also: staffing grows more complex.
by angie grissom, the rainmaker companies
the rosenberg survey: national study of cpa firm statistics
in 2017, we saw more than ever before how the accounting industry is in a state of substantial transition. from the services clients need, the method on how to best serve them, the makeup of the firm’s professionals, the method on how to recruit, train and retain them and the business model of the traditional accounting firm – all are shifting.
more from the map survey: 2019: shifts in hiring & office space | 2019: firms grapple with change | staff policies improve, but not mentoring
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
the biggest struggle firms are facing is how to go about addressing the changes while leading the firm with the existing challenges of staffing, serving clients and acquiring new clients all while retiring out partners.
change management is tough and when firms are faced with the need to look at running firms differently, it becomes even tougher. the firm leaders who not only manage the current challenges but also step up to navigate their firms through the opportunities and challenges in front of them will realize a tremendous amount of success in the coming years.
because technology is the biggest catalyst in the changes we are seeing because of the ease of information transfer, the compilation of data and the use of big data, the changing currencies, how to best adopt and implement the appropriate technology is another big area of concern in firms.
i am noticing that more firm leaders are tuning into the current changes taking place as well as the changes on the horizon. leaders are looking at taking the appropriate steps to become “future-ready” by
- providing training and development opportunities,
- investing time in uncovering best practices for serving clients and
- finding the right balance of offering flexibility to team members.
leaders are less likely to ignore the trends and assume they will not affect their firms. while change implementation fails many times because of the “this, too, shall pass” attitude that professionals adopt when complacency sets in, these changes facing the profession will no longer allow firm leadership to stay complacent in their thinking and actions and i believe this is recognized.
two major trends include:
- a shift in the way accountants are serving clients. there is a need to move to more of a consultative approach as cpas are needed to help clients navigate the complex and highly competitive global marketplace. other professions are offering similar services to gain market share with clients, so we must be aware of how we serve clients and the value we provide must be great. firm leaders are seeing this and are investing in developing strategies to offer more value to clients through service offerings, selling and serving styles and methods and technological resources. firms are still struggling with how to appropriately measure the metrics for the professionals offering this type of service and how to measure success in offering these services. for example, utilization numbers should not be the same for compliance and advisory work. lack of the knowledge of how to effectively measure consultative versus non-consultative work will continue to be an issue as cpa firms are converting from purely cpa firms to professional consulting firms that offer accounting services in addition to other consultative services. if firm leaders don’t figure the tracking differences needed, and begin to measure differently, they will fall behind and not be able to create a sustainable advisory practice with appropriate metrics. we must change the way we measure to be able to keep the staff and grow the practices in advisory work.
- staffing is no longer what it once was. finding qualified staff, providing the right mix of development and benefits and retaining and promoting staff is becoming more and more difficult because of the number of available candidates, the desires and non-negotiables of the candidates and the need to alter hiring practices as they relate to non-cpa professionals, on-demand staffing needs of firms and the desires of candidates to operate as free agents. all of these factors are making the process of staffing more complex. firm leaders have the opportunity to re-engineer their approach to staffing so they can have access and can retain the best candidates.