Automation gives CAS staffers a leg up. Here’s why.

Let's say you're announcing to your client advisory services (CAS) team that your firm is investing in powerful new automation technology. When you scan the room, you see a mix of reactions:

• Jen is excited. She's a classic early adopter who embraces anything that makes her life easier. Bring it on.
• Elena is skeptical. She's seen her share of new tech rollouts and wonders if this will mean more work to learn another system.
• Matt is worried. He excels at manual processing, but what happens to his job if AI automates much of what he does?

These are all common and perfectly reasonable responses to the rollout of any new automation solution. As a CAS leader, part of your role is to deliver a clear, motivating rationale for why this technology is worth embracing, especially for those who feel uncertain.

The good news: AI-enabled automation has already proven its value in CAS practices of all sizes. With the right approach, your team will come to understand how it can transform their performance, career paths and client relationships.

The "10x CAS professional"

AI automation allows CAS professionals to operate at much higher levels. Think of them as 10x professionals who work faster, with greater accuracy and without the drag of repetitive manual tasks.

Bill pay and payments, for example, play a significant role in many CAS practices. These activities require an inordinate amount of time when practices rely heavily on manual processes. Basic automation is already helping firms execute the same tasks more efficiently. However, with AI, practitioners can go further by surfacing trends from the data, identifying anomalies and more.

The result: Not just greater efficiency, but CAS professionals who have the time and focus to deliver advisory-level insights to help their clients make smarter decisions.

The great upskilling

Today's CAS professionals are tech-savvy, client-friendly and great at spreadsheets. But what if their skillset also included:

• Ability to proactively deliver fresh, data-backed insights
• Advanced business and process analysis
• Capability to deliver new services to expand relationships

That's a more exciting list, not just for the firm and its CAS clients, but for the professionals themselves. With AI tools handling low-level work, team members can focus on these higher-value capabilities to deepen client trust and drive new revenue opportunities.

An elevated career path

In CAS practices (and in every part of your firm), your people want a vision for what's next in their careers and a path for getting there. It's what keeps them motivated to push themselves, attain new skills and keep advancing.

AI can help this pursuit in a big way. Because when staffers offload low-level tasks to AI and other automation tools and begin attaining new skills, while also benefiting from the insights these systems start delivering to them, their aspirations change. So does their ability to achieve those aspirations.

When employees ask, "what's next for me?" in their next performance review, the answer is clear, motivating and satisfying.

Better recruitment, better retention, stronger team

When you build a practice supported and enabled by technology, you're building a more attractive place for professionals to work. It makes it easier to attract the best new hires and retain them once they're there, resulting in a high-performing team. That's good for everybody, not just new hires but the more tenured staff who have been there for the whole ride.

Give your people a power-up

At CPA.com, we've been on the leading edge of the AI wave, and have the resources to help you find the best path forward.

Start with our AI resources and insights for firms. For more strategies to build a sustainable, profitable CAS practice, visit our CAS resource page.

About the author

Kim Blascoe, CPA, leads CPA.com's CAS 2.0 practice transformation programs, focusing on helping firms establish and grow optimized CAS practices through consulting, practice development and training offerings. Prior to joining CPA.com, Kim spent more than 30 years in public accounting, which included leading the CAS practice for a Top 20 firm.