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Tax & Accounting US
Technology and Talent: Are
You a Future-Ready Firm?
by Jody Padar and Liz Gold
When you have to be right

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2 Technology and Talent: Are You a Future-Ready Firm?
How do we help talent working in an “old
school” firm speak up and ask for what they
want and participate in decisions regarding
workflow, project management and client
relationships?
What’s a managing partner in today’s day and
age to do?
Firm owners who find themselves in this
vulnerable position need to first rebuild
their infrastructures. It starts at the top,
and there’s a lot that can be done without
spending a lot of money. In the initial stages
consider:
• Conducting an employee‑wide survey
distributed by the managing partner or CEO
that is only open to managers and below. In
this survey, ask questions directly related
to their day‑to‑day lives, including feedback
on their supervision, schedule, workload
and tax season perks. Take the survey
seriously and be upfront about what you
plan to do with the results to illustrate your
accountability.
• Create a culture committee that includes
participants from all levels of the firm — this
means everyone from those on the executive
committee to administrative assistants.
Co‑chairs should not just be partners;
employees who demonstrate interest and
leadership should be considered.
Work is no longer a place you go. It’s what you
do, who you are, and a lifestyle.
Yet, many “old‑school” firms recruit like a big
downtown office is a perk instead of promoting
the latest remote work-enabled technology. An
office is no longer a carrot that gets someone
in the door — especially in today’s workplace
where group collaboration rules.
From the perspective of a “Radical CPA”,
flexibility, technology and culture are far more
important than a “beautiful downtown office.”
Though the gap is widening in our favor,
we’re bewildered to see firms are still using
traditional strategies for recruiting and
retaining talent. The world is changing and
with that, every firm tactic, strategy and value
should be evaluated to not only make sure it’s
still relevant but to demonstrate your firm’s
commitment to innovation.
How do we help “old school” firm owners
understand that work happens, everywhere,
anytime, and all the time — not just when
you are sitting in the downtown office on a
Saturday during tax season?
How do we help “old school” firm owners
grasp that just because work can happen
everywhere and you provide your employees
with smartphones, that does not mean your
talent is available 24/7 — or on your every
whim. They’re not!
It is no secret talent continues to keep the management of mid‑sized firms
up at night. Millennials and their successors, Generation Z, are dramatically
changing workplace culture, workflow and communications. Those firms who
are not keeping up with the rapid pace of change will simply lose out on the
best and brightest.
It’s not a threat, it’s happening.

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3Technology and Talent: Are You a Future-Ready Firm?
• Communicate directly. Don’t rely on your
management to speak for your employees,
especially if they are their supervisor. If
you are concerned an employee is thinking
about leaving talk to the individual. Conduct
a “stay interview” during the year to ask
employees what it would take for them to
stay at the firm — even if they appear happy.
Exit interviews are pointless and by then it’s
too late.
• Be flexible. Just because you “grew up” in
a firm where you had to work 12‑hour days
plus Saturdays during tax season doesn’t
mean your younger counterparts will.
While work needs to get done, give your
employees the flexibility to create their own
schedules. Better technology has given us
the opportunity to make working remotely
the norm. Firms that are not set up this
way risk losing out on top talent who are
non‑negotiable in their desire to work
their way.
• Focus on results. In this new emerging
collaborative, productivity‑driven work
environment, results matter more than
actual hours worked. For the CPAs still bent
on selling time and live by timesheets this
causes quite a conundrum. People work
differently, and it’s proven that if you give
your employees the leeway to do work
their way, they will be even more effective
and productive for you in return. Better
productivity equals happier clients and
increased profits. Who can complain
about that?
And remember, it’s not just the next
generation that wants flexibility. So many
boomers want to be able to work from their
second homes or while they are traveling.
They actually have the money to truly create
“lifestyle” jobs. Retirees want back into firms
by way of consulting and part‑time work. They
hold a lot of knowledge; will you expect them
to fit into a rigid work schedule?
Tackling the Talent Issue
The American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants 2015 CPA Firm Top Issues Survey
revealed finding and retaining qualified
staff rose to the top spot on four out of five
segment lists of top concerns for those firms
on the Top 100.
Professional turnover is at its highest level in
over 10 years at 17.1 percent from 15 percent
last year according to the Rosenberg MAP
Survey (2015‑2016). But the advice to counter
this is always the same: if you stay up to
date with the latest and greatest tools and
efficiencies you will attract the best. In order
to do that, technology needs to merge with
process and culture for your firm to truly
transform and be ready for the new workforce.
By 2025, millennials will account for 75 percent
of the global workplace, according to Forbes.
As digital natives, this population is breaking
up complacency, bringing new technology
tools, along with an increase in expectations
in having more control regarding how and
when they work.
What we have found is inserting new
technology into an old process and
communication interactions DOESN’T work.
It’s a starting point, but for a true cultural
transformation, technology is just one piece.
New ways of accountability and results‑driven
management will need to be explored regardless
if you keep or get rid of your timesheets.
Liz Gold
Owner
Rhino Girl Media
RhinoGirlMedia.com
Jody L. Padar, CPA, MST
CEO & Principal
New Vision CPA Group
TheRadicalCPA.com

