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The Art of Saying No Without Losing Clients

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 12:29:11 GMT

In the Accountant/client relationship, “yes” often feels like the default. Yes to urgent requests. Yes to timeline shifts. Yes to “just one more thing” added to the scope.

We want to say yes to our clients. We want to support them, be helpful and build more work, but every unqualified additional yes becomes an invisible cost; on your time, your margins, and your wellbeing.

Bold accountants think differently. They know that “no” isn’t rejection. It’s honest and professional. It’s a strategic decision that protects quality, strengthens relationships, and reinforces your value.

In the Accountant/client relationship, “yes” often feels like the default. Yes to urgent requests. Yes to timeline shifts. Yes to “just one more thing” added to the scope.

Why Saying No Builds Trust

Your clients don’t choose you to be agreeable. They choose you for clarity, judgment, and expertise.

When you say no thoughtfully, you’re signaling:

· You take their work seriously

· You take your work seriously

· You won’t compromise your professional approach

· You guard the relationship, not just the revenue.

· You protect the value of a mutually balanced relationship

Clients respect the accountant who’s willing to slow things down, question assumptions, or push back when needed. Clients value organisation and clarity, not just your ability to react.

Real Scenarios Where “No” Builds Stronger Relationships

1. Stopping scope creep before it starts

A client asks for extra deliverables “I’ve not had time to do all you asked, can you cover it please.” You reply: “We can but we won’t be able to approach the work as planned. We’ll need to re-schedule and re-price.” You remain supportive but underline your professionalism.

2. Resource constraints with transparency

Your team is at capacity. A new request arrives. Instead of squeezing it in, you say: “We can help but I’ve got nothing in the schedule right now. How does Monday look for you ?

It shows integrity, demand for your services and forward thinking.

3. When You’re Not the Right Fit

A client needs something marginal to your expertise. Referring them to someone better suited builds trust, not risk. You become their go-to advisor, not their yes-person.

How to say No, politely and professionally

✔ Lead with understanding: Acknowledge the request and why it matters.

✔ Stay firm but kind: Confidence builds authority.

✔ Offer a strategic alternative: Another timeline, approach, or phase.

✔ Communicate clearly: A soft “maybe” often creates more confusion than a respectful “no.”

How to avoid the issue in the first place

In our rush to support and not turn clients away, we often over-promise, and over-promising invariably leads to under-delivery. Saying Yes to deadlines we can't possibly achieve adds stress and leads to disappointment.

Better to be honest. Better still to under-promise and over-deliver. We can promise delivery by Wednesday and put pressure on ourselves or we can promise delivery by Friday, deliver Thursday and impress the client without the stress.

Give yourself capacity in your promises.

The Bottom Line

Saying no is a boundary and boundaries protect value.

Value is why clients choose you, stay with you, and refer you.

In your mission as a modern accountant and trusted partner, your no is as important as your yes.

From compliance filer to trusted coach: The role waiting for accountants willing to start the client conversation

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 12:19:27 GMT

Let’s be honest, most business owners have a perception of an accountant that probably falls far short of our ambitions.

They want someone who helps them make sense of the chaos, plan for growth, and sleep better at night knowing someone’s got their back, but their accountant doesn’t usually spring to mind as this person.

What they dream of is a coach, not an accountant, but, weirdly, they often don’t trust coaches but do trust their accountant.

Their accountant can be both, so the client gets the trust and the coaching

Let’s be honest, most business owners have a perception of an accountant that probably falls far short of our ambitions.

What they dream of is a coach, not an accountant, but, weirdly, they often don’t trust coaches but do trust their accountant.

Their accountant can be both, so the client gets the trust and the coaching

What Clients Say vs What They Mean

When a client says:

“We just need help keeping on top of things,”

what they often mean is:

“We don’t feel in control, and we want someone to guide us.”

When they say:

“Can you help us save tax?”

they really mean:

“We want to make smarter financial decisions and stop feeling reactive.”

As accountants, we’re uniquely placed to translate numbers into clarity, confidence, and direction.
But that requires a shift in our positioning, from being the reporter of results to being the coach who helps clients create better ones.

