Firm of the Future: The Intuit Way

“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”
― Dr. Seuss

There is a contest, sponsored by Intuit, called “Firm of the Future”. Intuit is asking for a video from accounting and consulting firms capturing why their firm considers themselves forward-thinking.  Why is this blog worthy to me and my readers? Because the Firm of the Future is happening now. Elements of this future involve platforms that are already in full bloom, already adopted by many companies and possibly leaving the baby boomers feeling a bit left out if they haven’t been keeping up with the times. These components include: getting into the cloud (cloud computing), being a Trusted Advisor (rather than a pencil pusher) and being connected (through social media) I want that for my clients, but do my clients want that for themselves?

I have followed many roads with Intuit starting with DOS 1.0 when it first came out in 1993. I was a little late in the game, not with Intuit, but with computers and technology in general. But I saw firsthand how it revolutionized my paperwork, I experienced the power of the “Find” function and how quickly QuickBooks gathered up and spit out information for a report. It was an epic move for me to go from teaching Learning Disabled students to computerized accounting (especially since I had not yet taken an accounting class!) But that is the thing about the future. You’re not quite sure what’s coming, but you know when you’ve discovered something that may be part of the future and the world’s moving parts. And it’s a sure bet that tomorrow will bring more change.

My ascent to this Firm of the Future started about three years ago when I caught wind of a Virtual Conference that Stacy Kildal and Dawn Brolin were a part of. They were, and still are, my beacons into the future. I saw in their conference the elements of the future, much like when I first saw QuickBooks. A fast moving train that I better get on. I decided to get started, beginning by moving my practice into the cloud. I was on QuickBooks Enterprise on my computer desktop, but moved it to QuickBooks Online where I can access it anytime, anywhere. I started using Free Trial of TSheets to automate my time tracking and SmartVault to store my documents in the cloud. I continued to say yes to beta testing new products for Intuit as I felt like it put me ahead of the game. I started taking on clients that would lead to a relationship rather than a quick fix, helping them with their accounting processes and automating their data. And best of all, I hired my awesome Michigan based Social Media coach Wendy McCance to help me be a visible solution through social media. I went all out by co-authoring the TSheets Certification as I believe they, too, are a futuristic company. I adopted LivePlan as my business barometer  because no business plan should be stagnant. I became certified in that as well. My suite of cloud apps and automation is growing and now I’m freeing myself up to develop my trusted advisor role.

There is always more exploration down the road. My mission is to not limit myself to any one solution as one size does NOT fit all in the business world. I continue to seek out educational conferences, blog about my experiences and solutions and continue discovering new ideas that will automate my world and my client’s world. My sister Mary turned me on to a great book that I read awhile back. It is a must read for any business owner wanting to prepare themselves for the future. It’s message is told through an allegorical story. “Who Moved My Cheese”, by Spencer Johnson, first made me aware that it would do me no good to “Hem and Haw” if my cheese was moved from it’s usual place, rather I should be the mouse that sniffed and scurried, always assuming that the cheese would NOT always be there. Untrain yourself to think the present will  stay the same and that the “cheese” will be in a predictable place. And act as if the future was already yesterday’s news.