Providing clients a new perspective.

• Author: Gregory, Edward
• Position: CPA Performance View - Hildebrand, Limparis & Hevey

Helping your clients to focus on critical success factors and measure results

According to a recent survey by the Institute of Management Accountants, 80% of respondents reported making changes in their performance measurement systems. Asked how effectively their existing systems supported their strategic business objectives, almost one-third considered their systems to be poor or less than adequate. Clearly, many organizations are seeking better performance measurement systems.

To teach CPAs how to leverage their current skill sets to provide performance measurement services to clients or their own employers, the AICPA Special Committee on Assurance Services developed CPA Performance View. Performance measurement theory seeks to find the critical success factors (CSFs), both financial and nonfinancial, that drive a business's success and then determine the performance measures that will help focus the efforts of the company's employees on those factors.

Rather than working toward realizing such global goals as increasing profit or cash flow or decreasing cycle times, employees focus on items within their area of control that will lead to achieving the global issues. For example, their goals may be reducing accounts receivable (AR) days outstanding, up-selling, or decreasing change orders. In addition, rather than giving just an historical view of an organization's information, performance measures can--and should--include information that provides a predictive measure of future performance.

Since the launch of the service line in late 1991, which includes a training workshop, practice guides, and software, more than 400 practitioners have attended the CPA Performance View PLUS workshop and several hundred more have purchased practice guides.

Cases in Point

What results from this training and education? Are participants rewarded for their investment in time and resources? One firm reaped a return on its investment almost immediately.

Consider the case of one CPA firm, Hildebrand, Limparis & Hevey, CPAs, PC (HLH), Frederick, Maryland, an accounting firm offering business advisory, tax, and accounting services. Three partners--Carl Hildebrand, Christine Limparis, and Joanne Hevey--oversee the firm, established in 1994, and the staff comprises six additional employees.

Two of the firm's three partners attended the AICPA's CPA Performance View PLUS workshop to learn how to deliver performance measurement services. Chris and Carl attended the...