Last week I had a very difficult conversation with a client. Over the past several months things had changed in their business, and not for the better. Sales were down, margins were down, and budget variances were getting way out of tolerable levels. As accounting professionals, it is our job to bring these issues to our client’s attention in an objective and understandable way. We both reactively and proactively analyze the numbers and provide context to the patterns, trends, and other information held within so that business owners can make better decisions. That means delivering both the bad news and the good news… especially the BAD news. While goods news is always welcome and provides time to address new opportunities, the bad news needs to be delivered timely so that actionable decisions can be made and the business can pivot accordingly.
Unfortunately, bad news isn’t always welcomed. Running a business is a very emotional endeavor and hearing that something is going wrong or not as expected can illicit an emotional response rather than an objective one. Voices get raised, not so nice things can be said, and the accountant even gets blamed sometimes. Everyone has a different level of emotional intelligence and that’s something as business owners we all navigate. In my professional career I have seen accountants paint too “rosy” of a picture in order to avoid difficult conversations out of fear. I have seen changes made or information omitted which would be against better judgment. Fortunately, I have never witnessed any colleagues commit outright fraud for a client, but it does happen.
The fact is that not providing all relevant information, even the bad news, is doing our client’s a disservice. I argue that one of the most important things we do is proactively identify those risks and communicate them in a no BS manner. Sometimes we need to say “No” to clients as well. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always polite and professional, because we have your best interest at heart. Being a “yes man” provides absolutely no value. Our best clients want to hear both the good and bad and welcome our feedback. After all that’s why they hired a professional services firm. So let me ask, would you rather have someone in your corner who is only providing the good news, or do you want someone is isn’t going to pull punches?
