Coast to Coast. Take Your Business. Checking out the Native American ruins at Mesa Verde in Colorado.

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1 Take Your Business Coast to Coast Attending the Arabian National Horse Show in Louisville, Ky. Checking out the Native American ruins at Mesa Verde in Colorado. Visiting Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska, and watching a mama bear walk her cubs to within 200 feet of us. By Cheri David, CPA If these adventures sound enticing, imagine being able to experience the country while jetting to visit clients all year! From Virginia to California, and even to Alaska, I m proud to say my clients span the United States. 18 Practice Development Disclosures May/June

2 Although many state governments are still struggling to define CPA mobility, opportunities abound for CPAs who are willing to break out of the confines of their local boundaries. If you are interested in growing your practice and you enjoy travel, challenge yourself to seek out the most profitable clients to fit your travel lifestyle. My sole CPA practice has grown from a budding practice in California to a growing practice in Virginia, and now I have clients spread throughout the country. Has your practice chained you behind the desk? Do you find that your travel plans are reduced to a week here and maybe another week there? Have you ever considered what it would be like to spend the summer in Blue Sky Montana or travel to Alaska and watch the salmon swim upstream? Consider redesigning the future of your practice to regain ownership of your time. Your CPA license is the gateway of opportunity. Great clients exist in every nook and cranny including places you may have already been or would like to be. After you open your mind to the possibilities, you will be able to manage a multi-time zone CPA practice by building interstate relationships, marketing your skills at every opportunity, leveraging technology and designing your practice to fit your travel lifestyle. So I ask you: Where do you want your CPA license to take you this year? A relationship business In his book The World is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman wrote that many task-oriented jobs are rapidly leaving the United States. If you have a practice designed to accomplish tasks, Friedman would warn that your practice may be at risk for outsourcing. If tax return preparation can be outsourced and assembled like a car, will the public still find value in hiring a CPA? Friedman is correct that the world is becoming more flat. It takes only eight hours of travel time from Richmond to Palm Springs, Calif. In the grand scheme, it really is a small amount of time. Besides, travel time can provide for peace and quiet, or offer an opportunity to catch up on current legislation and monthly periodicals. While Friedman s assertions will likely impact how rudimentary tax returns are done in the future, the CPA profession is and will always be a relationship business. CPAs possess certain w Practice Development Disclosures May/June 19

3 knowledge of how business is transacted. Business transactions in Virginia are very similar to business transactions in California. The only difference, really, is perhaps the culture and the time zone. Irrespective of the state in which a business is located, certain basic business principles exist. Who else is more equipped to provide expert guidance, tax planning and financial advice to a new or existing business owner? A CPA has inherent knowledge and experience working with business owners to provide an intimate service that cannot be outsourced. Finding the opportunity The secret to expanding beyond your local market is to promote your experience and skill at every opportunistic event. Business owners are always looking for ways to grow their business, save their business money and save money on taxes. Everyone you meet could be a potential client or a referral of a potential client. Find your niche within a specific type of business community. I specialize in small businesses and entities within the construction industry. Long-distance business clients are similar to local clients they usually come from existing client referrals. Your current clientele is the best advertising investment you can make. Clients tell their friends how well (or not so well) their CPA performs. They also love to boast to their friends about how timely and professional their CPA may be. Exceeding expectations all the time will land you the future opportunity to meet the successful friends of your existing clients. Go out of your way to keep your business clients who move across time zones. Communicate that your services are available across state boundaries. I happen to maintain both a Virginia and California CPA license (noted on my letterhead), and I hold permits to practice in various other states. As practice mobility gains ground in all states, you will be able to perform certain services without notifying or paying fees to individual state boards of accountancy. Study your current list of older, local 1040 clients. Many of those clients have children spread throughout the country. While planning the estate matters of a mom and dad, get to know the son or daughter who may live far away. Many times, those children are in business and need some expert guidance. Often, the planning you do for the estate will also affect the business ventures of the children. Market your expertise and skills Once you make a long-distance connection, your potential client will need some reassurance that distance will not be a barrier to the CPA-client relationship. Remind them that a financial statement and tax return in Virginia is the same as a financial statement and tax return in their state. Demonstrate your expertise by identifying a problem and solution unique to their industry. Share an experience you have had with another client in a similar situation. Explain how you may have saved another client tax dollars or helped them find a more effective way to 20 Practice Development Disclosures May/June

