Ken Wolfe, President and Managing Principal at Brown Plus, Featured by Inside Public Accounting on Rethinking Accounting Firm Structures
Ken Wolfe, President and Managing Principal at Brown Plus, was recently interviewed by Inside Public Accounting for its June 2024, Volume 38, Issue 6 feature on Rethinking Accounting Firm Structures.
You can read the feature by clicking on the image below, or you can view the feature online. Alternatively, you can scroll down further to read the full transcript.
What is the single biggest challenge facing your firm now?
Like most firms I’m sure, recruiting new team members continues to be a challenge. Our firm has continued to improve our internship experience, which has helped us significantly improve our pipeline of associates moving through our firm. But we do struggle with recruiting for more senior-level positions, and that contributes to some of the capacity concerns that we have right now, especially as we continue to have leadership transitions.
We are trying to address this challenge by focusing on a culture of continuous feedback and listening to what matters to our team members. We don’t want to be a best place to work just
on paper, we want people to feel that when they walk in the door, or for our remote team members, sign on to work. The feedback loop that our leadership team has with everyone in our firm has contributed to some significant changes in our benefits over the last few years, and long term we expect that will have an impact on both retention and recruiting.
Where do you expect to be focusing most of your attention in the next two to three years?
We are currently in year two of our three-year strategic plan, and those goals truly center on dealing with capacity concerns stemming from staffing. We want to continue to focus on those objectives and goals. So, I would see us leveraging technology more than we are now and also looking at creating new, non-accounting roles that are focused entirely on client experience. We see all the studies around the shrinking pipeline of accounting students, and so we’re looking at ways to innovate the roles that we have in the firm and developing a team approach to client service.
What is the biggest and sometimes often missed opportunity for the profession?
Changing and adapting to the current environment can be a missed opportunity. We really saw that change through the pandemic, but I do think our industry sometimes gets stuck thinking inside the box — and also thinking like accountants. We should look at other industries that might be ahead of us in areas like technology, but we should do that in a commonsense way. Just because companies in other industries are forcing workers to come back to the office doesn’t mean we necessarily need to follow. We should be making decisions on how it makes sense within our own firms, while still looking outside of our industry to see what could work for us.
What was the best advice you received as a young up-and-comer in the profession?
Never be afraid to admit that you’re wrong or that you don’t know. It can be a humbling experience to be wrong, and it can also be an experience to learn. Being wrong is OK. It’s the recovery that matters.
What motivates you most as a leader?
Seeing the success of our team members and seeing people stay in our industry is rewarding for me. If I look at our most recent transitions into the principal role at our firm, many of these people have been with our firm from the start of their career or close to it. That motivates me, seeing that succession happen.
Where do you see the accounting profession in five years? How do you see it changing/developing and/or how would you like it to change?
One of the biggest things I would like to see happen is alleviating the compression of tax season. There has to be a way, and I would love to see us eventually get to more manageable hours during that time. Whether that is through utilizing more outsourcing or being creative with staffing, there needs to be a solution. It continues to be a barrier to attracting and retaining people in our profession.
I also see us continuing to tackle the problem of lack of diversity in our industry. There is so much benefit to diversity of people and thought for businesses, and it’s also just the right thing to do. In our own ways, we have tried to make an impact in the industry through scholarship contributions and education. But there does need to be a more concentrated effort by accounting firms and industry associations to make a larger impact in this space.
Which business book do you recommend to other leaders?
In 2019, we decided that we needed to define our culture, and one of the books that helped us through that process was The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni. The principles in that book around organizational health have been impactful for us as a firm, and we still evaluate how we are doing with our firm’s culture through that model.
What is your proudest professional achievement?
Coming out of the pandemic as a different and better firm has been one of my proudest accomplishments. It truly changed the way we worked, and we were able to retain our team members through a troubling time. In many ways, what we learned during the pandemic shaped who we are today. It helped prove the point that remote work was possible, showed us why having a defined culture and upholding our values mattered, and brought us together as a team.
About Ken Wolfe
As President, Managing Principal and Shareholder at Brown Plus, Ken leads the Firm in its mission to help people achieve extraordinary outcomes. He is responsible for directing the Firm’s culture, vision and growth strategy, as well as managing the Firm’s professional services and internal operations. Learn more about Ken.
About Brown Plus
Brown Plus is a leading accounting and advisory firm, providing attest, tax and advisory services to clients across the United States. Brown Plus is nationally ranked the #4 Best Accounting Firm to Work For in the mid-sized category and a Top Regional Firm in the Mid-Atlantic. In 2023, Brown Plus was named the #1 Best Place to Work in PA in the medium-sized company category for the fourth consecutive year.