This year is exhibiting signs of increased demand for services that CPA’s offer to firms and stakeholders they represent internally and externally. CPA’s must constantly develop their toolboxes, develop their mentalities and think beyond the box to deliver in order to be able to offer the quality of service, react promptly and adjust to changes.
Let’s address 10 areas that CPA’s can concentrate on, in four groups. The 4 T’s: Technology, Thought Leadership, Tax Strategy and Toolboxes are the first group. The 3 P’s are the second category: Persons, Process and Profit. The third is the 2 A’s: Accountability and Advocacy Category. The fourth and the final group is the C: Communication.
1) Technology: Technology is an environment which needs ongoing monitoring and
evaluation. It is important to leverage technology to do relatively high work and have
more context, particularly in this day and age where we have so many adjustments
that we have to evolve to and respond to problems.
Let’s step back and analyze the procedures: how long the processes take, what the
process pressure points are and what the shortfalls are. To overcome these
problems CPA’s must attempt to use automation. CPA’s need to ensure that they
keep up with advances in innovation.
2) Thought Leadership: With the right mentality, all that we want to do in our personal
and professional lives can be achieved. One can get all the best equipment,
technologies and teams in the world, but it doesn’t matter without the right
attitude. If you do not have the right attitude, communication skills and thinking
method, beyond the visuals, you will not be able to succeed. Make sure you are
constructive, not reactive, that you think things from the highest peaks to the lowest
peeks and everything in between. Ensure that there is perspective, make sure that
the judgements are not easily made based on our minimal personal experiences or
short term solutions. Make sure the initiatives are thought-out strategies, carried out
in ways that encourage conditions that contribute to success and can be sustained.
All of this matters, Thought Leadership is a process.
3) Tax Strategies: This year, as the stimulus packages, potential tax policy reforms and
daily complexities of tax planning make it more important than ever for CPA’s to be
able to educate consumers and other stakeholders about how to execute tax
strategies. CPA’s do not have a comprehensive strategy on how to sell consumers
with tax planning. Giving piece by piece data to clients is a disservice to the clients
and the CPA’s. As things continue to evolve on the tax policy front, instead of making
their customers reach out to them, CPA’s may use blogs, podcasts and webinars to
educate their customers about the changes and how the modifications affect them.
This does not mean that you have to do it yourself or have the business taking on
this assignment on its own. Other professionals, consultants, contractors etc. can be
leveraged and the resources they have can be utilized, making certain resources
accessible to them.
Think of it as subscribing to a platform that can be accessed by all the shareholders,
as opposed to attempting to reinvent the wheel and taking time out of the day to
bring it up to date. CPA’s will spend more time helping customers prepare how to
utilize the Tax Code as part of wealth creation and company scaling with robust
models and technological tools and less time dealing with tax enforcement and tax
planning.
4) Toolbox: Sometimes, people would set up projects without prior nor future
planning, which becomes a burden once you start facing difficulties while operating.
For example, when you purchase an electric item, you do not intend to keep the
electronic device for more than 2 years, but you end up using the device for 5 years.
Let’s presume an old laptop that still works because you just used to perform a
couple of personal tasks. You haven’t bought any extra chargers or got any extra
memory. Down the line you might need a new charger and more space for storage.
Since the laptop is old and the accessories are no longer available, you are not able
to update the laptop.
There are things you can do to streamline the process and spend more time adding
value to customers and less time doing grunt and administrative work, using
technology and proving an application you can use to submit proposals easily, having
report prototypes that you can use quickly to calculate what the funding needs of
your customers are.
Training should be performed constantly. To have instruction for your employees,
clients or stakeholders, you should not be scrambling. You don’t have to build up all
the training on your own or at your business. You may have a few go-to training
provider, some general, other specific to your niche, and other particular to practice
management, etc. You should also have a distribution, marketing and branding team
that supports you. In your field of expertise, you can be the finest and the greatest,
but you can lose out if your perfect customers do not know you operate or what you
are able to do for them. If other CPA’s are doing business around the world, and you
restrict yourself to only local engagements, than you really need to take a look to see
how you can market yourself and make sure you extend your scope. Be sure to fill
your toolbox with resources to succeed.
