CPA Practice Advisor - 24

THE MILLENNIAL ADVISOR

Going All In
AS WE REFLECT back on the end of another busy season of the accounting profession,
we are left as always to ask one simple question: Why is busy season always so hard? No
matter what happens... software issues, tax law changes, late information, uncooperative
clients, unreasonable deadlines, nothing changes.
Busy season is just hard. It feels
like we are facing an uphill battle
each year and while marching uphill
we often think about what we
should have done differently, but
in the blink of an eye another busy
season is upon us and nothing has
changed. How do we break this cycle
and stop making busy season be so
hard and exhausting and instead
finally conquer it once and for all.
The answer lies in first understanding our goal. If we want to not
just survive another busy season or
make small changes, but to conquer
it then it is time to take the plunge
and make change happen for you,
your firm, and your organization. In
order to actually change this cycle,
we cannot just think about doing
things differently, we cannot make
one small adjustment, like using
a different color pencil, our only
option if we want to conquer busy
season 2020 is to commit and go all
out and drive this change.
We cannot afford to take the

24

MAY 2019 ■

same path as before, we know the
outcome of that. We need to fully
commit ourselves, our organization,
and our time.
But, before we make change happen, we need to understand, what
is holding us back and understand
how the millennial minds insight
can help drive this change.
When we look at the issue, we
see three main trends that hold
accountants back from making
lasting change happen. It starts
with everyone's favorite reason,
procrastination. That is right, as
human beings we all get caught up
in the trapping of procrastination
and putting off what can be done
today for tomorrow. We think about
making change happen and maybe
we even talk about it, but we just
keep putting it off another day,
week, month and then before we
know it, it is December and time to
start things up again. If we can move
past the lure of procrastination, we
are often faced with the second even
more challenging hurdle, SALY.
No SALY, is not a co-worker or
the newest artificial intelligence
computer program, SALY or same
as last year is a phrase that we all
love to use. It is not just something
we write down on workpapers, it
is an attitude that our industry
has embraced to our detriment. Why do anything
different when you can
just keep everything SALY?
Nothing changes because SALY
isn't really a fan of change.

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

GARRETT WAGNER, CPA

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

Finally, if we can overcome our
desire to procrastinate and then conquer SALY, we are caught up in the
third and final challenge, we are just
busy being busy. Notice, I did not say
busy executing our organization's
vision, adding value to our clients,
or improving our organization, we
are simply busy being busy. We get
caught up in the constant movement
of deadlines in our profession, be
those monthly closings or different
tax filing deadlines, they all serve
to keep us busy just being busy. We
need to take a step back and look
at what we do with our time and
recognize that to make change happen, we need to dedicate our time
and energy to it.
Change cannot be accomplished
in the last few days of December,
change needs to happen everyday
through your commitment to it. Go
all in on change.
Now if we are going to avoid the
post busy season let down, we need
to break the cycle and do things differently for once and take a page
from the millennial mind in our
approach.
A major millennial trait is having an entrepreneurial mindset,
which translates into being more
willing and open to taking risks
and making changes happen in
our lives. Millennials are willing
to make changes happen by going
all in and not just thinking about
doing things differently, but actually
doing things differently. Just think
about how many jobs a typical

millennial will have by the age of
40; that number can only come
about with an ability to look past
our dear friend SALY. Take a page
from the entrepreneurial mindset
of the millennial generation and
overcome procrastination, SALY,
and being busy, by simply going all
in on making change happen.
Because, if we have any hope in
breaking the cycle, that means we
need to commit 100% to making that
change happen. Think about what
your real underlying pain point is
and go all in on a solution, be that
automation of your monthly closing
process or taking steps to improve
your firm by finally going lean with
your tax process. Whatever it is,
the time is now to get started. We
cannot make change happen by
sitting on the sideline or thinking
about it. We need to take that scary
step and seek to drive real change
in the world and our lives.
If the idea of going all in, makes
you feel uncomfortable, that is okay,
acknowledgement is a great first
step. As accountants we tend to be
black and white thinkers and our
options in this case are clear. We can
listen to SALY and if we do, we know
what busy season 2020 will hold for
us, the exact same as every one that
came before it. Or, we can go all in
on making change happen and get
a different result and finally finish
a busy season on a high note. ■
http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
CPA Practice Advisor

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