The Coaching Mindset

Being a “coach accountant” doesn’t mean adding motivational quotes to your emails.
It means embracing a different way of working:

Ask before you tell : Start client meetings with open questions like “What’s working well?” or “What’s your biggest worry right now?” and, critically, LISTEN to the response. we’re not being polite; we are genuinely interested.
You’ll uncover what matters beyond the numbers.

Translate data into decisions : Don’t just present figures. Frame them:

“Your gross margin dropped 5% this quarter. Why is that? Let’s explore what that’s telling us about pricing or productivity.”

Focus on progress, not perfection : Good coaches don’t overwhelm. They guide clients to make one improvement at a time. The biggest challenge often isn’t not recognising what is required but knowing where to start. You can help bring structure, priorities and focus.

Hold clients accountable : Real change happens between meetings. Help clients follow through on agreed actions, even small ones.

Why Clients Secretly Want This

Most business owners are lonely at the top.
They don’t have a sounding board and often, they’re embarrassed to admit what they don’t know.

You already see every detail of their business.

You understand their cash flow patterns, decision-making habits, and pressure points.

That gives you the perfect platform to help them:

set financial goals that actually mean something,
build confidence in decision-making, and
connect their day-to-day numbers to their long-term vision.

That’s not “extra work.”

That’s value, the kind clients will happily pay for, stay loyal to, and rave about.

Getting Over The Fear

No accountant or coach is a mountain top guru : If we knew every answer then we would be worth zillions! The role of a coach is to get the best out of their client, not to become that client. The coach of an Olympian is rarely a better athlete.

Shine a light : The client will know their business and their trade or profession better than you, but they lack the wider view and expertise. The role of coach is to question, challenge, create focus and bring improvement through curiosity. We can add expertise, but the best solutions usually lie with the client. We are there to help them find them and act.

Listen, care and be honest : It’s not hard!

How to Start Becoming a Coach Accountant

Add ‘coaching time’ to your agenda : Even 10 minutes per meeting to discuss future goals builds huge trust.

Train your team to ask better questions : Curiosity creates connection.

Create simple visual dashboards : Show trends, not just totals. Help clients see their journey.

Offer a Business Review service : Use it as a structured way to deliver coaching-style insights. Creating a tangible service makes it easier to build plans.

Start small : even one proactive conversation per client can shift how they see you.

The Future of Accounting Is Human

Technology is already taking care of compliance.

What can’t be automated is empathy, curiosity, and guidance, the human edge that separates the accountants of the past from the trusted advisors of the future.

So the question isn’t “Should you be a coach?”

It’s “Can you afford not to be?”

Because clients don’t just need someone to keep score anymore

AI in Accounting Firms: Key Considerations for Leaders Today

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 16:49:09 GMT

Artificial Intelligence isn’t the future of accounting — it’s here now. From automating repetitive tasks to delivering deeper insights, AI is transforming the way we work, serve clients, and lead teams. But for firm leaders, success isn’t just about implementing technology; it’s about doing it strategically, responsibly, and humanely .

Before diving into the ‘how’ and making piecemeal decisions, accounting firm leaders need to consider the ‘why’…and its not as simple as “because everyone else is”.

Start with Strategy and Purpose

AI is more than a tech upgrade — it’s a strategic opportunity.

Define why your firm is adopting AI: efficiency, insights, client experience, or team development.
Align AI initiatives with your firm’s mission and values.
Emphasize that AI is a partner to human expertise , not a replacement.

Prioritize Ethics, Compliance, and Risk Management

AI comes with new responsibilities.

Establish governance policies for data security, privacy, and ethical use.
Ensure compliance with relevant regulations.
Conduct risk assessments for AI tools, especially those handling client data.
Build a culture of responsible AI use, where staff understand both the potential and the limitations.

Invest in People and Change Management

Technology alone won’t transform a firm — culture will.

Upskill teams in AI literacy and digital tools.
Reframe AI as an enabler of professional growth, not a threat.
Encourage experimentation and learning through pilot projects.
Address concerns openly, ensuring your team feel confident and supported.

Redesign Processes for Maximum Impact

AI works best when thoughtfully integrated into workflows.

