Vol. 8 No. 5, May 2016

The Leadership Forum is a panel of the most prominent thought leaders in the profession. This month we asked two questions and asked them to respond to the questions dealing with CPA firm management and leadership.

This month's question was:

The word "transparent" seems to be the buzzword of the day. What are examples of what CPA firms are doing to be more transparent?

Consultants and Other Prominent Observers

Rita Keller   Keller Advisors, LLC www.ritakeller.com
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...I personally feel that there is really not that much that is secret inside a CPA firm. I like to urge partners to simply be more inclusive and that leads to transparency. Seek out feedback from all levels of expertise at your firm and give people a say in operations, management and strategic planning. Being involved enables them to better understand their own career progression and future opportunities... More

Marc Rosenberg The Rosenberg Associates www.rosenbergassoc.com   
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If you ask 10 different people to define transparency, you might get 10 different answers. Some definitions I like are:
  1. Operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed
  2. Being as inclusive as reasonably appropriate (i.e., don't publicly divulge confidential things pertaining to individuals like compensation and performance/ behavior issues), thereby avoiding unnecessary amounts of secrecy
  3. Making important decisions that take advantage of the knowledge and opinions of others
Examples (none of these examples should be extended to the point where confidential income and performance/behavior issues are made public)...More