The Value Add Accountant

There is an important role for accounting that goes far beyond transactions, reporting, and policing the organization. It increases accounting's overall value but requires the accountant to leave the narrow confines of the ivory tower and become a partner with other areas of the business.

This enhanced role was originally defined in the author's 2003 seminal Lean Accounting text, Real Numbers: Accounting for the Lean Organization. During the years since and after leaving her CFO position, she has traveled the globe, teaching and implementing Lean Accounting and taking note of the broad range of unique positive impacts accounting can have when they use their expertise to engage with the entire organization as a matter of course.

This book takes the baton from Real Numbers and shows you the future role of accounting in value-based companies. Based on her financial expertise, CFO experience, and 25-year Lean journey, the author shares her perspective as an acknowledged thought leader and her experience as a consultant with you. There are many, many ways for this role to emerge. Any accounting team in any company can employ these same Lean activities with wonderful results.

You will learn how to take an accounting team beyond their traditional role to proactively support business decision making and impact improved outcomes. This expanded role has both accounting operations and company-wide elements. It is initiated by applying Lean principles and tools to everyday processes to minimize mind-numbing transaction work and other waste from accounting processes. This improvement releases accounting capacity. This capacity can be applied to impacting the future with a greater focus on customer-based, value adding activities for the organization including evaluating waste reduction and improvement activities.

Accounting and finance team members have a unique understanding of the numbers of a business that others lack. Business leaders desire and need assistance to attain a greater understanding of overall financial impact. This role joins these facts into a new partnership.

As an accounting professional, you can be part of the value add, Lean waste reduction revolution. Get started here.