Map key processes — audit, tax, advisory, admin — and identify areas for AI.
Focus first on repetitive, high-volume tasks like reconciliations or data entry.
Combine machine efficiency with human judgment to maximize quality and insights.

Deliver Clear Client Value

Clients care about outcomes, not technology.

Use AI to provide faster, more accurate, and more insightful services.
Communicate how AI improves quality and client experience.
Ensure clients understand data security measures and the human oversight involved.
Explore new advisory opportunities made possible by AI-driven analytics.

Lead with Enthusiasm and Culture

Successful AI adoption starts at the top.

Model curiosity, openness, and responsible use of AI.
Foster a culture of innovation and psychological safety.
Recognise and reward forward-thinking behaviours.
Keep the human element front and centre — relationships and judgment remain irreplaceable.

Evaluate, Adapt, and Evolve

AI isn’t a one-time project — it’s an ongoing journey.

Track ROI, efficiency, and client satisfaction.
Regularly review tools for accuracy, bias, and relevance.
Stay connected to professional guidance and emerging best practices.

In Summary:

AI can process data faster than any human. But humans still interpret, advise, and build trust . The firms that balance AI efficiency with human expertise, ethical leadership, and a culture of curiosity will be the ones that thrive.

At AccountantOnAMission, our mission is to empower accountants to embrace technology without losing the heart of our profession — people, relationships, and purpose.

The Future of Accounting: What Services a Contemporary Accountant Could Offer Beyond Compliance

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 10:13:11 GMT

The world of accounting, like most other aspects of life, is changing — and changing fast.

Automation, AI, and new client expectations mean that simply “doing the numbers” isn’t enough anymore for accounting firms seeking to evolve and grow.

Compliance will always matter, it’s the foundation of what we do, but it’s becoming the baseline, not the differentiator. We will always do accounts and tax, but no longer will firms be built around these as the core service. Team members will be spending less of their time compliance tasks and more in meeting the wider needs of clients.

The contemporary accountant is evolving into something far more valuable: a strategic partner , a translator of data , and a coach for financial and personal growth .

So, what could accountants be offering beyond compliance in the years ahead?

The world of accounting, like most other aspects of life, is changing — and changing fast.
Automation, AI, and new client expectations mean that simply “doing the numbers” isn’t enough anymore for accounting firms seeking to evolve and grow.

The contemporary accountant is evolving into something far more valuable: a strategic partner , a translator of data , and a coach for financial and personal growth .

So, what could accountants be offering beyond compliance in the years ahead?

1. Automation & Systems Advisory

Technology is transforming accounting, but clients often don’t know where to start.

Forward-thinking accountants are stepping in as automation advisors to help businesses:

Choose and integrate cloud-based accounting, workflow, and CRM tools
Design efficient, connected systems that eliminate repetitive tasks
Understand where automation adds value — and where human judgment still matters

This positions you as a digital guide, not just a number cruncher.

2. Data Intelligence & Business Performance Insights

Modern accountants turn data into decisions.

Clients need real-time insights, not historical reports. You can help by offering:

Business dashboards and KPIs aligned with strategy
Forecasting and scenario planning
Regular “Performance Review” sessions to interpret the story behind the numbers

It’s not about producing reports — it’s about producing clarity.

3. Business Valuations & Growth Planning

As business owners think more strategically about growth, succession, and exit, they need guidance on value creation .

Offering valuation services helps clients understand:

What their business is worth today — and what drives that value
How operational and financial decisions impact valuation over time
How to prepare for sale, succession, or investment

This service moves you into the role of business strategist rather than simply financial reporter.

4. Personal Financial Insights for Owners

Most business owners’ personal wealth is deeply tied to their business — yet few accountants bridge that gap.

Modern firms can stand out by offering personal financial insight sessions that cover:

Cashflow planning and profit extraction
Personal wealth accumulation and protection strategies
Lifestyle alignment — helping clients achieve what matters most to them

It’s where accounting meets life planning — and where you build lifelong relationships.

5. Coaching & Advisory for Growth and Leadership

Automation will take care of the tasks — but humans still drive performance.

