Ideas in Motion: Sandi Smith, CPA – Educator, Designer and Aviator
By Scott H. Cytron, ABC
Based in Dallas, Texas, Sandi Smith, CPA, may very well be the extreme example of a renaissance woman. She’s done it all, and yet, finds herself constantly at a crossroad to garner even more accomplishments. As a CPA technologist, she regularly consults in technology and accounting, and has a solid reputation as one of Intuit’s most prolific QuickBooks’ instructors.
But that’s only the beginning. Over the years, she has diversified into speaking before groups and organizations, offering motivation-oriented talks based on her globe-trekker life across the world, and even wrote a book called “Following Amelia” that chronicles her experiences in copiloting a small, single engine airplane around the world. Turns out less than a dozen females in the United States have done that. Sandi also began a Web design/marketing business that constantly challenges the right side of her brain.
I sat down with Sandi to find out more about her activities and what just makes her tick. The hardest part of the interview was figuring out where to start. | |
Sandi Smith, CPA
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Scott Cytron: Focusing on your experience and knowledge of teaching accounting-related courses and material, tell me the top three issues or areas in which you find most CPAs/accountants need improvement. In other words, what don’t they know that they need to know?
Sandi Smith: I think CPAs and accountants are very smart, generally speaking, and can learn anything they want to. I think there are areas in which they are more hesitant to learn or maybe to change. One area is marketing. A lot of accountants hate to market. For one thing, they haven’t really had to. We have a compliance industry: you have to fill out those things for the IRS, and you have to get audited and comply with Sarbox, so people have to hire accountants. Marketing is fun for me now, but I had to learn it the hard way. After several years, I now know what works and what doesn’t work. I enjoy teaching accountants the stuff that they don’t normally like to pay attention to.
Technology is another area because we’re so overloaded with industry updates that thinking about new technologies can be overwhelming. Technology can also be frustrating when it doesn’t work. The challenge is to absorb the learning curve to a level that creates productivity for the individual. Yet, there are people who have to have the latest gadget; they’re so busy transferring data from one gadget to the other that they are not very productive. There’s a happy medium to reach with technology.
This third issue might get me in trouble, but here it goes. Some accountants (and people in general really) think everyone is like them. That’s not true. Here is an example of why that can be a problem at times. Take the idea of testimonials. Most accountants hate them and would never do business with someone based on a testimonial. But other people would, and do. So accountants who don’t use testimonials because they don’t like them miss out on a whole type of potential customer who does like them.
SC: Why does QuickBooks continue to be such a hot software solution for accountants and their clients?
SS: QuickBooks is a great solution because it works so naturally. The people at Intuit do a fantastic job of reading their market and being responsive to it. They were first doing the usability way back in the 1980s, sitting in the clients’ offices and watching them work, and it shows in the product. They are especially responsive to the accountants who work with their own clients on QuickBooks. There are all sorts of tools and resources available and many of them are free for the taking: articles, comparison checklists, user and advisor tips, white papers, marketing advice and newsletters – you name it.
SC: I’m finding that many CPAs still are resistant to technologies (applications, security, others as well) in their firms – even the ability to go paperless or use less paper. What do you feel the accounting profession can do to help them realize that they need to get on board with technology?
SS: When accountants (or anyone else for that matter) can see a huge benefit, they will adopt a new technology. There’s got to be a clear reason for change. The trick is to reduce the risk of changing and to make the learning curve as painless as possible. Not all technologies can do that. A paperless office has fantastic benefits, but requires major surgery for most firms. The best advice is to get a champion who can implement it in steps. By step 10 or 20 or whatever, the firm is converted, and if it’s done gently enough, no one is the wiser.
SC: Regarding “Following Amelia,” what is it about this achievement that you found especially motivating? What are you going to do to “follow it up” and build on this accomplishment – any plans to do so?
SS: The best thing about taking the flight around the world was learning how to deal with my own fears and insecurities. While I don’t recommend people take on an extreme sport to experience this, I do think we’d do better in our lives if we didn’t let fear hold us back as much. I also love to meet people who are different from me; I learn so much and I love the interaction.
I’m leveraging this accomplishment in a couple of ways. I wrote a book about the adventure that I hope people will enjoy reading. I teach an eighth grade program to help kids with math by introducing them to aviation. I’m hoping to attract a corporate sponsor so I can fund this and visit more classrooms. I’m also giving keynote presentations at conferences to help people realize their own big audacious goals. Next week, I’ll be presenting my program at AirVenture, the largest air show in the world, with more than 700,000 people and pilots attending.
SC: I watched a bit of the clip in which you described the adventure. When you impart your stories to an audience, what kind of take-away do you want them to have?
SS: I want people to know they can live bigger than they ever thought they could and that they only have one life to do it in, so what are they waiting for! New brain studies show our brain is completely flexible when it comes to learning new things. So, if you thought you were stuck with a bad habit your spouse has, there may be hope! But you have to want to change. If you want to, you can.
I have a formula I use: RPM. It stands for Risk, Passion and Mastery. Each element is required to complete a big accomplishment in life. They all work together. I tell stories that illustrate these points. For example, take Mastery. If you want to have a great figure (say, six-pack abs), you have to do some sit-ups. You have to master sit-ups (or crunches) by practicing every day. Twenty may not be enough; you need to do 100, but you might not know that. Pretty soon, if you do 100, you’re going to get six-pack abs. You’ve mastered your figure. It applies to flying, working … everything.
SC: Regarding the Web design business, how did you get into this line of work and was a there anything as a CPA that prepared and/or inspired you to begin designing sites, collateral, etc.
SS: When I started web designing, I was looking for something that would integrate my skills: programming (logical), artistry (design), writing (content for the sites), marketing and search engine work (positioning the client), technology (hosting and email), and accounting (ROI). I felt that Web design could stretch me by using these disparate skills. I love it. I love figuring out how to bring the best out in the client and showing it to the world on the Web. I also love the feedback: when a client gets business from the site, I know what I did is working.
About Author:
Scott H. Cytron, ABC, is an accredited communications and public relations consultant working in the accounting, health care, high-tech and finance industries. He also teaches efficient and effective writing to professional services’ groups and can be reached at scott@cytronandcompany.com or through his Web site, http://www.cytronandcompany.com.
About Column:
Ideas in Motion is a monthly column designed to focus on best practices within CPA firms and organizations involved in providing technology related services.
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