Join Ron and Ed for an engaging roundtable discussion with three dynamic leaders from Woodard: Patricia Hendrix, Heather Satterley, and Deborah Defer. These accomplished professionals bring their unique expertise in practice advancement, technology integration, and Client Advisory Services (CAS) to the conversation. Together, they’ll explore the evolving landscape of accounting, the role of automation, and strategies for business transformation. Tune in for insights, innovation, and inspiration from some of the industry’s top minds!

SHOW NOTES

Segment one

To start off the show today, Ron proclaims that “CAS is a ridiculous acronym and it’s not the AICPA’s fault. It needs to be branded and described by each firm.” Patricia and Deborah had some great insight on this one.
“This whole CAS thing was a way for us to flip the narrative (that accountants are necessary but not desired), but I think it's only caused more confusion and really an identity crisis.” —Heather Satterley
I ask [the firms I work with] if they have a vision, mission, and purpose. Many of them, 90%, say, “We're thinking about it.” Deborah Defer
“The vision, mission and purpose [of an organization] really drives everything in your business. Without one, it's like wandering around in the world without any direction. It’s being in business for the sake of being in business, versus being in business to actually make an impact on the world.” —Heather Satterley

Segment two

How does Heather get a firm to think about their niche? Consider these questions: What is the makeup of their practice? Who are they working with? Where are they seeing the most successes in what they're doing currently? Where are they getting the most satisfaction, both on the firm side and on the client side?
“Once you know what your ideal client profile is then you have two tasks. One is to go back and look at your current client base and measure each one of them against your ideal client profile. Then decide what you're going to do with the ones that don't measure up.” —Patrica Hendrix
“We, as accountants, went into a service based business. We like to serve and we don't know how to say no. So accounting firms end up getting 25-30 different industries that they try to focus on.” —Deborah Defer
I see a turning point when we're coaching people. There's a turning point when they really get confidence in themselves and say, “I know I'm delivering a good product. I know I'm valuable and I'm pricing to my value.” —Patricia Hendrix

Segment three

“As part of the seven ideals in building an ideal practice, three stand out to me that are probably my highest priorities: technology, people, and process.” —Deborah Defer
Regarding finding talent in the industry, Heather had some amazing insight for us today. Here’s a great quote, “Where we kept shooting ourselves in the foot was putting that word ‘accountant’ in the job description.” —Heather Satterley
“I think that it's very belittling to have to be accountable for every six minutes of a person's time.” —Deborah Defer
Regarding the billable hour, “The struggle is because most of these smaller firms are paying their staff by hour. They're thinking how much am I getting done in any given hour?” —Patricia Hendrix

Segment four

Regarding future tech trends: “People are pretty excited about AI. I think that it'll be really interesting to see how firms are ACTUALLY using it.” —Heather Satterley
Regarding a future business trend: “So for the longest time nobody that I spoke to was even thinking about selling their practice. They were just going to work till the day they died or hang their shingle up and be done.” —Patricia Hendrix
Regarding future business/tech trends: “Firms that are just starting to look at AI from a risk perspective have already missed the train. It's going 10,000 miles an hour and these firms are going to get gobbled up.” —Deborah Defer
A big THANK YOU to Heather Satterley, Deborah Defer, and Patricia Hendrix for joining us today.

Bonus Content is Available As Well

Did you know that each week after our live show, Ron and Ed take to the microphone for a bonus show? Typically, this bonus show is an extension of the live show topic (sometimes even with the same guest) and a few other pieces of news, current events, or things that have caught our attention.

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