Is your accounting firm on pace to succeed in the future? Part 1
A new report released by CCH suggests that pioneers and early adopters to new technology are best suited to succeed in the current accounting landscape. As a brief preface, let’s talk about the four main categories of adopters. First there are the pioneers; they are risk takers and first movers. They often seek out the most modern solutions to current and future problems. Next there are the early adopters who are in touch with the modern solutions, but wait to hear positive reviews from the pioneers. The third group is the mainstream crowd that waits until it becomes an industry norm to adopt a solution. The final group, those who hate change and are far behind on the bell curve, are the late adopters.
What are the advantages to being a pioneer in the accounting industry? Let’s take a look at some of the notable stats. The industry average for accounting firm revenue growth last year was 70%. This is good, since it shows that the industry as a whole is growing. But it’s not as impressive as the 84% growth for pioneers and 77% for early adopters. In fact, the mainstream and late adopters came in under the industry average at 63%.
Revenue isn’t the only place pioneers lead the way. Work environment was also said to be significantly improved. At a superficial level, this makes sense; happy employees perform better work. But what were the factors that really set pioneers apart? When it comes to giving employees the opportunity to provide input, pioneers scored 29% higher than mainstream and late adopters. They also scored 23% higher on retaining top talent, 40% higher on clearly outlined advancement criteria, and 65% more likely to have a mentoring program. There was also an astounding 80% difference when it comes to having a formal recruitment plan in place. These numbers might seem shocking, but it shows that technology pioneers simply provide a better work environment.
Why does all this matter? A willingness to try new technologies, coupled with a strong correlation to a positive work environment, has led to performance increases across the board. If you’ve been considering adding new technology solutions to your firm’s arsenal, maybe it’s time to take the leap. With research supporting substantially higher revenues for the first movers, isn’t it time your firm became a pioneer?
