Accountants are in a bit of a weird position these days—remote work is the norm, technology is rapidly changing workflows and firm operations, and services we’ve relied on as traditional money makers aren’t growing at the same pace as they used to. 

When it comes to adding accounting advisory services to your firm’s menu of offerings, there are a lot of resources available that will tell you to do this or do that. In fact, a quick Google search returns more than 81 million results for the question, “how to build accounting advisory” (although the most relevant/helpful results are probably limited to the first few pages). 

The accounting industry is changing, and with it comes a change to how accounting firms service their clients.

For instance, in Sage’s “The Practice of Now 2019” report, 44% of accountants believe that “business advisory” is a necessary skill set for the industry. But fewer than 20% of practices offer advisory (with only 5% offering outsourced CFO services).

Can you imagine a world without acronyms? Communication would without a doubt be more of a chore, and it would take longer, too. Indeed, acronyms are fantastic. But FWIW (for what it’s worth)—for an acronym to be truly effective, it must be defined and clear for everyone involved.

The role of accounting professionals has been in constant evolution for decades. Traditionally, accountants and CPAs were relegated to the books and compliance duties. This is mostly due to the pre-spreadsheet and pre-internet era when these tasks legitimately took up most of a firm’s available bandwidth. 

New tech can give accounting firm owners and partners mixed emotions. On one hand, there’s the hope of improving processes while driving greater revenue. On the other hand, there are concerns related to cost and how to implement a new tool across the entire company. There’s a lot to consider!

What are all businesses—accounting firms included—trying to achieve on a daily basis?

There’s no denying that more and more firms are positioning themselves to offer their clients advisory services, and the reason is clear. Financial guidance is a cornerstone of business success, and business owners need a trusted advisor to provide a data-driven path to achieving their goals—and avoiding costly mistakes.