CPA Practice Advisor

DEC 2014

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.

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34 December 2014 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com BRIDGING THE GAP By Jim Boomer, CPA.CITP Elevate Your Thinking T h i s s t r ate g y m a k e s s en s e i n some respects (safe, easy, proven) but does it really set us apart from our competition? I'd challenge you t o t h i n k d i f f e r e n t l y a b o u t t h e challenges your frm is facing. A fer all, the problem itself is never really the challenge, but rather how you think about the problem. 10X Thinking At Boomer Consulting, Inc. we have used the tag line Tink, Plan, Grow for several years. Tis is not simply a marketing phrase but rather the foundation of our company's culture as wel l as many of the f irms w ith which we work. We believe that the level at which you think is the fun- damental building block to a stra- tegic focus and frm growth. Most people simply think about things or people but h ig her level t h i n k i ng comes f rom t h i n k i ng about you r thoughts (which can either limit or expand your capabilities) and how you think. If you think at a 10X level your thinking will be diferent than if you think 10X is not possible. So what is 10X think ing? Well, it isn't just about grow ing revenue or proftabilit y by 10X (although those are nice targets). It is a mindset that your entire organization w ill strive to be 10X beter in ever y thing they do – f rom prov id i ng 10X bet ter client ser v ice when pick ing up the phones to delivering ser v ices 10X more efciently. W hile you might not hit the goal of 10X in all areas, mu l t i pl e i nc r e me nt a l i m p r o v e - ments occ u r r i ng si mu lta neously w ill result in major overall improve- ment in your frm. Rethink Everything O u r C I O A d v a n t a g e g r o u p s recently met in Atlanta and one of the members challenged the group to avoid limiting their think ing and simply follow ing the masses. Sure, we have some great, proven tech- n o l o g y t o o l s t h a t s p e c i a l i z e i n helping accountants but there are a lot more options if you expand your focus to include other industries. A nd the challenge went beyond the a n a l y s i s o f s o f t w a r e t o o l s a n d rethink ing ever y thing we've done f o r y e a r s i n a C PA f i r m . F o r example, do we need backups if we e mploy c loud solut ion s? Do we have to d ictate the hardware and sof wa re t hat ou r employees w i l l ut i l ize or shou ld we embrace t he consumerization of IT? "Mobile First" – Not "And Mobile" A nother interesting discussion that ca me out of t hat CIO Adva ntage meeting was about how we analyze t h e m o b i l e c a p a b i l i t i e s o f t h e technolog ies we use in our f rms. R at her t ha n si mply ask i ng i f t he solution has a mobile ofering or has plans to develop one, we should be look i ng for compa n ies t hat have built their solutions w ith mobilit y at the core. Or, as one CIO put it, a "Mobi le Fi r s t " ment a l it y r at her than "A nd Mobile." We already live in a connected, mobi le world t hat w i l l most cer- t a i n l y e x p a nd o v e r t he c om i n g months and years. If we select solu- tions that have been built with the cloud and mobile in mind from the beginning rather than as a reactive addition, we beter prepare our frm to recognize long-term success. Differentiation Comes From Being Different W hen it comes to d i f ferentiating your frm from your competition, we have to avoid what Tom Hood, CEO o f t h e M A C PA a n d B u s i n e s s L e a r n i n g I n s t it ut e , re f e r s t o a s paving cowpaths. He is referencing the fact that many of our roadways today resulted from the easy solu- tion of throwing down some stone and macadam on the winding paths that cows and horses had already created as they meandered across the farms and felds. Tis approach requires us to look beyond the safest and easiest solution to explore new ways of doing things. Sometimes this will result in confrmation that we should have stuck to the cowpath but of ten it w i l l res u lt i n a new, innovative solution t hat is better than anything that has been tried in our profession to date. Merriam-Webster defnes difer- ent iate as "to ma ke (someone or something) diferent in some way." Tis means you can't diferentiate yourself if you don't abandon the strateg y of following the herd and doing the same thing when it comes to ma k i ng tech nolog y decisions. A fer all, how can technolog y be a strategic advantage for your frm if y ou u s e t he s a me t o ol s a s y ou r compet it ion? I c ha l lenge you to elevate your thinking and, in turn, elevate your performance. 3 4 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 • w w w . C P A P r a Jim Boomer is a shareholder and the CIO for Boomer Consulting , Inc. He is the director of the Boomer Technology Circles™ and an expert on managing technology within an accounting frm. He also serves as a strategic planning and technology consultant and frm adviser in the areas of performance and risk management. In addition, Jim is leading a new program, Te Producer Circle, in collaboration with CPA2BIZ and the AICPA. jim.boomer@cpapracticeadvisor.com W hether it's technology, processes or new ser- vice lines, we, as a pro- fession, have the ten- d e n c y t o f o l l o w t h e herd. We watch a handful of progressive firms test new or different ideas and only when they 've had success do we jump on board and try to replicate that success. YOU CAN'T DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF IF YOU DON'T ABANDON THE STRATEGY OF FOLLOWING THE HERD AND DOING THE SAME THING WHEN IT COMES TO MAKING TECHNOLOGY DECISIONS.

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