There is a “fine line” that lies within this very key and critical building block in the non-traditional service practice Pyramid of Success. Don’t get me wrong… maintaining a highly respected and strong accounting and tax practice should always be at the core focus of a Firm. However, from the forty plus years I have been around this profession, I have learned that the accounting firms I and so many others consider top tier firms have had a mind-set and ability to build strong business advisory skills within their accounting and tax professionals. As a result, their clients think of them first and foremost as strong business advisors and not just accountants. These firms have mastered the art of properly leveraging core accounting and tax services as a means to building strong trusting relationships. These trusting relationships are why clients feel most comfortable allowing non-traditional service practitioners within these firms to come help with strategy, information, operations and people issues, the areas that have surfaced over the past thirty years as the most significant issues in all businesses. 

 

As John Ullrich, the founding father of Wipfli once told me, “Your goal should not be to become the best accounting or tax professional you can be, it should be to become your clients “most trusted” business advisor by providing second-to-none accounting and tax services.” I remember scratching my head a bit when he first made this statement to me, but as I observed him work during the early years of my career, it became very clear as to where the “fine line” in this statement truly lied.