Six Ways You Can Make the Recession Good for Your Career in Accounting
How to take control of your job, help your firm and thrive in adversity.
Steve Erickson
In “The Five Big Trends Pinching CPA Profits,” Steve Erickson explains how “The Great Recession” is hurting clients, while both reducing revenues for firms and raising costs. Here, he lists six strategies for professional success.
Steve Erickson
www.SteveEricksonLLC.com
The good news from “The Great Recession” is that there will be an ever increasing need for certified public accountants in the future.
As the economy picks up there should be many opportunities for growth. There are many ways you can assist your firm during this time of change and uncertainty.
Following are a few ways for you to help your firm and at the same time enhance your career in public accounting:
- Have a great attitude and be a person that others want to be around. Negativity is not helpful or productive and we need to be in a positive state of mind to be creative and provide solutions to our clients. Take responsibility for your own career satisfaction by consulting with mentors and getting the information you need to be successful in your career. As you experience greater feelings of success you will be more positive and our clients will receive better service which will benefit all of us.
- Take responsibility for your assigned engagements and tasks and be accountable for successful outcomes. The key idea here is to communicate timely and effectively so that everyone involved in an engagement knows exactly where the job stands. This will allow for collaboration and timely problem-solving by your engagement team which will be helpful in limiting cost overruns and client write downs.
- Manage your time. E-mail, voicemail, social networking all take time and can be disruptive when trying to do work requiring critical thinking skills. Block out time to devote to your client work exclusively. While at the office work with intensity and then go home on time to be with your family. In the long run this approach will make you happier in your career and also at home.
- Talk positively about our clients. They need our services and we have an obligation to provide those services in the most professional manner possible. Clients are not a burden. They are the life blood of our firm and allow each of us to provide for our families. We have the responsibility to communicate our needs and manage their expectations for a great outcome every time.
- Leverage your knowledge. In this way you become much more valuable to the firm and will assist in the “institutionalization” of our clients. Holding on and hoarding work that is beneath your level of expertise will limit your ability to grow at some point in the future. If you really want job satisfaction make sure you are doing work that is commensurate with your experience and value.
- Help us get the word out in the community about our firm. Everyone has an opportunity to participate at this level and should choose to do so in order to get new clients and achieve our mutual goals. If you belong to an organization participate actively. It will not only be more personally satisfying, it will also show everyone else that you approach your work with purpose and dedication which clients see as great qualities for an accountant.
via AICPA Insider
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http://www.homebasedaccountingbusiness.com
Good tips in your article – thanks.
Another reason why there will be an ever increasing need for certified public accountants in the future is the growing number of new business start-ups, fuelled by the recession, job loss and job insecurity.
Also modern technology allows more people to operate a business from home, making self-employment more viable than ever before due to low start-up costs.