CPA Practice Advisor - 40

LEAN SIX SIGMA ADVISOR

PROCESS TRENDS IMPACTING
YOUR FIRM
WE'VE REACHED THE halfway point of 2019, so it's a good time to take a look forward to
the next year and beyond to predict some of the most significant changes for process
improvement. Processes involve not only a technological shift, but organizational change

ARIANNA CAMPBELL

Director, Boomer Consulting, Inc.
arianna.campbell@cpapracticeadvisor.com

at the intersection of technology, process and people.
The following five trends should
serve as a compass for firms looking
to move their business transformation forward.

THE INTERSECTION
OF PROCESS AND
TECHNOLOGY
Technology continues
to be the accelerator in
the transformation of
the accounting profession. To implement new technology and leverage
existing technology, your processes
need to be optimized and improved.
Old processes with new technology create a host of issues. When
firms introduce new tech without
addressing their processes, people
often blame the technology when
outdated, inefficient processes are
really the root cause of problems.
It's counterproductive to consider
technology without also considering
the process. In the same respect, a
process cannot be fully optimized
without considering the effective
use of technology.

FOCUS ON
CONSISTENCY
While efficiency is still
i mp or t a nt , c onsistency is a key
area of focus. First,
consistency will make your firm
more competitive because you will
be able to evaluate your strengths
and weaknesses easily and identify
areas where you can improve.
Second, when you deliver services

40

AUGUST 2019 ■

consistently, client satisfaction and
loyalty will increase.
Finally, with the new and existing technology to leverage, your
processes have to be consistent.
You simply cannot automate an
inconsistent process. The need to
eliminate personal preferences
and move toward a firm preference
continues to increase exponentially,
as do opportunities to automate.

PROCESS ACROSS
THE FIRM
Compliance processes have
been the focus for
process improvement
in CPA firms. These
areas can help a firm quickly realize
the value of process improvements,
but they are only part of the gain
available.
Leading firms are expanding into
all areas of the business, especially
operations (i.e., billing, purchasing,
client and employee onboarding,
etc.). There is a tremendous amount
of opportunity in these processes
because, in most cases, they haven't
been properly evaluated. Once you
start taking a deeper look at these
areas, you'll often find variations,
loops, bottlenecks and other inefficiencies and inconsistencies. Lean
Six Sigma continues to be a proven
method for addressing these prob-

lem areas and freeing up capacity
to offer more value, both internally
and externally.

CONTINUOUS
IMPROVEMENT
AS A STRATEGY
Firms need to be
strategic about continuous improvement. Some firms are dedicating
resources to this area of focus and
are implementing this as a role
in their organizations. Strategic
continuous improvement should
involve three components:
■ An outside perspective to help challenge the status quo and introduce
new ideas and best practices
■ A community of peers sharing
real-world challenges and successes
■ An internal person trained and
certified to lead and direct process
improvement initiatives
Continuous improvement is as
much about mindset as it is about
actions. When you start looking at
the long-term impacts of the work
you're doing, you'll understand that
with the temporary adjustment to
new processes and habits a change
initiative is tolerable if it means
the firm will be in a better position
in the long term - both financially
and in terms of the firms' ability to
deliver outstanding client service.

Upskilling your team is too complex
to expect it will unfold organically, and
there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

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The key to successful continuous
improvement is in the name. It's
continuous so you can identify
opportunities for growth, make
improvements and measure the
results.

PROCESS AND
UPSKILLING
P rocess i mprovement
frees up capacity for
higher value activities.
If you take a process
and reduce the number of steps by
50 - 80%, you need to make sure
that you are shifting the focus of
the work that your people are tasked
with. We need to train and upskill
them to perform the value-added
activities and ultimately become
more consultative.
Upskilling your team is too
complex to expect it will unfold
organically, and there is no onesize-fits-all solution. You'll need
to take a hard look at your current
team, analyze the skills they possess
now, anticipate the skills they'll
need in the next three to five years
and identify internal and external
resources to develop them.
In the coming months, make
sure that firm leadership is considering the challenges and opportunities
in this list as they identify process
improvement strategies. Innovation
in the profession requires that all
firms review their current processes
to make the necessary changes to
free up capacity and transform in
the years to come. ■
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