Celebrating You! - California Society of Certified Public Accountants - Brief Article

California CPA, Oct, 2001 by John Dodsworth

Madison Avenue will probably have none of it, but the AICPA is revising its tagline "Never Underestimate the Value," and I have a suggestion: "CPAs Are Great!" Catchy, isn't it? Well, maybe not, but consider this October marks the 100th anniversary of the CPA credential in California. One hundred years have passed since the first California CPA was licensed. Reaching this milestone and providing value to businesses in ways that those first CPAs would have never dreamed possible is reason for us to be proud.

So rather than spend so much time being defensive about what we are not, let's stand up and take credit for what we are.

THE LOCAL TOUCH

Remember when the Big Eight had offices in Fresno and Bakersfield? They tried to take on the local firms. It was an experiment that didn't last long. They retreated back to the major metropolitan areas when they realized they couldn't compete with local firms.

A few years back, during the peak of the merger hysteria, there was an underlying perception that bigger is better. But guess what? Your clients don't want a big firm. They want personal service from someone who really knows what they are doing, and sometimes that might be a big firm, but often, it's your firm.

The chief financial concern for most of your clients is having a business adviser who really understands their business. CPAs fill this role more than any other professional, because not only can we collect data, but we can turn that data into something useful. We bridge the gap between data and its application.

LIVING THE VISION

There has been considerable discussion, beginning with the CPA Vision project, about the profession's future and creating added value for clients. One outcome is that we now have more acronyms than the U.S. Navy -- XYZ, PFS, CITP, MDP. The AICPA even is trying to create a credential to rename what we already are doing.

However, I sense that in our quest for a better world, we have lost some pride in our core disciplines of accounting, tax and attest work. From all of the data that CAMICO collects, it is obvious that these disciplines still constitute a majority of what we do. They certainly are where most of CAMICO's claims come from. But we have come to believe, or have listened to too many experts tell us, that these are low-value commodities.

I don't think it's intentional, but the constant drumbeat has resulted in a loss of pride and satisfaction in our work and a lack of aggressiveness about getting adequate compensation.

I don't agree, and a number of successful CPAs I've talked to don't either. Our core competencies are fundamental to the functioning of every business in this country. Most businesses would not survive very long without us and wouldn't be around to need those higher value services we have started to provide.

WORTH A FORTUNE

Most CPAs have been living the CPA Vision for years. By providing clients with the services they need to make their businesses successful, you've forged such strong relationships that everyone is after them. CPA2Biz and all its investors know that your relationships with clients -- forged within the crucible of doing business and not on the golf course -- are worth a fortune.

Raise your fees. Your clients who value what you do will pay them. Demand that respect. You are worth more money.

CPAs who've done this have found two things: Most clients are willing to pay the higher fees; and those who aren't, leave and free up time to provide more value-added services to the remaining clients.

My wife, a CPA and consulting CFO, recently had a potential client pleading for basic financial services to help make sense of his struggling business. That person certainly didn't think our services were of low value. And I assure you that those pathetic, winning plaintiff attorneys tell us their clients wouldn't have made a move without their CPAs advice.

I'm not suggesting that we turn back the clock, but I am suggesting that any organization that supports CPAs should devote some of its members' money and resources to raising our collective self-esteem and to educating business people, students and others about our value proposition.

I also believe that future discussions about the new directions we need to take would be more productive and collegial if conducted with due respect for our core competencies. We need to build on them, not tear them down.

We are a great profession. I am proud to be part of it. and proud of my fellow CPAs. Happy Anniversary!

John A. Dodsworth, CPA, has been president and a director of CAM/CO since its inception in 1986. He is the 2001 recipient of CalCPA's Distinguished Service Award.