Accountability: How CPAs Can Use It as a Resource to Reinforce Their Value

The day-to-day life of a CPA moves at a frantic pace. Accountants are driven by deadlines and a neverending list of deliverables that need to be submitted by a certain date. The busy season, in particular, is extremely demanding and CPAs need to have all available resources at their disposal to emerge victorious on the other side.?

When we talk about the resources accountants need to succeed, we’re not just talking about digital tools and software solutions that simplify their tasks. A resource that’s vastly underutilized by CPAs is that of accountability. This is probably because it’s an intangible, “soft” resource - but when put to use, it can be a powerful tool for enabling productivity and exceeding client expectations.

When properly implemented, it can help to set expectations, define boundaries, and ensure CPAs and their clients are clear on their responsibilities and what they can expect from one another. This is where many practices often fall short in implementing accountability - it’s not only up to CPAs.?

Accountability is a two-way street between clients and service providers. It’s a mutual investment that ensures both parties are successful in what they do. For this reason, it’s vital to bring your clients into the larger conversation surrounding expectations and responsibilities within the relationships you develop with them.?

Why CPAs Need to Reinforce Accountability in Their Practices

CPAs and accounting practices tend to tie their value to what they’re producing for clients which makes sense, given that accounting is a deliverable-dependent industry. However, when it comes to preparing these deliverables (whether they’re tax returns, statements, etc.) the quality of service you deliver is tied not only to your capabilities but also to clients’ participation and responsiveness.?

Reinforcing accountability reinforces the value of the services you’re providing. You’re preventing your time, as well as your client’s, from being wasted or lost which impacts productivity and output.?

Missing a deadline or failing to produce something for a client can damage the relationship between you and, on a larger scale, negatively impacts your firm’s reputation. When this happens, you need to take a closer look at the accountability that’s been established between you and them to determine where you’re missing the mark.?

Even if it was due to a client not submitting something or missing information, it still impacts your performance and thus, it’s both your responsibility and theirs to reestablish a sense of accountability for showing up and doing what’s required to get the job done.?

How to Nurture Accountability in Your Client Relationships

Accountability, at the end of the day, is about collaboration. Think of nurturing better accountability in your practice as an opportunity to improve your client communication and management processes and really make them bulletproof.?

The important thing to remember is that, as the firm or practice, you’re going to lead when it comes to establishing and maintaining accountability. Your clients will follow your lead.?

Leading means that you’re going to be responsible for setting the parameters for being accountable within the working relationship and your client will work with you within these boundaries.

Here are a few ways you foster mutual accountability between yourself and clients:

Set expectations as early as possible

The best way to encourage clients to be accountable for their role in the partnership is to define this role as soon as possible. Discuss in detail what it is you need from them and by when. Explain what they need to provide and what the best way is to do this.?

Set your expectations of them and, at the same time, explain what they can expect from you in return and how working together benefits you both. The more in-depth you go with defining both of your roles and responsibilities, the less likely you’ll run into issues further down the line.

Communicate frequently

Communicating at the beginning, of course, doesn’t mean that it should be the only time you communicate these expectations with clients. Consistent communication will ensure that they don’t forget everything you’ve explained to them over time.?

Remember that, while you’re dealing with their accounting deliverables almost daily, they’re likely not. The chance of them forgetting to submit something or exactly what to submit is bound to happen sooner or later. You can prevent this from snowballing and becoming a larger problem by staying in touch and reminding them of what you need, ahead of time.

Be clear about what will happen if accountability falls through

Part of setting expectations is being clear about what will happen if they aren’t being met through accountability, by either party. Again, remember that clients aren’t immersed in accounting complexities in the same way you are, and may not realize that forgetting to send something or sharing an important update could affect your ability to service them.?

Of course, as a CPA you want to be flexible for clients and work with them as best you can. Just be sure that they’re following your processes, not the other way around. If you’re constantly battling to meet deadlines at the last minute because of late or missing documentation, you’re essentially undermining the accountability you’re striving to establish. This ties directly to the last point.?

Have guardrails in place to minimize this from happening

To mitigate the risk of accountability falling through the cracks, have a system in place to help maintain it. What is your established time frame for producing deliverables and does this time frame factor in communication and reminders for information??

How many reminders will you send a client before reaching a cut-off date and when is this cut-off date? Under what circumstances will you make an exception for clients who are late or unresponsive and when won’t you? What happens if, for any reason, you can’t meet certain deadlines??

There’s no correct answer to this, these factors will depend on the size of your firm, your clients and their requirements, and how you operate. Just remember, your system is there to protect you, your team and your clients from potential roadblocks and keep things rolling smoothly. It benefits everyone, so it’s worthwhile taking a bit of time to establish it.?

Conclusion

At a surface level, encouraging mutual accountability might seem like it consists of a lot of rules and rigid structures - and that’s because it does! But don’t let this put you off because it will pay off in the long run. CPAs might worry that introducing these measures could put off clients because of the rigidity and the perceived pressure from it.?

But ultimately, you’re ensuring that you can provide them with exceptional service and produce the best possible results for their businesses. The results will speak for themselves and will help to reinforce your clients’ trust in your capabilities.