ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Presented by
Alan W. Anderson, CPA
Efficiency and Effectiveness
Are Not Mutually Exclusive:
It Takes A&A Leadership
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Session Outline
The Audit Dilemma
Audits Past, Present and Future
Audit Leadership
Quality
Relevance
Innovation
Business Mindedness
Empowerment
Conclusion
Questions
ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
The Audit Dilemma
ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
What is Getting in the Way of Success:
Discuss
Do you feel your audit approach may
be over-implemented in certain
areas?
How well do you add value to the
client based upon the audit?
What is the goal of the audit?
The True Audit Dilemma
Do your audits have enough checklists??
ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Standard Approach For Audit
All areas are equal risk
– Cannot assume any level of risk except for high
– Cannot assume any level of client complexity
Auditor skill sets all equal
– Cannot assume any level of team proficiency
Errs on the side of inclusion rather than exclusion
– Auditor modifies for risk, complexity, skills
This results in “over-auditing” many clients
ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
At YOUR Firm
Have you developed an industry specific approach?
– Do you leverage those with industry & client knowledge?
Do you streamline to eliminate redundancy?
Is training focused on improving processes, not just new
rules or standards?
Are you constantly striving to improve processes?
Audits-Past
The Age of Simplicity
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Pre-modern:
Technology: Pencil and paper
Planning: Gather only the info needed
Mindful: Thought about the business and the bottom line
Efficiency: Time didn’t matter but clients did
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Audit - Past
ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Coming of age:
Technology: Copy machines proliferate
Planning: Why not copy that memo from last year?
Mindless: Fill in the blanks
Efficiency: Chargeable hours, less and less contact with
client
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Audit - Past
Current State of Audit
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Age of Technology
ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
The “For Dummies” Era
Tech: A computer in every cubicle
Planning: As forms become the norm, checklists take
over thinking ahead
Mindset: Dull, robotic, brain-free
Efficiency: Texting replaces talking, client relationships
take too much time
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
The “For Dummies” Era
RESULT:
Replicated the paper world
Wonder about return on technology investment
No one even knows the bottom line on their last audit
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Audits-Future State
The Age of audit
rebirth
Or not……………
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Audit Trek: The Next Generation
Tech: We’re In the cloud!
Planning: But we’re back to paper and pencil
o Research shows the act of writing improves memory and
achieving goals
Mindful: Auditing smarts yields fewer forms, smarter
decisions, better results
Efficiency: Delivering the goods in a way that adds
value to the numbers
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Audit Trek: The Next Generation
RESULT: Happier client, increased business, looking
forward to hitting the books on Monday morning!
An audit rebirth where client sees value
It will take strong and effective audit leadership
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Five Crucial Attributes;
1. Quality
2. Relevance
3. Innovation
4. Business mindedness
5. Empowerment
Audit
Leadership
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Play the Blame Game?
Accuse the staff of lack of motivation?
Trained to fill out forms not empowered to think
What’s our value when you can audit around the
computer?
Leadership needs to create change
o Empower staff to think
o Teach staff how to plan their audit
o Fight the form/make thinking the norm
o Create a culture of connection – in the office and with clients
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Take Charge of Your Future
Embrace technology by leveraging what it can help us
do, not what it lets us do
Rule out rule-driven leadership
Replace the forms police with educators who can teach
the art and science of the audit
Connect with clients by understanding their industry,
talking about business, and understanding their goals
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Take Charge of Your Future
RESULT:
An audit with added value!
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Quality
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Qualifications for Quality Control
Relying on your QC expert means the auditors abdicates
responsibility for quality assurance
Staff needs to know the standards not by “form” but by
understanding what they are intended to do
What’s their impact? Free-for-all discussions to stimulate
thinking
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Qualifications for Quality Control
Active learning sessions:
o Role play
o Plain paper exercise
o Meet a client with a staff member
o Make leadership into mentorship
o Question of the week contest (with prizes)
o Get them to think whatever way you can
o Challenge yourself to think!
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Qualifications for Quality Control
RESULT:
A staff that asks questions
Interacts with each other and with clients
Abandons SALY by thinking and planning
Leverages the audit information to help clients plan effectively for their financial future
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Relevance
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Regenerate Relevance
Make yourself indispensable by offering sound business
advice
Do your homework about your client’s industry
Make schmooze time off the clock – and it will create a
client who needs you
Get out of the back office and into the trenches – talk to
the sales manager, the production manager, the
warehouse worker, the admin staff – and verify
information from multiple sources
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Regenerate Relevance
Help your clients make the right decisions by reflecting on the business effect of financial decisions
Understand the standards such that you can explain why they matter to your clients
Don’t be afraid to live in the gray; black and white is overrated
Deliver what you claim on your website: this is a checklist of items that matter
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Regenerate Relevance
RESULT: The more relevant your advice, the more likely
you’ll retain clients, and the more YOU’LL feel relevant in a
profession that is creating its own irrelevance
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Innovation
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Change Takes ore than talk
Technology: You control it; don’t let it control you
Planning: Lose the FIFO and SALY mentality. Start with
a blank piece of paper to plan how you’re going to audit
THIS company THIS year
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Change Takes More Than Talk
Mindset: Flexible, quick on your feet, out of the box
thinking, maintaining a vision of your ultimate goals
Efficiency: It’s built into the right planning process, the
best use of technology, and a successful delivery of the
audit – on time, and with the nuances that make it
invaluable
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Change Takes More Than Talk
RESULT: A well-thought through plan will yield an efficient
use of time to get the information you need, from the
people who have it, without lowering fees or compromising
quality
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Business Mindedness
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
The Bottom Line
Bring back the thinking auditor: Use business expertise
to advise clients to improve profitability
Net collected rate versus fee realization
Remember: Decisions are not always black and white.
Get comfortable in the gray.
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
The Bottom Line
Function over form: The quality of an audit is not
measured by the number of rules you follow
Don’t compromise our professional standards, but don’t
lose sight of the forest for the trees
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Empowerment
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Powering Forward
Empower your staff:
Provide education and experience-based
learning
Empower your clients:
Interpret their business practices and advise them
how to improve
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Powering Forward
Empower leadership:
Find a vision that uses next generation tools
TODAY
Empower your firm:
Provide the value you guarantee on your website
and you’ll not only retain clients, but get new ones
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
How Will We Leave Our Profession to the
Next Generation?
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
Conclusion
• Its time for Efficiency and Effectiveness
to work together
• It will take leadership
• Are you willing to do what it takes?
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ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
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Questions?
ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC Driving Accounting Firm Excellence © Copyright 2016 Alan W. Anderson
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Alan Anderson, CPA ACCOUNT-ability Plus, LLC [email protected] 952-240-2459