Are you ready for Trusted Advisor 2.0? I know you are thinking, but wait; I haven't quite mastered Trusted Advisor 1.0. And, by the way, what is the difference, you ask? Before we can answer that question it's important to set a context. The context is that we are already operating at Business 2.0, and the recent recession/depression has served to accelerate business owner needs from expectations to demands. What used to be considered discretionary service offerings that only Maverick CPAs pursued are no longer optional.

A few years ago, there was a survey about the attitudes of younger workers toward potential employers. The survey, conducted by former Great Plains executive Bonnie Robertson,  showed a low score for ranking technology as an important factor in selecting a place members of this generation would want to work.

Just over a year ago, an executive at a tax preparation software company shared an observation about the preparation of tax returns. The Internal Revenue Service, he said, routinely finds more mistakes in CPA-prepared returns than in those signed by non CPAs. "It's because the CPAs do not prepare as many returns as the non CPAs," was the thrust of his remarks.