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Can CPAs Assist with Technology Decisions? By Steve Ernst, CPA  I've always contended that CPAs in public practice are optimally positioned to help their private small and midsize business clients make and implement technology decisions. My premise has been that a CPA should be at the forefront of assisting their clients with technology selection and implementation.
Why do I feel this so strongly? A CPA's objectivity, experience and point of view give the CPA the background and vision to assist a client in these instances. CPAs remain the most trusted business advisor in the SME space. Small and midsize business owners depend on their CPAs to provide counsel on a number of business issues outside of accounting issues, financial reporting, auditing and taxation. The CPA is an objective observer and views his or her clients from the vantage point that allows them to see the whole business. Try as hard as they might, the boards of directors, owners or shareholders, and senior management of an entity will, at times, be too close to their business and, most of the time, predisposed to a decision or solution. The CPA with the experience of seeing many decisions made by different clients has probably “been there and done that” when it comes to choosing and implementing technology solutions. The other side of the coin In response to past columns, I've received a number of notes that take the opposite position – that CPAs are not optimally prepared to assist and advise small business clients in technology matters. These CPAs consistently noted a number of reasons why they thought most CPAs are not capable of being involved in this type of consulting. First and foremost was the fact that the CPA – fully focused on remaining current and up-to-date with the continual churning of accounting and auditing guidance and generally accepted precepts and practices, to say nothing of the ever-expanding and constantly changing tax code – could not maintain the level of knowledge and awareness necessary to render advice and counsel on technology. Second was that CPAs are not as adept at marketing consulting services beyond accounting and taxation. Over time, as I read these responses, I had to acknowledge their content made sense – to a point. Because I have written a number of articles and columns advising CPAs on starting a technology consulting practice or expanding their current consulting practice to include technology, I wanted to make sure that I had not been completely mistaken in my thoughts. I had to ask myself should I reconsider putting CPAs in that position if, in fact, they were not, as a general rule, capable of fulfilling the role. I used the AICPA TECH+ Conference to do just that. The reassessment During the three days of the TECH+ Conference, I reached out and discussed this issue with a number of CPAs that I know, most of whom have a solid small business practice that includes accounting, auditing, tax and consulting services. All but one of these CPAs had relatively small staffs, and most of the CPAs on staff multi-task, except for the taxation expert who specializes. To a person, they indicated they were very comfortable with the consulting engagements that could be described as technology related. They agreed that technology is so pervasive in today's business environment that a CPA who does not maintain a level of knowledge about today's pressing technology topics would be viewed as behind the curve. As Phil Rosenzweig observes, that would reflect, rightly or wrongly, on that CPA's level of knowledge in other areas of professional practice. They indicated that most CPE opportunities they utilized, whether through the AICPA or their state CPA society, included a healthy dose of technology. They covered topics such as hardware, servers, server software, business management software, accounting software, telecommunications, mobile computing, security, encryption, etc. All the CPAs I spoke with had introduced themselves to various technology vendors and resellers. The CPAs had created relationships with them as both a source of information on the latest and greatest in product development as well as to provide a referral for their clients if appropriate. A few of the CPAs I spoke with at the TECH+ Conference had pursued the CITP designation through the AICPA, and most were members of the AICPA's Information Technology Section and used that organization and its publications as additional sources of information and direction. As a result of these discussions, I am still adamant in my view that the CPA serving private small and midsize businesses is well-positioned to assist and consult with those clients on matters of technology. Because of the CPA's experience, holistic vantage point and relationships with various technology manufacturers and vendors, they can be an extremely useful advisor in the implementation of the client's technology decisions. |
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