{"id":115041,"date":"2023-09-10t12:55:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-10t16:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=115041"},"modified":"2024-08-27t17:01:17","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27t21:01:17","slug":"structure-insights-as-what-why-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2023\/09\/10\/structure-insights-as-what-why-what\/","title":{"rendered":"structure insights as what-why-what"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

how to define and refine your cas processes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

by hitendra patil<\/i>
\nclient accounting services: the definitive success guide<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

we know the outcomes that are important from the client perspective can, and should, define your firm\u2019s client accounting services processes.<\/p>\n

but how do you create your firm\u2019s cas-specific processes? where should you begin? how would you know what to change and what to add to your processes?
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it is both difficult and easy to create your firm\u2019s cas processes. it will be difficult, not impossible, to ask if you do not have reasonably deep insights into what your clients need and want. it will be easy if you have periodic interactions with your clients.
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\nhere are some guidelines to get you started on creating your firm\u2019s cas processes:<\/p>\n

start with the end in mind. <\/strong>review your current set of accounting reports that you deliver to your clients. take a hard look and think through from the client\u2019s perspective. if you were the client and your accountant gave those reports to you, what would you do? keep in mind \u2013 clients do not have the accounting expertise you have, so they look at the reports differently than you. what are the business decisions they can make using the reports your deliver? more importantly, what are the business decisions they cannot make because your reports do not provide the information\/insights to support such decisions? if there any critical business decisions your clients should make, you need to identify those and create information that will help them make those decisions. now work backward to identify process steps that will ensure you have the data to develop such insights. take the example of my restaurant accounting cpa. the firm delivers food, wine, liquor, beer, supplies and labor costs reporting. other than labor, some vendors provide all other things. the bills issued by such vendors need to be broken down into such \u201ccategorywise\u201d costs, and not data entered as one invoice-one payable entry. the end result changed the bills processing procedure at this firm.<\/p>\n

identify which common questions your clients are asking. <\/strong>another technique to create your firm\u2019s cas processes is to identify the most common questions your clients ask \u2013 after they see the accounting reports your firm delivers. (if they are hardly asking any questions, they are most likely not cas-fit clients.) either the answers to those common questions are not there in your reports, or you have not coached your clients on how to understand the accounting reports or both. when you identify that your reports do not contain some key elements, start working backward to the processes that produce your reports. add those steps that are missing and then regenerate the reports. make sure your reports now contain all those missing aspects.<\/p>\n

identify business decisions. <\/strong>review the accounting reports you are about to send to your clients. can you relate the most critical numbers in those reports to the business decisions your clients have made, or not made? as a professional accountant with reasonable experience, you will have at least a gut feel about the impact of business decisions, or lack thereof, on the financial numbers of the clients. now identify what could have helped your clients make better and more timely business decisions to make those numbers better or avoid some pitfalls. which information\/insights could have helped your clients have better business results? now work backward and identify at what point in time which information should be created from your processes. implement those changes and create more frequent (not just the end-of-the-month statements) \u201cinsights delivery\u201d to your clients so that they can make better business decisions and avoid bad choices.<\/p>\n

tell the story of the client\u2019s business. <\/strong>accounting is the language of business, and financial statements tell the story of how the company is doing. take the financial statements of your client and try to tell the story as a narrative of how the business did in the last month. don\u2019t just describe the numbers in words, e.g.,<\/p>\n

\u201cyour company\u2019s profit declined from 16 percent last month to 14.5 percent this month.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

when you describe the numbers, you are leaving it to the client to draw the inference and conclusions from what you tell the client. instead, use the words that the client will think in his\/her mind. make it conversational. you want to sound like an advisor or consultant, not an accountant. in the same example quoted here, you can say something like:<\/p>\n

\u201cyour company\u2019s profit declined from 16 percent last month to 14.5 percent this month, but your sales in the same period increased from 13 percent to 19 percent. your lower-cost products\/services are selling more this month. the cost of goods sold for such products\/services is higher than that of your other products \u2013 meaning profit margin is lower in your faster-selling products\/services. you should focus on selling more quantities of other, more profitable products or take steps to reduce the cost of your fast-selling goods.\u201d<\/p>\n

the story you tell should be the narrative going on in the minds of your clients. that makes clients respect you as the most trusted advisor because they observe that you \u201cget it.\u201d now, to be able to tell the story like that, do the reports you produce give you enough insights? if not, identify the storyline making insights, work backward and find out the process steps that need to be changed to produce such insights.<\/p>\n

one simple formula to use to structure your \u201cinsights\u201d is the what-why-what formula:<\/p>\n