Accountants who coach their clients:

Clarify goals and build accountability
Develop leadership and decision-making confidence
Create sustainable, people-driven growth

Coaching transforms your client relationships from transactional to transformational.

6. Sustainability, Purpose & Impact Advisory

The next generation of businesses care about more than profit — they want to make an impact.

Progressive accountants are helping clients track and improve:

ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) metrics
Carbon footprint and sustainability reporting
Purpose alignment and long-term resilience

You become not just a financial expert, but a trusted guide for conscious growth.

The Future Accountant: Human + Tech + Insight

The future accountant is a hybrid professional :

Fluent in technology
Grounded in data
Driven by human connection

Compliance will still open the door — but what keeps you in the room is your ability to help clients automate wisely, grow strategically, and lead intentionally.

So the real question is:

What part of this future are you ready to own?

Nothing Is Successful Without Enthusiasm: Why It Matters More Than Ever in Accounting

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 15:05:31 GMT

In a world where technology, standards, and client expectations are constantly changing, one thing remains timeless: enthusiasm . As accountants, we’re known for precision, professionalism, and integrity — but without enthusiasm, even the most talented team can fall short of its true potential.

As the saying goes, “Nothing is successful without enthusiasm.”

And in today’s accounting profession, that’s more relevant than ever.

Here’s why enthusiasm is the secret ingredient that fuels success — both individually and collectively.

As the saying goes, “Nothing is successful without enthusiasm.”

And in today’s accounting profession, that’s more relevant than ever.

Here’s why enthusiasm is the secret ingredient that fuels success — both individually and collectively.

�� 1. Continuous Change Requires Continuous Energy

Accounting isn’t static — it’s evolving faster than ever. From AI and data analytics to new regulatory standards, change is the only constant. Enthusiastic accountants don’t resist it — they embrace it . They’re curious, eager to learn, and motivated to keep their skills sharp. This mindset keeps our firm relevant and resilient.

�� 2. Clients Feel the Energy

We’re not just number crunchers anymore — we’re advisors and partners in our clients’ success. When we show genuine enthusiasm for their goals, they feel it. It builds trust, strengthens relationships, and sets us apart in a crowded market. Passion turns client service into client loyalty.

�� 3. Enthusiasm Drives Quality

Accounting work demands attention to detail. But when motivation fades, so does precision. Enthusiastic professionals take pride in getting it right. Their positive attitude fuels persistence, accuracy, and a drive for excellence — the hallmarks of great accounting.

�� 4. Team Spirit Starts with Energy

Enthusiasm is contagious. When one person brings energy to a project, it lifts the whole team. In busy seasons or tight deadlines, that spark can make all the difference. Teams led with enthusiasm are more collaborative, creative, and resilient — and it shows in the results.

�� 5. Growth and Innovation Thrive on Passion

The most innovative ideas often come from those who genuinely care. Enthusiastic accountants ask better questions, look for smarter solutions, and challenge the status quo. They’re the ones who push the firm forward — improving systems, adopting new tools, and helping us all grow.

�� Leadership and Enthusiasm Go Hand in Hand

For those in leadership roles, enthusiasm is not optional — it’s essential. Great leaders don’t just manage; they inspire . When leaders show passion for the profession and a belief in their teams, it creates a ripple effect. It builds a culture where people feel valued, motivated, and driven to do their best work.

At AccountantOnAMission, enthusiasm is more than a personality trait — it’s a strategic advantage . It fuels our learning, strengthens our client relationships, and powers our shared mission to make a difference through our work.

✨ Let’s keep that fire alive.
Because in accounting — as in life — nothing is successful without enthusiasm.

The Heart of the Profession: Why Empathy Matters More Than Ever for Accountants

Fri, 24 Oct 2025 08:41:15 GMT

We live in a world that feels more uncertain by the day.

Small business owners are juggling rising costs, changing markets, and constant pressure to do more with less. For many, it’s not just about keeping the business afloat — it’s about holding onto a dream.

And in the middle of all this change, accountants have a quiet but powerful role to play.

We live in a world that feels more uncertain by the day.

And in the middle of all this change, accountants have a quiet but powerful role to play.

