5 min read
Scaling Like a Pro: A Guide for CPA Firms
Accounting firms typically grow in one of two ways. Either they grow organically and hire more staff as the need for...
When people think automation, they think about some type of robot coming in and taking over people’s jobs. That is not what automation looks like when it comes to bot-assisted bookkeeping or Botkeeping℠. We’re looking deeper into automation, what it means, the impact on an accounting firm, and how it can be used by accountants. Join us for the deep dive into these topics by saving your spot today!
Scaling your business requires people, right? Many firms have realized in this current job market that bots can replace the people you cannot find. Add to that the efficiency gains that result from technology and you suddenly have people who can now be used in other areas like providing advisory services. If what you do is repeatable and trainable, scaling it is within reach.
Accountants have struggled to do advisory services as a result of a business model where those serving the client are also performing the work. Botkeeping℠ gives you the capacity to take on this new advisory work, but before you can get paid for doing the high-value work, you have to make changes to your practices staring with billing and closely followed by how you market and sell your services.
What are the impacts of having a client accounting services practice powered by a bot? Do you tell clients or not? What do you tell your staff? Managing the customer journey and your staff’s expectations are key parts of your Botkeeping℠ evolution, and it all comes down to communications, communications, and communications.
Bots are the heavy lifters; the workhorses that allow you automate much of the accounting you do for your clients. When coupled with artificial intelligence and machine learning, bots get smarter. Even better – you can train a bot for every client and truly scale your firm with bot-assisted bookkeeping or Botkeeping℠.
We’ve made the following assumptions about you, our dear reader while writing this book:
If none of these sound like you- read it anyway! No matter your role—we've got something for you!
Our book, "Botkeeper For Dummies" addresses the process of developing a new kind of strategic vision; leveraging the Botkeeper methodology in the 2020 marketplace, and understanding how we change and adapt in our roles to continue to thrive.
We've included a few special chapters to give you the best possible reader experience. If you want to read up on technology and bots, start with Chapter 1. If you’re laser-focused on how to transform your accounting firm's growth, start at Chapter 4. If you want to find the fastest ways to build a Botkeeper-enabled firm, Chapter 6 is for you! We also have an extensive list of additional resources beyond the confines of our book, many of which touch on other disciplines within the realm of Botkeeping as a practice.
In reading our book, aspiring professionals can discover a new road map to a thriving profession. By envisioning all of the practical details that must be part of an effective strategy, any accounting professional can utilize the vast array of resources we provide throughout the book. In true "Dummies" form, we've written in a style that's conversational in nature—in other words, any kind accounting professional, regardless of experience or role, can grasp both the extensive examination of automation and strategic narrative.
As you embark on your own journey, we invite you to consider Chris Grosser's wise words:
"Opportunities don't happen. You create them."
Jody Padar, CPA, is a known influencer in the accounting space as The Radical CPA. Her mission is to help accounting firms transition from old-school methodologies to exciting new ways of doing business. Technology is one piece of the practice management puzzle.
Byron Patrick, CPA, is so passionate about the profession that he had CPA tattooed on his forearm. An early CITP credential holder and technology adopter leading the way for accountants to learn and embrace new technology.
Chris Mahl is an experienced executive, operator & investor with a demonstrated history of driving growth & results. He is relentless about his drive for excellence and growing his teams along with his organization’s sales, revenue, and market dominance.
Enrico Palmerino is a serial entrepreneur and inspirational leader. His maniacal execution and emphasis on vision, values, and culture has attracted some of the brightest minds and hardest working individuals to join him in transforming industries.
"Botkeeper For Dummies" is an introduction to the Botkeeping methodology and Botkeeper platform. It’s an easy, straightforward glance at a not-so-simple concept and a baseline on why bringing automation in your practice is so important—and why it's been so challenging for CPAs to do on their own. In this book, we walk through Botkeeper's unique challenge-based toolset and introduce basic modes of automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
Every industry is now responsible for keeping up with the pace of information sharing; the world is moving fast! As a result, you have to figure out how to make your trusted advisor relationships work at today’s accelerated speed while delivering on customer demands. In this age of change, the typical CPA firm client is more educated and more engaged than ever before. The proactive nature of today’s client means that they’re often less interested in paying for compliance-based services like tax returns and financial statements, and far more invested in services like tax planning and business advisory. The speed of external changes and access to data has seriously impacted the traditional mode of CPA firm operations, and responding to these new client expectations is the new way of doing business. How is your firm going to change your deliverables to meet these new demands?
Enter the Botkeeping methodology!
"Botkeeper For Dummies" will walk you through everything you need to know to start "Botkeeping" and in plain English (winning!). With Botkeeper’s platform, which was built using machine learning and artificial intelligence, you can gain those needed efficiencies and scale your professional services firm to meet the demands of today. Cloud Accounting is the first step, and the good news? Botkeeper is built to service both the firms who have already taken that plunge, as well as those who haven’t gone cloud yet.
As we move through this book, we'll hit on a ton of juicy topics, such as:
Botkeeper has been around since 2015, and in those five years, we've been able to accomplish some pretty incredible things as a company. Together with our 1,000+ clients across the USA, we’ve introduced AI-powered automation to tackle the nitty-gritty bookkeeping tasks that, frankly, no human should be doing in 2020.
With more than 650k lines of code written, our human-assisted artificial intelligence platform has changed the way that modern firms and businesses organize and manage their books, saving more than 507k+ hours of accounting work and $6 million in bookkeeping costs per year...and counting. And now with "Botkeeper For Dummies", we've been fortunate to put together another incredible resource to help accounting firms continue to provide remarkable value to their clients.
A gigantic special thanks to the various clients, contributors, and supporters that made this book, and of course the Botkeeper vision, not just a dream- but an amazing reality. We couldn't do it without you!
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