Rural or City Practice?

As I write this column, I have just got back from a trip to Iqaluit, Nunavut, to meet the partners at an accounting firm there. We had lots to talk about!

It got me thinking about the contrasts between running a rural accounting practice and operating one in the city, so I thought I’d expand on that theme today.

I have many firms in cities across our nation as clients. They do well (mostly) and enjoy a lifestyle envied by many. There are also many rural practices that I work with, and they too enjoy a very good lifestyle, albeit somewhat different to the City practitioner.

So I thought I would tabulate some of the differences that I have noticed over the years, to help readers determine which type of practice would be best suited to them in their longer term career planning.

The Rural Practitioner:
1. Operating a public accounting office in a rural environment often (but not always) means having little or no competition to speak of, but this does not mean that one becomes complacent, far from it.

2. Many times it means having to always operate at maximum efficiency and keep fees to a reasonable level.

3. If you lose a client over fees, it could be a major disaster if word gets around your small community that you’re gouging clients!

4. Clients are often glad to see you – wanting your help and wanting to learn, asking for advice and actually following your guidance.

5. Finding good people to work in your office can be a long and tiresome task. Often it means looking outside your community to bring talent into your firm.

6. Outsiders may struggle to adapt to the rural community, particularly if it is in such a remote location as Nunavut, for example. You’ll either love it or hate it, and you won’t really know until you’ve been there a few months.

7. For those who want to participate in the community, there is often lots to do if you just go looking for it. Before you know it you’ll be treasurer of some organization or other, just because the locals will know that you’re the new person at such and such a firm of accountants, thus, you’re their ideal new treasurer!

8. Rural workers usually live very close to their place of work. So, if your daughter has a recital or assembly or other event at school during the day it’s very easy to slip out for an hour to be there. You could also go home for lunch with your family every day, take the kids to school and see them at night before they go to bed. Not something many City practitioners could claim to do.

9. You’re ‘slightly famous’ in a rural community. As an Accountant in the town, village or hamlet, everybody knows you and you know everybody. This can be good and bad, depending on your point of view, but you certainly won’t have anywhere to hide when you go into the village. There’ll be lots of ‘hello’s and ‘hi, how are you’s that could add a few minutes onto each trip to the grocery store!

10. Getting supplies – Living in a remote location conjures up the image for some of the old general store. If they run out of sugar, you’re screwed for a week until the next supply arrives, but that is somewhat antiquated today. Sure, there will be times when a store runs out of something, but more often than not they will be another store close by that still has some left, and with the internet, you can order just about anything online and have it within a few days.

11. Socializing – If you give a smile, you’ll get one back. In a rural community you’ll often find that the locals are interested in new arrivals, what brought them here? What do they do? Are they going to stay? And so on. Pull up a stool at the bar, get your curling or chess skills brushed up, join the local karate, judo, swimming, biking or other club and you’ll soon have a new circle of friends!

The City Practitioner:
1. In the city, by its very definition, you’re often just another accountant – one of many in the crowd from whom to choose.

2. As such, many practitioners are conscious of the choices their clients have and this tends to keep a glass ceiling on fee levels, never wanting to be notably more expensive than the next firm.

3. In stark contrast to the previous point, the following is also often true - should you lose a client over fees, who cares, there’s plenty of fish in the sea, right?

4. Clients see you as a pain in the backside, something akin to a trip to the dentist. They want you to be done in as short a time-frame as possible.

5. Finding good people – while still difficult – is less of a stressful task in the city, as there are many local candidates to choose from.

6. Outsiders are an everyday occurrence in the city. Indeed, many of those who work in the city don’t actually live there.

7. City workers more often than not get involved in activities (such as Rotary or Lions for example) in their own back yard at home - nowhere near the place their firm’s office is located, and so a divided loyalty can easily be established.

8. As such, you may not be able to develop a feeling of community spirit, simply by the virtue that at 5 pm (okay who am I kidding, at 7pm!) you log off the computer and head to the train station, or your car, to make the hour’s commute home. Maybe you’ll be home in time to say goodnight to your kids, maybe you won’t.

9. In the City you’re just another face in the crowd. Sure, from time to time you’ll bump into clients, friends or other people that you know, but it won’t happen every day!

10. Getting supplies is not a problem, but driving to the supermarket, finding a shopping cart with all four wheels that go in the same direction, and dealing with the crowds in the store can be a real chore for some.

11. Because you probably live 40 minutes to an hour away from the office, your social life is totally separate from the community you serve, it’s a little like living two separate lives, one at work, the other at home!

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely NOT saying that one is right and the other is wrong, I am just providing some observations gained over the years, sparked by my recent trip to the Arctic region of Canada.

The first thing I noticed there was a total absence of any trees – I was above the tree line (D’Oh) and it did feel a little eerie. But then I met the people up there. They were so warm and friendly that it made me feel very humble.

Their enthusiasm for their way of life, the outdoor sports, the snowmobiling, fishing, hunting, snowshoeing, skiing, dogsleding and many other activities made me a little envious. Plus, they have the usual cinemas, restaurants, bars and so on that we all take for granted in the City.

I have to admit, if I were a little younger, a northern adventure would be most appealing to me!