Look at any major accounting firm and you’re bound to find their long-held vision statement. But over the years, you’d most likely see that company vision statements change – sometimes, even drastically. Accounting firms that stuck to certain values, business processes, vision and purpose, or ownership for a long time can undergo major shifts to meet the demands of the industry, their own unique dynamics, or both.
Today, no successful accounting firm should let itself get left behind, especially when it comes to their corporate vision. Below are some pertinent reasons why your vision statement should be up to date, timely, and relevant to the current accounting landscape.
But First, What is a Vision Statement?
A vision statement is a concise reflection of the vision of the company for the future. Typically, the company vision is a laundry list of goals for the future, but the vision statement captures the essence of the list of things that your firm wants to achieve and accomplish years down the line, delivered in a way that compels and catches your target audience’s attention.
Purpose of a Vision Statement: What are Company Vision Statements for?
Let’s get down to brass tacks: the purpose of a vision statement is to outline your firm’s long-term goals, values, and aspirations, serving as a guiding force for its decision-making and strategic planning. Establishing your vision statement means aligning firm goals with those of your employees. When you’re headed towards common objectives, you foster a sense of unity and motivation not only within one team but across all departments.
The Importance of a Vision Statement: Why Company Vision Statements are Crucial to Your Business
Now that the purpose of a vision statement is established, you should know why company vision statements are important. More than just something that you put on the walls of your meeting room, the vision statement provides a clear direction and purpose for the organization. Especially for accounting firms, a strong vision statement sets your practice apart from your competitors by showcasing its unique value proposition.
Clients are more likely to trust and engage with a firm that has a clear vision for the future, demonstrating their commitment to excellence and integrity. In short, your vision statement should be compelling enough to drive growth, attract top talent, and build a reputable brand in the competitive accounting industry.
Why Your Firm Needs a Vision Statement Update
Company vision statements need to be clear, industry-relevant, culturally sensitive, and must mirror company culture. If your vision statement was established a long time ago, then maybe it needs a vision statement review. Below are the details on why you should refresh your team vision statement.
1. 20/20 Company Vision: To Show Clarity in Goals for the Future
Showing clarity in your firm’s vision statement helps attract like-minded talent, investors, and customers who are aligned with your accounting firm’s values and goals. A clearly defined vision statement creates a sense of stability and confidence among your stakeholders by giving them a solid roadmap to success and ensuring everyone is working towards a common goal.
2. Vision and Mission Alignment: To Reflect Your Company Character
A well-crafted vision statement should reflect what your company stands for. To truly reflect your company character, you need vision and mission alignment. Your company mission is what it’s doing now, and the company vision is what it wants to do or be in the future. These two must align: your mission must be working towards your vision.
Good vision and mission alignment enhances brand reputation because the company’s beliefs and aspirations are clearly communicated to clients, prospects, investors, and the broader audience alike. Therefore, it resonates with those holding the same values and increases brand trust.
3. Field-Relevant Vision Statement Update: To Show Commitment in Addressing Current Industry Issues
Most accounting firms in the US are experiencing a talent shortage due to multiple factors. That said, your firm’s vision statement should offer a solution to the issues at hand. Aside from the aforesaid talent crisis, some examples of current issues in the accounting industry include lack of work-life balance and task variety. If you were to craft a vision statement, you shouldn’t only include your company culture – your firm should also communicate its commitment to addressing pressing industry issues.
4. Socially Conscious Vision Statement Update: To Show Commitment in Addressing Current World Issues
A vision statement update indicates that your practice keeps up with world affairs, major events, and culturally significant matters. Communicating that your accounting firm isn’t caught up in its own bubble. Some examples include joining sustainability or diversity initiatives and inserting this into your vision statement.
To keep up with the times, accounting firms must abide by global standards like those set by the GAAP and the IFRS, as well as sociopolitical and environmental standards set by organizations like the United Nations, i.e. the Sustainable Development Goals, which most companies follow today.
5. Aligning Firm Goals: To Declare a Merger or Acquisition
Most accounting firms on top of the game are all products of mergers and acquisitions, and what better way to announce it to the public than a brand-new vision statement. Aside from taking pride in joining other firms and practices, this opens avenues for portfolio diversification, market expansion, and competitive advantage for any accounting firm.
This rebranding introduces their current clientele and their prospects to a fresher market option, while still retaining brand trust from their previous rosters — specifically those who stuck around and believed in their older collective corporate vision.
Sample Vision Statement for Accounting Firms
If you’re looking for a sample vision statement that distinguishes one accounting firm from another, then let’s take a look at the Big 4 accounting firms and how each one of them made their corporate vision clear, concise, and relevant to modern times.
“to be the Standard of Excellence, the first choice of the most sought-after clients and talent.”
“Our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems.”
“We're building the workplace of the future at EY, a place that's smarter, more inclusive, more dynamic and more flexible. We're embracing change, and helping our clients to adapt - to create more inclusive economic growth.”
“At KPMG, our goal is not to be the biggest professional services firm. Our goal is to be the best professional services firm. And we define this in a very tangible way through our vision of being the Clear Choice.”
What Makes the Big 4 Company Vision Statements Effective
As we can observe here, accounting industry titans Deloitte and KPMG both have “Standard of Excellence” and “Clear Choice” in their company vision statements, which are intended to be their brand essence that sticks to the public. This means that every time people (especially those from the accounting industry) hear “Standard of Excellence” and “Clear Choice”, they automatically think of Deloitte and KPMG.
Focusing on KPMG, they reflect their company character by rejecting the perceived goal of most accounting firms and instead setting a better standard, as seen in this part — “At KPMG, our goal is not to be the biggest professional services firm. Our goal is to be the best professional services firm…”
Meanwhile, EY boldly claims to join the diversity, equity, and inclusivity movement with their vision statement. Notice the statement “…a place that’s smarter, more inclusive, more dynamic and more flexible” — keywords like inclusive are inserted into the corporate vision to reflect that EY keeps up with current movements.
Let’s look at the succeeding part of their vision statement: “We’re embracing change, and helping our clients to adapt — to create more inclusive economic growth” — this vision statement is sealed with a broad strokes approach by including “embracing change” and “helping our clients” in it — the usage of terms that a layperson can understand instead of employing accounting jargon that could confuse your target audience.
Finally, PwC just keeps it plain and simple with their commitment to addressing industry and world issues in one general vision statement — “Our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems.”
How Necessary is Updating Firm Goals?
As an accounting firm owner, you understand the importance of a vision statement. You also know about the purpose of a vision statement. As the industry is ever evolving, the key is to make a vision statement that will attract prospects and keep clients coming back.
The most striking and memorable company vision statements have certain characteristics that help them stand out among others. When you refresh your team vision statement, it means that you value updating firm goals and you make efforts for a vision statement review.
This reflects your willingness to keep up with current advancements, to show your values as a practice to the public, and to align your vision for the future with other companies that merge with your business, just like the big 4 firms who all have histories of merging and acquisitions.
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To keep up with the ever-changing accounting industry, you’ll need much more than a killer vision statement. Aside from mergers and acquisitions, openness to new business models like offshore accounting is part of keeping your accounting firm in the black. If you’ve heard of the many benefits that offshore accounting can bring to your firm, then TOA Global is exactly what you’re looking for.
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