{"id":30815,"date":"2013-09-21t10:46:53","date_gmt":"2013-09-21t14:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=30815"},"modified":"2024-09-01t14:48:59","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01t18:48:59","slug":"how-competition-is-redefining-accounting-firms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2013\/09\/21\/how-competition-is-redefining-accounting-firms\/","title":{"rendered":"five ways competition is redefining accounting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2026as accounting firms redefine value.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

by bruce w. marcus
\n<\/a><\/i>professional services marketing 3.0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

today\u2019s modern accounting firm \u2014 and there are more of them than we think, and fewer of them than we\u2019d like to think \u2013 is still evolving. change is the result of an evolutionary process \u2013 and evolution in a dynamic world is imperative and ongoing.<\/p>\n

today\u2019s modern firm is sufficiently different from those of the last century as to be almost unrecognizable to the old-timers in at least five ways:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. it tends to be more client-oriented.<\/li>\n
  2. it\u2019s informal in internal and external relationships, and appropriately formal when the accounting practices demand it.<\/li>\n
  3. new concepts of governance are beginning to emerge \u2013 even to the point of considering the publicly held accounting firm.<\/li>\n
  4. accounting firms increasingly speak of a concept called value<\/i> \u2014 what is the value to the clients of the knowledge and skills we provide?<\/i> \u2013 which puts greater pressure on the traditional and somewhat archaic hourly valuation of client service.<\/li>\n
  5. in many firms, hourly pricing is being replaced with the more substantive value pricing, based on the value of the matter to the client.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    the accounting profession faces a changing relationship with clients. the era of the somewhat docile client is vanishing, thus affecting the ways in which the profession must function in the marketplace. at the same time, the profession is experiencing commoditization of traditional services, which, in today\u2019s electronic environment, readily facilitates outsourcing to highly qualified accountants in such countries as india, the philippines and even china.<\/p>\n

    to have dreamed of outsourcing accounting processes to a foreign country would have been a source of great hilarity only a decade or so ago. such can be the quirks of evolution.<\/p>\n

    august aquila, a leading international consultant on accounting firm management (and my co-author of client at the core<\/i>), says,\u00a0\u201cthe traditional black box model of the all-knowing professional is now an anachronism. where once clients didn\u2019t have access to the accounting process, accountants now function in collaboration with their clients. this has fostered, in many client matters, increasingly changing the client-professional relationship to one of consulting. this relationship\u00a0continues to evolve as more aspects of the accounting process are commoditized, and are then outsourced. it\u2019s here, too, that technology serves as an important factor in accounting practice, as such practices as tax returns and bookkeeping are regularly sent to call centers in other countries, where they\u2019re processed by well-trained technicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

    this new kind of client is well known to the legal profession as well. says pamela woldow of edge international, law firm consultants, \u201cthe language of many current rfps now includes very specific questions not just about a firm\u2019s expertise, but about how <\/i>services will be delivered, budgeted, monitored and managed. [clients] are making clear what they want to pay and how they want services delivered. increasingly, they also have begun to insist that their firms provide additional no-cost perks.\u201d<\/p>\n

    new processes, such as defining, analyzing and using data of all kinds \u2013 knowledge management \u2013 are becoming an integral part of accounting firm management, and are themselves evolving. understanding and using data and information \u2013 both internally for firm management and externally as an aid to the crucial science and art of defining a market and reaching it \u2013 is expanding. and now, we have dedicated knowledge management specialists, some of whom are accountants, some of whom are data specialists and many of whom are both accountants and data specialists.<\/p>\n

    the firm that moves into the digital age \u2013 that uses technology with increasing sophistication in all aspects of its business \u2014 is the new norm. increasingly, firm practices are shaped by technology. processes are automated, the mobile office is becoming commonplace, concepts of productivity are increasingly considered. flex time and the internet allow people to work at home, which helps keep talent and can improve productivity.<\/p>\n

    practice development? no longer merely at the country club or golf course, but as a professional practice that\u2019s integral to the professional firm\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n