Why Widening Your Recruitment Scope Is Good For Business

Richard Brewin • December 4, 2017

How many accountants does it take to change a light bulb? One too many is all too often what I see on my travels.

I was interested to read recently that only 60-70% of Ford and General Motors’ workforces actually build motor vehicles. The remaining 30-40% are involved in other corporate activities.

But, of course, Ford and General Motors predominantly sell one thing…motor vehicles. This means that approximately 1/3 of the people employed by these companies aren’t involved in the hands on production of the core product.

Now take a look around your own firm. Accountants have a habit of employing more accountants. This used to make perfect sense. Once upon a time, accountants charged out their time. The more accountants you had, the more tine you could charge, the more fees you made.

This was fine whilst clients were happy to pay for time. However, the market place slowly evolved. Clients began to appreciate that time itself had little value to them. What mattered far more was what the accountant did with that time and the benefits that were then delivered to the client. More and more clients started to judge their accountant by results; by the quality of the relationship; by the benefits of the advice and services delivered.

And so we got to where we are today. The client has little interest in how long something has taken you to do, and much more so in what it means to them.

Let’s go back to our car manufacturers. When you buy a car you want one that is well built and meets your driving needs. What else do you look for?

  • You look for marketing that helps you to make your choice
  • You look for a sales team that enable you to buy the right car
  • You look for a finance team that helps you tie in the right funding
  • You look for a management set up that can deliver on the promises
  • You look for a well-trained and motivated team to give you confidence in your purchase.
  • You look for an after sales operation that makes ownership stress free and enjoyable for you
  • You look for an engineering service team to keep you on the road
  • You look for customer support to give you that all important point of contact

Your satisfaction in your car supplier is effected not just by the people who build your car but by the extended team around them who ensure that the company delivers on all the wider aspects of the relationship between you and them. People with skill sets different to those needed to build cars, whose job it is to make sure that your expectations are met.

Just because someone is experienced and skilled at making cars, it doesn’t mean they have the skills or expertise to sell cars, market cars, manage a car company, keep customers happy and so on.

And so it is with accountants. Your client’s satisfaction with your firm isn’t determined just by the quality of your accounts and tax returns but by the quality and value of your entire service package and client relationship. The success of your business isn’t determined solely by how well you produce accounts but by how effectively your whole business is lead and managed.

Accountants employ more accountants. The result is a dominance of production focussed people. Yet, a successful accountancy firm needs so much more:

  • IT skills
  • Marketing skills
  • Administrators
  • Business Managers
  • HR, training and development
  • Client relationship support

Accountants end up changing light bulbs because there is no one else around to change them.

Being proactive is a culture, not a slogan

By Richard Brewin • June 27, 2025
Look at any accounting firm website and there is a fair chance that the word ‘proactive’ will be prominent. Ask some business owners and taxpayers whether they consider their accountant to be proactive.  There is commonly a gap between the two, between the intent of the accountant and the expectations of the client.

How tech helps us to rebuild our trusted advisor role

By Richard Brewin • June 23, 2025
The tag ‘Trusted Advisor’ gets bandied around a lot. Without trying to be deliberately contentious, I often challenge its use. Undoubtedly, accountants were once the trusted advisor to their clients. When I came into the profession 44 years ago now, the older partners, especially, were seen by their clients as their trusted advisor, their ‘go to’ person on any issues, business, family or personal, that were troubling them. Without the filing deadlines of today, these clients were with their accountant primarily because they valued the relationship rather than the products.

Why your accounting firm is unique

By Richard Brewin • June 5, 2025
All accountants are the same! We’ve all heard it said. It’s nonsense, of course, but, when you are asked what it is that your firm does that differentiates it from other accounting firms, it can be a challenge to come up with something tangible.  Accounting firms tend to offer similar services, that’s what makes them accounting firms. Differentiating from competitors based upon services provided is therefore an issue.