october2021 - 17

THE MILLENNIAL ADVISOR
Go For It!
GARRETT WAGNER, CPA
CEO/Founder, C3 Evolution Group
garrett.wagner@cpapracticeadvisor.com
Today, one of those decisions
revolves around if we should revert
back to being full-time in the office
or commit to our move to virtual
offices we all took part in over the
past eighteen months. Luckily for
all of us, we can stop being stuck
in the middle, taking the example
of PWC, which recently announced
(https://tinyurl.com/s4f2mf4) that
it will allow all of its client facing
employees to work virtually going
forward.
As we have learned in the past,
the trends set by the Big Four always
move downward to the rest of the
profession and with this, we have
all been given permission to follow
PWC's lead and finally acknowledge
that remote work is here to stay.
WE CAN ALL relate to the stress of trying to decide between two different choices, unable
to make a decision. Aristotle first wrote about this challenge way back in 350BC. Aristotle
said that a man equally hungry and thirsty placed equally between water and food, would
remained fixed in the middle unable to decide to go for the water or the food. Aristotle's
wisdom is still seen today as we are all faced with decisions we simply cannot make.
Frankly this acknowledgement is
long overdue and I am excited that
the profession can move forward in
this direction.
PWC's press release stated a
major driving force behind this move
was to attract and retain talent. We
are all well aware that before we ever
heard the term COVID-19 attracting
and retaining talent was a major
hurdle our industry faced from firms
large and small. As this change in
policy by PWC shows, the drive for
talent is making a major impact on
our profession. No longer can firms
afford to wait to make changes, to
move forward, to innovate. No, the
harsh realization is that if they don't
make these changes now, they may
not have enough people to get the
work done has come crashing down
on firms.
In a profession where we often
struggle to change, we should take
a moment and acknowledge that,
for most of us, we did an amazing
job making remarkable change as
we shifted to deal with COVID-19
and the chaos it brought. We found
that when forced, we could adapt,
learn, grow, and still survive. This
is a large accomplishment for a
profession where many would still
be using rotary phones if they could.
Take a moment now while reading
this and then take a moment
inside your organization to acknowledge
what has been accomplished,
it is impressive and deserves to
be recognized and celebrated. We
love to cling to the past more than
most, but when we faced immediate
challenges we were able to rise to
the occasion.
Our success in dealing with
COVID-19, should give all of us the
confidence we need to move forward
and commit to remote work. Because
despite all the chaos in the past 18
months, one thing that didn't happen
was firms failing to complete
tax returns because they worked
remotely.
That is right, many organization
leaders feared that if they went
remote the office would come to a
halt. But guess what? Things still got
done and we were given a glimpse
into the future. After all, remote
work is no longer a scary term that is
unimaginable. We have done it and
lived it and now it is time embrace it.
Thanks to PWC, we now have
permission. The decision has been
made for us.
We are no longer that desperate
man Aristotle wrote about stuck
between food and water, paralyzed
to pick one over the other. Remote
work is the path forward; it is time
for you to commit. The good thing
about that is that this magazine
alone has published countless amazing
articles that can guide you on
this journey. You are not starting
from scratch. The methods, tips, and
tricks are all known at this point, we
are just waiting on you to start. ■
OCTOBER 2021 ■ www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
17

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october2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of october2021