How a professional sabbatical led to my role as Chief Realization Officer

Thirty years into my sales leadership career, I was comfortable. It would have been so easy to stay in my own lane, follow directions, and coast through to retirement. Making a great living with great benefits and reasonable hours. Just simply doing ‘my job.’ After all, easy is the path of least resistance, right? This is my story – how my professional sabbatical led to my role as Chief Realization Officer for TaxExact.

Something was missing. 

That something was driving me to steer outside the lanes I was trained to stay inside and find solutions for two critical business issues in the accounting profession I’ve been serving for a decade. These critical business issues came up in every meeting I had with every firm I served. And, as much as the sales message around technology can be crafted to “include” these problems, I felt there should be direct solutions to close these gaps.

The big leap.

It was time for a professional sabbatical. Yes- a huge leap and a big risk. Leaving a secure position to soul search and find my ‘something more.’ My intent was for my sabbatical to last a couple of months while I researched and vetted disruptive startup technology companies in search of solutions for the gaps no one seemed to be directly addressing. More on those ‘gaps’ shortly. As I began my sabbatical, this is what I knew:

• I’d been watching new tech startups emerge in the industry that seemed to really “get” the challenges firms were talking about. They were nimble, could move quickly, had clear messages, and targeted very specific problems. 
• Firms need more help. We talk about the shift from compliance to advisory constantly, but there seem to be two large gaps left unaddressed by technology that keep many firms stuck and unable to move forward quickly enough.

Unresolved critical business issues in accounting firms

Now onto the gaps. Two concerns came up in almost every conversation I had with hundreds of firms in my team’s region.

1. Not enough experienced staff

“We’re looking for senior tax accountants if you know of anyone.”

“We need reviewers.”

I heard these things over and over. There is a serious shortage of experienced talent in public accounting, and it caused me to wonder…”Have we been so focused on pushing the ‘no touch tax return’ that it resulted in ‘lost touch accountants?’ Technology is available at the preparation level to automate most of the preparation. So much so that a return can be mostly prepared at an intern or entry level and then sent on for review. But, the problem is that if machines are doing the prep- how are new accountants learning the how and why behind the numbers in a return? Partners and managers are so busy correcting mistakes in the heat of tax season that they don’t have adequate time to impart the knowledge they’ve gained over many years. Which leads to problem number 2.

2. Bottleneck at the review level

“I’m the bottleneck.”

“I spend too much time reviewing returns.”

More comments I would hear regularly. Returns pile up on managers’ and partners’ desks for review. And, we are supposed to be shifting time from compliance to advisory at this level! So the question becomes, how do we get rid of this bottleneck by educating entry level accountants to be doers and reviewers right out of the gates? Because, if we can accomplish this, managers and partners can focus their time and energy on what is INSIDE the tax return vs ticking and tying the numbers that are ON it.

Tax accountants have been reviewing returns the same way since the dawn of tax returns. Preparation has been automated. Delivery has been automated. But, the part of the process that takes the most time is still manual and vulnerable to human error!

My professional sabbatical

As I leaned into my network, I opened my mind to explore and engage with technology startups that were innovating and solving specific problems. However, the business issues I was most passionate about were the two significant pain points I saw in virtually every firm my team worked with. I met some brilliant leaders and had many energizing and thought provoking conversations. 

Within the first month of my sabbatical, I found where I needed to be.

Chief Realization Officer

After many conversations and meetings, I decided to join TaxExact. The company offers a direct solution for the 2 problems that haven’t yet been addressed by technology in the accounting profession detailed above. Not only did that excite me, but I shared the vision for how TaxExact could free up partners and managers to focus more of their time on high value client services. When partners and managers are free to invest their time on advisory engagements, they are effectively leading the shift from compliance to advisory work. THAT is how I can have an impact on firms. 

Next came the conversations about my role. The company is passionate about serving tax accountants. Their solution was developed by a tax accountant for tax accountants, and they believe at their core the following:

If we focus our solution on positively impacting the overall realization in a firm, the revenue follows.

How refreshing! Putting clients and employees first builds momentum that naturally yields revenue. Recognizing client and employee success drives engagement. And, TaxExact’s solution is designed to increase realization in firms by resolving the bottleneck at the review level and turning preparers into reviewers. 

Instead of a more traditional focus on revenue first as a Chief Revenue Officer, I accepted a role as Chief REALIZATION Officer. I’ve discovered my ‘something more’ and have been challenged to ‘change lanes’ by focusing on realization for firms, recognition of challenges and victories externally and internally, and the revenue that follows as the measure of our success.

I am passionate about my engagement with public accounting firms as we roll up our sleeves to solve the problems that will help them lead into more advisory services engagement.