�� Beyond the Numbers

The world is becoming more digital. Technology has transformed how we work — automation, AI, and apps now handle many of the tasks that once filled our days. But while systems can process data, they can’t offer understanding. They can’t listen to a worried business owner, hear the tremble in their voice, and respond with empathy.

That’s where we make the difference.

Our true value lies not in the reports we produce, but in the reassurance we give. When we help clients see through the fog of uncertainty, when we explain the numbers in a way that brings calm instead of confusion — we offer something no algorithm can: human care.

�� Listening as a Form of Leadership

Behind every question about cash flow or tax lies a deeper concern — Will I be okay? Will my business survive?

Sometimes, the most powerful thing we can do is simply listen. Not to fix everything immediately, but to show up with patience and understanding. That listening creates trust. And trust turns worry into action.

�� Caring in a Digital World

As technology continues to advance, empathy becomes our ultimate differentiator. The accountants who stand out will be those who pair insight with kindness, who use digital tools not to replace connection but to strengthen it.

That might look like:

A check-in call just to ask, “How are things going?”
A note of encouragement after a tough month.
Helping a client see progress when they only see problems.

It’s the small gestures that remind clients they’re not alone in this journey.

�� The Mission We Share

Being an #AccountantOnAMission isn’t just about technical excellence. It’s about leading with heart. It’s about bringing clarity when the world feels uncertain, compassion when clients feel overwhelmed, and confidence when they’ve lost their way.

Because in a world full of data, the most powerful thing we can offer is human understanding.

So let’s keep showing up — not just with our spreadsheets, but with our empathy, our care, and our quiet reassurance that together, we’ll find a way forward.

Time to coach

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 13:50:08 GMT

We’ve always been the steady hand, the voice of reason, the trusted advisor.
Coaching simply helps us do that better — with more empathy, clarity, and connection.

Explore the new Accountants Coaching Community, launching now in Australia and the UK.

For years, accountants have been called “trusted advisors.” But somewhere along the way, as software automated the numbers and compliance became more efficient, that trust became transactional. We’ve become faster, smarter, and more digital — but sometimes, a little less human.

Now, with business owners facing uncertainty, exhaustion, and constant change, it’s time for accountants to step forward again. Not just as service providers, but as coaches — guides, supporters, and challengers who help clients think clearly and act confidently.

That’s why Lindsay King and I have launched AccountantsCoachingCommunity.com — a new movement in Australia and the UK to help accountants rediscover what made them trusted advisors in the first place: human connection, curiosity, and care.

Why accountants make great coaches

Accountants are uniquely placed to coach because they already hold the keys to their clients’ stories.

You see behind the balance sheet. You know the patterns, the pressures, the moments when confidence dips. You understand what’s possible, what’s risky, and what’s urgent.

But more than that — you already listen. Coaching simply takes that skill further. It’s about asking deeper questions, not giving quicker answers. It’s about helping your client find their clarity, rather than just presenting yours.

And unlike many professional coaches, you bring the credibility of numbers. When you combine empathy with evidence, your influence becomes powerful.

Why it matters now

Right now, your clients are navigating more than financial uncertainty — they’re navigating personal doubt.

They want to grow, but they’re tired. They want to plan, but they’re not sure what tomorrow looks like. They need someone who sees beyond the ledger, who can listen without judgment and help them find their next step with confidence.

When you coach, you don’t just help your clients make better business decisions — you help them become better business owners, better leaders, and sometimes even better humans.

That’s the kind of relationship that lasts. That’s the kind of work that energises you again.

Back to being human

Coaching isn’t new for accountants — it’s a return.

Once upon a time, accountants were confidants. We sat across the desk from clients who trusted us not just with their figures, but with their fears. Somewhere between the deadlines and digital dashboards, that closeness faded.

Now, we have a chance to bring it back. Coaching lets us slow down, listen again, and rediscover what it means to be truly useful. It brings heart back to the numbers.

Join the movement

The Accountants Coaching Community is here to make that shift possible — together.

It’s a place for learning, sharing, and growing with like-minded accountants who believe that listening, empathy, and connection are just as important as accuracy and efficiency.

We’ll explore coaching skills, real conversations, and practical ways to make this part of your everyday work — so that coaching becomes not a “nice-to-have,” but a natural part of how you serve.

