For example, “The Auditor’s Mindset” tells a story about how ballerinas spinning confused the author for the way they looked, and how in auditing, looking and seeing are two different outcomes of the same bodily function (the eyes). Looking for something, as an auditor, is the foundation of skepticism—whereas seeing something is (in the language of the author) like “dancers being focused on fixed point [and] refocus again and again on that spot again.” A timely message for auditors who sometimes see what’s before them, but are not skeptically looking for things that have gone awry.
The “Blown Covenants” episode is short, but with a different tack on an accountant’s life: GAAP and Covenants, and how common-sense communication can win the day, when the client—facing the “wrath of the bank,” as the book puts it—needs to have a bad year be gone and have a projected future win the day. The fun part, as the author puts it: it didn’t even take a monumental consulting bill to do the job, just common sense and a direct approach. In other words: consulting need not be an expensive proposition, as long as you do it right.
“Staff Growth is Essential” features a checklist-like write up of what to do to recruit staff, but mostly to retain them once they came on board. Examples include having the staff person regularly assigned to “repeat clients”—a no-brainer and yet apparently not everyone got the memo. Another example is to bring staff to meetings and evaluate them by asking about what they are thinking. This follows a few pages later with another episode, “Staff Shadowing,” which encourages managers and partners to be mentors and teachers at all time. The focus on staff increases knowledge but just as equally, individuals’ ego and confidence. These are important lessons for professionals in management positions.
Towards the third part of the book, the interpersonal aspect of professional service comes into focus, with chapters like “Dealing with Unpleasant Clients” followed by “Family Tree of Clients,” and then a series of situational commentaries with titles like “Impossible Clients” and “The Extra 20% We Do.” These chapters all tell the same story from different sides: how to treat people in a outcome-focused way, and at the same time how to make a good living by doing the right thing. In “Family Tree of Clients,” the author goes into the utility of getting familiar with the client’s world from his perspective, in particular the interconnected world where the “little” clients can be key to even bigger clients (read: larger clients, larger fees).
Some of these ideas are well understood and even oft practiced. Yet others need to be dusted off and re-learned. It’s a refreshing re-focus all under one cover, well organized, and easy to read.
Meaning and Purpose
The book is full of nuggets of experiences and is organized in an easy way to put down and pick up. It is printed in a large enough font that made it an enjoyable read. The message of the author is plain, and yet impactful: accounting is cool, accounting is meaningful, and it has a purpose. This book would make for a good present for young people who are considering a better position in accounting (public, private, or consultancy), or mid- or high-level accountants who could benefit from the years of experience and insights thereof.
