Editor's Note: This is another installment in our ongoing series highlighting this year's Insightful Accountant's "2018 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.
Caren Schwartz
This week, our Top 100 ProAdvisor Profile is on Caren Schwartz. She is the President of Time & Cents Consultants and an Associate with 35*45 Consulting.
What is your role in your practice?
As owner of Time & Cents Consultants, and it’s sole employee I am “chief cook and bottle washer,” doing everything from working with clients to billing, accounting and marketing. As an associate of 35*45 Consulting, I am more focused on working with clients to provide training and support on specific legal applications.
Tell us about how you got started in the business.
After 14 years, I accepted a package from IBM because I had young children and did not want to travel. However, I still wanted to work and we had a wonderful nanny I wasn’t quite ready to give up. After a lot of thought, I decided that I liked working with computers and I was good with numbers. I started a bookkeeping service for small businesses. Over time, the bookkeeping decreased and the consulting increased.
Tell us a little about your practice.
I think I am “different” from most of the pro advisors as I don’t do bookkeeping or accounting. I focus on working with legal (and professional services) firms on billing, accounting and practice management solutions.
What was the biggest surprise you saw in the past YEAR?
This past year I converted my firm accounting from QuickBooks desktop to QBO. I think the biggest surprise was how hard it was to change. When you are very use to doing things in a certain way, the change is difficult and I have found myself very frustrated with things that were easy in desktop and can’t be done in QBO.
What are three areas every accountant should keep an eye on next year?
Cloud solutions – SAAS and Cloud applications - and the changes in the market in terms of features and also consolidation is the key to me. New schemes for “stealing data,” whether phishing, whaling or any of the others; the attempts are getting more frequent and often harder to recognize. I also hear a lot about crypto currency but not sure how that will play out.
Name the biggest technological advancements you saw this year.
More programs are introducing dash boards as a way to understand the data visually. Along with this, AI is just beginning to come into play to help with using this today.
What advice would you give to today's accountants?
I think picking a niche is really important and you have to be willing to keep learning. Not just keep us with tax laws but expanding your knowledge to better serve your clients.
What does it mean to you to be recognized out of more than 300,000 ProAdvisors in the world?
It is truly an honor to be considered part of the top 100.
Your first thoughts on getting news of the honor?
Gratitude and amazement.
How has your ProAdvisor practice changed or evolved over the last couple of years?
I have learned additional products and have spent more time working with integrations with QBO.
Why is continuing to enhance your skills and acumen critical to staying one step ahead of the curve?
There’s a quote I like “if you are not moving forward your simply standing still.” When it comes to technology, I think it’s more like if you are not moving forward you're moving backwards. With the changes in technology and features constantly being added to software, if I don’t keep learning I can’t help my clients.
What is the story that best describes how you help your clients?
Each day and each client is different. This past year I was contacted by an attorney who was leaving a firm and starting a new firm. I worked with them to help identify a software solution for billing, accounting and practice management that would meet their needs. They helped them customize it and provided training. The firm is up and running and growing. The software helps them to get their work done. I was happy to be part of the team to make this happen.
How do you create balance in your work and personal life?
Having an office in the house [can make] that especially hard. I do make time for things I like to do like reading, golf, bridge and Mahjong. I also try to find time to exercise. I don’t answer the business phone after business hours or on weekends unless I have arranged it in advance. I will admit that I often find myself in front of the computer at night and on weekends. The cell phone makes it hard not to check emails frequently but I try to get my clients to not expect responses on holidays and weekends.
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