L TE F O T E ETR R M H

MA A IGP R N R N GN A T E
Dv Ka nwk CA-M ng g ate ai r aosi P d j , aai Pr r n n

"IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO SET A THEME FOR NEXT YEAR"

As I met with our CFO to start the profit planning (i.e. budget) process for next year, we spent a considerable amount of time up front, brainstorming what our Firm's theme should be for 2012. Once established, this theme will be communicated to our responsible team members, and will become the "rally point" when generating goals, plans and assumptions. The considerations I used to formulate our Firm's potential themes were: Urgency: What is the sense of urgency I want conveyed? Is it revenue generation, process improvements, efficiencies, cost cutting, etc.? Is it Company wide or a variation based on each operating location? Driving Force: Who are the key team members in the Organization who share the commitment and the power to help lead the change? Will they work as a team putting the Firm (Company) first? Create & Communicate the Vision: What is the vision, in simplistic terms, that can hit the soul of everyone in the Organization? How do we achieve it (strategy)? How does leadership communicate it as many times as we can over the next year? Empowerment: Do people see how they can be part of the strategy and act accordingly? What will be in their way? What resources do they need? Will they act? Milestones: What are the wins that can be measured and shared along the way to keep the enthusiasm fueled and a sense of accomplishment shared by all? Culture: How can we benefit from our accomplishments and make them become part of our culture permanently? How do we educate new team members as they join us? As you can see, the profit planning process was just a catalyst to dig deeper to the real issues and opportunities. What seemed so far away seems like it will be here tomorrow. Now is the time to start.

David Krajanowski, CPA Managing Partner