What Clients Really Want
Here’s what you’re looking for: Jeffrey S. Pawlow
More Complex Work = Higher Fees, Right?
ALSO: Some pushback on virtual work environments.
By Jeff Pawlow
Anytime that complexity goes up, it seems that accounting fees follow. That said, the current economic environment may not allow firms to capture as much additional work as they may have in other turbulent/changing environments.
MORE: Remote Work Is More Productive | Advisory Services: Real Commitment or Just Talk? | 2021: You’ll Never See ‘Normal’ Again
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Clearly, clients are tightening their belts, and it now becomes imperative for firms to bring more to the table than just “debits and credits.” The role of a trusted advisor is paramount in this uncertain time and firms that embrace the challenge will leap ahead of the pack. Unfortunately, many firms are slow to adopt this posture. Providing clear value for fees is a non-negotiable moving forward.
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2020 Outlook: More Engagement, Less ‘Efficiency’
How well do you know your clients’ strategic plans?
By Jeff Pawlow
While firms intellectually understand what it means to move from a “compliance” to an “advisory” posture, most are lagging when it comes to actually making the pivot.
MORE: 2020 Outlook: Non-Traditional Hires Might Be the Answer | Development | Innovate and Anticipate | Balance Advisory and Compliance | Talent Shortage Drags On | Demand Is High | Business Development Goes Borderless | Data Import on the Rise | Becoming the Most Valuable Advisor | Top Three Tips for 2020 Success | Where Do You Want to Be? | Dicey Disruptions | Upstream Mergers | Staffing Gets Creative
Part of this is based on the fact that most firms are still run the way they have always been run – designed to produce the core services as efficiently as possible. In order to function in an advisory capacity, a complete retooling is necessary – where the emphasis is less about efficiency and more about engagement.
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2019: Expect More Alliances
ALSO: Manage your non-charge hours.
By Jeff Pawlow, The Growth Partnership
The Rosenberg Survey: National Study of CPA Firm Statistics
All of this M&A is coming at a price. Yes, top lines are growing, but often the challenge of successfully assimilating a disparate culture causes challenges to the bottom line.
MORE FROM THE MAP SURVEY: 2019 Trends: Client Service Changes | 2019: Shifts in Hiring & Office Space | 2019: Firms Grapple with Change | Staff Policies Improve, But Not Mentoring
This is a relationship business – and it is almost impossible for a practitioner to function at an advisory level absent true professional intimacy with their clients. Sadly, most firms don’t have programs in place to drive these dynamic relationships and are still stuck managing the compliance services at the expense of the advisory work.
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Be an Advisor, Not a Robot
Preparing for the future will require more face time.
By Jeff Pawlow
Rosenberg MAP Survey
Take a look at www.willrobotstakemyjob.com and type in “accountant.” If you select “accountants and auditors” you see that there is a 94 percent chance R2-D2 will be counting cash instead of you sometime soon.
MORE FROM THE MAP SURVEY: Succession Issues Stalling Some M&A | Firms Focus on Profitable Growth, True Leadership | Survey: Many Firms in Transition | Technology Playing Center Stage in CPA Profession
On the tax side? Things get even grimmer with a 99 percent chance your job will be replaced by automated systems in the near future.
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Do You Have a Firm or a Co-op?
It’s survival of the fittest. Guess which that is.
By Jeff Pawlow
The Rosenberg MAP Survey
Let’s be honest. Statistically, a lot of firms are co-ops: A collection of sole practitioners banded together to share administrative and overheads costs, but who fail to grasp the nature (and potential) of a truly synergistic firm.
MORE FROM THE MAP SURVEY: SURVEY FINDINGS: Accountability, Equity, Compensation Are Concerns | MAP Survey Top 10 Findings | CPA Firm Revenues Rise a Hefty 8%
In a market made up of world-class competitors who are actively working to sow seeds of discontent between you and your best clients and top employees, this isn’t going to end well for the co-ops.
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