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4 Technology and Talent: Are You a Future-Ready Firm?
especially to a population who is always
holding a device in their hand.
Face it: mobile, cloud and social technologies
are not going away. They are only accelerating,
and the struggle for many CPAs is just keeping
up. Don’t be left behind. Embrace technology,
not just so you are an up‑to‑speed resource
for your clients, but because the success of
your employees and firm depends on it.
In the millennial world, tech innovation, rapid
response and hard skills reign, according to
a 2015 Millennial Majority Workforce Study
commissioned by Elance-oDesk and Millennial
Branding.2
Meanwhile, a Millennial Workplace
Trends Survey by IdeaPaint revealed
45 percent of 600 employed Millennial
respondents said the lack or misuse of
technology was to blame for hindering their
company’s innovation, while 38 percent felt
that outdated collaboration processes just
slowed everyone down.
Remember this: emerging leaders think and
use technology easily. According to the CCH®
Leaders Now and Next Survey3
, emerging
leaders are defined as having fewer than 10
years of experience. They are individuals
whose aspiration is to have a leadership
or senior management role within a firm
or to start their own firm. They also are
more likely to be female and more racially
diverse, according to the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants’ Trends in
the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the
Demand for Public Accounting Recruits.
Most CPAs already realize the significant
role technology plays in serving existing
clients and reaching out to prospects, but
are not as aware in making the connection
between how technology can attract and
retain emerging leaders. However, firms
should take note: these emerging leaders are
making the connection. In fact, 82 percent of
these individuals said technology plays an
New expectations and direction will need to
be examined as review notes and hours billed
become lagging indicators that don’t mesh
with today’s customer facing cloud software.
But here’s the good news: according to JB
Training Solutions, 41 percent of Generation Z
said a mid‑sized company is their ideal work
environment. However, instead of cubicles and
individual offices, collaborative, team‑oriented
workspaces rule, encouraging mobility and a
more efficient exchange of ideas.1
Are you set up to support this new generation
of workers? Nobody, no matter how much you
pay them, no matter how many sugary snacks
you put out at tax time, no matter if you do
their laundry or not, wants to be handcuffed
to their desk all the time. It may be tax
season, you may have piles of returns to do,
but the fact of the matter is, that era and way
of working is over.
Let’s Get Technical
First things first, take a look at the technology
you are using. Can you improve it? Does every
employee have a laptop? Are you set up for
allowing your staff to work remotely? Is your
software in the cloud or are you still tied
to your desktop? How are you monitoring
tasks and projects? Are you using workflow
software?
Here’s the thing: You can either be a dinosaur
or learn the new ways of the younger
generations. It can be scary, yes. But it’s not
impossible. And luckily, there are more tools
than ever at our fingertips that can enhance
not only how we run our firms from the inside,
but how we’re perceived on the outside.
Recruiting strategy, anyone?
For instance, when you are at college
recruiting events do you have brochures on
your table or an iPad®
with your website as its
home page? Just that little detail can go a long
way to demonstrating your tech savviness —
1
JB Training Solutions, http://jbtrainingsolutions.com/resource/the-next-generation-is-here/
2
2015 Millennial Majority Workforce Study, http://www.slideshare.net/oDesk/2015-millennial-majority-workforce
3
CCH Leaders Now and Next Survey, http://CCHGroup.com/Leaders

