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23 insights from 100 episodes of the disruptors

23 insights from 100 episodes of the disruptors

editor’s note: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research is celebrating the 100th episode of the disruptors, hosted by liz farr. here, liz reflects on the lessons learned and what they portend for the profession.

the disruptors
by liz farr
for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

when this show began, the goal was to disseminate ideas that would improve accounting. we wanted the world to know more about people doing things differently than their parents’ or grandparents’ accountants. maybe a firm owner would hear something they could experiment with. or a manager would hear something that the ownership group might be willing to implement. someone with just a few years of experience – or even no experience – would learn about firms that are great places to work. or someone at any level would be inspired to hang out their shingle because of the many examples of people just like them who have done just that.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 celebrates: the 100th episode of the disruptors

more streaming: paul dunn: from standard, to stand out, to stand for | jacob schroeder: ai won’t replace accountants—but it will reveal who’s replaceable | ditching corporate america: the bold story behind pbs accounting’s rapid rise | jean zick: happy team = happy clients | breslin & greathead: be a client advocate | dominic piscopo: clear pay=bargaining power | debbie kilsheimer: stop thinking small | dave kersting: collaborate with co-firming | ashley francis: ai’s a partner, not a replacement | richard roppa-roberts: collaboration over competition | ira rosenbloom: m&a numbers are easy – culture fit is hard | roman villard: ditch the suit & shine | monique swansen: align firm values with services | tina mcgill: how to create lasting client impact | stefan van duyvendijk: develop operational mindset | steve evans: why traditional hiring methods fail | roger knecht: can you be an accountrepreneur? | beth whitworth: focus on outcomes not hours |mike sylvester: learn to say no | salim omar: identify your client’s $100,000 problem | jackie meyer: earn more with fewer clients

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accounting is changing, thanks to the willingness of firm owners, consultants, coaches, innovators, and thought leaders who have generously shared their intellectual capital. over the last several years, it’s been a privilege to tap into the collective wisdom of the disruptors of this profession.

these conversations provide hope and guidance for the profession. while far too many firms still operate the way they have for decades, with long hours, nonexistent work-life balance, toxic culture, terrible clients, difficult co-workers, and micro-managing bosses, there are many, many firms out there that do not operate that way. we’ve heard through the grapevine that being a guest on this show is a badge of honor. however, we feel even more honored by all the amazing guests and their willingness to openly share their struggles, hopes, and ideas for making accounting better for future generations.

here are 23 of the most important insights from 100 conversations with disruptors.

  1. there are as many ways to be an accounting firm as there are accountants.

you can be part of a big firm, operate a micro firm, or something in between. your firm can be fully remote, or you can work in an office or some combination of both. you can niche deeply into an industry or a service, such as tax advisory or cfo services. you can set up an outsourcing firm. you can develop technology that makes accounting easier, faster, and more accurate. you can coach accountants to help them excel in their jobs and find their ideal roles within the profession. you can be a consultant who helps firms be more efficient and better places to work. you can work in the m&a space. you can work in industry. you can even be a podcaster. as accountants, we have a fantastic array of possibilities to choose from. there’s no reason to be doing work you don’t like.

  1. many of the most interesting firms have leaders who came from outside the public accounting sector.

spending time in a cpa firm can instill habits and a mindset that can be hard to break free from – toxic culture, up or out, hourly billing, long hours, hierarchical roles – especially among those who spend time on dysfunctional teams that abound in the big firms. but if you don’t know what a firm is supposed to look like, you are free to build a business the way you think it should be built.

  1. moving to a client-centric model ensures we will remain a viable profession.

we must provide services that are relevant to our clients’ needs, dreams, and challenges. it’s not enough to just do compliance work. tax returns and audited financials are services clients must buy, but that’s not generally what they want from us. plus, with ai, automation, and offshoring, much of that work may dry up in the next decade or so. find out what your clients care about and figure out how to help them get it. sometimes, just being a sounding board is enough.

  1. pricing remains a challenge.

hourly billing is going by the wayside, though it still works for a few practitioners. people are still figuring out fixed fee, subscription, and value pricing models, and there are plenty of examples of firms that have been doing this successfully for a long time. pricing enables firms to work as much or as little as they want and to align firm values with client services. capacity issues can be addressed through pricing adjustments. pricing appropriately weeds out the clients who don’t value our work. we shouldn’t be afraid of asking clients to pay us what we’re worth.

