A PHILOSOPHY THAT PAYS

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By Alicja Korbecka, tax advisor, founder of Acco Accounting & Consulting Office, Businesswoman of the Year and Tax Advisory Leader, 2016

A business revolution begins when you change your point of view, and you see that you can look at something in a new way. It’s business imagination, based on procedures and reliability that allows you to create trends and standards and transform needs into optimal solutions. These are the elements that modernise reality, condition market advantage and help approach standard issues in an unconventional way.

This is the strategy I chose. Through it, I achieved more than I planned, proving that innovation can be 100% female and that charity is much more than just corporate social responsibility…

The end of the 20th century proved that success is a dynamic process that requires the support of responsible and reliable specialists offering much more than others. I founded my business on this precept in 1995, decided to give the words “end-to-end service tailored to individual needs” some real meaning.

I founded Acco Accounting & Consulting Office to combine the full scope of accounting services with comprehensive legal support, financial analysis and consulting, providing clients with a package of specific benefits. Over the next years, I ran my company with a woman’s touch and quickly turned it into a synonym of partnership, professionalism and service, all based on comprehensive answers to important questions that had not been asked before.

Mission-Vision, and Vision with Mission

Success begins in the imagination, but only a few business people know how to turn a vision into specific to-dos, and even fewer manage to translate it into international success. Success is often used in different contexts because we all understand it bit differently.

My approach resembles a literary ellipse, which leaves seemingly the most vital issues beyond the cornerstone of what is most important. Following your intuition, being true to yourself, being responsible, committed, satisfied with your work and following your own values come rain or shine – this is the loom frame on which you weave your business. So where is the place for specialist knowledge and advanced skills you usually associate with company growth? Without values those business attributes only allow growth and… growth is not all.

Companies can grow without their clients’ success; however, that road often leads to a turning point – a slow-down, a stop or even a collapse of the business. That is why my company follows the path of development by setting higher demands than those required by my clients. Is it easy? Certainly not. The uncompromising approach to high standards and treating optimal service as the bottom line is at first glance quite risky, because it requires more resources, time and work. However, in the case of Acco Accounting & Consulting Office , that strategy proved to be the key to success understood as trust, dynamic development resulting from the clients’ benefits and the position of one of the market leaders.

The partnership philosophy

Companies can be divided into ones declaring partnership and ones implementing it. Regardless of their business, total commitment is a feature that clients appreciate and one that’s instantly exposed if all that’s delivered is an empty promise. Accounting and tax law largely determine the existence – or otherwise – of all businesses. For this reason, in this industry, trust, responsibility and partnership are absolutely core values.

The philosophy of partnership is associated with the highest level of comprehensive service. I would define this as full service plus education and prevention – predicting and preventing potential issues from happening. You need to take over all the duties from your clients and make them believe 100% that their accounting and tax affairs are run as smooth as jazz. Yet it’s not that easy to reach the goal.

Accounting and tax advisory services often deal with problems of the highest gravity, which is why it’s so important to provide the clients with sustainable and reliable day-to-day service offering good standing, in line with applicable regulations. The law changes rapidly, and the courts themselves have problems interpreting it. Given the situation, partnership with a trustworthy accounting and advisory office cannot be overestimated, whether you are a small company or a large corporation.

Success the Polish way

There are Polish companies in Poland that successfully compete with international giants as regards the level of services provided in specific areas. The portfolio and the reputation of such companies as Acco Accounting & Consulting Office reflects the huge potential of Polish business and can be a benchmark for brands aspiring to the position of local, national or even international leaders in their industries.

Many companies pride themselves on providing professional and comprehensive services. However, only some are able to deliver on that promise. Perhaps this is not the most genuine conclusion, but this is just what makes the difference in your market position. Most importantly – all activities are focused on one thing: effective solutions to problems, peace, confidence and measurable profit for the clients. Importantly, at each level the offer includes friendly education, so that the clients know as much as possible about accounting and tax processes in their companies.

A good example is the service that Acco Accounting & Consulting Office provides to its international clients. Leading your client by the hand is the perfect model – you take over the complete scope of duties related to accounting and legal-tax service and act based on the power of attorney you have received from your client. In this case, comprehensive service means getting fully involved in your client’s matters, representing it in all offices and institutions and providing service in a foreign language of the client’s choice, be it English, French, German, or Russian.

This is about the highest quality of services, because the accounting and tax industry allows no room for even the tiniest error. My company also supports its level of offer declarations with hard evidence – the Quality Management System Certificate ISO 9001:2015, which covers all company processes. If you look at the Acco Accounting & Consulting Office philosophy through the prism of the case study, you will easily see that its credibility grows from recommendations and proven procedures that contribute to the company’s know-how. The promotion and scope of offer are then driven by the power of arguments.