banks may be a competitive threat looming before the accounting profession, but they’re nothing that practicing accountants cannot handle.
by rick telberg
at large
still, banks and other competitors from beyond the borders of the profession should prompt savvy practitioners to make some key changes, like reaching out to clients more closely and more often.
accountants have expressed concerns about local banks making inroads in trusts, estates, investment advisory services and the related tax and accounting work. the issue surfaced most recently in our reports on the thinking among leading state society executives (state cpa societies grapple with evolution and the follow-up in the aug. 8 aicpa insider). some banks are also handling payroll services, the subject of this week’s survey.
to be sure, some banks are working hard to strengthen their relationships with cpas, understanding that helping cpas deliver better service to clients is the best outcome for all involved parties. aicpa business solutions launched a program in partnership with jpmorgan chase, for example, which offers unique services to cpas and their clients toward this end.nevertheless, most accounting professionals remain unbowed by potential bank incursions into their markets.
among those saying “not to worry” about banks, randy linn, a partner in huckfeldt & smith of bettendorf, iowa, says his clients are wary of their friendly neighborhood banker. “it’s hard to change banks if the need arises and, more importantly, if they hit a hard spell and things go badly, the banks tend to say ‘goodbye,'” he said.
“the banks can’t advise their own clients properly in the investment arena. they are not objective and they’re commission-driven,” said jeffrey a. baddish, of coltin, baddish & shapiro in plainview, n.y.
both accountants cite well-known marketing problems for banks. but, as we noted in the at large column on the american bankers association (cpas battle banks for business), banks are working to improve their client retention reputations.
responses to our survey from that at large column indicate well over 40 percent of accountants are concerned about competition. in rating the specific categories of competitors, 21 percent are “very” concerned and another 43 percent are “somewhat” concerned about the competition from software and technology automation companies; and 53 percent are concerned about clients potentially doing the work themselves, presumably with their own software and systems.
by contrast, 42 percent of accountants said they are concerned about banks. about 45 percent are concerned about law firm competition. trust companies and investment houses are no more an issue than banks.
an interesting side note: enrolled agents and other non-cpa tax and accounting businesses expressed the highest levels of competitive concern.
when asked to comment specifically about competitive threats, accountants offered more opinions about banks than any other competitor. perhaps that’s because banks are encroaching on more business turf than the other competitors.
key among the established accounting services that banks now offer are tax prep, bookkeeping, business analyses and payroll for businesses. and, of course they compete head-on in some still evolving areas for cpas, such as financial and retirement planning and third-party administration.
the lesson for the profession is to focus on doing a few things well rather than trying to be all things to all prospects, according to ava healy, a partner in a small firm in bethesda, md. that should help blow away the banks that are “going to hire kids just out of school at low wages to do high-level tax returns, reviews and compilations,” she says.
“we must educate the consumer that we are the most objective provider of financial services,” added doug stives, a tax partner at churchin group, a firm of fewer than 20 people in red bank, n.j. “we need to go beyond audits and tax preparation, and be involved with clients’ total financial activity.”
joe eckelkamp, chief executive of eckelkamp and associates, a st. louis-based regional firm, agrees that cpas must establish themselves as the first person clients call for “any financial solution.”
but he warns that the biggest competitive threat comes from new, mass-marketed and easy-to-use technologies that can help even nonprofessionals provide services that cpas also provide.
so what to worry about most? outside competition, disruptive technologies, or just our own slow-footed response to change?
well, considering change is the constant, slow-footed response to change is our biggest worry.