CPA Practice Advisor - 38

THE MILLENNIAL ADVISOR

Stepping Out
AS ACCOUNTANTS, WE often take great comfort in what we know. We are typically
viewed as reactive experts in taxation, auditing, and financial accounting. These three
core areas are places we connect with: we feel comfort in the debits and credits and the
tax code. We focus on these areas and stay in our comfort zone, as we move through

GARRETT WAGNER, CPA

CEO/Founder, C3 Evolution Group
garrett.wagner@cpapracticeadvisor.com

the cycles of the year, be it the monthly close, tax deadline, or audit due date. But what
we don't spend time thinking about is what are client's or organization's needs past the
numbers, past our comfort zone. We may have heard that our accounting profession
is going through a major generational change, but from where we sit, we are perfectly
content and comfortable.
Unfortunately, this comfort
comes with negative aspects of
which we fail to understand the
full scope. History is full of stories
of companies and civilizations that
fell out of our memory as they did
not want to accept the change with
which they were faced. For a good
number of millennials, they still
remember the concept of a CD store
in the mall. One big shop where you

AUGUST 2019 ■

could just buy CDs, DVDs, electronic
gadgets, and accessories. But before
millennials had even grown up,
these stores were suddenly gone
from malls everywhere, replaced by
online music sharing and streaming.
How can we begin to take small
steps to step out of our comfort zone
and begin to be more proactive vs.
reactive? For the purpose of this
article, let's focus on just one key

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area. Do you understand for each
of your clients or fellow teammates
inside your organization, what is the
most important thing to them? Just
one simple question, do you know
what is most important to them, or
are you just guessing, or do you have
no idea at all? We don't need to step
out of our comfort zone with some
major plan and initiative as part of
a multiple choice assessment, just
take the first step and start with one
small question and build from that
success and comfort.
The first thing we need to do
is realize that we are accountants
first and foremost, and, while our
role as accountants is going through
change, we need to not forget some
of the tools we currently use. Primarily and for better or worse, we
are driven by checklists and procedures, be it the cash audit program,
a 1040 checklist, or a monthly close
process. We are all about the process
and procedure.
Luckily, this is just one question,
so the procedure is short, but the
concept scales up as things get more
complex. Create a checklist your
team can use to navigate through
the process and scale the checklist
as you gain more comfort asking
more proactive questions.
Now you may not think you
are ready to just ask your clients a

random question like what matters
most to them. Good news, all those
millennials you now have working
for you don't mind. While the negative stereotype is that millennials
don't like human interaction, they
actually have a strong desire for
connecting with others and this type
of question directly relates to that.
One of the key traits of the
millennial mind is their desire to
connect with others. This is why we
are seeing many millennials today
start non-traditional accounting
practices which are cornerstoned
with proactive communication
with their clients. Then challenge
your millennials to do this the next
time they do a networking activity.
Give them something different to
talk about when they make the
"awkward" handshake and say I'm
Bob, tax manager at Smith, Smith,
Smith, and Smith CPAs here in town.
Being proactive is the key to
success in the future and the only
way to avoid having what we do now
in our comfy seats go the way of the
CD store in the mall. Don't refuse to
change only to tell your grandkids
some day that you used to be an
accountant and have them reply,
"What's that?" as your profession
has gone by the wayside. Use the
summer as a time to engage your
millennial team members and
engage your clients at the same
time. ■

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CPA Practice Advisor

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