Vertical Selection for your Accounting Services

Aria Resort and Casino
Las Vegas, NV
D3 – Selecting Vertical Markets for a
Digital Practice – A Panel Discussion
Monday June 9th 4:40 PM – 5:55 PM
Thomas R. Gawne, CPA
#PSTECH

American Institute of CPAs®
#PSTECH
Thomas R. Gawne, CPA
Director of Professional Services
• 28 years in the tax and accounting sector
• 14 in public practice, 14 in technology
sector
• Workshop and on-site leader for CPA.com
• Key passion is to lead the profession in
leveraging emerging technologies

#PSTECH
Thought Leader Panelists
Nicole M. Ksiazek, CPA
Cloud Accounting Practice Leader
Fesnak Outsourcing, LLC
Dixie McCurley
Partner, Trusted CFO Solutions

#PSTECH
Vertical focus

#PSTECH
Agenda
Vertical Selection
Right Tools in the Toolbox
Vertical Expansion
Putting it in Action

#PSTECH
Wikipedia
vertical market (plural vertical markets)
1. (marketing) A market made up of similar businesses
and customers with particular specialized needs.
2. A vertical market is a market in which vendors
(Accounting Professionals) offer goods and services
specific to an industry, trade, profession, or other
group of customers with specialized needs.

#PSTECH
Digital CPA
Client Accounting Services…
Virtual
Controllership
Collaborative
Advisory Services –
Virtual CFO
Write-Up
Business Process
Outsourcing
Advisory
Transactional
Specialize in Client Industry Verticals
 Healthcare
 Not-For-Profit
 Technology
 Professional Services
 Property Management
 Government Contractors
 Retail
 Franchises

#PSTECH
Selection

#PSTECH
It Starts with Why
Golden Circle:
“Start with Why”
Critical to Firm Success
Source: Simon Sinek

#PSTECH
Vertical Selection – The “Why” Fit
Passion, Mission – the “why”
What is your firm most passionate about?
Tie in to Firm or Personal “Mission”

#PSTECH
Thought Leader Insights
What is your “why” in relationship to your vertical
selection?
Thoughts and experiences on developing the “why”

#PSTECH
Existing Expertise Fit
Is there already expertise in this vertical?
Do you have existing clients in this vertical?
Untapped expertise within your firm?

#PSTECH
Market Assessment Fit
Too small to succeed well?
Too large to matter?
Marketplace penetration
Is their room for growth?
Can we make money at it?

#PSTECH
Vertical Needs Assessment
What is the key information they need for success?
Develop “core” then expand down to key KPI’s

#PSTECH
Did existing expertise play a role in your vertical
selection for your firm? How?
What steps did you take to assess the market that
your vertical resides in?
Speak to how you determined the needs of your
vertical(s) initially? How has that changed over
time?
How important are vertical KPI’s to the decision?

#PSTECH
Vertical Selection – Culture Fit
Does the firm culture fit the vertical?

#PSTECH
Getting Vertical through the Cloud
Business
Intelligence
Reporting
Real-Time
Client
Collaboration
Standardized
Workflows
Client
Accounting
Capabilities
driven
through
cloud
computing
• Professional Services – 90%
• Construction – 76%
• Retail – 75%
• Not-for-Profit – 73%
• Manufacturing – 65%
• Wholesale Distribution – 61%
• Technology Companies – 59%
• Transportation – 48%
• Hospitality – 45%
• Franchises – 40%
• Government – 29%
Most Popular Client Verticals
for Outsourced Accounting Services

#PSTECH
Speak to your process of selecting a vertical market
Looking back – what would you change?
What other factors should drive the decision vertical
decision?
Questions from the audience

#PSTECH
Tools

#PSTECH
Tools
Key Principles
• All Digital, all in the cloud
• Designed for timely “prospective” insight
• Collaborative

#PSTECH
A/P – Bill Pay
A/R – POS
Payroll
Inventory Control
Accounting – G/L
Document Management
Tax System
Other Industry Specific
Bill.com
Industry Specific
Paychex
Industry Specific
Intacct
Sharefile, Box, etc.
CCH, Thomson, Etc.
As needed
Tools – Core Elements
Signature Functions Applications

#PSTECH
Tools – Workflow Effects
Digital Core
Transaction
Capture
Information
& Insight
Delivered
Prospectively
Intelligent,
Timely
Business
Decisions
Made

#PSTECH
Tools - Collaboration
Video Conferencing – Skype, Zoom, etc.
Web Conferencing – WebEx, GoTo Meeting, etc.
Social Media – Linked In groups, Twitter feeds

#PSTECH
Tools – Management Tracking
Workflow Management – XCM
Contact Management – CRM
Internal KPI trackers

#PSTECH
What does your tool box look like?
Can you speak to the sequence of implementing key
tools?

#PSTECH
Expansion

#PSTECH
Expansion – Within Existing Vertical
On going
services
Additional
Need
Identified
Services
scope
expanded

#PSTECH
Expansion - like parallel verticals
Review “like” parallel verticals for need & process
• Dentists vs. Optometrists
• Differing types of Restaurants
• Auto Repair vs. Body Shops

#PSTECH
Expansion – New Start Ups
Create new start-ups among different verticals
Template appropriate process steps

#PSTECH
What has been your vertical expansion strategy?
What role does your staff play in your expansion
strategy?
What comes first, second, etc.?

#PSTECH
Concluding Thoughts
Selection key concepts
Tools of the vertical trade
Expansion past that first vertical
Make it happen!

#PSTECH
Resources

#PSTECH
Reference Material
“Start with Why” by Simon Sinek
• Ted talk “The Golden Circle” video
“The Power of Real Time Financial Data & Analytics
to Penetrate the Restaurant Niche Market”
• A case study whitepaper by Dixie McCurley of Trusted CFO
Solutions available at CPA.com
“Making the “shared services” Vision a Reality!”
• A case study whitepaper with Nicole M. Ksiazek, CPA, Senior
Manager, Cloud Accounting Practice Leader, Financial
Management Outsourcing at Fesnak and Associates, LLP
“Leveraging the Cloud to Start or Grow a Vertical
Niche Practice”
• A Whitepaper by C. Keith Willis CPA.CITP, Cohen & Company
available at CPA.com

Vertical Selection for your Accounting Services

Recomendados

Recomendados

Mais conteúdo relacionado

Mais de CPA.com

Mais de CPA.com (20)

Último

Último (20)

Vertical Selection for your Accounting Services

Notas do Editor