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The Benefits of the Cloud
Firms of all sizes are recognizing the
significant benefits of starting to
think with their “heads in the cloud.”
Perhaps the biggest realization firms
need to have is that your clients are
already on the cloud … they are just
not using it for their accounting needs.
But what will the cloud do for you?
• You and your employees can work
from anywhere and you can serve
clients in any geographic location.
• Your paperless efforts will be a lot
easier.
• You’ll have a farther reach for
recruiting talent.
• You’ll rethink workflow to your
benefit.
• If you’re a new firm, its subscription-
based model without a large upfront
cost makes it affordable.
• Your communication will be different
(and better!).
• Your security and backup procedures
will be improved.
5Technology and Talent: Are You a Future-Ready Firm?
next three years non‑CPA and administrative
staff to perform routine tasks, freeing up
professional staff for more value‑added
services.
Many technologies considered emerging —
like cloud and mobile solutions — are quickly
becoming mainstream. A firm’s inability to
keep pace further jeopardizes future growth
opportunities — and that includes attracting
and retaining talent.
Real Tech Talk
Enhancing your technology will prepare
you for the future. It sounds simplistic, but
it’s not. Forty‑seven percent of all existing
occupations are at risk of becoming redundant
by 2020. This means all your data entry
will become obsolete due to robotics. This
means your employees need to know how to
provide a deeper range of value — by means
of insight, wisdom, technical knowledge
and guidance. For radical firms, technology
is a core component of the work we do. We
don’t see it as an overhead item; it is part of
the cost of goods sold. This is the shift we
believe traditional firms must embrace to stay
relevant today.
So when “old school” firms balk at the cost
of cloud technology, they forget about the
price. It is truly priceless if you embrace the
transformational change that comes with
it. But if you insert new tech on old school
process all you are going to get is expensive
technology. The true value of software
comes with redefining and retooling all your
processes to allow for a more results-driven
environment with inherent transparency and
collaboration for all involved.
Also, tech can replace labor? Absolutely.
The more efficient the technology becomes
the less need for labor. The technology
can actually replace positions so if there
is a talent shortage, automation may be
considered an alternative workforce. The best
part about the technology is you don’t have
to listen to them tell you about their events
of the prior evening! There’s a lot less drama.
Even if it doesn’t completely replace the labor,
it allows for easy outsourcing.
important role in a firm’s ability to attract
and retain emerging leaders. This compares
to just 58 percent of existing senior firm
leaders, according to the CCH Leaders Now
and Next Survey.
Among the leading ways firms are enabling
their work environments or plan to within
the next three years is through deploying
new technologies to improve workflow (85
percent). In addition to a greater reliance on
technology, the CCH Leaders Now and Next
Survey found most firms (75 percent) also
report they are using or plan to use in the

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6 Technology and Talent: Are You a Future-Ready Firm?
In addition, when you work in the cloud, the
world becomes your recruiting grounds, and
with it comes a whole new opportunity for
labor costs. For instance, a New York firm can
hire a remote Midwest worker for two‑thirds
of the cost. Gone are the traditional ways of
recruiting at college fairs.
Speaking of traditional, the hierarchical
supervisory structures of days past are
becoming just that — history. Collaboration
is the name of the game. The new model
of management, according to Sandra
Wiley, shareholder of Boomer Consulting,
is circular — it’s little groups of people
who self‑manage. How do you best do
that, especially if your team is in different
geographical locations?
Technology!
The talent coming in doesn’t just think it’s cool
if you can offer it, they expect it as part of
their work culture. If you can’t offer the ability
to work from wherever with instant access,
they will think you are behind. Period!
The bottom line is it doesn’t matter what
technology tool you use; the name of the
game is collaboration and transparency. For
firms that are seeing themselves getting left
behind or losing their talent to competitors or
private industry, the first step is recognizing
the need for change and managing their
practice differently. It’s not easy, but it
doesn’t need to be so hard. Look around and
reach out for help. We’re here.
1/16 2015‑0429‑1
When you have to be right
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