Top 100 Proadvisor Vote Counts
Editor's Note: This is another installment in our ongoing series highlighting this year's Insightful Accountant's "Top 100 ProAdvisors." Over the remainder of the year, we will introduce you to our winners, getting their insights on a wide range of topics, including what it is like to be a leader in their profession, how to stay on top and what the future holds.
With more than 25 years in the accounting and marketing world, there isn't much that
Terumi Echols
TerumiEchols' hasn't seen. What she sees a lot of these days is disruption. Mobile. The cloud. Artificial Intelligence.
The role of today's accounting professional, as Terumi sees it, continues to evolve into that of an advisor – a trusted ally who can go deeper than what the numbers say for her clients.
She honed her expertise on both the business and creative sides of the business. So when it comes to financial accountability, Terumi, MBA, ACOPA, ACPA, knows what kind of difference a ProAdvisor can make in today's ever-changing business climate.
As the VP of Client Services for the Brilliant Solutions Group, she works closely with small- and mid-size companies offering services, solutions and support wherever and whenever needed.
The Business Solutions Group's focus is on providing strategic solutions tailored to meet its clients' business and industry-specific needs.
What does it mean to you to be recognized out of more than 200,000 ProAdvisors in the world?
Being recognized means that, in part, the time, energy and effort put into ProAdvisor training is, not only keeping me update on the nuances of the software I love, but it also means I am serving my clients well and staying abreast of business change. ProAdvisors are striving to be the change, and I'm blessed to be one of them.
Your first thoughts on getting news of the honor?
My first thought was, "Wow. How amazing is that? You go girl." There are so many talented and gifted ProAdvisors. I was shocked and humbled by the recognition.
How has your ProAdvisor practice changed or evolved over the last couple of years?
Today, 95 percent of our clients are using QuickBooks Online with the majority of those using Plus, and 20 percent use integrated apps like Bill.com, Receipt Bank, TSheets, Gusto, Shopify, and others.
Why is continuing to enhance your skills and acumen critical to staying one step ahead of the curve?
The shifts in technology and the disruptors to our industry and our clients seem unending. Small businesses need advisers who are aggressively seeking new ways to help them manage their business activities. They are looking to us to reach beyond the data to provide insights. They are also looking to us to advise them on relationship management, such as connecting them to bankers, lenders and payment processing that works for their businesses, not places just dotting the "i's" and crossing the "t's." I also keep up with CPA, NATP and Insightful Accountant to stay abreast of changes in the industry.
What do you do?
I attend training seminars by the Woodard Group, and I attend "Scaling New Heights" to stay abreast of changes to QuickBooks, changes impacting our industry, and visit with vendors to see product demonstrations. I attend the National Association of Tax Professionals conference to stay abreast of upcoming changes in the tax laws. I attend industry specific events related to some of my clients businesses, so I understand what changes they're experiencing and where they may need assistance.
I attend small business conferences to network with vendors, specially banking, merchant services and marketing, all with my clients in mind. I also make every effort to develop partner relationships with software providers I feel will benefit my clients now or in the future.
Last, but not least, I study and test for every certification offered through the ProAdvisor program, so I have knowledge of and understand QB software changes and keep my skill set fresh. I also read a half dozen newsletters of leadership and business.
Give us a snapshot of today's accounting landscape.
As with all industries, there is continual disruption – mobile, the Cloud and Artificial Intelligence. Data entry may for all practical purposes disappear. I believe a great deal of the accountant's work will become providing insights (going deep into the numbers), developing forecasting, creating connections, etc. Continued globalization will also hold challenges and changes for us. Learning to handle multiple currencies, outsourcing to other countries and collaborative partnership with foreign clients are certainly on the horizon. For many of us, it's already here. I would expect this to continue.
What was the best piece of advice you ever received?
That's a difficult question. The two I love and live by are a bit of a cliché. The best piece of advice I ever received was to expect and embrace failure, but when you fail, fail fast and fail forward. Meaning, failure is enviable, so make certain you don't wallow in it. You have to learn something from it. And always expect the best from people, and they won't disappoint you. They will rise and fall based on your expectations.
What is the story that best describes how you help your clients?
Mr. Client comes to us because he wants someone to review his QBO account to make sure he is doing it correctly. He knows it's not correct, but he just doesn't know where or why. He has his personal expenses mixed in with his business expenses. He has never reconciled, but he makes sure all his expenses are in, he thinks.
First, I review his data. Then, we discuss the details, ask questions and talk through what's required. Initially, we correct his data, provide him with financial statements and a few insights based on the information that we have seen.
In many cases, we make suggestions on ways he may be able to increase sales through additional e-commerce outlets. We discuss what his needs may be related to his business' tax status. If needed, we will file for his S-Corp status, because it will provide him with a few benefits that would be helpful to his business.
We remain available to him for questions throughout the year, including connecting him with lenders to help provide additional capital for expansion. We develop the reports necessary to assist him with acquiring the capital needed, and we work with him to negotiate the best rates.
How do you create balance in your work and personal life?
I'm not sure what that is. Only joking. Creating life work balance these days can be difficult. We have been and continue to be in a age where business can and is done from your mobile device, which can mean 24/7 for many. Their cellphones are the first thing many of our clients see when they wake up, and the last thing they look at before they go to bed. We find that we need to be more accessible rather than less. As a result, we tweaked our business hours. Although we begin our day at 8 a.m., the first two hours are for us to meet, update each other and plan. Our office hours read 10 a.m. thru 7 p.m.
Our family almost always eats dinner together. We crave out family weekends, go to the movies, and take two vacations a year to rest and enjoy each other's company. My husband and I also golf together on Saturday mornings, weather permitting. It's our time together.
Basically, you have to mandate a time that belongs to family and friends, or you never will have the time.
What's on your to-do list the rest of 2017?
Attend the National Association of Tax Professionals conference in August. Review and take the tests for my 18 hours of continuing tax education. Start preparing my clients for the 2017 tax season. Redesign our firm's website.Train a blogger to manage our blog content. Finish reading "Profit First." Teach a course on branding for Magazine Training International. Attend Intuit Connect in November. Manage the usual client work, day by day, week by week, month by month. Take the upcoming tests for ProAdvisors and look for additional way to complete my ACE hours. And finally, take off Dec. 23 - Jan. 7 to spend the holidays with family and friends. No work.
Special thanks to our program sponsors, including Canon imageFORMULA Document Scanners, ADP, Finagraph, "Scaling New Heights" and Intuit's QuickBooks ProAdvisor Program.