Axiom CPA, P.A. - Axiom CPA Blog

Twitter is the latest social media craze. If you're wondering what it is check out a post I wrote a few months ago. Whenever you hear people talking about using Twitter for business they inevitably say something like "If you're not paying attention to what your customers are saying about you on Twitter you're an idiot." Since it's unlikely that any of my clients are going to be talking about me or my firm on Twitter I decided to keep track of what people are saying about CPA's in general (this is pretty easy to do using an application like TweetDeck or Twitter's own search functionality). Here's what I learned.

If Twitter is still around in five years A LOT MORE CPA's will be using it. How do I know this? Because there are a lot of CPA candidates tweeting about their progress on the CPA exam. Once they pass, move into the ranks of staff accountants and start seeing clients you can bet we'll be hearing about their interactions in real time.

Client service may not be the profession's strong suite. Clients don't like it when we're not proactive. More than a few people are upset with their CPA because they owe taxes. From experience I think this is less about blaming the CPA for their personal tax situation and more about not liking surprises. Still, if you need any encouragement to offer EVERY client the opportunity for a tax estimate in November reading some of these tweets is good medicine. There's also a lot of evidence that CPA's should do something to aleviate the anxiety that accompanies a tax appointment. There's a lot of comparing going to the CPA with going to the dentist. Not exactly the frame of mind I want my clients in when they show up to meet with me.

Community rules. There is a vibrant community of cool, friendly and helpful CPA's out there more than willing to lend a hand, offer advice or provide that missing nugget of information. For those of us with small, niche practices having a network of like minded colleagues who walk in our shoes every day is invaluable. Twitter is a great way to feel the pulse of a thriving, professional community of CPA's who care about what they do. The community would still be there without Twitter, but tapping into it would be a little more difficult.