The Tax Adviser as a Crisis Manager – Episode 3 with Paul Liese

The book *The Tax Adviser as Crisis Manager: Supporting Businesses with a View to the Future* has been published by Schäffer-Poeschel Verlag. No fewer than five experts have come together to use their specialist knowledge to encourage decision-makers, including hsp Managing Director Paul Liese. These experienced practitioners from the fields of tax and management consultancy present advisory approaches covering liquidity planning, controlling and accounting, which help to strengthen businesses in times of crisis.

In the third instalment of the podcast series accompanying the book, law firm strategist Daniel Terwersche welcomes Paul Liese. Terwersche and Liese did not first meet through the book project. The catalyst for their partnership was the crisis itself – specifically, the support measures introduced by the BAFA. As a result, this is not a conventional interview, but a lively conversation. Terwersche and Liese are the two authors who are able to offer an external perspective on the tax consultancy sector. They therefore provide a wealth of external input and invite the sector to explore new avenues and draw inspiration from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Inspiration from outside

Many tax consultancy firms have already fully embraced digitalisation, whilst others are in the midst of organising their processes on a decentralised basis. Too many, however, are still stuck in old ways of working or run the risk of reverting to analogue practices once the crisis is over. Terwersche and Liese warn against this. The latter is firmly convinced that the crisis presents a major opportunity for tax advisers to develop into digitalisation consultants. After all, who knows their clients’ processes and figures better than a tax consultancy? Who already enjoys the trust required for a digitalisation consultancy engagement? In this regard, tax advisers and firms have a huge head start over external management consultancies. However, tax advisers and firms must themselves embrace digitalisation, offer interfaces and understand workflows in order to even attain the position of consultant.

Paul Liese and Daniel Terwersche on their motivation for contributing to the book and reflecting on their own processes.

Set of the sequence:

»It’s not about the tool I use, but the perspective from which I look at things.«

Introduction | Episode I | To Episode II | Episode III | Episode IV