4 manage their business. Clients in remote areas often have a difficult time finding certain expertise locally, so they may have already used an out-of-town CPA. Your connection to them will be sold quickly if you listen to their needs, make yourself available to visit and help manage their business in ways they have not experienced before. In this age, it seems everyone knows how to use a basic computerized bookkeeping system, but surprisingly, many remote communities have not been exposed to the skilled, knowledgeable and technical CPA advice that their business desperately needs. Maintaining a relationship across time zones Once you have landed a long-distance client, maintaining the relationship across multiple time zones requires excellent customer service. Be consistent about returning s and telephone calls within the same day or within a very short period of time. Long-distance clients will not stay with you if they don t feel like you are minutes down the road. Have a policy and stick to it. For example, promise to complete tax returns and Catherine Danford, Registered Representative Life Insurance Retirement Funding Strategies College Savings Plans Long Term Care Insurance Estate Conservation Annuities and Business Strategies 3951 Westerre Pkwy, Suite 400 Richmond, VA Phone: (804) Ext cdanford@jhnetwork.com Insurance products offered through John Hancock Life Insurance Company, Boston, MA Registered Representative/Securities offered through Signator Investors, Inc., member FINRA, SIPC. JHFNREGREPAD2 11/06 financial statements on time if the information is provided within 20 days of the due date. Add a priority service for the clients to have tax data provided to the banks on the same day it is requested. The little extras will never give your longdistance client a reason to look for someone else. Also consider this very basic strategy, often overlooked by even the local CPA: Always meet with the banker and attorney. Make friends with the bookkeepers and staff by listening and understanding their needs and communication styles with the business owner. If your new long-distance client does not have a good bookkeeper or CFO, help them find one. Build a comprehensive database of bookkeepers, CFOs, payroll specialists, financial advisors, lawyers and 401(k) specialists. These are key components of your clients business and becoming good friends with them from afar will provide a personal touch to your clients without requiring your physical presence. In fact, you will also have the opportunity to meet more clients through their referrals. You will eventually create somewhat of a local buzz for your services, even though you are thousands of miles away. Managing a long-distance clientele is very similar to managing local clients. However, the one exception is that you now have a business reason to travel. I generally will visit some clients three to four times each year. Many of my current clients happen to live in places I love to visit. Traveling long distance to visit clients also makes a statement of how important they are to you. And finally, be a friend, be involved and stay in touch reach out to your clients throughout the year and not just during tax season. Leverage technology with Web portals Technology has become one of the main drivers in the ability to do business across state and even country lines. With instant messaging, video conferencing and computer data sharing, there is no reason to limit a CPA practice to one location. w Practice Development Disclosures May/June 21

5 A CPA friend and colleague recently told me about a Virginia client moving to Delaware. To maintain his business, she offered an electronic client Web portal (by Creative Solutions ) for him to transact his daily business from Delaware, and she can also log on daily and assist with bookkeeping. Showcase to your clients that you are technology-driven and forward-thinking. Electronically file all tax returns and give clients a Web portal to their own tax returns, financial statements and source data any time they need it. Time and billing Looking for the most profitable clients means that you must be willing to sometimes say no. Not all local clients may be a good fit for you, so it s also true that not all long-distance clients are a good fit either. Before accepting a long-distance client, conduct a two-way interview to outline your firm s policies. The potential new client s commitment to making it work is as crucial as you providing service that will exceed their expectations. Be willing to charge rates that equate to your expertise and don t undersell yourself. After all, you probably do that already for your local clients! Remember that if a client is willing to hire you from across multiple time zones, you must possess something worthy of equitable billing. Consider a monthly or annual flat-rate billing for some of your long-distance clients, as it provides the client with some assurance of a ceiling in the fee. Flatrate/value-added billing also gives the client a reason to call you more often than once a year. Monthly billing may also remind you to call the client, stay in touch and see how he or she is doing. Image and presentation matter CPA firms are sometimes a revolving door of clients. With that, there are opportunities to be the one where the client lands hopefully for years to come. But if you don t woo clients in the first year, then you will lose them the next. Do you recall seeing the last client copy of a tax return prepared by a local CPA firm? Do you remember what the presentation looked like? Was it bound and organized neatly, was it in a folder or was it just stapled and put in a basic envelope? Image and presentation are ways to position your firm to clients thousands of miles away. Sometimes, a tax return or financial statement is all a client will have to remember you. Did you think that clients actually read all those worksheets and calculations? Think about the current presentation of your documents and consider upgrading to something that provides the wow factor for your firm. A gateway to travel If you believe your CPA practice is the gateway to travel opportunities and lasting friendships, then begin by re-inventing your practice and thinking outside the accountant s box. My clients are some of my closest friends and are like members of my family in many respects. Last year, my CPA practice took me to Alaska, California and Colorado, and this year I expect to travel to Hawaii. I also like to take my husband and children along with me on these trips. If a Big Four accounting firm can audit a Chicago client from its San Francisco office, then you certainly can spread your wings and seek out the best and most profitable clients from across time zones too. So I ask you again: Where will your CPA practice take you this year? o Cheri G. David, CPA, CVA, is the owner/manager of Cheri G. David, CPA, CVA, PC, in Rockville. She specializes in small business consulting, including tax and financial statement services, as well as valuation services focusing on multistate and local businesses in the construction industry. Contact her at cheri@cheridavidcpa.com. 22 Practice Development Disclosures May/June