Take Responsibility for Your Work

Source: Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from a blog post by Rita Keller.

The very first thing that puzzled me when I began working in a CPA firm was the fact that all work was checked, proofed, reviewed (several times) and then finally went out the door. Because of my education and work in other industries, I had always been taught, encouraged, and expected to do my work right the first time.

I soon adapted to the extensive quality control steps inside the firm. I watched others, at all levels, rely on others to catch their mistakes. My typing was proofed by a “proofer” and my goal soon became to have zero proofer comments.

Yesterday, I was having this conversation with a client and the traditional story came up. Some of the CPAs were overworked. They were manager-level people who did review work. The lament was, “we need more reviewers!” Her comment and my thoughts were right on the same wave length….. if reviewers are overworked why don't we focus on the preparers? Can't we educate and train them to do a better job so that review is not so time-consuming?

How does it work at your firm? Do people with three, four, or five years of experience still get a lot of review notes? Firm leaders need to stress the importance of the pride that comes along with doing quality work. Help people understand the value of standing behind the work that they perform every day.

In accounting firms this can be done easily if standards are established and the leaders set the example. When new hires see the partners enforcing the standards things get done more quickly and with fewer errors.

For the complete post, read “Do It Right the First Time.”

From Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders, the blog of Rita Keller, August 31, 2012, http://ritakeller.com/blog/.