I have been in public accounting for thirty years. During that time, I have received my CPA, CFP, PFS and CVA certifications. Those certifications help me provide the professional service my clients need but did not give me the tools necessary to build a successful practice and achieve my personal goals.
After decades in business, I definitely had the technical skills and experience I needed, but the practice was anything but a smooth-running, orderly machine. We had a high staff turnover. I was undergoing a lot of stress at the office and then taking that stress home with me at night.
Sterling changed all that. Sterling’s training and consulting is something that schools don’t teach and is based on practical and proven methods which were tailored for my firm. Their consultant first sat down with me and went over the right way to structure an accounting firm and how to get the staff to do their jobs. Then the consultant trained the staff on the policies and procedures to follow so that everyone worked together as a team. One of the most important aspects was how to measure progress precisely toward achieving the practice goals. This allows us to keep everything on the right track.
From that point, everything started to improve. Sterling helped me attract and hire the right staff, and then train them so they quickly got up to speed. Now my firm’s production runs efficiently. We implemented procedures so the place can continue to run smoothly even when I am out of the office.
This has led to a definite bottom-line improvement: both the gross and the net have grown beyond the level I had originally aspired for. But the benefits for me go far beyond the finances. I no longer have the stress I once did. We have been able to shift the practice emphasis from compliance to helping our clients build their businesses and increase their profitability. I have been able to reduce the number of hours I spend at the office, and when I am there, I am doing what I enjoy.
There are a lot of different ideas out there on how to run a practice. Pick any two articles out of a magazine and they will probably offer conflicting advice. Sterling makes it simple. They have the complete methodology that makes it easy to make the right decisions in every aspect of running a practice: personnel, organization, communication, marketing, finance, planning, and management. Sterling has given me the tools I need to get where I want to be in life.
John Davis, CPA