Because when accountants coach, everyone wins — the client, the firm, and the person behind the desk.

Time to coach

If you’re ready to rediscover what being a trusted advisor truly means — human, curious, connected — then this is your time.

Join us at AccountantsCoachingCommunity.com and be part of the change.

We’re helping accountants everywhere move beyond compliance — and back toward connection

Time to get closer

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 09:57:47 GMT

Look at the headlines and you don’t need me to tell you that the world feels unsettled. Wars, social disharmony, economic uncertainty, inflation, supply chain disruptions, digital attacks — the backdrop for business owners and families right now is complex, uncertain, and often stressful.

If you ask your clients what keeps them awake at night, it’s rarely a tax return. It’s their cashflow, their ability to look after staff, their own energy levels, their family’s security. They worry about the things that affect their lives, not just their ledgers.

If you ask your clients what keeps them awake at night, it’s rarely a tax return. It’s their cashflow, their ability to look after staff, their own energy levels, their family’s security. They worry about the things that affect their lives, not just their ledgers.

And yet, if you look at many accounting firm websites, the emphasis is still compliance-first: accurate accounts, efficient tax, timely returns. Important? Yes. But in difficult global and economic times, that’s not what earns you the title of trusted advisor. That comes from being closer, more human, and more connected.

So, what does “getting closer” really mean for accountants, and why is it more critical now than ever?

What getting closer means for the accountant

Getting closer to your client is not about flooding them with more reports or dazzling them with complex analysis. It’s about giving them what they may not find anywhere else right now: someone who will listen, understand, and guide.

Google “Trusted Advisor” and you’ll see words like:

reliable, dependable, respected, credible
confidant, supporter, partner, guide

That’s not a compliance checklist. That’s a relationship.

Being a trusted advisor requires a shift of mindset:

Listen first. Ask the questions that go beyond the numbers. How are they coping? What’s keeping them up at night?
Support as a human being. Sometimes your client doesn’t need a spreadsheet, they need to talk it through with someone who understands their world.
Bring clarity. Use your professional skills not just to “deliver work” but to interpret, explain, and give confidence.

The good news is that you don’t need to choose between being efficient and being closer. The tech that drives your efficiency in compliance gives you the time and space to build the conversations that matter. But you have to choose to use that space for listening and supporting, not just producing.

This is about culture again. If you, as a leader, take the time to be present with your clients, your team will follow. If you dismiss client worries as “not our job,” your team will do the same.

What getting closer means for the client

From the client’s side, imagine the difference.

In turbulent times, they don’t just want someone who files their tax return. They want someone who:

Understands their pressures
Explains clearly what the numbers mean
Gives them confidence to make decisions
Offers a safe space to ask the “silly” questions
Reminds them that they’re not alone in this

If I’m a business owner, and my accountant listens to me, supports me, and helps me feel in control despite the chaos outside, then I don’t see them as a cost. I see them as my ally.

And yes, I’ll pay more for that — not because of the compliance work itself, but because of the trust and confidence you give me.

Building trust in difficult times

So, don’t underestimate the role you can play. You’re not just balancing books, you’re helping balance lives. In a world full of uncertainty, clients don’t expect you to solve every global or economic challenge. But they do want someone they can talk to, someone who listens, and someone who uses their professional skillset to cut through the fog.

That’s what makes you a trusted advisor.
That’s what makes clients stay.
That’s what builds stronger firms for the future.

Time to get closer

Being proactive is a culture, not a slogan

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 15:45:21 GMT

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.

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.

In some cases, the gap is almost deliberate. The web creator has written the standard blurb, and the accountant is happy to say the same as the competition even though there is little or no consideration to whether that reflects the behaviour of the firm. It’s just a slogan.

In other cases, it is a misunderstanding. Being proactive does not mean being a mind reader, soothsayer or omniscient guru. No matter how amazing an accountant may be, no-one can investigate the world of every client and see the next step before they do.

So, what does it really mean to be proactive and why do I refer to it as a culture?

