Jessica Barnas (nee Hall), Partner, outlines how Klein Hall, a Chicago-based accounting services provider and family business, prioritized its people to become more productive and efficient in the lead up to its successful acquisition by Wipfli, one of the top 20 accounting firms in the United States.
Excerpt: This article was originally published in CPA Advisor – read the full article. (Link)
From surviving to thriving
When the pandemic first hit, we were unsure how our services of business management would fare, given the economic downturn and some businesses coming to an absolute halt. But with work from home becoming the enforced norm, we’ve seen levels of comfort and even preference for outsourced accountancy really grow.
No longer are people hung up on their financial managers being on-site, which has allowed firms like ours to grow beyond the levels we were seeing pre-Covid. And having robust processes in place has given us the platform to ensure new clients can be onboarded quickly, resulting in the Wipfli team to grow by almost 30 percent since the beginning of Covid to over 3,000. That would not have been possible without the prioritization of people and ensuring that everyone knows their role and how they can support the wider business goals.
Technology is a wonderful thing, but if you don’t get the input stage right, through your people, you’ll miss out on greater productive output for clients.