Case Study: Dennis Bailey, CPA

[00:00:00] Trow Trowbridge: Hey Dennis, do you recall what brought us together?

[00:00:04] Dennis Bailey: I think the two things that stick out in my mind when I look back over that period of time were a tremendous need that our firm had and then your communication about a resource that you could provide to directly affect or assist us in our needs. So really it was a situation where you came with solutions and opportunities and we had the need for those exact services.

[00:00:27] Through probably a lot of research and experience you had correctly assessed with a high degree of probability what the challenges were that we’re facing our small firm.

[00:00:37] Trow Trowbridge: What were those problems?

[00:00:39] Dennis Bailey: It’s a wide swath of challenges for smaller firms that range from intense compression of workload during the tax season hours, tax seasons filings, the expectation gap that existed between the client’s perception of the range of services that we could provide and what we were actually [00:01:00] capable of.

[00:01:00] Just the demands of owning, managing, and operating a small CPA firm were really the challenges or the problems that we were trying to find solutions on on our own. And I think about that time you were introducing yourself and your experience as, " I can help alleviate some of your most acute needs in that area."

[00:01:22] Trow Trowbridge: What was keeping you from achieving those goals on your own?

[00:01:28] Dennis Bailey: I think just lack of perspective. You get involved in the day-to-day operations of the firm and the management, the client, the new client engagement, the existing client retention.

[00:01:40] And I think when you get in the middle of it and you’re, you are working hard and you’re persevering, I think at some point you might just lose perspective on the market as a whole or lose perspective on what solutions are possible.

[00:01:55] And it’s just good to have somebody come along the side that has a fresh perspective, that has a [00:02:00] different perspective that can help guide through some of the decision making processes from an outside perspective looking in, and that was very helpful.

[00:02:07] Trow Trowbridge: What was the shift you made once you joined the program to start advising clients? How did that come into your way of being?

[00:02:15] Dennis Bailey: One of the awkward questions that you have developed as a skill includes a question to clients that we’re working with.

[00:02:26] And the question is, “How open or receptive are you to change?”

[00:02:31] And it’s not intended for a specific answer as much. Just this look inward to one’s willingness, number one and number two, one’s ability to change.

[00:02:43] And so the number one transformation for me, I think has been changing my mindset on how I view our practice, our existing clients, what’s possible for our firm.

[00:02:54] One of the things that you’ve worked with us is “How do you change your mindset about how you view what you [00:03:00] do?”

[00:03:00] That’s probably the most transformative thing for us, as a partner, just learning how to transform how I’m thinking about certain things.

[00:03:07] Trow Trowbridge: That’s interesting. What do you see for your firm?

[00:03:10] Dennis Bailey: That’s a really good question. What do I see for the firm now?

[00:03:13] I think I’m seeing smaller incremental changes that are gonna have a tremendous impact as we move forward.

[00:03:22] The concept of this radical big cataclysmic type change, I think really boils down to some small fundamental changes done on a consistent basis over a long period of time that at the end of a three year period you look back and say, “Hey, we’re a different firm than what we were when we first started.”

[00:03:42] It starts with the change of mindset on how we approach the firm as a whole.

[00:03:48] Trow Trowbridge: What would be your number one piece of advice you’d give to CPAs struggling with too much compliance work? And not enough money or time?

[00:03:56] Dennis Bailey: There is a different approach. An approach [00:04:00] that allows for more creativity. A better application of our experience and our skillset in a more transformative, meaningful way for our clients.

[00:04:10] One that is engaging, as opposed to, grinding out, month in, month out, a rolling calendar of deadlines.

[00:04:18] I think just better, the better quality of professional life within the practice.