What being proactive means for the accountant

Being proactive for the accountant means being in control of the client relationship. Google ‘Proactive’:

· A person creating or controlling a situation rather than just responding to it

· Enterprising, take-charge, energetic, driven, bold, dynamic, motivated, go-ahead

Being proactive isn’t about being a step ahead in the client’s world, it’s about actively managing the accountant’s own world. To be proactive requires effective planning, active management, good communication and a sound knowledge of your clients.

The good news, and the reason why there is no excuse for proactive to be just a slogan in firms today, is that tech gives us the solutions, quickly, easily and accurately, to the effective planning and active management. All the accountant needs to add is the engagement of themselves and their team, hence proactive being a cultural issue. This is a factor of leadership. If you are not proactive (and I point to the behaviours above!) then your team won’t be. You may have the comeback of a lack of time, but proactive actions save time because you are in control of the activity.

Good communication, both ways, is also so much easier today if we back it up with the tech. We have so many options by which to communicate, and be communicated to, and our effective planning and active management can back these up.

As for a sound knowledge of your client, I’m referring to an all-round knowledge: You understand the client’s personal world as well as their business and tax affairs. Understand the client and you can use the control you’ve created through effective planning and active management to communicate proactively with your client.

So you see, being proactive is a culture driven by effective planning, active management, good communication and sound knowledge of your clients.

Put another way, productive human relationships supported and managed by effective tech.

What being proactive means for the client

If we follow on from above, then having a proactive accountant means having one who is in control, enterprising, takes charge of the situation, energetic, driven, bold, motivated, and go-ahead.

If I’m a business owner or taxpayer, then I would love an accountant like that!

Clients expect the compliance services from their accountant, of course they do. In this world of digital competition, I think most accountants recognise that if the client is only valuing us by how we meet this expectation, then we have a problem with pricing, margins and retention going forwards.

We need clients who value our expertise and the relationship itself. A client with a genuinely proactive accountant sees them as someone who not only effectively manages their compliance but their fears, stresses, worries, concerns, hassles, problems and questions. They have someone to turn to who understands them. They can focus on the challenges that they can manage because they have the confidence that comes from knowing that their accountant has go their back.

The right client will value that and pay more for it!

Don’t avoid being proactive because you are not a mind-reader but embrace it by focusing your tech-backed approach on your clients and your client knowledge and lead from the top with energy, control and motivation.

Build a proactive culture!

How tech helps us to rebuild our trusted advisor role

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 10:14:37 GMT

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.

This article was originally posted as a blog on the website All in Place

https://lnkd.in/eiU5VcxN

Richard Brewin explores how technology can actually be used to reignite the human connection we have with clients.

Whilst clients today still trust their accountant, their behaviour often suggests that the relationship itself is not at the same level. Clients fail to communicate, share important news and issues, respond to the accountant’s advice and regularly ghost them. Not the behaviour of someone who sees the accountant as their ‘go to’ trusted advisor.

I can write at length about how self-assessment, Companies Acts, Financial Services Acts, marketeers and the culture of the 80s and 90s have turned us into a product-based profession rather than a relationship based one but what matters most is the opportunity we now have to reverse this.

The rise of the Human Firm

Another phrase that is becoming increasingly visible in this Digital Age is The Human Firm . Back in 2023, my friend and colleague, Will Farnell, wrote the book of that title. For some of us, the profession has always been about people, but it lost its way and Will’s theme, about joining the human revolution to create a scalable, client-centric team, engaging firms couldn’t be more timely.

The point not to miss here is that Will’s previous book, written in 2018, was entitled the Digital Firm. In other words, the Digital Firm and the Human Firm are not mutually exclusive. Quite the opposite, in fact. Building a digital firm creates the opportunity to create a scalable human firm.

This matters:

Using tech effectively within our firms enables us to be more client-centric by delivering the time and the information for us to have more meaningful (and billable!) conversations with our clients.
More meaningful conversations with our clients rebuilds our trusted advisor role.
Being seen as a trusted advisor has the client valuing the relationship and not just the product, thus differentiating us from the automated and online competition and, as importantly, delivering the sort of client relationships that attracted many of us to the profession in the first place. In other words, making a real difference!

