Peerview Data Insights

Being goal-oriented is what this fast-paced world we live in thrives on. If you don’t have your sights set on achieving “something” or going “somewhere” then you might as well be doing nothing and going nowhere.

This is especially true in the world of business. You can keep moving and adapt to changes or be left behind by the competition — something your business clients know all too well.

Peerview Data would like to recognize and thank our new customer, J.D. Frost & Company, headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for selecting us as their comparative analytics application for their audit, tax, and consulting practices.

In an article published this week in Entrepreneur, Pamela Slim evaluates common problems small companies face and how she thinks they can best overcome these issues. 

You know consulting is the next step for your firm. You know Peerview Data is the right tool to help you get the job done, but you still hold onto some reservations. 

You’re heading out into uncharted waters in the world of consulting. Excited about the business this will bring to your firm, you remain optimistic but apprehensive. What tools do you really need to be the best consultant you can be?

Many CPAs have been in the business for a long time. They helped found the firms they're still working in today and, after many years of serving their clients, many are considering retirement or taking a step back to explore other avenues in life with their families. Additionally, an abundance of graduates enter the work force each spring, bright-eyed and ready to embrace the industry.

How is your company measuring up to others when it comes to potential employees searching for places to start their careers?

Consulting is the best way to get your CPA firm out of the tax-services-only rut. It not only has the ability to make you more of an asset to your clients, but it can propel both of you forward in terms of performance and growth. Because you already have an established relationship handling a company's finances, you're in the great position to apply your expertise to help them achieve their goals.

Before you start, however, here are some tips on how the be the best consultant:

When you went to school you graduated after earning your degree in the profession you wanted to go into and have been in for some years now: accounting. Your clients are happy, business has been steady, and you're living the dream one busy season at a time.

But as CPA services continually evolve with the development of AI to become more consulting-based practices, it’s important that you and your firm evolve too.

Over Easter weekend my thirteen year old niece was over at my home with the rest of our family for lunch. I tried talking to her about her life, finding myself asking her all the questions I used to hate when I was her age (how's school, how're sports going, do you have a crush, what's his name, how's your best friend doing?). Her answers were brief, as 13-year-old answers often are, and she spent a majority of her time on her phone. She was constantly pulling up videos to show us, taking pictures of her food and herself, and even fixed a glitch on my phone that I'd been struggling with forever like it was nothing. 

I was over at a friend's home for game night last weekend and we ordered food through a delivery app for dinner. Complaints ensued when the food was fifteen minutes late even though picking up the food ourselves is something we could have done twenty minutes ago to avoid waiting. One of our friends voiced this, only to have their point countered with the blatant statement: