BY MARK H . FOWLER , CPA ( INACTIVE )

What I ’ ve found is that CPAs and their clients occasionally need more structure to consulting , or CAS , aspects . It comes down to a checklist approach with organized questions and topics that can be embraced .

In my experience , these 10 questions are rarely asked by owners and managers : 1 . What methods are used to empower personnel ? 2 . What key indicators have been established ? 3 . What are driving threads of the business ? 4 . What are key operational report results ? 5 . How effective is communication with stakeholders ? 6 . In what ways are incentives consistent with goals and objectives ? 7 . How are human resources in line with business needs ? 8 . What tools are used to manage growth ? 9 . How are key causes of crisis addressed ? 10 . How have tangible and intangible assets been identified ?

Each of these questions was created over years of watching and interacting with small- to medium-sized businesses — from $ 2 million to $ 350 million — where management and leaders avoided or side-barred .

Why ask these questions ? Change . Change is always present . The world has always changed , but not as quickly as we are experiencing today when it comes to new technology , new products , new services , new business , new ways to do business and more .

How do CPAs fit in this ? We often see our clients several times a year , we are interested in our clients and their success , how they are doing and , most importantly , what they are thinking about . Clients often need an outside perspective . Seeing and understanding what others may see and know is essential and is most effective from a non-critical , non-judgmental viewpoint .

Next Steps How do we advance our meeting or our conversation to learn more about what the business is doing ? How can CPAs help and how does “ knowing ” help our work ? There ’ s nothing better than finding out what is happening now , rather than finding out what happened months later when you may be limited in your ability to impact services .

This is where these 10 questions come in handy — plus others you may have developed along the way .

1 . What Methods Are Used To Empower Personnel ? Accountability , responsibility , personal growth , training and accurate information are critical to developing yourself and others . This needs to be in line with business goals . By “ out of

18 CALIFORNIA CPA JULY 2024 www . calcpa . org