CELEBRATING ENTREPRENEURSHIP: INNOVATING BEYOND THE PANDEMIC By KATHLEEN HOFFELDER
NJCPA SENIOR CONTENT EDITOR
The COVID-19 pandemic turned the accounting profession on its collective head, and it came out more respected and more essential than ever before.
Accountants, along with their nonaccounting colleagues, worked tirelessly this past year to innovate, create and adopt new ways of servicing customers and clients, making budgets work on less and organizing remote staff to be as effective as possible. Accountants everywhere — from academics to interns to managing partners and CFOs — contributed to new service offerings, such as COVID-19 resource centers, in-house cybersecurity programs, niche advisory practices and better uses of data and analytics. RISING TO THE CHALLENGE Many accounting firm leaders and CFOs/ controllers pushed themselves and their companies to new heights and in new directions to assist and retain their clients. As Eileen Monesson, CPC, a principal of PRCounts, LLC, explains, those accounting advisories that took a business-as-usual approach with their clients during the pandemic had a tougher time retaining them in the midst of burgeoning competition
that seemed to be bursting with helpful pandemic resources. “Although most people would not consider the pandemic as being innovative, it was. People, processes and opinions changed. Just as the smart phone transformed how we communicate, the pandemic altered how we live, forcing businesses to adapt to survive and thrive,” she said. Peter Mares, CPA, MBA, co-founder of Growth CPR, explains that accounting firms that offer cash management advisory services will not only help keep their clients in business, but they will also accelerate their own growth. “Business owners excel at their core competency, and that core competency is often not financial management. Accounting firms have the necessary training, experience and market permission to expand beyond compliancebased services and offer valued and valuable advisory services,” he said. “No other business challenge is as prevalent or as threatening to businesses than cash management. Understanding and managing cash flows is critical to the survival of any business,” he added. Sarah Krom, CPA, managing partner of SKC and Co. CPAs, LLC, and a past NJCPA president, noted that the pandemic was an ideal time to launch the firm’s data analytics service line. “The pandemic has catapulted that service line faster than we could have planned. The immediate need for predictive analytics — using historical data to predict future results — was our first project. We created a model for cash flow projections based on existing company data. This became a priority as companies went into lockdown and, in some cases, panicked over where the next dollar or sale would come from,” she said.
CONTRIBUTORS (in order of appearance)
EILEEN MONESSON, CPC
PETER MARES, CPA, MBA
SARAH KROM, CPA
SCOTT STERN, CPA, CCIFP
Principal PRCounts, LLC
Co-founder Growth CPR
Managing Partner SKC and Co CPAs
Audit Principal Grassi
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FALL 2021 | NEW JERSEY CPA
DR. BARRY R. PALATNIK, CPA, MBA
DR. SEAN STEIN SMITH, CPA, DBA, CMA, CGMA, CFE
Assistant Professor of Accounting Stockton University
Assistant Professor Lehman College (CUNY)
SUSAN FIRRIOLO, CPA, CISA Director and Founder Pet Rescue 990 Project
