A New Blog Series from Whitman Business Advisors

Welcome to Whitman Wisdom – our new blog series where my Whitman colleagues and I will share some of our observations on the many trends and developments that affect CPA firms of all sizes around the country. I hope you’ll read along as we tackle some evergreen subjects like succession planning and growth along with topics where we see rapid and important changes that are deserving of comment – such as valuations and sustainability.

My name is on the office door so I get to go first. What I intend to address in this and subsequent blog posts, will be topics that most managing partners and senior leadership at CPA firms confront, and which I really hope will spur replies that will lead in turn to a valuable conversation that we can host here on this page. I truly look forward to your comments.

I won’t be the only blogger because I’ll be joined with regular posts from other members of the WBA team who bring highly specialized, and I think very special expertise in areas of interest to CPA firms including HR, Risk Management, Growth Strategies, Marketing, M&A and much more.

So, let’s begin with a statement of purpose.

For a blog to be useful it has to offer more than just information and news. It has to offer something to think about. What I’d suggest CPA firm leaders think about is how such sharing needs to be done within our profession – where we tend to be a bit myopic. How similar or different are our behaviors and actions as firms, and more to the point, how would we ever know? I believe what’s needed is more sharing, and that’s what I intend this platform to provide.

From our WBA vantage point, where we are in touch with hundreds of firms from sole proprietorships to more than 30 of the Accounting Today Top 100, we have the advantage of seeing how CPA firms are successfully tackling their operational and strategic issues, often with remarkable innovations and ingenuity. For instance, one of the most common challenges I see facing Managing Partners is prioritizing what needs to be done first, or fastest, or the best – and often these prioritizing decisions come into conflict with each other. By sharing the insights of many MPs, along with our own judgments based on years of experience, we’re in a place to share our belief that there is much commonalty in the decision-making world of the MP – that they are not alone as they set directions to confront challenging situations.

Wouldn’t it be great, though, if these leaders had a place to turn to understand more about how their peers are moving ahead with their own prioritizations? Well, that’s why this blog exists, and why I hope it can be a conduit for sharing information that helps all of us help each other…and help our clients, too.

Next up: the amazing rise in advisory services at CPA firms, and how practices large and small can multiply their growth. Until then, please let me hear from you.

 

Kind regards,

Phil Whitman