Head for what makes you happy

Richard Brewin • September 17, 2018

What’s the point in having your own firm if you can’t do the things that you want to do with it?

Clearly, we all must work within legal and professional frameworks and there are ethical and moral boundaries to identify but many accountants are constrained, consciously or sub-consciously, by barriers that have nothing to do with rules and regulations.

Often, the walls that hold us back are the ones we imagine, the ones that we feel obliged to recognise because we are ‘an accountant’ or call our firm an ‘accountancy firm’. We feel a need to conform, a need to fit ourselves into boxes of a certain size, shape and colour. Even when we seek to be different, we can be guilty of limiting our differentiation to areas that are considered acceptable differences within our profession.  Don’t wear a tie. Say you’re proactive. Offer probate services.

Walls frustrate us. Trying to fit ourselves into shapes and sizes that we’re not comfortable in make us unhappy.

So, it’s your firm. Embrace the fact that you can do whatever you want with it.

If you want to create a coffee lounge for your clients to pop into, do it.

If you want to have local artists working in your reception, do it.

If you want to conduct your business via a double-decker bus touring your area, do it.

If you want to sell office supplies to your clients, do it.

If you want to have an open-air meeting place, do it.

If you want to conduct your client meetings as you fish together, do it.

If you have an idea, something that makes you happy and fits in with your dreams for your firm, then follow your route to happiness.

Do it.

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.