Ace Cloud Hosting Interviews Geni Whitehouse on How CPAs Can Become Business Advisors
Ace Cloud Hosting interviewed Geni Whitehouse, one of the most renowned thought leaders in the accounting industry. In the interview, she threw light on the role of accounting professionals as business advisors in the technology world.
POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Feb. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Ace Cloud Hosting had a discussion with Geni Whitehouse on the impact of modern technologies in the accounting industry and how accounting professionals can prepare themselves.
Geni has been working on her business "Even A Nerd Can be Heard" for more than two decades now in which she guides CPAs and accounting professionals on how they can communicate better with the clients and be more helpful. She is the author of the book 'How to Make a Boring Subject Interesting: 52 Ways Even a Nerd Can Be Heard'. She is also a keynote speaker and known for her speaking sessions at TedxNapa Valley and Accountex.
In the interview, she highlighted the importance of transparent communication between CPAs and the client. She quoted "When clients don't understand the information we share, they both undervalue it and can't apply it to their business. They may understand that getting a tax return done or having an audit are important activities (because someone has required them to do so) but that doesn't mean the resulting deliverable is relevant to them or their business."
When asked about the importance of why CPA should consider being a business advisor, Geni said that clients are asking more questions than ever because they are unsure on the utilization of available information and if accountants can't provide insights from it, clients will turn to others for help.
Geni Whitehouse also talked about the different perspectives that clients and accountants have on adoption of technology. She said, "Our clients are far more receptive to new tools that help them accomplish more in less time than we are. Many company leaders are wired for innovation and risk-taking, while accountants are just the opposite. We have a tendency to wait until there is zero risk."
Along with that, she suggested the methodology to adopt for making the right use of the technology. Questions that Geni Whitehouse answered in the interview with Ace Cloud Hosting are:
1. With 'Even a Nerd Can Be Heard', you are doing a great job at helping accounting professionals and clients communicate better and be transparent. How does better communication impact the accountant-client relationship?
2. How does transparent accounting increase an accountant's perceived value in the eyes of their clients?
3. So, we can summarize that accountants should focus on being a business advisor?
4. Are there any DOs and DON'Ts for accountants seeking to become better business advisors?
5. With clients and accountants being more receptive about adopting new technology, how have the challenges changed for them?
6. Do you have a step-by-step guide to solving this challenge? Or is there any must-have technology/product/service to become an accounting nerd who is really heard?
7. What is the biggest concern with this technology among clients? And how do you address their concern?
8. Do you find some accountants worried that automation could hurt their job, client retention, or paycheck?
9. As a cloud solutions provider for the accounting industry, how can Ace Cloud Hosting be part of this transition/journey of CPAs from becoming Trusted Business Advisors?
The full transcript of the interview is available on the official website of Ace Cloud Hosting.
About Ace Cloud Hosting:
Ace Cloud Hosting is a leading provider of managed hosting services. The company has a global customer base for its services that include application hosting, virtual desktop hosting, managed server hosting, and more.
Ace Cloud Hosting is renowned for hosting tax software (Drake, Lacerte, ATX, ProSeries, ProSystem, and others), accounting applications (QuickBooks, Sage, and others), and other business desktop applications. Ace Cloud Hosting is an Intuit Authorized Commercial Host for QuickBooks and a QuickBooks Solution provider.
They are also the winners of the Great User Experience Award 2018 by FinancesOnline and the User Favorite Award at Accountex USA 2016.
Ace Cloud Hosting has partnered with leading data centers in Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, and Chicago that host its High-Performance Computing (HPC) servers to deliver the services with a guaranteed uptime of 99.999%. As a mark of its customer-centric services, the company offers Always-on computing with built-in Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity (DR & BC) feature along with 24x7 support availability over chat, email, and phone.
SOURCE Ace Cloud Hosting
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