Are You Redesigning Work or Just Adding Tools? Running the Modern Firm

IPA Podcast | Season 2 | Episode 18 A firm can add offshore staff, new software and more subscriptions without changing the process underneath any of them. Chelsea Summers and Rob Brown ask whether firms are actually redesigning work around technology and offshore capacity or simply layering both onto existing workflows. The distinction matters because firms can pay for the new model while still carrying the cost and complexity of the old one. In this episode, Chelsea and Rob discuss: • Why offshoring is widespread even though offshore FTEs remain a small share of total personnel • Where technology adoption is high and where workflow-heavy systems still lag • How to tell whether a firm is redesigning work or simply moving the same tasks • Why technology and offshoring should be designed together rather than managed as parallel initiatives • What leaders should expect to see in personnel costs, utilization and partner economics if redesign is working • One workflow-mapping exercise firm leaders can start this quarter The practical test is simple: Did the work itself change? Earn free CPE with Earmark. Listen, take the quiz and download your certificate. Find the IPA channel in the Earmark app: https://www.earmark.app/channels/c571... 👇 Follow INSIDE Public Accounting for more conversations with accounting firm leaders and innovators. 🌐 Visit our website: https://insidepublicaccounting.com Timestamps 00:00 Redesigning the process, not bolting on tools 00:25 Introduction 01:22 How widespread offshoring is now 02:22 The gap between adoption and offshore headcount 03:20 Personnel costs, capacity and margin 05:01 What technology adoption looks like across firm functions 06:43 The IT challenges firms are actually reporting 07:52 Are you redesigning the workflow or layering onto it? 09:44 Where midsized firms should start 10:34 What successful redesign should change in the numbers 11:55 The biggest mistake: separate technology and offshoring initiatives 12:30 Why technology and offshore capacity need to work together 12:56 One workflow to map this quarter 13:20 Final takeaway 👍 Like the video 💬 Tell us in the comments: Where has your firm actually redesigned a workflow around new technology or offshore capacity? 🔄 Share this episode with a leader responsible for firm operations, technology or capacity planning 🔔 Subscribe for future INSIDE Public Accounting podcast episodes #AccountingTechnology #Offshoring #FirmOperations #AccountingLeadership #CPAFirms