GGFL is delighted to announce that Margot Sunter will be the firm’s first Chief Innovation Officer.
Margot, who has been with GGFL for seven years, is currently Chief Operating Officer, a role she will keep along with her expanding duties. As Chief Innovation Officer, she will focus on strategic planning and, among other aspects of our business, identifying and taking advantage of the latest and best in new technology.
“The key to this new role is to be forward thinking and an openness to new ideas that will ultimately enhance the value we offer our clients,” said Managing Partner Josh Engel. “As our Chief Operating Officer for the past seven years, Margot is a natural fit for this new role. She has gained an intimate knowledge and understanding of our business and has been a leading agent of change.”
“GGFL is now proudly in its 75th year and our goal is for GGFL to still be going strong in another 75 years,” he added. “One of the keys to GGFL’s longevity has been its commitment and willingness to embrace innovation and implement change. For this success to continue, we recognize the need to invest in a dedicated resource to focus on innovation and to oversee and drive the implementation of strategic initiatives.”
The COVID pandemic has brought the possibilities for innovation into a much clearer focus, said Margot.
“If we had have said a year ago that our goal was to do our work virtually – which meant we truly had to be paperless and have all systems in place – we would have given ourselves probably a three year time frame to get there. But we got there in a week, and within that week we had the systems in place.”
“Since then, we’ve refined those systems and worked with our clients to help them get information to us – and us to them – using technology, while moving away from paper.”
“Innovation within the firm has to be a team effort,” she added.
“We have a team of very smart professionals who have shown over the past year to be capable of working together to embrace and implement change more efficiently, and more quickly, than we ever thought possible,” said Margot. “We’re going to build on that and also look to our clients to guide us in terms of their own needs.”
Continuous improvement is a core GGFL value and a big part of what it means to be innovative, added Margot.
“It’s about knowing what’s coming next,” she said, “and that means closely monitoring what’s happening in the accounting profession and keeping in constant contact with our clients so we know what’s changing in their worlds.”
“We’re not going to stand still,” she added. “The way we work today, and the services we deliver to our clients today, is not going to be the same five years from now. Change is the new constant, and we have to be ready for any change that keeps GGFL on the leading edge and helps our clients be as successful as possible.”
