Most people who first drop into Carolyn Sechler’s Web site, www.azcpa.com, probably find themselves asking, “Wow! This is a CPA?”

It’s a surprising site, from the first greeting of “Welcome to Carolyn’s World!” to the array of topics--punctuated by lively icons--including Make Me Laugh, Weekly News, Travel and Pleasure, Legal, Nonprofit, Friends, Business and more. Via links on the Calculator page, you’ll even meet Blue Dog, who barks out answers to equations. Through frames, you’re still tied to her site even if you venture out on one of the many links.

Taking on a New Role
As her Web site indicates, the accounting world has changed. Clients are able to access more efficient bookkeeping, accounting and research tools. But that doesn’t mean they know what to do with all the information. “Our role is to be both guide and coach,” she says. “Sechler CPA, P.C. does exactly that.”

Per-diem CFO…fiscal psychiatrist (as a co-worker in a former firm dubbed her evolution). Call it what you will. In Carolyn’s eyes, the CPA background uniquely qualifies practitioners to participate in their clients’ leadership, evaluating day-to-day operations and business plans within a company, area and industry.

She fosters that partner relationship in almost everything she does. “I coach technology, live in e-mail and on the Web, price differently than competitors, and run a virtual office. But I’m also visible to my clients.”

The technology consulting began as a bundled half-hour of phone coaching and unlimited e-mail for a month. She was engaged first by accountants who wanted to develop a technology vision. Since then, other firms have tapped her guidance in entering an electronic environment, including developing staff telecommuting plans.

Her contracts emphasize access, too. She signs clients for an annual fee, which keeps her administrative costs down and helps the customer shed that “meter’s-running” mindset. In negotiating a contract, Carolyn works with the client to form a specific job description and yearly plan, which helps emphasize the importance of communication in a successful relationship. “This puts responsibility on both me and the client. It also redefines the acronym, ‘CPA.’ In fact, I’ve become a CPA again because I like the new definition. I’ve got my passion back.”

This type of relationship has changed her client volume. Overall, she’s dropping to a substantial few, finding it important to microniche. She specializes in nonprofit trade associations--principally engineers and doctors--a business segment she incubated years back by providing brown-bag sessions on tax planning and contract review to hospital residents. With her associations, Carolyn provides leadership workshops, participates in long-range planning meetings and budgeting sessions. “I differentiate by being visible, teaching, talking, listening and learning.”

All the Ducks Are in a Row
This isn’t a one-person operation, though. Sechler employs three people full-time, along with an alliance of independent contractors. In servicing clients, she runs a high-caliber, entrepreneurial, virtual team connected almost entirely through e-mail.

“I’ve got the beauty of a big firm, without the overhead. But it is a true team, not a vendor relationship,” she says. “Don’t overlook the diamonds, especially administrative employees with regular client contact. “Motivate them to generate revenue. Everyone innovating is what it’s going to take to stay ahead in the business world.”

She should know. Accounting Today recently selected her as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in the Profession.” That follows her selection in the magazine’s 1996 list of “Trailblazers in Technology.”

Carolyn feels the accounting profession is waking up to the changing role of the CPA. The stereotypical image of the green eye shade/bean counter is long gone. Carolyn muses about what exactly will take its place. “We’re evolving as a profession. Wouldn’t it be fun to come up with a new stereotype?”

For more insight into a new way of doing business, explore Carolyn’s Web site, or contact her at carolyn@azcpa.com.