Emerging Professionals

I was talking to an undergrad accounting student recently, and we were talking about their goals and why they chose accounting. Ultimately their answer was simple: so that they could work for themselves someday whether it be through contracting or creating their own firm/practice. They preceded to ask me why I hadn't started my own "firm" yet, and while my response was circulated around the fact that I'm not done learning, it got me thinking: For those who have transitioned away from public accounting to create their own practice, what are some things you wish you did more research on prior to jumping in?

This can include anything, but my initial thoughts were related to:

-Tech stacks

-Compliance (Circular 230, WISP, Insurance, etc.)

-Growth

To add to this, how are you using automations to free up more of your time to resolve critical client matters? I am very interested in hearing more about this and welcome any successes and failures!

When I entered practice about 10 years ago, I chose to provide regular accounting and tax services while developing one clear specialization (Forensic Accounting, Fraud Investigation and Legal Support) to distinguish my practice. Before starting, I would recommend researching the technology stack, compliance, insurance, client selection, pricing, cash flow, staffing capacity and standard operating procedures. Automation is most useful for repetitive tasks such as onboarding, document collection, reminders, e-signatures, invoicing and workflow tracking, while technical judgment, final review and client advice should remain under professional supervision.