Helping Clients Find The Right Technologies

From the Jan./Mar. 2008 Issue

Practicing public accountants wear many hats, providing small businesses and individuals with services ranging from tax compliance, to corporate establishment, payroll, business management, financial planning and generational wealth transfer. Along with dozens more traditional and niche services, another common client need has played a large role in shaping the services many professional firms provide: technology consulting. And although helping a client determine the best or most appropriate tech solution to their business needs may not immediately synch with many people’s definition of a professional public accountant, it often makes perfect sense.

For the owners of many small and mid-sized businesses, their public accountant acts essentially as a CFO, providing all of the hardcore financial analysis and planning advice, while also managing write-up and other reconciliation activities. In short, these business owners know the intricacies of their particular industry and may even be experts in their field, but very few are as skilled with accounting and financial subjects. They value their professional accountant when it comes to these functions and, naturally, also turn to their financial advisor for advice on selecting and implementing their financial applications.

Benefits of the Tech Advisor Role
In addition to strengthening the relationship by helping clients to more effectively and efficiently run their own businesses, several other benefits come from recommending and helping them implement these technologies. Foremost for many practices, especially for write-up and tax clients, is the advantage of integration. In short, if a firm can get most of its clients to use programs that integrate with the firm’s in-house programs, then data can be much more easily transferred back and forth. This virtually eliminates data-entry time, while also ensuring data accuracy and limiting the downtime for the client. Having clients on the same systems also allows the firm to more easily help the business troubleshoot problems, since the professionals will already be familiar with the systems and will likely have assisted other clients with similar issues.

Benefits for the Professional Firm

• Data integration saves time, improves client service
• Strengthened client relationship
• Free or discounted software from vendors
• Free or discounted training from vendors
• Additional revenue stream

As familiarity with these client-side programs increases, and often through free or discounted training provided to professional accountants, practices often grow to specifically offer consulting and implementation services. In many larger practices, this has evolved into separate departments for these functions.

Of course, every accountant and every firm has a different level of interest in providing any tech consulting services. So a variety of options are available, from recommender-only, to program reseller, to certified consultant programs, with each offering different benefits to practitioners.

Programs Available for Professionals
Not surprisingly, technology vendors have recognized the important role that accountants play in advising small businesses, and many have established programs specifically geared toward accountants. Sure, these companies are looking to expand their sales bases by going through the professional accountant, but financial motivation often drives great innovation, and these programs generally provide benefits to all parties: clients, professional practices and the vendor.