april2022 - 29

FEATURE
WHO IS BEST POSITIONED TO
START A CAS PRACTICE?
CAN JUST ANYONE WITHIN
MY FIRM LAUNCH IT?
Every CAS practice should be
outfitted with an experienced
leader who can focus on building
the service without other distractions. A CFO
with deep knowledge of CAS, for instance, can be
an invaluable resource even if you must recruit
that person. This CAS-specific leader needs to be
supported by a methodical and innovative team,
which requires investing in motivated employees to
deliver impressive results. Offering training sessions
and professional development opportunities while
encouraging employees to pursue their interests can
go a long way to developing a cutting-edge practice.
Just be sure to keep senior leaders abreast of
the value and results CAS is delivering, regardless
of how small they may seem in the beginning. A
supportive executive leadership team will give
you the freedom to take reasonable risks and the
confidence to see them through.
HOW WILL CAS AND
TECHNOLOGY IMPACT THE
PROFESSION IN YEARS TO
COME?
Modern CAS practices are
appealing to a new breed of
professionals who are equally
passionate about accounting and technology.
Advanced digital systems have become integral to
the industry, so CAS practitioners can now have a
career in finance without sacrificing their interest
in technology. Both the processes and the people of
our profession have shifted to meet new challenges
and working environments.
And the shift is being embraced. Technology is
saving accountants hours each week by eliminating
redundancies, which gives them the freedom to
focus on higher-value tasks like advising clients.
Automated accounting systems have allowed firms
to eliminate paper processes, streamline accounting
and easily analyze data. The most effective CAS
practices will embrace updated systems as the next
best way to improve vendor relations, eliminate
paper waste, simplify the auditing process, reduce
fraud risk and ensure bills are paid on time.
One of the biggest impacts on accounting to
emerge in the last two years has been remote work
policies. Digital transformation and new technology
have made it easier than ever for employees to
work from home-and many are choosing to do so.
Before launching a CAS practice, make sure your
team can collaborate and access information in
real-time because remote and hybrid work models
are here to stay.
HOW MUCH DOES MY
TEAM REALLY NEED TO
KNOW ABOUT A CLIENT'S
INDUSTRY?
CAS teams should be able to
speak confidently about client
industries, at least in general terms.
Diving narrowly into a niche subject isn't for everyone.
However, you should still encourage employees
to acquire a working knowledge of the profession
by reading background material and staying up to
date on trends. This will help build strong client
relationships and allow your firm to deliver customized
strategies that drive better results.
BEYOND TECHNICAL
PROWESS, WHAT SKILLS
WILL ENSURE SUCCESS
WITH MY CAS TEAM?
Accounting is no longer a
straightforward game of debits
and credits, so recruits and current
employees need to be able to handle many responsibilities
at once while working well with others to get
them done. The ability to collaborate and multitask
should be at the top of your performance wish list.
Excellent soft skills are equally important. The
ability to communicate well, be empathetic about
client needs and work seamlessly with teams can differentiate
good employees from great ones. Soft skills
elevate hard skills to ensure clients stick around. This
includes being able to engage in compelling financial
storytelling by translating hard numbers into relatable
narratives that clients can easily understand
whether they are finance professionals or not.
A passion for technology is similarly indispensable.
Automation and digital tools are crucial to CAS,
so while newer employees may be familiar with
Jeannie Ruesch is a Director of Marketing at Bill.com
and has been in the accounting profession for almost ten
years. She previously worked at Xero and The Sleeter
Group. Ruesch has more than 25 years of experience in
brand creation and strategy, design, social media development,
demand gen and customer marketing. She's an
automation geek at heart, an author, an award-winning
graphic designer and loves finding ways to help customers
solve problems.
current technology, make sure the skills are shared
across your full team.
AS I BUILD MY ADVISORY
PRACTICE, WHAT ARE THE
KEY AREAS OF FOCUS TO
OFFER THE MOST VALUE
TO MY CLIENTS?
Today's CAS practices need to
strategically use business intelligence
tools to fuel growth for your firm and
your clients. Having access to advanced analytics,
which your CAS team can translate into meaningful
insights, will help clients set and meet more
impactful goals. Part of this hinges on providing
easily digestible information from many different
sources. Packaging data into financial stories can
turn raw numbers into a finished narrative that
is more meaningful and relatable to clients. Helping
clients build cohesive automated processes
can differentiate your practice. Companies in
every industry are looking to simplify and update
processes so they can seamlessly manage many
different departments or branches.
There are many tools out there to help you do
this. The key is to understand their capabilities and
fully integrate them. Staying up to date on new
developments and implementing them quickly will
save everyone time and money. Ongoing training for
your staff is essential as you continually build out
your tech stack. Provide resources and support to
help your staff fully understand the tools so they can
help clients take full advantage of their capabilities.
SIX QUESTIONS FOR SUCCESS
CAS continues to evolve as the accounting profession
embraces technology and new practices. But
figuring out how to navigate changing environments
is easier said than done, especially when it comes
to launching a new offering. The answers to these
six questions dive beneath the surface of CAS to
give you actionable insights. Take it from us, trying
something new is scary, but what we learned as
trailblazers can help you conquer CAS! ■
Kane Polakoff is the founder and the National Practice
Leader of Client Accounting Advisory Services at UHY
Advisors, Inc. He has over 25 years in national and international
executive roles in Client Accounting Advisory
Services, management consulting, business process outsourcing
and business transformation. Polakoff has also
been responsible for successfully delivering end-to-end
solutions to small, midsize and Fortune 100 companies
within different business sectors such as health care,
retail, not-for-profit and manufacturing.
APRIL 2022 ■ www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
29
http://www.Bill.com http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
april2022

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