CPA Practice Advisor - 30

BRIDGING THE GAP

Leveraging the Four Cs to
Automation and Advisory
OVER THE LAST several years using "trusted business advisors" to describe CPAs has become
quite prevalent. While many CPAs feel a connection to this title, others would be better
described as a trusted technical advisor, spending most of their time on compliance- and

JIM BOOMER, CPA.CITP

CEO, Boomer Consulting, Inc.
Director, Boomer Technology Circle™
jim.boomer@cpapracticeadvisor.com

transaction-related services, which are rapidly becoming automated and commoditized.
Rapidly advancing technology
capabilities and cloud ecosystems
have and will continue to eliminate
much of the data entry of accounting and tax preparation. When
we ask practitioners why they
continue to focus their efforts on
transactional and compliance services, we find that most feel they
don't feel comfortable providing
performance- and strategic-based
advisory services because their
experience and training have
focused on accuracy and data.
Those are useful skills for compliance services, but not as soughtafter as vision and strategy.
Another argument we hear is
that partner income is at or near
an all-time high, so firms don't see
a compelling reason to change. This
procrastination is a big challenge for
many firms, but partner income is a
meaningless metric when it comes
to long-term, sustainable success.
To become future ready, firms
need to consider client wants as
well as needs because clients are
willing to pay higher fees for services that deliver greater value. So
how can your firm make progress
toward higher value services when
your people don't necessarily have
the experience and skills to offer
advisory services? To get to the
next level, you need to
consider the Four Cs.

CAPABILITY
First, consider whether

JULY 2019 ■

you genuinely want to provide
advisory services. Some CPAs do
not, and that is fine. However, many
firms that do want to offer advisory
services are already doing so. Unfortunately, they're often giving away
their most valuable advice because
they don't know how to charge other
than by the hour. Clients, on the
other hand, recognize that CPAs
often give away the most valuable
advice while overcharging for compliance work.
When you look at it from that
perspective, you will likely realize
that you are capable of providing
advisory services. However, you
need to focus on packaging and
pricing those services instead of
offering it for free or at a deeply
discounted rate packaged with
compliance services.

COMMITMENT
To make a change,
you must commit to
leveraging technology that automates
low-value work and
frees up capacity to provide highervalue services. We've seen some
firms give up on some technologies
that didn't delivery immediate timesavings, but tools that allow clients
to easily collaborate with your team
and improve the client experience
are of utmost importance.
It's easier to remain where you
are and wait for compliance work to
come knocking on your door than it

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is to compete for advisory services,
but waiting will not get you where
you need to be. Commit to automating and outsourcing manual data
entry and rote tasks. It will allow
your firm to work on a deeper, more
satisfying level with your clients.

COURAGE
These are scary
times for firms
that are facing
disr upt ion
due
to
automat ion,
machine learning, blockchain and
artificial intelligence. These and
other emerging technologies are
expected to eliminate 40% of basic
accounting work by 2020.
Courage impacts your ability
to accept and manage risk in these
difficult times. You may have heard
the old story about the entrepreneur
who was asked how he slept last
night and replied, "Just like a baby, I
woke up every two hours and cried."
Having the courage to leave
behind the old paradigm is the difference between being edged out by
the competition and becoming an
irreplaceable advisor to your clients.

CONFIDENCE
The importance of
confidence cannot
be overstated. It
needs to become
a part of your
firm culture, but don't mistake
confidence for arrogance. Changes

in your service offerings require a
change in mindsets, skillsets and
toolsets. It also requires making
difficult management decisions
around governance, talent, technology and compensation. It's about
focusing on the needs of clients to
create opportunities for your firm.
You can start on your vision and
strategic plan by asking the following questions:
■ Is your firm prepared to leverage
automation and focus on advisory
services?
■ Do you currently offer services that
are no longer relevant or profitable?
■ What changes do you need to make
to meet the needs and wants of
your clients?
■ Who will be responsible for moving
your firm in the right direction?
Don't procrastinate. The key to
becoming a future-ready firm is to
focus on helping clients improve
performance and operate their businesses more strategically. This shift
is impossible without embracing
automation and technologies that
reduce the amount of time that
compliance services take. Work
through the Four Cs to develop your
plan for transformation now. ■

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