New Research Identifies Seven Habits of Highly Successful Firms
Study by Bay Street Group Finds Common Attitudes and Behaviors among High Performing Firms that Serve as a Benchmark for Success
Braintree, MA– October 24, 2011 –Public accounting firms that successfully achieve their stated goals share common attitudes and behaviors toward technology adoption. Results of a recent study conducted by Bay Street Group, LLC support a strong relationship between high performance and a firm’s view of technology as a strategic asset, and uncovered significant gaps between high and low performing firms in key areas that can serve as a guide for success.
The results show high performing firms are 27 times more likely than low performers to always regard technology adoption as a competitive advantage. They are also seven times more likely to understand there is always an opportunity cost associated with delaying technology adoption. As a result, high performers are eight times more likely to be among the first to adopt new technology and 11 times more likely to always encourage employees to explore new technologies and better ways of doing things.
The research was sponsored by XCM Solutions, LLC, a leader in delivering cloud-based workflow solutions for accountants, and findings were released in a new white paper by CEO Mark Albrecht, CPA, MST, entitled, “Seven Habits of Highly Successful Firms.”
“The results were enlightening, but not for the correlation between high performance and a technology-progressive attitude,” explained Albrecht. “We expected a relationship, based on our own experience with technology progressive firms. What was surprising was the size of the disparity between high and low performers in their attitudes and behaviors in the seven critical areas the study identified.”
Three hundred randomly chosen practitioners from firms of all sizes participated in the online survey, “Top Tech Strategies for 2011.” The study also suggests that the achievement gap will continue to widen between high and low performing firms, particularly as the pace of technology adoption increasingly changes the client service and practice management landscapes.
Albrecht will share pertinent study findings at the AICPA National Tax Conference in Washington D.C. in November in his session, “7 Key Steps to Maximizing Your IT Investments,” and on his blog, “Going with the ‘flow.” The study was completed in the spring of 2011, and the white paper is available for download on the XCM Solutions Web site at www.xcmsolutions.com/whitepaper.htm.
About XCM Solutions, LLC
Founded by CPAs, XCM Solutions, LLC provides accounting firms with cloud-based workflow management solutions that increase efficiency, productivity and profitability. The company’s management team has drawn on its extensive experience in public accounting and clear understanding of the paper-driven workflow issues facing the profession to develop technology that addresses those challenges.
XCM’s customer-guided development process has helped the company continuously raise the bar for business process automation solutions for the accounting profession. The award-winning XCM™ workflow management software has become a key piece of the technology equation for firms re-engineering paper-based processes as they move toward a paperless environment.
In 2010, CPA2Biz, a subsidiary of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and XCM Solutions formed a strategic alliance to bring the XCM workflow management software into CPA2Biz's Trusted Business Advisor(SM) Solutions cloud computing platform. For more information, visit www.xcmsolutions.com.
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Contact:
Erika Schonberg
Marketing Director
XCM Solutions, LLC
erikas@xcmsolutions.com
781-817-1176