Thursday, April 18th, 2013
The Importance of The CPA Firm Admin Team
How’s your administrative team performing? How would you rate their performance, as a team, on a scale of 1 to 10? I’m just asking you (CPA partners/owners) to think about it.
Often, leaders don’t really think about the admin team unless something goes wrong.
Your admin team are really key ambassadors for your firm. Often they have more conversations and interactions with the firm’s clients than the partners do. A partner might only know the clients he is responsible for and perhaps have never met many of the other clients in the firm.
Your admin team probably knows almost all the clients, especially in mid-size and smaller firms. What kind of investment are you making in their success? Do you invest in an annual administrative team retreat? Do you educate all of them on the financial aspects of the firm – how the firm really makes money? Are you proud of them and the way they present themselves as part of a professional services organization?
A new trend is developing. The college degree is becoming the new high school diploma and is the new minimum requirement for getting even the lowest-level job.
Per an article in the New York Times, a 45-person law firm in Atlanta has seen tremendous growth in the college-educated population. Like other employers across the country, the firm hires only people with a bachelor’s degree, even for jobs that do not require college-level skills.
At this law firm, this prerequisite applies to everyone, including the receptionist, paralegals, administrative assistants and file clerks. Even the office “runner” (the in-house courier who makes deliveries for $10/hour) went to a four-year school.
The managing partner of this law firm says, “College graduates are just more career-oriented. Going to college means they are making a real commitment to their futures and are not just looking for a paycheck.”
I am not saying you should replace everyone on the admin team who does not have a college education. I am stressing that when you have great people, whether they are accountants, bookkeepers, IT specialists or administrative professionals, you should be investing in their success. You should also be encouraging them to invest in their own success!
- Investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. It will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you.
