Earlier this year, Jessica Hekmatjah was promoted to Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at BPM LLP, one of the 50 largest public accounting and advisory firms in the United States. As of today, Jessica is the fourth and youngest marketing professional within the Allinial Global community to hold the title of CMO/CGO—thereby joining a rarefied circle … Continued
Last month Allinial Global hosted its first-ever hybrid conference, which included the first live component in over a year. The meeting was held from May 16–19 in Charleston, SC, with virtual attendance as an option.
When we first made the decision to go hybrid, we expected attendance to be lower than previous years with a split of one-third live and two-thirds virtual. In actuality we had two-thirds live and one-third virtual, and the same number of total attendees. We can attribute our success to several factors:
I recently had the pleasure of attending a CAAS workshop for Allinial Global member firms. There were 12 firms represented, all at various stages of their CAAS journey. To understand the learning and the opportunities the future holds, it helps to start with the question, ‘What is CAAS?’
Well, let’s begin with what it isn’t. CAAS is not recording checks written out of five different checkbooks so the client can capture the transactions. It is not transactional bookkeeping or monthly write-ups. Instead, it is a connected and holistic approach that creates consistent processes, cash controls, consolidated financials, multi-entity reporting, full financial visibility, and connections between all cloud-based systems.
Last week I spent the better part of two days attending our APAC region’s virtual conference. I was honored to kick off and close the sessions, and in between I was amazed at the quality of the presentations.
Technology futurist Ian Khan led the first day, confirming many of the discussions we’re having with member firms about the future and working with clients in the current environment. Then a variety of member-driven sessions complemented Ian’s message, highlighting ways we can work together and capitalize on new opportunities.
Over the past few months I’ve had several opportunities to think about ways to help firms increase their capabilities in services. One of the great many benefits of belonging to an association is having fellow members who do things your firm doesn’t and vice versa. I continue to worry about firms that say they lost … Continued
In preparation for our May Executive Team Conference (ETC), I connected with my good friend, Michelle River with Fore LLC. Michelle is presenting on Advanced Pricing Methods®, plus a bonus session as a panelist with Brian Blaha of Wipfli LLP and Dave Stonesifer of Herbein + Company, Inc. This panel discussion is on why pricing … Continued
It’s almost April. Is it too late to make marketing trend predictions? Not if these trends will likely transform into timeless “traditions.” How do I know which marketing trends are here to stay? Great question. I listen to accounting marketers while I host our monthly marketing community calls, networking events, and webinars. I follow our … Continued
Over the last few months I’ve had several conversations with members, nonmembers, and community members about the current state of live events. When it came time to discuss our Executive Team Conference (ETC), there were lots of opinions on what we should do. When we finally made the decision to continue with both a live … Continued
On November 20, 2020, member firm Bober Markey Fedorovich (BMF) became the first Allinial Global firm to migrate to the new .cpa domain. Soon after BMF, member firm Hantzmon Wiebel also migrated to .cpa. What is a .cpa domain, and why would you want to change your firm’s website from .com to .cpa, you ask? … Continued
In Part 1 of our series on CAAS, I noted an interesting phenomenon: as the pandemic sparked new interest in client accounting and advisory services (CAAS), the gap between the “haves” and “have notes” in CAAS continued to grow. As we’ve seen throughout 2020, firms who were already committed to embracing the cloud and transforming their practices are thriving. But it’s not just the technology that sets these firms apart—they are thinking about their services in a very different way.