august2021 - 7

FEATURE
When drilling down to the biggest strengths
and weaknesses of both, the two main concerns
revolve around efficiency and culture.
However, the strength of one is the weakness
of the other, in most cases.
I had some unique experiences with remote
work early on. In 2007, I worked for a global
company that was entirely remote - and I would
call the working environment a success. The
company grew from $1 million to $3 million in
sales in just a couple of years.
Believe it or not, working remotely was
completely possible, even 14 years ago, without
Zoom, cell phones with internet, and other
technologies we now consider business as
usual.
From a culture perspective, I have always
been fascinated by a championship culture. I
was a basketball coach for many years, and
there was no such thing as a championship
team without a championship culture.
REMOTE IS THE WAY TO GO
You can have an office culture with efficiency,
but in my experience, working remotely is way
more efficient. Have you ever seen the episode
of Seinfeld where George discovers that if he
just looks frustrated and upset in the office,
everyone thinks he's working extremely
hard? This is how I see the old paradigm of
in-person work: equating your mere presence
with productivity. Don't mistake activity for
achievement.
That is where I feel the office setting loses
efficiency with small talk, long lunches, and
distractions, which could be the biggest reason
for inefficiency. People will generally ask others
around them for help, but if you're working
remotely, you might find the solution on your
own and remain more efficient.
ESTABLISH A WINNING CULTURE
Recently, I attended the Intuit ProConnect
virtual conference, which had some of the best
technology I had ever seen for a virtual conference;
they even had an online " networking
lounge. " However, I just don't see how virtual
learning will ever be as good as going to a
conference in person.
I printed out an article from a Rootworks
breakout session called " Healthy Culture in
the Modern Firm. " This article provides information
on how your firm is operating under
the influence of a living and growing culture.
Culture is defined as " the collective beliefs and
behaviors of a firm. "
In my experience, learning from a great
mentor, CPA, or EA in person is superior,
because you can model and learn behaviors
and belief systems from that person. There
is no way to replace this learning remotely
by osmosis. A lot of great lessons come from
learning by example.
Too much focus on efficiency can turn into
killing a goose that lays the golden eggs.
THE ANSWER?
As I write this, I think remote is the way to stay
if you are a small firm with a few employees.
If you have more employees, consider a hybrid
model combining the best of both worlds.
Structure your firm with efficiencies that focus
on a championship culture. Great teamwork
helps boost efficiency, so a culture developed
in person can pay long-term dividends.
However, this can work in reverse, too.
A bad culture at the office will lead to more
costs, including human resource headaches
and gossip.
You may be thinking, if everyone is remote
and I am not watching them, will they do what
they need to be doing? You don't have an eye
on them right?
The best person I know who taught culture
was a basketball coach who believed a great
culture occurred when the following happened:
Every single manager and coach had
an emergency and needed to leave - and the
team and practice level had no drop in activity.
They could run it themselves and keep the
same level of integrity.
That should be the goal: Develop the culture
in person, so you can improve efficiencies
remotely, save costs, and thrive.
TECHNOLOGIES THAT HELP YOU
WORK REMOTELY
Here are several technologies for consideration;
of course, every firm will be different, but here
are my recommendations:
OBVIOUS AND MUST-HAVES:
* Zoom
* Slack
* Google Drive
AUGUST 2021 ■ www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
7
SOME FAVORITES:
* Intuit ProConnect Tax - being in the cloud is
huge.
* Intuit Practice Management - CRM/practice
management software.
* Loom - screen share videos to share with clients
and your internal team.
* Calendly - share your calendar and have clients
book directly to your Google calendar.
* Veem - free international payments.
* QuickBooks Time - time tracking.
* 1Password - secure password management.
* Momentum (Chrome plugin) - focus and inspiration
to your new Google Chrome tab.
* Calm - meditat ion app that improves
productivity.
* Todoist - to do list management with your team.
* pdfFiller - fill out PDFs; I also use my online fax
to send PDFs.
* Upwork - find freelance contract work from all
over the world.
* eSignature - available through ProConnect to
enable digital signatures.
APPS I HEAR GOOD THINGS ABOUT
* Practice Ignition - proposal/contract/client
payment system.
* Asana - project management software.
* focus booster - track productivity.
REMOTE COST SAVINGS
* Staff meals.
* Transportation costs.
* Office expenses, such as food for staff.
* 2x computers and tech - I have a desktop mac
at my house; if I had an office, I would have to
buy another one.
* Office furniture.
* Utilities - When I had an office, I had to buy these
extras: a water delivery service, cable TV, plant
watering, internet, and electricity. ■
A licensed EA and QuickBooks Online Certified Advanced
ProAdvisor, Brian Hershman has more than 15 years of
experience as a business owner. His first business was
in the sports world, where he developed from scratch a
nationally recognized youth basketball academy that
produced college players and an eventual NBA draft pick.
http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
august2021

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