  1. talent will be a defining issue for years to come.

the old attrition model of hiring a boatload of staff and hoping a few will stick around for more than a year or two is no longer feasible. besides the shrinking pipeline of freshly minted accounting graduates, people are no longer willing to put up with long hours, poor pay, high stress, and limited career options. firms need to be creative and flexible in their hiring practices. here are a few of the many options: hire a part-time workforce; track deliverables, not hours; hire non-accountants and train them; and offer unique and meaningful career paths. firms that focus on a few practice areas, such as fractional cfo work, tax resolution, or monthly accounting, may have an easier time finding people because candidates don’t need to be proficient in everything, as they do in firms that provide a broader range of services.

  1. continuous training and upskilling are necessary for everyone.

colleges and universities aren’t producing enough students, and those students generally lack the technology experience and soft skills that lead to success. identifying skill gaps through testing can help filter out poor candidates or pinpoint areas where people need help to advance in their careers. training is available, and the investment (which may be minimal or even free) will quickly pay for itself in the efficiencies and new abilities that team members acquire. coaching can bring out the best in people at any level. while it’s true that some of the people who receive valuable training may leave sometime in the future, your firm will be in a worse situation if you don’t invest in them now and they stay forever. in a rapidly changing world, everyone must constantly learn new skills and ways of serving clients. the skills many of us needed to master in our early years (10-key and ledger pad, anyone?) are rapidly becoming obsolete.

  1. technology, ai, and automation will become ever more critical.

these will partially compensate for the lack of people while also allowing for deeper insight and more value for clients. when used effectively, we can do more for fewer clients with fewer employees and charge more money. the robots aren’t taking our jobs, but the people who use those robots to do their work better will take our clients. investing in tech and the training to use that tech successfully and to its full extent makes your firm more appealing to new hires and potential m&a opportunities or future owners.

  1. accountants need to know more than the debits and credits.

communication, empathy, and asking questions are often called soft skills, but better labels are power skills or durable skills. clients have no idea what we do or how our work can benefit them if we don’t communicate in terms they understand. we don’t need to have the answers, but we do need to be able to ask the questions that help clients unearth the insights hidden inside them. other essential power skills for the future include sales, marketing, and business development. however, you don’t need to be good at all of these. find people who are good at the things you don’t like and aren’t good at, and let them do those pieces of the work.

  1. firms are experimenting with new business models and business structures.

this is one of the most intriguing developments today. mark koziel, the new ceo of the aicpa, says, “the partnership model is dead.” although many with that title vehemently disagree with his opinion, the business model that served earlier generations may not serve the generations to come. big partnerships can be too unwieldy and too slow to pivot in a rapidly changing world, so ceo structures are becoming more prominent. many firms have found that implementing the entrepreneurial operating system has been a game-changer. outsourcing firms allow firms to hire additional help as they need it. others are experimenting with co-firming or creating collectives of independent firms that share infrastructure, processes, technology, and training. new compensation structures, where everyone shares a portion of the profits, are becoming more popular. no idea what to do? start with a blank piece of paper to design a firm that works for you and move incrementally in that direction. what would an accounting firm be like if you designed it from scratch?

  1. build an accounting business rather than an accounting practice.

the traditional model often results in a group of partners who share resources but not much else. today, more firms are collaborating across functional areas to serve their clients better. the result: fewer silos, and clients are more loyal to the firm, not the individual working with them. another result is that firms make decisions based on the business merits of an option rather than the preferences of a particular partner. poor-fit clients are released or perhaps not even accepted as clients solely because the business owner is a new golfing buddy of the managing partner.

  1. create new roles to fit the skills and interests of your team.

not everyone wants the partner or manager track. be willing to carve out novel roles for the square pegs who can’t fit the round holes of the traditional staff-analyst-to senior-supervisor-to manager-to-partner progression. it’s easier to keep a good person, even in a new experimental role, than to replace them.

  1. leadership is changing for the better.

a big reason people leave public accounting is the leaders who are unwilling to embrace new approaches or acknowledge their mistakes. however, today’s best leaders are learning to be empathy-driven, culture-focused, vulnerable, and open. when leaders demonstrate these qualities themselves, their teams are more willing to work harder. another idea is to flip the org chart so leaders are not seen as the top of the organization but rather as a nurturing and supportive foundation. the best leaders are constantly developing future leaders with mentoring programs, training, and frequent conversations to understand what team members desire from a career in accounting.

  1. a healthy firm culture is more powerful than you may think.

when starting a new firm, don’t replicate what you experienced at your last firm, but seek to make things better for everyone. a healthy culture keeps clients and employees sticky. be intentional while allowing for organic development. express your firm’s values and weave them into all your work and interactions with clients and team members. honesty and openness are key. be human and kind. retention isn’t just about the money but also about how people feel about working there. be intentional about the culture and the work environment you want to nurture.

  1. remote work is here to stay.

remote work didn’t just spring up out of nowhere during the pandemic. several disruptors switched to a remote model 20 or more years ago or have been remote from the start. giving employees flexibility to choose when and where they work can help you get the best people, no matter where they live. you can also work with clients from around the world. a key part of creating a cohesive remote culture is bringing everyone together for in-person gatherings at least once a year. yes, this is expensive, but you can probably afford it if your firm doesn’t have an office.

  1. focus on deliverables, not time spent.

clients don’t care how long the work takes. they want the output of your team’s efforts, so stop pricing by the hour. the traditional deliverables of tax returns, monthly bookkeeping, and audited financials aren’t what clients want – they want the peace of mind that comes from getting the work done correctly. they also want the insights and ideas we keep buried in our heads. those ideas can lead to transformation – which is the highest value we can deliver.

  1. stop saying yes to everything.

there will never be enough of us to serve everyone who needs our services. price accordingly. stop working with clients who don’t value what you do. stop doing the work that does not bring you joy to make room for the work you love.

  1. advisory will become part of what we do.

as the bread-and-butter services of tax preparation, basic bookkeeping, and financial audits become more automated and more commoditized, firms face a choice: do more and more of the basics for less and less money or work with fewer clients at a higher level for a higher price. advisory work can be more fulfilling and has the potential to be transformative for both client and practitioner. transformation is the highest level of service we can provide.  advisory doesn’t mean you have all the answers – you just have to be willing to ask enough questions so your clients can find the answers they seek. clients don’t just want dashboards, kpis, and cash forecasting – they also want to know why those are important, and more crucially, they want a sounding board for their ideas, fears, dreams, and concerns.

  1. get rid of the d and f clients.

they may be perfect for someone else. the stress they cause your team members may chase away your best people. many of us have seen that happen when partners let clients mistreat their people. let those nasty clients go. the extra time and effort they require will never pay off unless they demonstrate a willingness to change their ways.

  1. get rid of the d and f team members as well.

we’ve all worked with those bad apples. the ones who can recite the irs code but can’t translate that to a tax return. the ones who take credit for your hard work. or the ones who absolutely won’t respect boundaries. those bad apples can chase off your best people. they must be shown the exit – even if they’re part of the ownership group.

  1. as your firm grows, you need to get out of the weeds.

moving up the ranks and growing a firm means you spend less time working in the firm and more time working on the firm. this isn’t for everyone. if you love to do the daily work with tax software, bank feeds, and spreadsheets, maybe you need to keep your firm small enough so you’re not doing the work that a larger team should be doing. the leaders who are most successful at stepping away from the daily work of their firms are operating at a whole different level than those who love the weeds of the debits and credits. this doesn’t make them better – this is simply what they’re best at. find your level of genius and thrive there.

  1. connect with a community to feel less alone.

joining a community can introduce you to people who have already faced the challenges you have today. you’ll feel less isolated and more supported. you’ll meet your new best friends for life. the power of a group means the solution may come from the combination of pieces of what others have successfully done. today, there is an explosion of accounting communities, ranging from free groups on facebook and linkedin to paid membership communities. here are some of the community leaders who have been on the disruptors, along with their communities:

  1. hire for curiosity, not technical skill.

curiosity is becoming a desired quality for new hires because it keeps them adaptable to our rapidly changing world, economy, and regulatory environment. curious people experiment with technology, optimizing workflows and trying new ways of serving clients. they also ask questions that can help clients uncover what’s really going on in their businesses.

  1. control your calendar.

block off time to focus on difficult work and to give yourself free time just for thinking. don’t let clients control your calendar by expecting immediate responses or emergency meetings. keep your and your team members’ cell phone numbers private. your team members also deserve to have their off-time respected. establish parameters around expected availability – which should never be 24/7. consider taking unplugged vacations where you are unavailable except for dire emergencies.

these are just a few of the most impactful ideas from the first 100 conversations with disruptors. the exciting part is that there is no shortage of future guests: so many people are doing exciting and innovative work in the profession. perhaps more exciting is that as these conversations with disruptors continue, we are changing the profession for the better.

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