Curb Appeal

Despite being upsold no less than 4 times by one of the major phone/cable providers to the point where TV viewers at Chez Carlino have the option of watching any one of 210 channels (including, I believe, The Cricket Channel from the U.K.), each evening the remote in my spouse and children’s hands rarely deviates from HGTV or The Food Network.

So I’m often forced to meander upstairs to catch The Ultimate Fighter or any of the throngs of sporting events airing each night. We do however, compromise on Thursdays when “Person of Interest” comes on.

But I digress.

In any event, the few times I have watched HGTV (an acronym for House & Garden Television) the various programs on that channel keep reiterating the term “curb appeal.” Apparently a phrase used to describe a home’s stately and alluring appearance (or lack thereof) if you happen to be driving or strolling by.

I won’t exactly go out on a limb here by guessing that having a high degree of curb appeal would be important if you’re considering a sale.

But what about a CPA firm mulling an upstream merger?

How does an owner inject “curb appeal” to a practice that goes beyond well-furnished offices and impeccably dressed professionals? What about the internal curb appeal?

I have a few thoughts on that, which should surprise exactly no one.

Start with basics such as making sure your firm’s financial information and websites are up to date. There’s probably nothing more embarrassing than a firm claiming they make X, and then finding out during the due diligence process it’s X minus 1. That would not reflect particularly well on management.

Ditto for your website regarding partner, client and especially, contact information. How many times have you clicked on a firm’s URL only to get an error message?

That’s not likely to impress any potential successor.

Also, having a client base that’s less partner loyal and more brand loyal as to ease any transition headaches would go a long way, as would having signed non-competes among your staff. Also, if you’re a firm in say, the $1.5 million-$3 million range, you may want to consider shedding your “basement clients” those with $200-$300 tax returns not related to any of the business returns.

I doubt if HGTV will ever devote an episode focusing solely on CPA firms, but think of it this way, you have a good starting point without have to scan 210 channels including several cricket matches to do so.