bye-bye big office: cpas tell how to do it

whether working remotely or remotely working: 1,600 surveyed cpas say mind your p’s & q’s.

by rick telberg
at large

with finance and accounting professionals increasingly working outside a normal office ? and outside normal office hours ? a new discipline and set of professional working standards appear to be taking shape.

in the networked, always-on, always-available world of work these days, time and space have been conquered. cpas are working anywhere and everywhere. unfortunately, many are also working too much.

but some tips from those who have done it may smooth the trail for those who follow. whether you are working remotely (or remotely working) or supervising those who are (you think), the new world of work has a set of new rules. successfully working from home or in small offices can require the same work rules and decorum that’s expected of the regular rat race cpas working in big offices. by one measure, there are 80,000 tax and accounting practices in small or at-home offices, and another several hundred thousand employees working at home for firms and companies.
these tips have been gleaned from 1,594 finance and accounting professionals in a bay street group llc study. all but seven percent of them work at home full time or take work with them out of the office at least five hours a week. it may be one of the largest and most comprehensive studies of its kind.

kevin shaw spent eight years working from home while building his shaw & associates firm in fort collins, colo., and every day he dressed the same as he would have if going to a downtown office. “it’s a matter of dedication and discipline,” says shaw whose now in-town office has a staff of four.

vicki helmick, a public practitioner in casselberry, fla., tells colleagues: “dress and act as if you were working in a regular office. the attitude and discipline come through ? even on the telephone.”

“get in a routine and stick with it. get up in the morning and dress like you would be going to work,” says rex roberts, a staff cpa in west hartford, conn. he also advises colleagues to stick to strict hours of business. “you’ll kill yourself otherwise and alienate people you don’t want to alienate.”

“just because someone is out of a bowo (big office/work office), doesn’t mean that expectations should change,” adds brian r. davis, a managing partner in washington, d.c. “when establishing a small-office/home-office environment for staff, you should establish expectations for productivity and communication from the outset and then measure performance against expectation.”

alejandro raimundez , who along with his wife, a fellow cpa, works at home in miami, advises, “you must work at it as when you worked for someone else,” with a special eye on timekeeping and constantly improving your business skills.

brooke salvini in san luis obispo, calif., says that, just like in the big office, cpas should “stay focused on goals, standardize the routine stuff and keep in touch.” indeed, proactively reaching out to clients, prospects and colleagues may be even more vital in small offices than in downtown offices where chance contacts with others of significance are more common.

“network heavily for new business opportunities, for potential partners and to understand what’s happening in your area,” says albert sullivan, head of a small public practice in vacaville, calif., where his networking includes a high profile in the local chamber of commerce.

in big business, image is everything, and for small offices it may be even more so. to enhance your professional image when meeting clients, several cpas suggest renting formal office space rather than meeting at the client’s site or in your less formal home office.

barbara henry, of oklahoma city, says some office owners will charge only for the brief periods used by renters, while robert taylor in baltimore suggests making a longer-term “office share” arrangement with another professional. he adds, “having access to a professional conference room, even if you don’t use it every day, is crucial.”

in another public image issue, just like cpas in big firms would be remiss to say the competition is better, small-office operators should not downplay their capabilities or let clients downplay them. “be careful, some clients expect a reduced rate because ‘you work at home’ and even ask ‘aren’t you deducting your office,'” notes diana aliffi of riverhead, n.y.

ann lee, of oklahoma city, further warns, “don’t undercharge because your overhead is lower. low-ball prices lead to low-class clients.”

today’s action items
— work is work, no matter where it’s done.
— be aware of the new and emerging etiquette.
— dress professionally, even if the only one who’ll notice is the cat.
— focus. keep your workspace free of personal distractions.
— set limits. and be clear about them with the family.
— follow your own rules, and rejoin the family with regularity and predictability.
— stick to a routine.
— expect the same level of seriousness, promptness, and thoroughness as if the work were done in a big office.
— be fanatical about timekeeping. it’s a key performance indicator.
— if you’re working for yourself, make sure you have regular performance critiques with your boss. in other words, take a hard look in the mirror and ask: would i hire you again?
— be proactive. with clients. with your colleagues. with your supervisor. with your remote employees. you can’t rely on running into them at the water-cooler anymore.
— network. don’t lose touch.
— get out. meet people face-to-face to maintain relationships and forge new ones.
— image still matters. rent formal conference space when needed. maintain proper telephone tone and formalities. keep up with your web site and marketing materials.
project excellence at all times. don’t undercharge, for instance, just because you have low overhead.
(source: bay street group llc)

[first published by the aicpa]

posted on march 19, 2006