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By Ryan Lazanis, CPA, CA

To build a modern CPA firm, you need to set it up to scale. I believe there are six necessary components to establish a successful, scalable firm in 2020. But the points presented here are not just theory: they were the ingredients I used to take my CPA firm from scratch to sale in just five years.

Interested? Then let’s go!

Be in the Cloud with Everything You Do

Taking your firm online gives you much more flexibility compared to typical physical-space firms. The chaos arising from COVID-19 proves this better than anything. That being said, once the pandemic passes you’ll still be able to reap benefits from embracing more of an online model:

• A better quality of life for you and your team by providing everyone more flexible work arrangements
• A service experience for your clients that better matches the expectations of business owners in the digital age
• The ability to cast a wider net and attract better quality candidates due to being able to recruit beyond a narrow geographical radius

The whole world has been forced to move online over the past few months. Use the experience as an opportunity to continue moving in that direction.

Streamlined Workflows & Process Automation

Competitive firms surely need streamlined and automated processes throughout the firm. Firms that have become finely tuned machines accomplished this by mapping out optimal processes in every area of their firm and supporting these processes through cloud technology.

Whether it be through eliminating tracking your work in an Excel spreadsheet and instead using some of the latest practice management software or levering the hundreds of cloud accounting apps at your disposal, processes supported by software is a must for a modern, scalable firm.

For more details on how to leverage automation in your firm, check out my 2020 guide to accounting automation.

Customer Experience

Consider the differences between the taxi industry and Uber. The taxi industry provides a good service, but Uber provides a good experience. Companies like Uber have mapped the entire customer journey to make every interaction as pleasurable as possible. CPA firms should do the same.

Bundled Services into a Subscription

A professional services business can only be scaled through some level of uniformity and standardization. That is why a subscription model for your services becomes incredibly important. It’s actually the second step on my list for creating a modern firm.

Many firms sell whatever services they can to whoever will take them. This means they’re stuck doing a thousand different things a thousand different ways. The implication is that there is no standardization, thus no possible way to scale.

Instead, focus on the firm’s very best services, bundle them into a repeatable offering, and price the offering on a fixed monthly basis. Since you will be focused on a core offering, you can train your entire team to offer this “product” the same way every time.

Additionally, a subscription model allows you to “set it and forget it” when it comes to invoicing and billing. Many firm owners get skittish when it comes to fixed pricing. If that’s you, check out my guide to pricing accounting services.

Create Content to Win Business Online

Your firm can only go so far with networking meetings and referrals. Today, a huge segment of the public shops for everything online, including accounting. In my opinion, content marketing is the best form of online marketing for a CPA firm.

I grew my firm almost entirely thanks to blogging. I realized that if you provide your ideal customers with information they value and content that helps them solve their problems, they’ll get in touch with you for help on other matters.

Whether it be through a blog, podcast or YouTube, CPAs like you have tons of valuable information to give. By providing helpful information, you are helping to foster a relationship with the reader/viewer, whether you know it or not.

It might sound counterintuitive, but the more you give, the more you’ll get!

Firm Roadmap

Most firms do not have a roadmap to get from where they are now to their desired destination. Without a very clear destination in place, it’s impossible to chart a direct path to that destination. Prioritizing initiatives becomes impossible, and you’ll bumble around not feeling great about where the firm is heading.

This a key ingredient to a modern firm that scales because I believe successful firms break away from the pack of owners who are overworked, overwhelmed, and stressed out. Designing a business around the lifestyle you want and your goals is what it’s all about. Most start a firm to create a better life for themselves, but they get caught up in the day-to-day and ignore the end goal because they never took the time to define that end goal.

Also, you can’t scale a firm without proper planning. Scaling is done by design, not by chance. You need a roadmap, a strategic plan, or whatever else you want to call it to get to where you want to be going.

Start with this ingredient first before moving to the others. Creating a modern firm really starts with the right roadmap in place.

Ryan Lazanis, CPA, CA, is the founder of Future Firm, which helps teach firm leaders how to design modern firms that improve their lifestyle. He also sends a weekly newsletter to firm leaders.

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