy Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth Because I’m happy Clap along if you know what happiness is to you Because I’m happy Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do
While we often moan and groan about the challenging work inside a CPA firm and the long hours (at times), I believe things have definitely changed for the better and CPA firm employees are happy. While performing my survey work for various accounting firms, I have found that most employees really are pleased with their work and proud of their firm.
Employees in most progressive CPA firms can now wear jeans on Fridays and in some firms every day. Firm leaders are involving all levels of employees in major firm decisions and if they have to work late to meet the needs of a client, they can do so from the comfort of their own home.
There is an interesting article via the Journal of Accountancy titled: How To Increase CPAs Happiness On The Job. Happiness researcher, Marsha H. Huber, CPA, Ph.D administered a survey on happiness to 1,200 CPAs in various industries asking them questions about topics including their satisfaction at work and in life and whether they found their work meaningful.
She discovered three factors
HOPE – She found the most important ingredient for job satisfaction to be hope – the belief in a better professional future based on concrete goals and multiple paths through which to achieve them.
CALLING – It’s a sense of purpose, excitement, and passion.
AUTONOMY – Nobody wants to be stuck in a job with no freedom.
Be sure to read the entire article and assess the conditions inside your own firm. The go get Happy!
Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.
“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” – Jeff Bezos
Last week, the Ohio Society of CPAs unveiled their new brand. I love the “Advancing the State of Business” focus and the video that talks about what CPAs in Ohio really do to help Ohio advance the state of business.
CPAs in all states are really doing the same thing.
I want to share the video and I hope you’ll take three minutes to watch it.
Is this the year that your firm needs to rebrand itself? Is your logo stale and out-dated? Winning client opportunities and attracting top talent is ALL about your brand. What are people in your business community saying about you?
Whether you do a rebrand or not, why don’t you do a similar video to help your clients understand how you can help them move their business forward. Put the video on your website and use social media to “drive” people to your website. Mention the video to current clients and ask them to share it with their business friends
If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.
Each year Vault.com, a company that provides in-depth intelligence on what it’s really like to work within an industry, company, or profession, unveils it’s Vault Accounting 50 – a listing of the 50 best firms to work for.
After busy season your thoughts will more strongly turn to your people. Of course, you continue to think about them and their well-being during busy season but probably won’t take action on any items until after April 15.
Here’s a couple of things that many progressive firms are doing:
Stand-up, Get Moving – – Standing desks reduce health risks, encourage more activity (and we all know that more activity is good for us). Accountants sit way too much! Does your firm offer to provide stand-up desks for everyone? Do you offer ways to be more active during tax season (yoga classes, Zumba, or an office basketball league)?
Here’s some tips for office workers to keep moving (from an article in the Dayton Daily News):
Use a printer or restroom on a different floor
Take the stairs
Leave the office for an afternoon stroll or coffee run (walk to the coffee shop!)
Set a notification on your computer that reminds you to move every 30 minutes
Get up to talk to a colleague instead of sending an email
Have a walking or standing meeting (these are very popular)
Stand while talking on the phone (I’ve seen a lot of partners do this one)
Pause and stretch
Take a quick walk during lunch break (I know a managing partner and firm administrator that often take a walk during lunch hour and talk about operational and HR topics.)
The second thing to consider, that many firms are providing, is closing the office on Fridays (or half-day on Fridays) from June through August. There are a lot of variations:
Close for the entire day on Friday (summer Fridays are fairly “dead” anyway)
Stay open but allow half the staff to be off one week and the other half the next week.
Establish 10 hour work days from Monday through Thursday so that 40 hours are still worked.
Close on Friday afternoons (this one does not eliminate commuting for a day which is a big issue).
Most firms tell me that their clients don’t mind at all if the firm closes on Fridays. Check out the website of Payne Nickles. Look on the left at their hours. “Fridays from May 1 through Labor Day we close at noon.”
The problem is not the problem. the problem is your attitude about the problem. Do you understand?
Your workday is very long this time of year. For many accountants, your workday is long almost every time of year. While some people say they disconnect when they get home… most people do not. A recent study found that 50% of people check work email before and after work hours and throughout the weekend.
In accounting firms, I bet the percentage is even much higher. I have heard some partners brag that they are ALWAYS available to their clients – 24/7. Personally, I don’t think that is healthy and a recent study found that the expectation that people need to respond to emails during off-work hours produces a prolonged stress response.
In his article for Forbes, Travis Bradberry, notes that we need to establish some boundaries between personal and professional lives. When you don’t, your personal life and health can suffer.
If you are working in an accounting firm and the partners (or even clients) expect you to be connected 24/7, you may need to set some of those boundaries. Bradberry suggests that you need to take a proactive step and say no to your boss because if you don’t, you are giving away somethings that are very valuable, like:
Your health
Your family
Your sanity
Your identity
Your contacts
Your integrity
Give it a try in order to keep your sanity during tax season – set some boundaries. Read more here.
The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you.
There has been little change. Women still make up less than one-quarter of partners in public accounting firms.
