Kennedy and Coe's Transition to Value Pricing Update

The first Top 100 firm in the USA to move to Value Pricing, Kennedy and Coe, made the news recently.First, a post on Rick Telberg's CPA Trendlines from April 4th.Then, a more detailed article from The Wichita Eagle. I've had the great pleasure of working with Kurt Siemers, CEO of Kennedy & Coe—he is a rare visionary in the CPA profession.Just to prove it, in the article itself a competitor to Kennedy is quoted—Bill Pickert, managing partner of BKD Wichita office:

One competitor said his firm likes the accountability that come with time sheets and billable hours.Bill Pickert, managing partner of BKD Wichita office, said time sheets and billable hours "really provide us the opportunity to manage our resources efficiently and effectively.""The thing we like about the time sheets is they provide us an internal discipline in terms of managing our business," he said.Pickert said that while every firm is different, BKD doesn't always charge a client for each and every phone call or when they ask for 15 or 30 minutes of extra advice."You've got to provide that value proposition in the relationship," Pickert said.

Once again, Pickert's love of timesheets is the illusion of control. There's so much wrong with his statement I won't bother replying again.But I will make this observation: I wonder where future CPAs rather spend their careers and invest their intellectual capital? Under the leadership of a firm that trusts and treats its knowledge workers like adults, or for a firm that makes everyone account for every six minutes of their day?The market will, ultimately, provide the answer to this question. Let the test begin. My bet is on Kennedy and Coe.