beBetter 

This is Oliver, our five-pound Yorkie who just turned one year old. He is such a treat and has a boundless personality. He loves people and dogs. Jumping high in the air to pop bubbles with the kids or fishing with me on a lazy Saturday, he enjoys life.  

Today’s picture really caught my attention because of what Oliver is doing and how focused  he is on it. This is a regular activity, and it has paid big dividends as he now has lots of neighborhood friends, including several dog buddies that come over for playtime. Our neighbors have noted they can’t walk their usual dog-walking route because their dogs throw a fit until they go by Oliver’s house to see if he is outside for playtime. Ha!

Before the pandemic, members of our profession would often say they'd make changes "someday." We had vague concepts, ideas, and experiments for how we'd change, but didn't act on them. The pandemic, though, has pushed us forward, causing us to make genuine transformation. I believe we are healthier today because of it.

My mother-in-law, Happy, loves to come over and visit in the late afternoons and sit by the fireplace outside, weather permitting. She can be quite funny and we so enjoy her visits. This afternoon she is really on a roll and sharing story after story.

After two years without a dog in our home, CeCe and I dove into the pandemic puppy trend and welcomed our new Yorkie, Oliver. Oliver is six months old and has been with us for three months now. Finally, we have a dog that is slightly more attached to me than CeCe. It’s one of the positives that COVID brought us as I have worked from home more.  

This pandemic has rocked our world and the digital accelerator was pushed to the floorboard. We’re not going back to business as usual before COVID-19, and our profession is starving for more diverse teams to lead our clients and our nation out of this recession and into economic recovery. In a recent AICPA Insights blog, I shared opportunities for women to propel our profession forward with expanded influence and leadership during this pandemic and beyond. 

CeCe and I are having an evening glass of wine and winding down from the day as we sit on our front porch, observing all of our quarantined neighbor’s new activities to pass the time. Walking, jogging, dog walking, bicycles, scooters, golf carts, fishing, and of course, the kid’s playground, which is right in front of our house. This playground has become a center of daily activity and lately, I suspect it is also serving as a secret happy hour spot.

The COVID-19 pandemic sped the development of some hard trends that will change the view of our profession in the future. In the latest AICPA Journal of Accountancy, I shared my mantra for the year — More with Less — and why accountants should consider it our rallying cry.

We have all heard the phrase “no pain, no gain.” And the promise of greater rewards for the price of painful work has certainly proven true in most aspects of my life. But how does “no pain, no gain” apply to the future of our profession? 

It’s a sunny, hot mid-afternoon as Sully (my two-year-old grandson) and I make our way across the hot pavement to the sidewalk as fast as his little legs would carry him. We finished the short 50-yard walk to our neighborhood playground that's complete with slides, swings, climbing bars and not a bit of shade. Sully insisted on taking three dinosaurs with us—Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus and one of which I have no idea what it is. They are small plastic dinosaurs but large enough he can only carry one in each hand. So Pops is carrying the unidentified one.

As Barry Melancon presented at the AICPA Women’s Global Leadership Summit, today is the slowest pace of change we will experience in our profession for the next five years. Transformation in our services, how we market, how we audit, how we consult and how we work will only increase exponentially. TODAY is the SLOWEST. Would you believe we have experienced a change in 31% of the Top 100 public accounting firms in the last ten years? Nearly a third turnover in the largest firms. Obviously mergers, acquisitions and new growth firms have contributed to this high rate of change. But what do you think the pace of change in the Top 100 will be over the next five years? Will this pace increase or decrease? I personally suspect we will have significantly more turnover in the Top 100 Firms during the next three years, much less in the next ten. There, I said it, and frankly, I am not alone in expecting this type of transformation.   

At my recent birthday celebration, I heard my kids huddle everyone up to get a picture of the grandkids with Pops (that’s me). It was like an out-of-body experience. Instantly, I became “that guy.” You know, the guy or gal that everyone wants to take a picture with because they represent the older side of our friendship or family. Taking photos to capture our memories and demonstrate our love for those we fear we may soon lose.

I was laughing uncontrollably on the back of a golf cart when this blog came to life. We were in Palmetto Bluff, SC for our annual HORNE LLP partner retreat. (By the way, this experience is bucket list material. Highly recommend a visit with a few days in a cottage facing the water—incredible views).