“I already had a good practice,” says Tom Coddington, a CPA from North Carolina who had been an accountant for 24 years when he called up Sterling. “But I wanted it bigger, wanted it to make more money.
“The problem was I didn’t know what was holding me back. I’d tried several other things and not had much of any success. So when I saw Sterling’s ad in a magazine, I sent off for their video tape and talked to them over the phone, talked to various other CPAs and made my decision.
“Now I find myself frequently talking to other CPAs, recommending Sterling.
“Right away I had what they call a SPEEDO* where a consultant comes to the office to help implement the management technology. The thing I liked most was that they covered such a large area that they helped us in so many areas. And I especially liked their ideas in marketing.”
The statistics tell the story:
“The year before I talked to Sterling we made $325,000 in billings; the first year I worked with them we made $375,000 and this year we’ll probably do $420,000.”
Especially important in Tom Coddington’s book is the way the staff works together:
“Not that we had a problem before, but now there’s more overall team work from all of the staff, just more enthusiasm and everything.
“Overall I didn’t feel we had a lot of problems, but in a lot of areas where we were doing well, Sterling was able to help us do better.
“What I say to other CPAs when I talk about Sterling is this: I was very very skeptical before I had Sterling come in. I was concerned about the fee and whether it would really be worth it and we could pay for it. In the end my hopes and expectations were exceeded.”
*SPEEDO: Staff Production Enhancement and Establishment by Debug Officer
