Imagine this. You are a 25-year old CPA working for a large accounting firm. You have a wife and a 4-month old baby at home. Somehow, your entrepreneurial spirit tells you it is a good idea to start a CPA firm from scratch. All by yourself. So, Roberts Accounting CPAs, P.C. was formed.
How it all started…
The hardest part about starting an accounting firm from scratch is that you are the one holding the meetings to bring in new business, and you are also the one doing the work. Pat Roberts started Roberts Accounting CPAs, P.C. 9 years ago. His work day consisted of meetings with new clients, with evenings and weekends dedicated to actually doing the work. A solo practitioner with a vision to grow his firm and make a genuine impact on his surrounding community, Pat learned quickly that 16 hour (often more) days were not sustainable.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Without the time to recruit and hire experienced tax preparers to help him as his business grew exponentially overnight, Pat had an idea. He would create a tool that would re-calculate the results of the inputs in the tax software and that could be used by those who had little to no experience with tax preparation. With a tool like this, he envisioned minimizing the time it would take to review 1040 returns so that he could spend time building advisory services engagements.
The tool, initially called an ‘index,’ would guide the preparer to understand what they were putting into their tax software, and it would also immediately isolate any discrepancies with outputs in the tax return. And, the best part? The return would be accurate. Enter first-generation TaxExact™.
But, would it work?
With an immediate need for help, Pat recruited his wife and a friend who wanted to help with his workload. Neither had ever prepared tax returns before and had no accounting background. He walked them through using his newly created tool and started giving them returns to prepare. Soon, they were not only preparing returns, but they were also reviewing each other’s returns with TaxExact™ before sending them to Pat for the final review. Because they caught errors before they ever got to final review, Pat’s time was able to be directed to building client relationships and advisory engagements.
Roberts Accounting, CPAs, P.C. on the path to growth…
In year 2 of Roberts Accounting, CPAs, P.C,. the firm needed to add staff. As team members came on board, they were all shown how to use TaxExact™ to review their work in the tax software. From interns to new CPAs (regardless of experience level), an important process at the firm was (and still is) using TaxExact™ to review every 1040 return. TaxExact taught newer preparers how to understand the basic tax code, and it reduced the final review time to just a few minutes to review by exception.
Confidence levels in the accuracy of the return at the preparer and first reviewer level were high, leading to high employee satisfaction and morale. What’s more, there was no bottleneck at the final review level. Pat’s time could be directed to more important areas of the business like recruiting and developing advisory business.
By the end of year 2, Pat doubled the firm’s revenue and grew to 8 employees and 2 locations.
Aha…
When Pat sat down to dig into the results and understand what was driving the firm’s success, this is what he found:
- TaxExact™ was complimenting his tax software to expedite the initial 1040 detailed review. Errors were being addressed early instead of requiring his (expensive) billable time to discover them, send the return back to preparation to address, and then check again before finalizing.
- Inexperienced tax preparers were quickly learning the tax code, guided by TaxExact™, and developing into first-line reviewers in an exceptionally short period of time.
- Pat was free to focus on the story inside the tax return so that he could advise the client and uncover opportunities for proactive engagements going forward. The bottleneck in most firms at the final review level wasn’t there, leading to faster and more profitable advisory service growth and stickier clients.
- He was able to recruit great talent that fit the culture, because he had the time to recruit.
Implementing TaxExact™ elevated the tax workflow process to a whole new level of efficiency at the review level.
Fast forward to 2019. As Pat continued to refine TaxExact™ over the years, he decided the dramatic impact it had on his own firm should be shared with others. In early 2019, he decided to formalize the development of TaxExact™ into a cloud SaaS tool that other firms could also use.
The Impact is Real…
As the years have progressed, Roberts Accounting CPAs, P.C. has continued to enjoy impressive double digit year on year growth in both revenue and profits without having to add more staff. Additionally, the firm has never received a notice for a mathematical error.
Pat attributes both the absence of notices and their radical growth to using TaxExact™ for the detailed review of every 1040.
Firm YOY growth trajectory since using TaxExact™:
- Year 2 100%
- Year 3 42%
- Year 4 32%
- Year 5 33%
- Year 6 33%
- Year 7 21%
- Year 8 results not yet finalized
How to find out more about TaxExact™
TaxExact™ is easy to use with little to no learning curve. Because it is a SaaS product, there is no installation or maintenance needed. Free trials are available as well as live product demonstrations and support by visiting the website. ™™TaxExact™ also recently launched a new service: VERIFIED…powered by TaxExact™ for firms who wish to outsource their 1040 review process onshore. You can find out more about VERIFIED…powered by TaxExact™ here.
