Adrian G. Simmons

I’ve suggested before that accounting is not the language of business, but that I do think CPAs bring unique abilities to the conversation of business. In a world of information, perspective is king, and if we can see our finances in their broader context, I think we go a long way to growing stronger.

To that end, I’d like to propose that your (and any other business’) two most important numbers don’t appear on your income statement: (1) customer profit, and (2) opportunity loss. This graphic helps illustrate:

Continue reading “The Two Most Important Numbers Aren’t on Your Income Statement”

Systems are so important as enabling mechanisms. Sometimes I like to call them “structures of freedom.” I’m reminded of a quote from Tim Williams at Thriveal’s Deeper Weekend last fall, “Process is the architecture for getting things done.” Even creative processes, like transforming your firm, require some level of scaffolding to help you see it through from concept to realization.

Systems can compete with each other too. The system you know and use now will almost always beat out the one that’s fledgling or undefined. This is why it’s almost always easier to spend hours replying to e-mails than to change your firm. There’s a system for e-mail, but not for transformation.

So our goal is to develop a creative system for our firm, shield it during its fledgling stage, and then let it grow to become part of our way of doing things, that stands its ground and evidences its value as part of our firm’s operations.

Cracking this nut is not easy. But I feel like I took another step earlier this year in my own personal system.
Continue reading “Transformative Systems”

Over the years, I’ve developed a skepticism of brands, a healthy one I hope. And I would venture to say you have too. One ad after another, all making claims to be the best thing ever. Common sense tells us it can’t actually be — we all want to believe that particular cologne/perfume is going to make us instantly magnetic, but we know better. And then there’s one purchase after another; many don’t live up to the hype, some do, some do to begin with, but don’t last. Each of these experiences eats away at our ability to believe, to trust.

Brands can be so impersonal — marketing messages connect us to the brand, and humans become merely the means to get to the brand. Ads create a desire for Cheerios, and supermarkets and checkout registers are just a delivery mechanism to acquire Cheerios for ourselves. The quicker and easier, the better. Products, not humans, are the end. (Or perhaps more accurately, the emotional state promised by the products.)

But brands are real, right? I mean, after all, there’s Coca-Cola, Apple, Southwest, and Rolls Royce. They must truly exist. Or do they? Maybe they’re just made up. Maybe they only exist simply because we all agree they exist. Sorta like language — we all agree this scrawled shape on a piece of paper constitutes a letter, “d” we’ll call it. And we agree that it makes a particular, recognizable sound formed by our mouths and tongues. And when combined with the two other scrawled shapes “o” and “g,” signifies those panting, four-legged furry creatures in our homes.

Continue reading “Brands Don’t Really Exist”

It’s right before tax season, and I’m sitting here at a table in my office’s front room, typing away on my laptop. This moment has significance.

We moved into this office space in February 2012, right as tax season started that year. It came after an unexpected offer to change suites at our office park to a ground floor spot. It’s not a big space, 1100 square feet +/­. But I got to design the floor plan and had been working with the contractors on build­out, colors, flooring, network placement, etc. There was a concept then for how we wanted to decorate the front room, but we had to settle for the basics at the time so we could go full swing into tax season.

And now it’s three years later. And we’ve decorated the front room to welcome our customers into a relaxing coffee shop style feel that was its original plan. And I’m sitting at a pub­-style table here.

The future takes time.

This quote from Reid Hoffman I think is critical for those of us out there trying to do something new:

“Innovation comes from long term thinking and iterative execution.”

Continue reading “The Future Takes Time”

I met Ron Baker in person for the first time in 2011. Before that, I had read his articles online and attended a webinar he presented. But in 2011, I attended the first Thriveal Deeper Weekend, which was a “Firm of the Future” seminar offered by Ron Baker and Ed Kless. That was two days of brain-crushing, mind-altering, future-shifting learning and dialogue.

I immediately started to change things: first with a handful of customers with whom we had strong relationships, then with certain service types, etc. I remember a year later, I’d hardly made the progress I wanted to, and was feeling down wondering if it was ever going to happen. I remember chatting with Ron around that time, and he mentioned in passing that firms usually take three years to fully transition to value pricing. Whew – I was much relieved: I still had time.

Three years later, I look back, and boy, there has been such a change between then and now. I’m happy to say, we’re now completely value priced — I’m still learning (and doubt I’ll ever stop), but I feel so much more freed as a business owner having gone through this process. I was recently reflecting on some of the realizations I’ve had along the way and wanted to share them with you:

Continue reading “Reflections After 3 Years of Value Pricing”