Data jail, going green, and client delight: Strategies for growth

In the past, accounting firms would buy monolithic, centralized practice management systems, deploy them on premises, and then grapple with painful limitations of outdated functionality and designs for years.

The pain of using outdated software is one thing. But what’s even more painful is when you can’t tap into the data locked inside those legacy system databases. If you’ve ever had a consultant spend weeks trying to access your historical data to build reports only for them to tell you “it’s just not possible,” you know this pain all too well.

And it’s even worse when you consider that hidden in that underlying data are the keys to understanding your firm’s profit drivers, growth opportunities and margin risks.

Fortunately, if you can manage to (1) break your data out of “data jail” (i.e., outdated databases and constrained systems) and (2) keep your data out of data jail going forward, you can alleviate that pain and unlock growth.

That’s because liberating your data from outdated systems puts you in the driver’s seat with your technology vendors. When you control your data — and not your vendor — you get to choose the solutions to integrate with and bring into your firm. Additionally, you maintain the option to replace solutions as needed if/when something better comes to market.

This ongoing, data-enabled freedom of choice will empower you to continually give your partners and staff the best-in-class tools that unlock their productivity, helping them optimally serve clients and love their life at work.

The old way of practice management — massive systems, closed databases, stodgy reporting, no integrations — is going away.

The new method of practice management — “use what you need” modular systems, open databases, real-time reporting, the ability to integrate best-in-class tools — is taking off, and it all starts with liberated data.

Some might think that environmental, social, and governance programs or “go green” initiatives are just cost centers, or maybe even impediments to firm growth and efficiency. But in fact, it’s the opposite.

McKinsey reports that ESG programs create quantifiable, organization-wide value by facilitating top-line growth, reducing costs, and increasing employee productivity, among other categories. To put this in the context of CPA firm operations, programs like paperless billing and remote work can actually reduce operating costs and drive efficiencies for both your firm and your clients.

Imagine a firm with 50 partners who send out an average of 200 bills per month. That’s 10,000 envelopes and pieces of paper that need to be assembled and mailed every month, or 120,000 every year. First, the costs of those supplies add up over time. Second, it’s also probably the least efficient way to get your firm paid on time.

And if your firm needs to attract and retain top talent to serve your clients and drive growth, a well-publicized ESG program could boost those efforts. An MMC study has shown that “ESG performance will become increasingly important to attracting and retaining talent” as “[millennials and Gen Z] place greater importance on environmental and social concerns than their predecessors do — and will expect more from employers on these issues.”

Fortunately, taking the first step is easier than ever with companies like Green Places to Work able to help CPA firms introduce green initiatives that drive a clear ROI. (Full disclosure: my company, Anduin, is a satisfied and carbon-neutral customer of Green Places to Work!)

You’ve likely read the Gartner and KPMG stats on client experience, but they bear repeating:

• 89% of businesses will compete mostly on client experience.
• Client experience will surpass price and product as the top competitive differentiator in less than five years.

Your firm’s growth depends on the experience you deliver to clients, but consider this question: When you last sat down with your team to optimize your firm and plan for growth, did you consider how new processes and changes would impact clients’ experience working with you?

Yes, it’s good and necessary to remove administrative and process roadblocks to free up time for your partners and staff to serve clients and solve their problems. But unless your clients feel a noticeable improvement to the experience surrounding that professional service, your firm carries a statistical exposure to losing that client — and not winning others.

However, if you consciously prioritize client experience and index for client delight in equal measure to traditional metrics like time savings, you have a higher chance of seeing measurable ROI the next time you revamp internal operations and back-office processes.

As with any new strategy, the easiest way to see results is to simply jump right in and get started. Whether you decide to focus on data liberation, going green, or delighting your clients, any incremental step in the right direction can set you up for success that will save time and accelerate growth.