Interview Prep Flashcards
OFO (and its 3 end goals)
We are formally aligning administrative operations, roles, and processes to:
1) increase collaboration across the firm
2) effectively scale our business operations to support our growth and our clients
3) enrich employee experience and improve quality control
implementing standard business processes and aligning our CSS Operations structure
Business Services team
Our Business Services team will oversee our core tax and assurance administrative processes to drive consistency and improve the quality of client deliverables.
Business Services team will focus on
(2)
1) The core business processes that can be standardized at a firm level to allow for scalability, improved quality controls, and increased efficiencies.
2) Continuous process improvement for both internal and external customer service and efficiency
How does the standardization of business services support the shift to a CCA firm?
(3)
1) Will reduce inefficiencies
by minimizing the confusion and disruption of navigating inconsistencies and different processes.
2) This will enable CS teams to focus on their clients and increase the firm’s ability to leverage our resources.
3) Ultimately, we will have increased opportunities to innovate and provide value-add services.
MAPS
A power apps platform our business services workflows are being built on
Benefits of MAPS
(3)
1) This system not only integrates with some of our current programs but has been designed to provide an enhanced user experience for both CS and CSS.
2) Moss Adams builds and maintains the platform, enabling us to adapt the platform to our current and future needs.
3) It will provide the stability and bandwidth needed to effectively manage the high volume of tasks during our peak times.
Who we are as a firm
(3)
goes deeper than the accounting, consulting, and wealth management services we provide
Our identity is rooted in:
1. our core values
2. how we treat each other
3. how we serve clients
The key elements of our firm’s DNA
(4)
- Our mission
- Pillar values
- West mindset
- Four cornerstones
Our Mission
(3)
Empower every client to embrace opportunity
Our mission is our ongoing purpose, our reason for existing as a firm.
Every day, we aim to arm our clients with the insights and tools they need to be successful, however they define it
Our Pillar Values
(6)
- passion for excellence
- integrity
- lifetime learning
- leading by example
- accountability
- respect
These values shape how we approach our business and our interactions with one another
Our Brand and West Mindset
(5)
AKA our principles or how we live our values
- we cultivate possibility
- we’re all-in
- we’re industry obsessives
- we’re one firm
- we develop the best
Our Cornerstones
(4)
We focus our energy on these four cornerstones in our strategic planning and throughout our operations.
- Growth
- Clients
- Safety
4. People
TCE (The Competitive Edge)
Our Vision 2025: Be a client-centric advisory firm. 5 year plan.
Strategic Priorities (How we’ll achieve our CCA vision)
(4)
- Our people: develop amazing professionals
- Our clients: collaborate to grow
- Our firm: pursue operational excellence
- Our community: explicitly live our pillar values
Strategies & Success measures for Our People/ developing amazing professionals
(3)
- Build collaboration and business skills on top of deep technical knowledge
- Foster an adaptable workplace and workforce strategy
- Increase focus on customized learning to grow uniquely skilled professionals
Strategies & Success measures for Our Clients/ collaborating to grow
(3)
- Extract value from industry and client data
- Identify and pursue multidisciplinary needs of new and existing clients
- Invest in new services that help our clients prosper
Strategies & Success measures for Our Firm/ pursuing operational
excellence
(3)
- Continually assess organizational design to modernize and
align as one firm
2, Increase strategic alignment by cascading the firm’s strategy through all goals and activities - Optimize and standardize key processes
Strategies & Success measures for Our Community/ Explicitly living our Pillar values
(3)
- Embrace our environmental responsibilities
- Be leaders in our profession, serve the public interest, and demonstrate a commitment to professionalism
- Be an anti-racist firm
What does Pillar stand for?
It symbolizes the values that guide us in all that we do at Moss Adams.
It represents the qualities the Firm looks for in the people we hire, our beliefs about how we should conduct our business, and how we always aspire to do our very best work.
Passion for Excellence
(6)
- We set high goals and standards for ourselves.
- We have a positive outlook and are passionate about our work, our clients, and our profession.
- We are motivated to do our best and often do more than is expected.
- We are dedicated to high-quality work and the value we bring to the Firm.
- We seek opportunities for more responsibility on an office-, industry group- or Firm-wide basis.
- We are passionate about our shared values and our Firm’s mission.
Integrity
(6)
- We understand that integrity is the bedrock of trust and that trust is fundamental to our role as client service professionals and to serving the public interest.
- We are honest and ethical in all of our business relationships.
- We at all times maintain our objectivity of thought and action.
- We maintain high standards of personal and professional conduct.
- We hold the affairs of our clients in strict confidence.
- We hold steadfast to the form and spirit of the technical and ethical standards required for our profession by the AICPA, State CPA Societies, state boards of accountancy, and other regulators.
Lifetime Learning
(6)
- We seek opportunities for professional and personal growth.
- We continually develop our knowledge in new areas.
- We persistently work on our own areas that need development.
- We demonstrate a high interest in new Firm initiatives and services.
- We remain abreast of important technological advances within the Firm.
- We are intellectually curious about our profession and our clients’ business issues.
Leading by Example
(7)
- We do not ask others to do what we are unwilling to do ourselves.
- We act as mentors for others in our offices.
- We embrace innovation and new ideas because we know that growth and progress will not occur without change.
- We look for the natural skills and talents in other people and encourage them to use them.
