ppp and cares: big opportunities to be trusted advisors.
by carrie steffen
the year 2019 seems like a lifetime ago and yet, as i reflect on the year it was, it strikes me that some of the trends we saw clients embrace positioned some firms to pivot more quickly in 2020 than others.
i saw an increased investment in people development – particularly the soft skills that become differentiators. areas like relationship development, communication, curiosity, and generosity took their rightful place among the areas in which firms invested in developing their people.
along with that, firms continued to invest in programs to better understand the “what” clients want from their relationship with their firms, especially as transitions to next-generation leaders continue. technology adoption continued at a steady pace, including more widespread adoption of cloud accounting. all of this is related to practitioners’ evolution to become business advisors to clients.
however, the biggest shift i witnessed in 2019 was that firms took steps to explore what it means to have a growth leader at the highest levels in firm leadership and to reorganize existing marketing and sales resources into a department focused on proactively driving growth forward vs. operating as a reactive service bureau “siloed” from the rest of the firm. it’s an exciting mindset shift that has implications for everything from client service processes, to hiring and retention, to training and development, to compensation, to technology and more. firms recognizing the value of the growth function and embracing it as a catalyst for their future success, as opposed to overhead to be managed, will be the firms to thrive in the future.
this mindset shift was a challenge for firms and partners that hesitate to let go of the old paradigm of growth, which is that marketing is a nice-to-have expense. the firms that made the most progress in this area are courageous enough to admit that they don’t have all the answers and sought the advice and experience of others to support their journey.
2020 has been the most challenging, interesting, and, dare i say, exciting year in my 25 years working with the public accounting profession. the profession has adapted in so many ways in such a short timeframe.
obvious changes such as new deadline schedules, remote work for both employees and clients, and audit disruptions were only some of the areas in which firms were forced to pivot. but there were also less obvious areas such as
- the humanization of our team members and partners as we for the first time got a glimpse into people’s homes and shelter mates;
- more deliberate and frequent communication with clients;
- greater acceptance of video communication technology like zoom;
- and a spotlight on the cpa as a true “trusted advisor” as millions of clients called upon their cpa’s help to navigate ppp, cares, and the economic environment in order to keep their businesses going.
as we look now to the horizon, firms must decide how they will weave these changes into the fabric of their firms going forward. now that the profession has experienced these changes, i find it unlikely that the profession will ever fully return to its pre-pandemic state.
for the most part, the adaptations firms made in 2020 were needed and wanted by upcoming generations of professionals but were accelerated by the pandemic. there will be some transition back to working in an office as i believe there are some practitioners who want that. there will at some point be in-person interactions with clients and referral sources. but now that the profession understands the opportunities that technology and remote work provide it is fair to say that the days of everyone working in the office 9-5 are gone. there will be a major shift in both size and configuration of office space.
i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: it’s such an exciting time to be in public accounting!