When my partner in our CPA practice passed away in 1999, I was forced to take the reins of the firm. He was 25 years older than I and had always managed the practice. I had been the firm’s top producer and was now its chief executive, too, like it or not. I was completely unprepared for the role.

For the next two years, chaos reigned. Without my partner, who had also been a producer in his own right, I lost control of the staff and the practice. We were disorganized, stressed out and did almost everything on a “last-minute” basis. We would do whatever was needed just to get the work out, no matter how long it took. But I couldn’t bill for as much time as we put into the jobs. This method of operation was consuming all of our profits.

My employees were unproductive and I had too many of them for our volume of billings. I had no management system in place to hold them accountable for anything. I was regularly putting in 60 hours a week and up to 80 hours per week during tax season. The stress was unbearable. I began to think about selling the practice; it was eating me alive. After two years, I couldn’t take much more. I had received a card in the mail from Sterling and sent for their DVD which piqued my interest. I felt Sterling could show me the nuts and bolts of running a business and increase my bottom line—all the things I had not learned in school.

I became a Sterling client. Since tax season was coming right up, I had a professional Sterling consultant come out to my practice and organize the place and train the staff. We implemented an organizational structure where everyone was assigned a clearly defined job with specific functions. We implemented statistical management where each staff member would be accountable for his or her own work tasks. The results were immediate. The staff became more productive, billings went up and the stress and confusion waned. I felt like the weight of the world was lifting from my shoulders.

I also went to Sterling’s offices to take a series of management courses. These courses taught me the fundamentals of being a leader and executive, and how to run a company. This training was so valuable to me, I sent my office manager to Sterling to take the same courses.

Sterling showed me how to find and hire good staff, how to keep them motivated and how to reward the producers. We implemented an incentive plan based on productivity. Every staff member was given a production goal to achieve each week and earned a bonus that week if they achieved their goal. We also had a monthly plan where if the staff member made a specific goal for the month, that staff member also received half of a designated bonus amount. If the overall practice made its goal for the month, the staff member received the other half of the bonus.

The staff united as a team. They knew what was expected of them. They understood that they would be rewarded for a job well done and wouldn’t be rewarded if they were unproductive. They became motivated and not just for the bonus money. They were happier being productive and knowing that what they did contributed to the overall health of the practice.

I also discovered that the Sterling program made me a better accountant. Since I knew the right way to run a business, I had a better understanding of the problems my clients encountered. They noticed how well my office ran and I was able to use what I had learned to help them in ways I couldn’t previously. This was more meaningful than simply helping to keep their books straight.

I realized that management has its own set of rules and principles just like accounting. I was already a successful accountant but I had to learn how to be a competent executive to take my practice to the next level and beyond.

These days, I work 50 hours a week and that’s because I want to. While everything isn’t always perfect, my quality of life is so much better. In fact, I now actually have a life. When I first started with Sterling, I couldn’t see how I could spend the time at their offices to do my management training. I didn’t think I could be away from the practice without it falling apart. Now I take four weeks of vacation with my family every year.

Since I signed on with Sterling, our billings have increased by 25% and our profitability has increased by 500%. We are projecting another 10% increase in billings by the end of this year along with another 66% increase in profitability. It’s gratifying to see our hard work pay off and have more money in my pocket and my staff’s. – Dwain Smith, CPA