How can partnering with the right firm create value?
Partnering with the right accounting firm should provide a greater opportunity to grow and prosper. The firm should have a deep knowledge of your industry and business, and spend time with you discussing various business and tax strategies, opportunities for performance improvement, compensation and benefit issues, and risk mitigation.
It will not necessarily have all the answers, but it is going to be able to have a dialog with you regarding relevant issues and who you should talk to in order to get more information.
By creating a strong relationship with your accounting firm, you will get an outside, independent perspective. It will be beneficial to receive input from someone with significant experience serving other businesses, who will bring to you the ideas that are working for similar companies and try to prevent you from making mistakes that others have made.
What resources can business owners use to ensure they select the right firm for their needs?
Lenders are a great resource, as well as attorneys and other professionals and trade associations. For example, if you are a contractor and you participate in the Construction Financial Management Association, ask fellow members about their experiences with accounting firms.
Once management begins the selection process, they should focus on four main things: industry and technical expertise; the passion and enthusiasm to serve you; the chemistry between your team and the accounting firm’s team; and the expected amount of partner and manager involvement with your account.
The accounting profession is about leverage of people, but maximum value is derived from spending time with the firm’s senior members.
What would you say to business owners who are reluctant to leave their current firm to find a better fit?
Often, a company’s needs change, requiring consideration of a change in accounting firms to better meet the organization’s objectives. The current service provider may have been on the scene for many years and established a strong personal relationship with management. The needs of the company, however, should trump the long-standing, personal relationship.
Management should determine in an unemotional way whether or not the current firm is the best fit for the company and proceed accordingly.
In situations where perhaps management is reluctant to terminate a longstanding relationship, there may be a piece of the services that can remain with the current firm while bringing in a new provider to better accomplish the balance of the work.
If the right firms are engaged and have only the company’s best interests in mind, they will easily work together in serving the client.
Stephen Christian is the managing director at Kreischer Miller. Reach him at (215) 441-4600 or [email protected].
