There was once a time when “survival of the fittest” was the driving force within the business world. Only the fierce, the loud, and the strong dominated in their field, while the small, the soft, and the slow were left in the dust. Corporate top dogs ate the little local guys for breakfast.
However, times began to change – as they do – and along with them these old, distorted standards.
Ace of Base weren’t the only ones who “saw the sign”
As the business landscape continued to shift in response to unpredictable times, it became clear that fortune no longer favored the strong, but the smart. Even as recently as the Covid 19 pandemic era, we have seen how the most established businesses don’t always survive – yet the smaller, more nimble ones often do. In a matter of months, big brands closed their doors forever, while small, local startups somehow lived to see another nine-to-five.
Why?
Because they saw the signs and realized the need to adapt swiftly to a vastly changing environment.
Strength and size aren’t as critical to survival anymore. Smart business leaders understand that within a matter of years, some of their greatest strengths could eventually become weaknesses. Gone are the days where you could rely on a skilled accountant to join your company and stick with you for the long haul. In today’s world, tomorrow is not guaranteed. Your hotshot accountant will eventually move on.
It’s likely only a matter of time.
Risk Assessment!Will Your Business Survive When Your Accountant Leaves? Are you prepared for the Retirement Revolution? Take our quick assessment to find out. |
“It’s a Jungle Out There”: The State of the Business Terrain
Accountants are abandoning their jobs in record numbers. Financial teams across America are packing their bags and retiring, looking for better opportunities, changing careers completely – and taking a lifetime of institutional knowledge along with them. The Retirement Revolution is truly underway, and making its way to your doors.
No business is safe.
As masses of accountants edge closer to their Golden Years, your success hangs on being smart, agile, and steps ahead. If your organization is going to survive the Retirement Revolution, it’s going to have to be “survival of the strategic”.
Even in the madness of this mass migration, you can make plans to minimize the fallout if your accountant said goodbye tomorrow. And you can start by looking out for these red flags…
4 Red Flags That Put Your Business In The High-Risk Bracket
1. Manual Processes
If your business is still operating using tedious, time-consuming, manual accounting processes, you’re in trouble. Not only are you wasting precious time, energy, and resources doing your accounting “by hand”, you are limiting your company’s growth and capacity to scale. Your risk for human error grows by the day, while your competition moves miles ahead as they embrace automation and efficiency.
2. Lack Of Planning
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. If you have zero contingency plans, back-ups, or plan B’s in place for your finance team, you are opening your business up to significant risk should your accountant drop you tomorrow. Literally anything could happen. No one thought we would face a global pandemic a few years ago, but we did. Now we are seeing a mass migration of skilled workers and a significant shortage of people to replace them. To not plan for this is to pull the pin out of the grenade and hold onto it. You get the idea.
3. All Your Eggs In One Basket
Placing the sole responsibility of your company’s financials on the shoulders of one person is a disaster waiting to happen. Your one-man accounting team could drop you at any time, leaving you exposed to a number of obvious risks and liabilities. When they leave, they will take your organization’s institutional property with them and leave you behind to deal with the aftermath.
4. Denial
Possibly the biggest red flag of all: thinking it can’t or won’t happen to you. This mindset is a surefire way to put everything you’ve built at risk. This is about more than the inconvenience of replacing an employee. It’s about the threat of losing your business if you find you can’t replace them with someone capable from a dwindling pool of quality candidates. It’s about the precious time you will have to spend scrambling to get your shaky accounting skills up to scratch, while critical sales and strategic planning fall by the wayside.
It’s time to sit up and pay attention. Smart business leaders will see the signs and respond accordingly, before it’s too late. Don’t wait for your accountant to leave you high and dry.
It’s time to adapt or die.
Outsource to Lescault & Walderman Today
Lescault & Walderman saw the Retirement Revolution coming a decade ago. As a proud Sage Intacct Accounting Partner (SIAP), we’ve developed efficient, sophisticated, automated accounting systems with real-time dashboards and simple insights, powered by Sage Intacct software. As your outsourced accounting partner, we can help see your business through the Revolution, secure your survival, and set you up for a successful financial future.
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Will you and your business survive once your accountant leaves?Take stock of your business with our self-assessment quiz. |
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