There's a perfect storm brewing in the accounting profession and it directly relates to the slow adoption of customer relationship management systems - at least according to Danny Estrada, CRM practice director at New York reseller Net@Work.

Five years ago, according to Estrada, the average accounting firm most likely kept their clients for upwards of 15 years. Today, that time period has decreased to between three and seven years, creating a greater need for the systems that track, organize and store information about current and prospective clients and customers. Add to that what he calls a "mercenary" attitude on the part of new accountants not afraid to jump ship when career milestones don't come fast enough, mixed with a greater need for talent, and that storm gets bigger.

"What accounting firms have to deal with culturally that they never even had to try to go through before is this concept of formal business development," said Estrada, whose company sells Sage product lines. "The traditional cultural view is that the more seasoned partners go out and do client acquisitions and they feed the masses. Now that's not good enough."

While many accounting firms in the last five years have used acquisitions as a growth vehicle, Estrada said, that just adds to why CRM as a concept is so difficult for firms to accept.

"Now add one more layer to this perfect storm, which is, if you interview any partners who have moved from one or two firms, they have the perception that these clients are still their clients," he explained. "If you are doing CRM and open up your client base to take on more of the identity of the acquiring firm, it's harder to make the claim of keeping your clients your clients."

Despite the slower-than-expected migration rate, more firms are gradually adopting and implementing CRM because of increased competition from their peers. However, the adoption rate among accountants is still less than that of the legal profession, according to Jeff Reade, president of Cole Valley Software, which makes ContactEase, a client relationship management and marketing automation tool. The system integrates with Microsoft Outlook, which makes it popular among professional services firms.

Jean Frohman, marketing manager at CPA and business advisory firm Citrin Cooperman & Co. in New York, said that among the middle tier of firms there is a sense that everyone is trying to increase the value of their relationships in the shaky economic climate.

"One of the things that we are doing to keep up with the complex needs of our clients is investing in a comprehensive CRM system," she said. "It's about understanding what you have, in addition to understanding what you don't."

The firm launched Lexis Nexis' InterAction last October, and currently just partners and upper management have access to the system - which is intentionally being rolled out slowly to more effectively manage the process and monitor key milestones.

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