by rick telberg june 21, 2000 (smartpros) — it may seem far away, but the european commission has unveiled an ambitious plan to mandate that companies throughout europe follow a common set of accounting standards. slated to take effect in … continued
by rick telberg june 20, 2000 (smartpros) ? in the national battle to get the uniform accountancy passed in all 54 jurisdictions, new york state had been looking as if it would become an important and bloody battleground. but a … continued
by rick telberg
june 16, 2000 (smartpros) ? the relationship between the practicing professional and the client is being redefined by the technologies of the information age. no longer is the bond built solely on professional services rendered. the name of the game is information. and the client can get it anytime, anywhere, from almost anyone. the respected professional may no longer be the client’s first choice.
professionals must react in new ways to this new world order, according to dan sautner, chairman of the 300-unit chain of padgett accounting shops based athens, ga. in an analysis he performed for the national association of tax practitioners, sautner has worked to define the passing fads that can be ignored and the real trends that can be ignored only at our peril.
“in the future,” he warns, “if a client has a question, your answer may already be too late. information, to the customer, will be like a stream — constantly flowing. it will go past newsletters, returning phone calls and personal contact. when the client thinks of the issue, they will start researching. and you want your company to be the first stop.”
every professional has been asked for answers beyond their domains. accountants are asked legal questions. lawyers get financial problems. insurance agents face tax queries. no one can do it all alone. and yet, the client wants results.
“in the past, we all restricted ourselves primarily to the issues we are best acquainted with — namely taxes and accounting,” sautner says. “in the customer’s mind, however, we are seen as a much larger source of information.”
the well-armed practitioner of the future, sautner says, will require some additional expertise. “but, more importantly, it will require that we link ourselves with other professionals and include them in our community of services.”
this means that the parameters of the practitioner’s service offering will change. sautner says “we are seeing a gradual shift from a defined service towards an undefined service.” the lines between tax, accounting, business strategy, legal planning, investment and insurance are blurring. as a result, “customers will expect us to have a wider range of answers and solutions to their problems, even if we are not directly involved in the delivery of the solutions.”
because accountants cover more of the solutions than any other professional, they are “the cornerstone provider.” at the same time, more clients will be do-it-yourselfers, ferreting out their own ideas, doing their own research, and developing their own solutions. the effect will be to weed out the low-margin, high-maintenance clients. by the time these diy’ers come to the practitioner, they will be ready for high-level, premium services. or, as sautner puts it, “they will pay as much for us to straighten out their records, as they will for us to do the records in the first place.”
“this change,” sautner warns, “can be seen as the death knell for the profession as we know it, or an unbelievable opportunity.”
many, like sautner, see the opportunities, and find them eminently believable.
by rick telberg
june 15, 2000 (smartpros) — distinguishing between passing fads and lasting trends can spell the difference between life and death in this business. dan sautner has spent a lifetime making the right calls.
by rick telberg
june 14, 2000 (smartpros) ? it’s been said that the business of america is business. in fact, the business of america is small business. and it’s the nation’s local accountants who keep them humming.
“we are seeing a shift toward b2b e-comm in small business of all sizes.” — idc analyst
now there’s new research from the data hounds at idc in framingham, mass., which suggests that the nation’s small business owners are jumping into e-commerce as a critical part of their survival success formula.
idc says the number of u.s. small businesses engaged in e-commerce will increase from 400,000 in 1998 to almost 2.8 million in 2003. small businesses embracing e-commerce may be well positioned to succeed, idc says. laggards could fail.
most small businesses garner less than $5 million a year. but idc found that companies adopting the internet are raking in revenues “significantly higher” than those that rated it as less important.
“the internet is a key component to success for small businesses,” said merle sandler, senior analyst for idc’s small business program. “consumers have been the focus of small business e-commerce activity, but we are seeing a shift toward business-to-business e-commerce in small businesses of all sizes.”
other key findings
of 7.5 million small businesses, 11 percent were engaged in e-commerce in 1999.
one-third of internet-enabled small businesses have a home page.
small businesses profiting from the internet are more involved in business and other services, manufacturing, and real estate than their e-enabled counterparts.
small businesses that regard internet-related revenue as important tend to have been in business for a shorter period of time than other small businesses.
20 percent of small businesses are selling online, by taking orders over the internet or by phone or fax.
among the smallest of the small, technology can provide the critical difference. ray boggs, vice- president of idc’s small office/home office research, reports there are currently 25.5 million sohos in the u.s., equaling one in every four households. idc projects an increase of more than 6 percent annually, projecting 32.3 million sohos by 2003. idc surveys also find 25 percent of sohos want to conduct online selling and 21.5 percent of them have a web home page.
boggs says that while the number of startups is increasing each year, the number of businesses folding is also increasing. “but,” he says, “broadband and new technology will help the soho community compete effectively.”
clearly, this is an opportunity too big for smart accountants to pass up.
(/b>by rick telberg
june 13, 2000 (smartpros) ? cpas are looking at huge untapped opportunities to expand their practices by offering business clients a wide array of new services, products and advice, according to new market research.
“the survey findings indicate the existence of real opportunities for accountants to build relationships with their clients and to provide advice to them on a broad range of issues,” according to a memo to the american institute of cpas from the washington-based polling firm peter d. hart research associates. the report is being used by supporters of the plan to launch an aicpa-sponsored dot-com business linking small business with suppliers via their cpa.
but it also buttresses the long-range strategy of the profession and firms to take on an expanded role in business decisions and transactions. many firms have already adopted a new view of themselves as not merely service providers, but also as a conduit of marketing and distribution for services and products produced by others.
“when business leaders are asked to estimate the proportion of their total annual expenses over which their cpas have influence, the mean proportion is an astounding 17 percent,” says the unnamed author of the hart report.
and business clients are clamoring for more. some 58 percent said their expanded relationship with their cpa firm evolved mutually and organically, with no real plan or intention. another 27 percent revealed that they had to go out of their way to ask their cpas to take on extra work beyond taxes or accounting. and in only 9 percent of the cases did the cpa firm actually come in and ask for more work.
the hart pollsters surveyed some 403 business leaders and then weighted the results to reflect the true influence of small business in the economy.
key findings include:
70 percent report that their accountants influence at least some part of their business expenditures.
25 percent say at least 20 cents of every dollar spent was made after getting an accountant’s input.
94 percent place a “high level” of trust in their accountants. only 82 percent say the same for their lawyers. management consultants get the nod from 37 percent. and networking consultants garner 31 percent.
52 percent of all businesses use their accountants for more than just taxes or accounting.
cpas are typically involved in 55 percent of a business’s decisions about new financial services, including selecting insurance, investments, employee compensation and 401(k) plans.
cpas get involved in 33 percent of the decisions about selling, general and administrative spending, like office equipment, overhead, leasing a company car, packaging, or temporary staffing.
and cpas are consulted on 14 percent of decisions about technology products or services, such as communications networks, selecting service providers, and setting up web sites and conducting e-business.
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