Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/83146
COVER STORY were both at Tomson), and with me (Darren Root as we prepared the transition when I leſt the magazine). I've also worked for great people, most notably my current boss at CPA2Biz, Erik Asgeirsson. Each of these people has and is still making a profound impact on the profession. It doesn't get any beter then that! DARREN: If you were advising a 25-year-old CPA looking to get into public practice today but with a desire to break the "traditional accounting firm mold" of long hours, etc…what advice would you give? GREG: Make sure YOU control the CPA-client relationship. You're the expert and as such you design the process and define the tool set. Te fee dollar you collect by going outside of your standardized system will be the most expensive dollar you ever earn! DARREN: What do you see as two of the most exciting technologies that firm owners should be paying atention to today? GREG: Easy—Cloud and mobile. Tey make each other possible and relevant. In five to seven years there will be no more premise-based soſtware in public accounting. Everything will be Cloud-based, and everyone will access whatever he or she wants, whenever they want it, using whatever device they choose. And those devises will be mostly mobile. DARREN: Over the past few years, CPA2Biz has evolved to include a technology product mix. More specifically, you guys have adopted Cloud messaging. What do you see as CPA2biz's role in the accounting space over the next several years? GREG: For years we've been teaching accountants how to "use" technology to do what accountants have always done, but do it faster. Now we're teaching accountants how to do things they've never done before. DARREN: Help our readers under- stand what it means that you lead product strategy and what CPA2biz's role is here? GREG: As you might imagine, we have many opportunities to partner with different vendors, representing many different products. Most are good, some not so much, and a few are excellent. Product Strategy listens to the marketplace (practitioners) to identify pain points, match them with solutions, and then size and sequence those opportunities. In other words, we go find best-of-breed products that will be most helpful to the profession and then present those products as part of our Trusted Business Advisor program. DARREN: You guys are launching a new event this October—the Digital CPA Conference. What is the goal of this conference and who should atend? GREG: Digital CPA is the first-ever, Cloud user conference. It's offered and co-sponsored by the AICPA and our strategic business solutions partners. It's designed to help firms embrace Cloud technology as a stra- tegic opportunity to move to a truly digital practice. Tere are several key groups that should atend, including client accounting services practice leaders; staff and users of our Cloud solutions, including Intacct, Bill.com, XCM, Confirmation.com, and Paychex; technology champions responsible for implementing Cloud solutions in their firms; and marketing directors or new business development directors. DARREN: One of the biggest chal- lenges firm leaders face today is finding and selecting the right technology solu- tions. Tis is not an easy task, but an incredibly important one, because the right technology drives everything fom firm workflow to profitability. What advice would you give firm leaders trying to navigate and make these decisions? GREG: Selecting the right tech- nology solutions is a really big challenge for firms. Tat's why suites have done so well over the past dozen or so years. Firms used to be "best-of-breed" decision makers, and then the big suites started to come in and most of us migrated to a "good enough" style. In other words, if I needed a depreciation program, I would just buy the module from my suite, assuming Greg LaFollette, CPA.CITP is was good enough, but knowing full well that it wasn't best of breed. I see the Cloud changing that approach, and firms are beginning to use the Cloud to hook best-of-breed products to other best-of-breed products. It really is going to boil down to workflow, so "good enough" might not be good enough anymore if it affects workflow in a negative way. Vendors must open their platforms to allow other leading Cloud vendors to connect. Tis will be really powerful for the profession. DARREN: While you don't seem to have retirement in mind any time soon, what advice do you have for the 50 or 60-somethings out there on positioning themselves for firm suc- cession? GREG: You're right; I'm not going anywhere. As long as I'm having fun (and I am), my health is good (and it is), and my wife tolerates my crazy schedule (and she does), I'll be right here trying to help firms work smarter and serve their clients more collaboratively. My advice to my almost-the-same-aged colleagues is to apply the same criteria, and keep having fun! I would also say to build a firm that allows you to do whatever you want from wherever you want and enjoy it. Have fun, there is no set rule that when you hit 65 that says you have to stop having fun. I would also suggest that you find someone to mentor, because what you will find is that you learn just as much from the relationship as the person you are mentoring.