As COVID-19 becomes endemic in large parts of the world, businesses have started focusing on sustainability and inclusive growth. Yes, the aftermath of the havoc that COVID-19 had caused over the last couple of years will take humanity some time to bring normalcy back into their lives. But let’s say we indeed are on course to a fruitful recovery in all walks of life. And that’s a good sign.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to chat with Jessica Salerno-Shumaker, host of the Ohio Society of CPAs’ official podcast – The State of Business. The topic of conversation – “How to master the evolving business model”, with an aim to introspect the evolving business environment and share ideas on –
- How do businesses need to update their business models?
- The benefits of global work, outsourcing because of the talent crunch, and more.
As the Global Chief Sales Officer at Datamatics Business Solutions, I have been privileged enough to work with CPAs all over the globe. It provides me with critical insights into the evolving world of CPAs and accounting and the vision for what lies ahead for the CPAs as they relook at changing their business models. For the podcast aficionados, you can listen to the entire episode on the link below.
Below is the gist of the conversation for the bibliophiles as it happened. I have tried to include a couple of additional insights, to make the blog even more engaging. So, you might want to stay till the end.
The Challenges that CPAs Face Today
In one of our recent surveys with our client, the key challenges that we were able to identify were –
- Talent Crunch – The great resignation/the great reshuffle
- Growing volume of work despite the shortage of workforce
- The need to evolve into a high-functioning, best-in-class process model
These three challenges are just a tip of the myriad of challenges that CPAs faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, or as the industry insiders called it, COVID-Accounting; there is no denying that addressing these challenges could prepare the CPAs for a better tomorrow.
As an industry leader with over 40+ years of expertise in working with CPAs and accounting firms of all sizes, these three challenges align with the value, we deliver to our clients through our bookkeeping and accounting services.
Let’s take each problem one by one and see how our services at Datamatics Business Solutions can help you triumph over them all.
Talent Crunch – The great resignation/the great reshuffle
We have a team of 500+ accountants & bookkeepers who all are well versed with the modern accounting practices, the laws & regulations surrounding them, and the necessary compliance we need to adhere to. We are both GDPR compliant, SOC Type I & Type II Compliant.
That gives our clients access to one of the largest talent pools globally. Irrespective of the workforce shortage you are facing, with access to our talent pool, you can overcome your challenges and open doors to a global workforce for the future.
Growing volume of work despite the shortage of workforce
For any business, as the volume of the work increases, so does the business owners’ responsibility to be timely & ensure the quality of the work. Most of the CPAs that I spoke to, who were dealing with an overwhelming amount of bookkeeping and accounting work, acknowledge how tough it is for them to strike a balance between time punctuality and the quality of the work.
It can be quickly addressed by having a global workforce like ours. As soon as you wind up your day, you have our vast talent pool taking over your work with a keen eye for detail. It ensures that you are meeting your deadlines without compromising on the quality of the work. With our quality framework check in place, we consistently saw the quality of the job go up for our clients. It made lives easier for our CPA clients and even for their clients who were concerned about missing their deadlines.
The need to evolve into a high-functioning, best-in-class process model
For the third challenge, where the modern CPAs need to create a business model for the future or rather grow into a high-functioning business of the future, we have three elements to support them –
- Process Improvements – We evaluate your business processes to identify the inefficient or the NVAs (Non-Value-Adding Activities).
- Rich Ecosystem of Technology Partners – We partner with some of the biggest accounting software providers, including QuickBooks and Xero. It provides us with the necessary technical understanding to prepare your business for the future. We can help you move away from your legacy systems and migrate to newer future-ready ecosystems.
- RPA & Automation – We dive deep into your processes to identify the causes for inefficiency and the scope for streamlining. We fix those gaps using modern automation techniques and RPAs.
What’s an evolving business model & how do businesses ‘evolve’?
During the many discussions with CPA clients from all parts of the world, I have found that every client is looking to be served better. We can draw a parallel between the evolution of the B2C world, where the customers expect timeliness, transparency, and higher quality of service., and how it has rubbed off on the B2B world. Businesses serving businesses are expected to stand tall on all accounts of timeliness, transparency, and quality of service they provide. The expectations of clients have gone up significantly.
Now, in terms of being an “evolving business,” as a business owner or an account manager, you should not be bogged down by managing the back-office tasks when there is a high-functioning ecosystem available to take care of these mundane tasks. Your end goal as a CPA firm should be to evolve as per your client’s needs. We have already seen many CPA firms grow into consultants and advisors for their clients by leveraging the said ecosystem.
How can outsourcing help CPAs with a talent crunch?
The talent crunch essentially can be attributed to the changing mindset of the modern young workforce. They are not very excited about doing the mundane tasks, and they seek work-life balance. So, any business that is not mature enough to meet the expectations of the modern workforce is bound to face a talent crunch. For this very reason, you need access to a global workforce who is willing to take over your back-office tasks and execute them with the vigor and diligence of your employees. Outsourcing enables that for you.
Another way outsourcing helps you evolve and consequently address the talent crunch is by allowing you to eradicate processes that hinder or slow down your growth. You slowly can start looking at making many of those processes automated or destroying them. It will also allow you to grow your revenue numbers without doubling your workforce. It’s a win-win situation for all.
Areas for Improvement in the CPA World
I feel that today’s CPAs are working at the cost of tomorrow. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to have a truly global talent pool. It allows you to scale your business when the demand is high and will enable you to dig deep into your service offerings. So that is one central area that I feel CPAs can undoubtedly look into as they prepare to create a business model for the future. CPAs and accounting firms must embrace the changes that the pandemic has forced them to adopt. One fine example of that is the “remote working” model. In the pre-pandemic times, businesses needed a lot of convincing regarding the “remote working” model. Thankfully, that is not the case today. Companies are open to trying out pilot projects with 2 – 3 FTEs and slowly moving on to a more significant engagement. This is why we have bespoke models for businesses of different sizes. I would urge all our clients and prospects listening to the podcast or reading the blog to try our bespoke models at least once.
Closing Remarks
There is no denying that there is a stigma attached to outsourcing. Some of the most noteworthy ones are that offshoring will take away jobs or that the companies will lose control of their dealings. Thankfully none of those hold in the current working climate. At least not in our workings. We have a vast client base with proper processes and a talent pool suitable to your business needs. As we move ahead with each client, we open up more opportunities for them with the same timeliness and defined structures that can elevate their businesses to newer heights.
On that note, I will be happy to connect with business leaders who would like to take the discussion ahead on all things CPAs, Accounting, & Outsourcing. You can catch me on LinkedIn or write to me at: sumit.mahajan@datamaticsbpm.com.
