As 2022 comes to a close and we look toward the new year, it’s an excellent time to pause and reflect on key trends and their impact on the accounting profession. At our recent Summit & Global Forum, Allinial Global President and CEO Mark Koziel shared his thoughts on what’s happening globally and how firms can set themselves up for success in the ever-evolving business landscape.
Here are some highlights from his session to consider as you evaluate your firm’s strategy for 2023.
Trends: Where It All Begins
Future-ready firms watch trends carefully so that they can anticipate future needs and start working toward solutions early on. As Mark pointed out in his session, the accounting profession has been struggling with change. We’re in a time when firms need to decide whether they will continue to cling to the old ways or proactively embrace change.
Allinial Global has an eye on the trends that matter most to member firms’ future success. Below are some areas firms can’t afford to ignore, along with some tips on how Allinial Global can help you navigate them.
Staffing: Doing More with Less People. The war for talent is still raging, and with the number of people in the workforce declining, it’s imperative to have a future-ready strategy for recruiting and hiring. Traditionally, accounting firms have hired aggressively at the entry-level under the assumption that many would not stay. Those who did stay would advance through the ranks to manager and eventually partner, but with this approach there is little investment in training and succession planning.
Future-ready firms are using automation and outsourcing to assist with entry-level work so that they can invest more into training for higher-level competencies and multidisciplinary, hybrid skill sets that facilitate growth through advisory. If you’re ready to think differently about capacity in 2023, Allinial Global members can help you with outsourcing, our professional development offerings can help you develop your people, and our strategic partners can help you determine how to make the best use of innovative technology and automation.
source: AICPA
Emerging Services: Start Somewhere. Starting a new service line typically requires time and money, so firms are often hesitant to commit to building a new practice. But there are still incredible opportunities in emerging services, with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and client accounting services (CAS) among the fastest-growing practice areas. As Mark indicated in his session, there is even a firm in Accounting Today’s Top 100 that is solely focused on CAS, with two partners and a $47 million practice.
Staying on top of emerging services shows clients that you can help them with all of their needs, and with the Allinial Global community behind you, you should never have to say no to a client. Mark recommends starting with one client in one industry that you really want to focus on then sticking with it. And Allinial Global is here to support you on the way. Our member communities make it easy to learn from peers who are already established in specific service areas, and we offer a wealth of related resources ranging from a recently published ESG white paper to a CAAS Community with a fully mapped CAS Journey.
The Business Model. Mark put it bluntly when he said, “The partner model is dead.” In other words, it’s time to strategize about how to advance your firm and ensure its longevity. In addition to weighing options for technology and pricing, this means reconsidering the managing partner role and aligning it more closely with the role of a CEO, whose primary responsibility is to run the firm, rather than to manage other partners. It also means thinking about governance and shifting to more of a corporate model, in which executive boards are organized to ensure that significant decisions can be made with the firm’s best interests in mind.
Member firms who want to rethink their business model can find plenty of support within Allinial Global. We offer assistance through carefully selected consultants and strategic partners, as well as connections to firms who have been through the consulting process and can share what they’ve learned. Our pricing cohort, for example, features AG member firms who are alumni of Michelle River’s Advanced Pricing Methods workshop. Sharing experiences in these types of groups helps everyone grow faster.
Summing It Up
The accounting profession is clearly in a time of transition, but it’s one thing to talk about transformation and another to put it into practice. Change is difficult, and there is a good reason that organizations struggle with it. That’s why it’s so important for firms to focus on evaluating trends, updating the business model, and developing their people and strategy.
Allinial Global is here to help you do all of those things. As you start the new year, we encourage you to think about how you can leverage some of the member services mentioned in this post, relying on Allinial Global as a partner and resource when you face new challenges. We wish you all the best for 2023 and look forward to growing with you!
