The E-Myth Accountant Series – Taking Action
The twelfth and final topic in the book “The E-Myth Accountant: Why Most Accounting Practices Don’t Work And What To Do About It” by Michael Gerber and M. Darren Root, CPA is all about taking action.
Michael Gerber shares that it’s time to get started, time to take action. Time to stop thinking about the old practice and start thinking about the new practice. It’s not a matter of coming up with better practices; it’s about reinventing the practice of accounting.
He explains that although the goal is to create systems into which accountants can plug reasonably competent people—systems that allow the practice to run without them—accountants must take responsibility for that happening.
The point he makes is that all too often, accountants take no responsibility for the business of accounting but instead delegate tasks without any understanding of what it takes to do them; without any interest in what their people are actually doing; without any sense of what it feels like to be at the front desk when a client comes in and has to wait for 45 minutes; and without any appreciation for the entity that is creating their livelihood.
He has seen that organization is not simply time management. Nor is it people management. Nor is it tidying up desks or alphabetizing client files. Organization is first, last, and always cleaning up the mess of our minds.
You need to organize your thoughts first, then your business.
He suggests that by learning how to think about the practice of accounting, by learning how to think about your priorities, and by learning how to think about your life, you’ll prepare yourself to do a righteous battle with the forces of failure.
Right thinking leads to right action—and now is the time to take action. Because it is only through action that you can translate thoughts into movement in the real world, and, in the process, find fulfillment.
He explains that you must take three distinct steps to succeed:
- Innovation. Continue to find better ways of doing what you do.
- Quantification. Once that is achieved, quantify the impact of these improvements on your practice.
- Orchestration. Once these improvements are verified, orchestrate this better way of running your practice so that it becomes your standard, to be repeated time and again.
Co-author M. Darren Root, CPA, shares that it’s time that you redefined what it means to get it done so you can invent the business you’ve always wanted. Imagine a business where there is a system and process for every service and task, a business where your service offerings are clearly defined and your staff members have the technical competence to execute each.
He explains that you must start with a strategic vision. Your vision needs to be exact and in writing. Establish your own big picture, define your big rocks, and identify your priorities.
Source – “The E-Myth Accountant”