5) People: There are different things that leaders and managers can do to give
recognition and a voice to non-managerial employees. CPA’s can provide guidance to
junior advisory boards and forum where consumers, entry-level workers, lower-level
managers and administrative personnel can share their views and offer suggestions
to managers and leaders on the front line.
There has to be more genuine, constructive and deliberate initiative to make
diversity, equality and inclusion a living, breathing passion project and not just an
ambition that drops crumbs at people when there are holidays to be celebrated and
numerous hires to pacify. People should go out of their way to involve people who
are unique for them in what is valuable to the organization. For example, A CPA may
take a junior level employee to accompany them at conferences, mentor someone
from another organization who is an aspiring CPA, or launch annual scholarship
drives to help underrepresented groups of accounting candidates.
6) Process: Following a fixed and elegant process for different activities can make a
CPA’s life easier. A well planned and structured process can save you time and
money. By having a fixed process there are lesser possibility of conflicts between you
and your clients. For instance, let’s go through the financial audit process step by
step:
i. The clients provides the auditor with all the required statements.
ii. Auditors verifies the statements and prepares the financial statements for
the year.
iii. After completion the statement is sent to the client for approval.
iv. After the approval the statements are issued for the clients and submitted to
the authorities.
7) Profits: Businesses are expected to generate income and help create wealth for the
stakeholders involved and boost their financial well-being, financial status and
financial independence. Cash management and development are essential to the
strategic goals for your practice management and to the quality of service you want
to give everyone you represent. If you don’t understand your income and
understand the cost of keeping a client or completing a client’s service, if you don’t
know what your fixed and overhead costs are, if you don’t know the cost of scaling
your business, you’re at a loss. If you do not have resources in real time to predict
various scenarios, you do not have the appropriate information to make decisions
that affect the company’s finances. CPA’s need to insure that the data we provide to
customers is reliable and timely. We will need to verify that in-house knowledge we
use is reliable and timely. Your practice should influence what your customers want
to have.
When providing new services or goods, how can you ensure you can be financially
beneficial? Before introducing it to the market or the customers, you implement a
pilot program to test the service or product and use the client experience, analysis
and market knowledge to perfect the service and product.
8) Accountability: Accountability is fundamental, we must keep others and ourselves
accountable as we strive to build more productive work environments, bring more
value to our team, etc. For example, you need to provide a structure while you serve
your customers that automatically manages all administrative activities, enables
customers to provide and follow-up on inquiries for information records and send
them notifications about deadlines and unfinished products. It doesn’t become a
complicated assignment when you exploit technology. You should try to create
specific customer expectations so that they understand how your business operates
and what is required to work with you. After all, you want to
Offer value added services, not ongoing demands for the same data and past due
invoices.
9) Advocacy: When individuals hear the word advocacy, they think of public officials,
legislators, or pro bono legal services. To speak for those in your circle of power, you
don’t have to become a martyr or public servant. You are still a trustworthy
professional if you act as an in-house CPA, independent of your position. You will
help cross functional units and various top management make more rational,
sustainable and fair decisions that are more financially stable. For example,
experienced gained from working with firms from different industries and engaging
with cross functional teams can be used to promote conversations about
investments that need to be designed to ensure more productive work and to
ensure that employees need to do what they are assigned to, etc. You allow
individuals to free up their time and resources by solving a broken procedure, and
you help the company save money and maintain workers.
10) Communication: Communication is the key, being open about problems and keeping
shareholders updated. People want to be aware of current events and understand
how they are impacted by changes. People want to understand what to anticipate,
what the financial implications are and what the worst scenario is.
It’s important to listen actively. As a CPA, you will require good interpersonal and
cognitive skills to acquire a wealth of information about stakeholders affected
circumstances. You have to foster confidence and make stakeholder feel values,
whether you are operating in-house, supporting external client, managing a team,
organizing training, or volunteering on a non-profit board.
For inquiries:
Ali Al Dohh & Co. – Public Accountants
Oman Commercial Center
5th Floor, Office 511
E-mail: info@alialdohh.com
Phone: +968-97770477
www.alialdohh.com
