are you building a cathedral or merely breaking stones?
by bill penczak
the combination of the summer doldrums and the covid shutdown has provided some firm leaders pause to get in touch with their right-brainedness.
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these are difficult times for the economy and the industry, and while some firms hope to return to the good old days, covid and other societal changes may cause a long-overdue sea change in the accounting industry, which has been doing the same thing the same way for more than 100 years.
sometimes it takes a catastrophe to spur fundamental change, and that’s what we’re seeing today.
wayne mcconnell, the managing partner of houston-based mcconnell jones, one of the country’s largest african-american firms, has been contemplating how the covid crisis has refocused their energies in refining the firm’s mission, vision, and values to align even more with the firm’s dedication to diversity.
“we have been focused on diversity at the firm and in our personal lives constantly, and have consistently been reflective about these issues,” he says. “so while this year’s events have put the topic in the spotlight, it has always been top of mind for us. what i would consider different, is our placing more emphasis on the business imperative for us and for the country associated with diversity.”
after speaking with mcconnell, we wondered how or if other firms were becoming more reflective, so we reached out to a number of them, and here are the results.
the first comes from bernard fay, managing partner of uhy fay & co., which has offices throughout spain, a country that was hit hard and early by the coronavirus.
fay wroites, “we are taking the following measures at uhy fay & co in spain:
- closer than ever with our staff.
- closer than ever with our clients.
- moving all our management tools to cloud solutions with the latest technology.
- cloud solutions for accounting and compliance services.
- flexibility with working remotely.
- expanding our services.
- offering clients corporate finance solutions in the expected financial downturn in the months to come.
- analysis of the performance of all business units to improve performance throughout the organization.
“we want to keep our client base and expand and look after our people and employ rather than have to lay off staff.”
on the other side of the world, david tomasi, the managing partner for moore stephens in western australia, has a somewhat reflective view of the situation and its impact on his firm.
“we are not really looking to do anything dramatically different – we are very lucky here in western australia. if anything has heightened the awareness of our ‘worth’ to clients, both from the client perspective, but more so, internally. this is with staff and partners alike,” tomasi said. “covid has meant they need to interact more, and with proactive advice. the trouble with accountants is they tend to undersell themselves, and this has been an opportunity to reverse some of that thinking.”
closer to home, eric majchrzak, ceo beachfleischman in arizona, wrote to says, “we are looking at hard trends that have emerged through covid-19 and are pivoting to offer services that align with the most critical business issues. we are being intentional with helping businesses navigate through the disruption. our firm rolled out ‘flat-fee’ ppp loan forgiveness consulting services months ago. there are many businesses and industry sectors that are facing financial distress, so bankruptcy, restructuring, and turnaround consulting services are on our radar.”
majchrzak continues, “many firms already offer cybersecurity services to help businesses protect their data, and this is also an area we are looking at – especially given the challenges businesses face with the remote working environment. these are all ways our firm will hopefully look different emerging from covid-19. as a top 200 firm, we have seen how covid-19 has accelerated our pace of transformation.”
and the managing partner of a firm in connecticut, who preferred anonymity, has noticed a shift in himself and his people during the past few months. “our revenue for the first few six months was down about 20 percent, and our profitability down by 90 percent. i feel a responsibility for all my employees and feel lucky we’ve neither laid anyone off nor adjusted compensation. i’ve noticed that with less work and a generally less hectic work schedule, our people are willing to be engaged more – even by phone or zoom. their time in comparative isolation has caused us to be more thoughtful about our dealings with each other and with our clients. for me, as the leader, the time i used to spend putting out a lot of fires has been spent thinking about the future of the firm, how we can differentiate ourselves to create better value for our clients, and greater market relevance. it’s actually been refreshing and invigorating, as we consider our value proposition. i feel more engaged than i have in years.”
so while the geographies are varied, the themes are not.
the firms that will survive and thrive are taking similar actions:
1. examining their true value to their clients. compliance is a necessary evil, albeit an important one. the better firms are looking at their relationships and determining if they are merely transactional; they are seeking new and different ways to provide assurance in the sense of comfort and peace of mind as opposed to “audit and assurance.” not all firm leadership has the eq to have that conversation.
2. being creative and flexible. whether it’s offering payment terms to distressed clients or creating a truly new consulting service line, this is the opportunity in time to bend your thinking a bit. it would serve firm leadership well to engage the input of some of the younger team members, who see more clients than the partners do, and have fewer preconceived notions about “how we’ve always done it.”
3. for the braver firms, examining your core values would be a worthwhile exploration. what is your mission, beyond making more money for the equity partners? why should your employees get up excited to work for you each morning? it’s all a matter of how you look at it, and the vision you portray as a firm leader. it reminds me of the old story about the traveler who comes upon three stonemasons working hard:
“what are you doing?” asks the traveler.
“breaking stones,” grunts the first.
“making a wall,” says the second.
“building a cathedral!” proclaims the third.
is there any difference in the work of these three men? maybe not. but is there a difference in their perspective? most definitely yes.
4. embracing your people. i loved what bernard fay says: “closer than ever to our staff.” that’s more difficult to do remotely, and it’s not becoming easier with zoom fatigue. it would be powerful for firms to create an old-fashioned “phone tree” in which partners reached out individually to their people, by phone, just to check in. the “too busy” excuse is just that – a feeble attempt to avoid real conversation. get out of your comfort zone and off your high horse and pick up the damn phone. as my dad used to tell me, you always make time for the things that are important.
i’m actually quite optimistic about how the industry will weather and transform as a result of the pandemic. the more forward-thinking firms will seize the opportunity and become successful, engage their clients in new and interesting ways, and foster a working environment that many would have rejected six months ago.
it’s a new world. be brave.