logo – Neil McIntyre, CPA, CA, CIA

At the end of May the CICA announced an updated logo to be used in all professional branding both on the national and provincial level. The new logo uses a simpler font (Gotham) than the last, but also introduces the colour element whereas the prior logo was not dependent on this:

I’m not so sure the colours are going to hold up well over time, but it seems BC‘s Institute has already implemented the new logo in its monochromatic form. Ontario is using the colour logo in its provincial “signature” format which includes the local institute’s name. According to the CICA (emphasis mine):

It is multi-coloured, which is intended to suggest the multi-dimensional nature of the CA designation. The colours are bright, bold and contemporary. The wordmark itself is in uppercase black type – authoritative, bold, sober and strong, which is designed to balance with the bright colours in the symbol.

A short while ago the profession dropped the slogan “Strength Beyond Numbers” for similar reasons. From the April 2007 CA Magazine, members were “frustrated by stereotypes that are associated with accountants because they detract from the leadership, business insight and strategic thinking skills that distinguish the CA brand from other designations.”

Overall I believe the logo is an improvement, and a refresh of the brand was definitely in order. The font is a superb choice, and the graphic is versatile. So even if the colours fall out of favour, we won’t need to go through another redesign for a while. What do you think?

Financial statements as high-tech, informative entertainment

I have often wondered whether the traditional method of providing audited financial statements to clients is really serving them as well as we could be. We print them up on nice thick paper with the firm’s letterhead and spiral bound the package with a tasteful, understated title page, followed by our solemn audit report.

Is this still the best we can do?

How about providing the client with their audited statements on a USB key with the firm’s logo embossed on it? When the client inserts the key into their computer, the screen goes black before the menu options fade in allowing the client to select the auditor’s report, balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, summary of significant policies, or notes.

How about when they choose the balance sheet or income statement, and there is a note related to a line item, they can click the note reference and the note itself either pops up or slides into view underneath the line item? Do we think clients enjoy flipping back and forth? Is the profession so behind the times that we’re still doing statements like it’s 1960?

Technology has advanced, why aren’t we?

Even further, why can’t those same electronic statements generate informative graphs and visual representations of critical ratios on the fly from the data? We could incorporate more than just the prior year in comparative numbers.

Imagine a client being able to take a single USB key provided by their accounting firm into a presentation to the Board, and having everything right there on it? Just throwing the key into the slot and selecting options on the fly. Wouldn’t that be value added client service?