Firm of the future or future of the firm?

Next month, I have been tasked with a 100-minute presentation on what I believe the CPA firm of the future will look and operate like.

Yes I know this subject has been addressed ad nauseum over the past decade and perhaps longer, but in its defense it always seems to be in demand – even by a group of tax professionals who will comprise the bulk of my audience in November.

I’m not going to regale you with highlights of my speech – or in some cases bore you with them – but remember anything that is of a futurist trend in nature will always be heavily oriented in technology, a subject that doesn’t often make the older generation comfortable.

So I begin by asking the session members how long they think common tech-related devices that they use every day have been in existence. The answers are, more often than not, surprising.

How about an ATM machine?

Actually the first of its kind was installed at a branch of Chase Manhattan Bank in New York in 1969. Yes, 47 years ago.

What about mobile phones? Show me a CPA today who doesn’t carry one.

But I doubt anyone in the accounting profession did back when Motorola debuted the first hand-held mobile telephone in 1973.

Flat screen TVs? 

Would you believe 1964? I can recall that back then my family was still watching Gunsmoke on an old RCA black and white.

But as the great Paul Harvey used to say, “now for the rest of the story.”

In a Cliff Notes’ version the firm of the future will not so much revolve around the latest technology – although that would certainly help – but rather the flexibility to adapt to the an evolving marketplace.

And that evolution begins with a curtailed emphasis on chargeable hours, and a laser-focus on providing value instead of racking up often-non-productive time. Just because someone is not spending 70 hours a week in the office doesn’t mean they’re not productive. It’s  amazing how many times I’ve come across that often intractable mindset. By the end of this year, 60 million people will work remotely at least one day a week. With the proliferation of cloud applications location becomes irrelevant. Don’t continue to make it relevant.

The shift toward firms becoming advisory practices instead of the plain vanilla Type 1 audit or tax work has been gaining traction for years. It’s time to consider joining the parade to more profitable consulting work.

And finally adapt to the changing demographics in the workforce – Millennials and those younger are simply not going to work 2,000-plus hours toward a partner track. They are too many options available to them. Do you think they’re going to work at a firm stuck in a cultural time warp that mirrors an office circa 1975?

Hopefully you see what I’m getting at here. Firms that are glacial in changes to the marketplace will always create client and real estate opportunities for those that are.

You don’t need to be a futurist to see that.