2020 outlook: the four big questions

even staying still requires planning.

by dan hood

the opening of the year was busy and confusing, with firms struggling with the technical complexities of the tax cuts and jobs act, the search for new clients, and, particularly for firms over $1 million in revenue, the war for talent.

more: 2020 outlook: dicey disruptions | 2020 outlook: upstream mergers | 2020 outlook: staffing gets creativegoprocpa.com

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but we also saw them wrestling with four bigger, more strategic questions:

  1. what kind of firm do we want to be?
  2. we know we’ll be somewhere else in five years, but where?
  3. do we want to commit to the move to advisory, and how?
  4. how deep do we need to dive into technology, and what kind of resources will that require?

a lot of those issues are still in play – not least the tax cuts and jobs act, which helped make this tax season a nightmare for many. that started to calm down on april 15, but the existential questions remain.

the first thing to do is stop assuming that tomorrow will – or can – be like today. then start thinking strategically about what outside changes are impacting their firm on the one hand, and on the other, where they want to take it in the future. (and they need to acknowledge that just staying where they are will still require change and strategy.) with all that lined out, they can start planning.