Last Saturday morning, I helped a neighbor plant a large tree. While the planting process can be rewarding in a variety of ways, it’s the promise and hope of potential growth that captures the heart and soul. Time, effort and sacrifice were put into the planting process, causing an even stronger desire for that tree to flourish — just like you want your public accounting firm or accounting department to grow and prosper.

When thinking of growth, we often focus on the growth of clients — and their forecasted growth. We also tend to ponder the nation’s economy. U.S. News & World Report recently reported a compilation of economic performance metrics that Philadelphia’s regional Fed bank refers to as its “leading index” measurement for the United States. That index is expected to climb more than 1.5 percent nationally over the next six months.

Whether it’s growth issues or other essential topics, I’m happy to be speaking with CPAs, developing content and writing about topics that are important to Maryland CPAs. I originally cut my teeth in the profession working with CPAs on a national basis while employed at a rapidly growing bank. Since that time, throughout my years working with the public accounting profession in a variety of capacities (publishing, growth initiatives consulting and firm marketing director), one common denominator in the profession has existed, and will most assuredly always exist: the desire to grow.

Growth in knowledge, growth in firm size, growth in efficiencies…you name it. This is far from being a stagnant profession, which is certainly not news to you. So many of these questions are asked in accounting firms each and every day. Are they a part of your discussions?

Do we have the right skill sets matched to the right jobs?

Are we maximizing the opportunities that technology affords us?

Is our talent retention and recruitment program as strong as it could be?

Are we taking advantage of our educational opportunities?

Where does our service offering fit in the competitive landscape?

I look forward to bringing you blog posts on many of these issues, challenges, and opportunities that affect your practices, how you work today and also how we’ll all be working in the future.

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“Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt. Only by being open to change will you have a true opportunity to get the most from your talent.” —Nolan Ryan