Art of Accounting: Insanity cure

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Last week, I wrote about not hiring people you know cannot solve your long-term problems, but who will temporarily relieve short-term pressures. A few readers told me they don’t think that works because they need to get the crush of work “out the door” now. I disagree. Also, I’ve been there, so I know the feeling. Here’s how to get the right things done and cure your insanity.

First of all, you only have a business if you have uniform systems and procedures. If not, you have an accounting or tax practice that you happen to work in and don’t really have a “boss” telling you what to do, while you have some people you are paying that assist you in moving some of the work out the door.

Second, you only have a business if you have people to delegate work to. There are many sole practitioners who have no staff and make a good living, so there is nothing wrong with not having staff. However, if you want to grow your practice into a business, you will need staff.

Third, you need to recognize there are two kinds of staff: those who listen to you and those who do not. If you have staff who listen to you, there is a chance you can grow your business. If your staff do not listen to you, growth is a long shot. If it occurs, it will certainly be much harder and less profitable.

Fourth, you need to resolve to build an accounting business, not just a practice. Building a business means integrating the systems with your staff so the work gets done the way you need it to be done, and completed when you need it. This also means you need to make sure the systems are being followed, that there is oversight of the staff to make sure they are following the systems. This is your job and if you don’t think so, or aren’t doing it, then you either must make it your job, or you need to reduce or abandon your hope of having a business.

Fifth is where I received the objections. Many of you told me you are too busy getting work done or caught up to spend time delegating, training staff or sticking completely to the systems. This is the fork in the road: One way is to take the road where you continue as is, and the other is to go the way where you start making changes. I can tell you which road to choose, but I can’t make you do it. Only you can do that. So, you need to decide what kind of business you want in five years. Will it be similar to what you have now, or will it be one where you grow past that and perhaps to the next level?

Assuming you decide to move forward, what might the first step be? I suggest you freeze what you have now, and then only take on new staff who will give you a chance to grow. I would further suggest that you hire someone whose first job is with you and train them in your systems and what they need to know to be productive each and every day. This is hard, but it’s a lot easier than having a revolving door of overpaid, undertrained and underachievers working for you, that I am reluctant to call staff.

For the current staff, you will need to introduce new methods where they start to follow the systems you have. I believe this will be harder than working with the newbies. You should anticipate resistance but need to show an unyielding resolve for this change. Start with something simple, then catch them at every instance of noncompliance, and make them get it right. Start with something small and at some point, they should get the idea there will be some changes, but also that it is not going to be so revolutionary. The end game is to get the more experienced people to hand off some of their work to the newbies or lower-level staff while training them to follow the system (even though the long-time staff people might not be). Start in slow doses with your current staff, but set up your system and training methods so the new staff will get it right.

I am literally giving you a plan to break out of a mold you are not fully happy with and into a business you would be proud to work in.

Start small, but start. Cure the insanity!

Do not hesitate to contact me at emendlowitz@withum.com with your practice management questions or about engagements you might not be able to perform.

Edward Mendlowitz, CPA, is partner at WithumSmith+Brown, PC, CPAs. He is on the Accounting Today Top 100 Influential People list. He is the author of 24 books, including “How to Review Tax Returns,” co-written with Andrew D. Mendlowitz, and “Managing Your Tax Season, Third Edition.” He also writes a twice-a-week blog addressing issues that clients have at www.partners-network.com along with the Pay-Less-Tax Man blog for Bottom Line. He is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Fairleigh Dickinson University teaching end user applications of financial statements. Art of Accounting is a continuing series where he shares autobiographical experiences with tips that he hopes can be adopted by his colleagues. He welcomes practice management questions and can be reached at (732) 743-4582 or emendlowitz@withum.com.