- We exhibit a positive attitude and seek solutions to challenging situations.
- We respond to requests in a timely manner and we honor our commitments.
- We initiate ideas to help the Firm and our clients and are willing to help with their implementation
Accountability
(10)
- We agree to appropriate performance standards.
- We monitor self-performance against goals.
- We seek feedback on what is expected.
- We accept responsibility for outcomes of actions.
- We maintain a balanced life.
- We understand that balance is different for each person.
- We are flexible in our approach to our professional lives.
- We take an appropriate amount of time off.
- We participate in family and outside activities.
- We devote extra time to work when necessary.
Respect
(6)
- We act professionally and responsibly during stressful situations.
- We respect the time of others and avoid last-minute requests.
- If we have a difference of opinion with someone, we respectfully talk with that person rather than complaining to others.
- We do not interrupt other people when they are talking.
- We encourage other people to express their ideas and listen to them with an open mind.
- We believe that our differences can make us stronger.
Our brand helps us do what?
Leveraged effectively, our brand is an asset and competitive advantage that can help us stand out in a crowded, decidedly uniform marketplace.
It helps create a connection in the hearts and minds of potential clients and employees.
We’re All-In
Rabidly client-focused, we develop deep, collaborative relationships to understand our clients’ businesses, lives, and needs.
We Cultivate Possibility
With optimism and enterprise, we’re committed to helping our clients achieve prosperity - however they define it.
We’re Industry Obsessives
We bring deep industry expertise and technical skill to our clients, allowing us to offer both foresight and insight
We’re One Firm
We’re keen, integrative problem solvers, bringing our whole firm to each client.
We Develop the Best
We’re dedicated to developing the best client advisors in the profession, within a culture of collegiality and authenticity.
What is a brand position?
(3)
- It informs our point of view.
- It must represent who we are, emphasize what makes us unique, and be both meaningful and authentic.
- We use this to differentiate ourselves amongst our competition
What is our brand position?
For organizations that realize greater potential, Moss Adams brings “West” to business.
With an abundant spirit of optimism, openness, and enterprise, we integrate specialized accounting and advisory services to help mid-market clients grow, manage, and protect their prosperity.
Unbound from industry orthodoxy and big-firm conventions, we personally engage to help clients explore, understand, and embrace emerging opportunity.
AOP (annual operating plan)
- Not separate from the TCE, just specific to the next 12 months
- What do we specifically need to focus on in order to drive towards that 5 year plan
2024 AOP
“Back to Basics” after all the growth the firm has experienced
5 2024 AOP Objectives
- Client-Centric Advisory (develop and embody the CCA mindset and behaviors at all levels to advance our CCA vision)
- Client Focus (prioritize client focus through a reduction of operational demands)
- Growth (achieve firm growth expectations)
- MAI (accelerate MAI adoption and integration into the firm’s operating structure)
- Operational Excellence (increase operational efficiency and effectiveness through a focus on foundational activities)
AOP: CCA Objective
(3)
Develop and embody the CCA mindset and behaviors at all levels to advance our CCA vision.
1. Achieve: 5% increase of multi-service clients (looking at engagements over 3 years)
2. Show: differentiated client service by increasing level 3 & 4 clients in the annual client survey from 64 to 68%
3. Increase: industry concentration ratio (“Client Industry Group Concentration”) for Managers+ by 5 percentage points
AOP: Growth Objective
(2)
Achieve firm growth expectations
1. Grow firm revenue by 8.8%
2. Achieve $546M in sales
AOP: Client Focus
(4)
Prioritize client focus through a reduction of operational demands
1. Increase ratio of billable to non-billable time from 59% to 63%
2. Reduce the number of active firm initiatives (Enterprise Transformation Office portfolio) by 50%
3. Increase CS to CSS headcount ratio from 3.8 to 4
4. Increase good/ excellent rating in 2024 National Office Customer Survey by 5 percentage points (67.1 to 72.1%)
AOP: MAI Objective
(2)
Accelerate MAI adoption and integration into the firm’s operating structure
1. Achieve planned hours (312,000) and 60%+ utilization for MAI team
2. Maintain our increase MAI engagement survey participation and engagement over December 2023
AOP: Operational Excellence
(4)
Increase operational efficiency and effectiveness through a focus on foundational activities
1. Achieve targeted global utilization per 2024 firm financial plan
2. Achieve targeted realization per 2024 firm financial plan
3. Reduce LTM Net Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) to 70 days or less
4. Reduce the number of under-performing client hours by 20%
CCA as defined by Eric Miles
If I’m a client of Moss Adams, when we work with them, does the client feel like you’re just there to perform a defined task?
Or does the client feel like you’re approaching them more holistically, trying to understand what their needs are beyond maybe the consulting engagement, or the tax return, or the audit? That’s what we’re trying to do.
That may lead to additional work with the client or not, but it’s how the client feels, it’s the experience they have by working with us.
3 buckets for CCA per Eric Miles
- Being very clear on expectations and accountabilities. What are the behaviors we expect to see, what is the client–when they think of CCA, what do they expect to see? (CXL vs Client Owner)
- Across our major service lines: assurance, tax consulting, we’re thinking about again the methodology that we’re using to deliver our engagements.
- I think everyone needs more and more skills. The ability to engage with a client on broad areas of business is a skillset in and of itself. Soft skills no one is born with (Adelaide Ness hired to help)
