There’s nothing like a recession and economic crisis to get us all thinking about costs, efficiencies and productivity.  While it can be a painful period of time for some, this is also a fantastic period of time to re-focus and energize the business of the business.  On a daily basis, I continue to hear points of optimism - from sales professionals that see this as a time to develop new relationships, to CEOs who have gotten their troops looking for and implementing new ways of thinking.  It can be an invigorating time from which we will all learn lessons, making each of us stronger and smarter and positioned for growth in the future.

There is evidence of another by-product of current times that I’ve recently taken note of - a re-energized focus on the customer.  I see it happening in product-oriented companies, in service organizations, in non-profits and in early stage enterprises.  I’m sure that everyone reading this blog entry, myself included, would like to think that we continually and effectively maintain such a focus.  But there is a reality that when times are good and sales are brisk … discipline can wane and human nature can take over.  We may start to take ourselves and our customers for granted and complacency can settle in.  That may go unnoticed for short periods of time, or even longer when masked by new customer acquisition that offsets losses.

Try it now though, and I believe that you’ll quickly learn some expensive and painful lessons.  (more…)

My inaugural blog for MFA has me thinking about transparency in business. After all, what is a corporate blog if not the embodiment of a transparent means of communication with one’s clients, colleagues, and interested stakeholders. Transparency has been, in part, facilitated by technology, and hence the birth of tools such as this blog. My goal each week is to use this tool, like so many of the technological tools before it, to deepen our relationship with MFA’s core constituencies and encourage open dialogues on a varying degree of subjects over time.

Like business in general, change is ever-present in public accounting. We must remain expert on technical financial reporting pronouncements that are continually evolving; we must continually demonstrate our expertise of complex federal, state and international tax laws; and we must have a solid understanding of the economic environment in which we all live and operate our businesses. One need look no further than to recent FASB actions to understand how the theme of transparency continues to pervade business. More and more, FASB projects are actively addressing the questions of fair value accounting, convergence of US accounting standards with international accounting standards, and simplification of the existing bodies of accounting knowledge – all great examples of how transparency in business and reporting continues to pervade every facet of what we do.

Having grown up in the 80s, my first introduction to the use of technology to speed up business was in the form of fax machines and so-called portable computers that probably weighed fifteen pounds without a modem or network access. Many enterprises did not have local area networks, the internet was barely known to most and the World Wide Web had yet to come into existence – I lived online in the limited world of AOL and couldn’t email someone unless they, too, were an AOL member.

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For decades, we have made it our business to connect with our clients and our community. We have also embraced strategies that add to our accessibility: little things like glass-walled conference rooms and offices, an open door policy for our professionals, and a general environment that is built around open communication. Ideas drive evolution, and we believe an open atmosphere is an important part of capturing the innovative energy that makes us who we are.

Enter the MFA Blog. Unusual for an accounting and consulting firm? Perhaps. But we believe sharing our insights on finance, business (large and small, private and public), and the events that move us will offer an even greater opportunity to connect. We encourage you to comment on our thoughts, to challenge us, to let us know where our ideas intersect with your own.

We are excited to have entered the blogosphere, and look forward to the conversation!