CPA Practice Advisor - 22

FEATURE

Digital Strategies to Improve
Accounting Firm Agility
By Jodi Chavez

GETTING AHEAD MEANS thinking ahead in the new normal.
If we've learned anything these
past few months, it's that change is
here to stay, which means your firm
must be agile and able to respond
quickly to whatever curveballs come
its way. And from what we know about
2020 so far, curveballs will come.
Technology is the tool that will
help you accomplish that aim most
effectively, and adopting these three
digital strategies should be your first
priority as you set out to improve
agility at your firm. Here's what to do.

BE PREPARED
FOR QUICK
CHANGES
To understand the
importance of this
organizational trait,
look no further than the start of the
pandemic. Workforces were thrust
offsite seemingly overnight, and leaders who never would have dreamed of
working from home in the past, suddenly found themselves at the helm of
fully functioning remote teams.

The path forward is clear:
digital solutions are the
key to agile operations.
If that was you, then you likely
took a big step toward embracing agility - but there's still more you can do.
The difference-maker for companies

22

OCTOBER 2020 ■

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now is not whether or not they can
work from home, but whether or not
they can work from home at maximum
capacity over the long term.
Still, we've seen only only a small
percentage of companies with a
mature processes in place for engaging, managing and developing agile
workers, so doing so must remain a
major area of focus going forward.
Approach your agile workforce strategically to identify areas where you
can improve efficiency for the future.

DEVELOP A
LEARNING
MINDSET
A learning mindset
is the all-important
glue that will hold
your agile plans in place.
You've laid the groundwork with your
processes and set an organizational
mission to respond better to change,
but without making this crucial shift
to your thought process, you'll never
be able to reach peak adaptation.
A learning mindset will help
you and your team frame setbacks
as opportunities for growth and
improvement - a positive spin you'll
need in order to stay focused in the
ever-changing new normal of today.
Plus, with the lack of skilled talent
remaining a top challenge for accounting firms, it may be the only way to
ensure your firm has support in the
areas where it needs it most.
Online learning sites like Coursera offer thousands of courses that
employees can take from home to
ensure training and development
stays on track - even if you can't
all be together onsite. With so many

digital options available, there's no
excuse not to prioritize skilling initiatives this year. Doing so will ensure
that your firm is equipped with the
flexible, tech-savvy talent it needs to
succeed - no matter the state of the
hiring market.

UPGRADE YOUR
SERVICES TO
THE CLOUD
Wit h
COV ID-19
cases spiking, and
treatments and vaccines in limbo at various stages of
development, there really is no telling
how long your operations will have to
remain remote.
That's why the best way to keep
both your team and your clients safe is
by adopting cloud-based technologies
that can reduce the need for face-toface interactions. There's a whole host
of advantages that cloud technologies
can bring to CPA firms - especially
during tax season - like enhanced
security, better time efficiency and
fewer errors to name a few.
For CPA firms today, the path forward is clear: digital solutions are the
key to agile operations. By incorporating these tech-forward strategies into
your new normal business plan, you
can start rebuilding your workforce
with the tools it needs to succeed in
our rapidly changing new normal. ■
As Group President, Randstad
Professionals, Randstad Life
Sciences and Tatum, Jodi Chavez
oversees the field organization
and provides strategic direction
for Randstad Life Sciences, Randstad Professionals and Tatum.
http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
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