In short, we use the tech to enable us to expand and add greater value to our client relationships. We bring our professional expertise and build on the human attributes of care, understanding, trust and respect to make a real difference and highlight why we are worth the extra fees.

Where tech helps

When I’m assessing tech solutions, I’m looking not for the ones with all the bells and whistles but the ones that will enable the accountant to have those conversations that will make a real difference, to team members as well as clients. As an example, I love the All In Place approach of focusing on the personal balance sheet and not just the business balance sheet. Understand the client’s personal goals, challenges and concerns and seek solutions in the business and elsewhere to address these. That gets the client listening!

To achieve this happy marriage of digital and human, you should see your strategies for growth as two pronged:

What tech are you currently utilising? Does this make a positive difference to your firm AND your clients?
What tech can you use to drive more effective client conversations that will better position you as the trusted advisor?

Time to be more human by being more digital.

Why your accounting firm is unique

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 15:29:48 GMT

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.

All accountants are the same!

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.

It’s not an issue that is exclusive to accountants. Lawyers offer legal stuff. Plumbers offer plumbing stuff. Banks offer banking stuff. Service businesses will offer services relevant to their sector, that’s what makes them the type of business that they are.

We get too hooked up on this issue of differentiation in our profession. There is absolutely nothing wrong with offering the same services as your competitors. You are in the same marketplace. What matters is if that marketplace can see what is different about you beyond the core services on offer.

Why does it matter?

Because, if the marketplace cannot differentiate you on the things that you want them to differentiate you on, then they will have to use what is most easily available to them such as price…and, in most cases we don’t want to play that game.

The good news is that your firm is unique.

It has elements that will always be unique.

If the market can see what is unique about you, and like it, then you are on to a winner.

But what is unique about an accounting firm if we all offer the same services?

Well. For a start off, your business name (usually), your address, your phone number, your domain name and your email addresses. You may think I’m being flippant, but these are unique assets in your business. Are you using them to their full effect?

Look at each element.

Does the wording, font, presentation reflect what your firm is all about?

Do you use this unique information in your wider marketing assets and your social media.

Remember the ‘old’ business card? All they had on them was this information, but they were (and still are in many cases) a direct link to new business.

What else is unique?

Your tangible business assets. Your office, car, tech, furniture, bags. Nobody else has your combination in your marketplace. Again, are you making the most of it?

Do the individual assets reflect positively on how you want to make your firm stand out? Does the combination of assets work as a true reflection of the vision of your firm?

As I often say, it is your firm, and you can do what the hell you like with it!

Anything else unique on offer?

Well, of course, you may offer the same services as your competitors but only you define how you deliver them. Whether your service is delivered late in a carrier bag or early, wrapped in a satin bow and with a stringed quartet in attendance, the only limit to a unique delivery is your imagination (and budget, to be fair!)

We are now getting close to what is truly unique in your firm….you and your people. In this age of digitalisation, automation and AI, accounting remains a person to person business. Potential clients struggle to see who is the better accountant but they can quickly make a decision on who they like more. This profession has always been about the client relationship. Rather than get in the way of this, technology now gives us the time and the information to really focus on the people interfaces in our firms.

You are unique. You can hide this by dressing you, your team and your firm up as stereotypical accountants, hoping to attract every sort of client, or you can embrace your vision, values, rules, interests, strengths and (scarily!) personality and let the world see you and your firm as you actually are, on a good day, of course, as compared to how you think you should be. Build your firm as a better reflection of your vision and interests and you attract clients and team members who share your view on life and business.

And this leads us to your firm’s truly unique feature. The culture of your firm, if you allow it, will powerfully and clearly spell out why your firm is different. Build the firm that you want, as opposed to the one that you think you are supposed to have, and you stand out from the crowd.

Like I said, it’s your firm, do what the hell you like with it!

Will MTD ITSA be the next big gift from the accounting profession

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 14:04:55 GMT

Question…

Should accountants charge for the additional work and obligations they will have when MTD ITSA finally comes into play next April?

Not sure? Let me ask another one…

Should business owners and taxpayers be expected to pay for the work that their accountant does for them and for the expertise that they receive?

Put down in black and white, the answer seems obvious but there are many in the profession who are losing sleep over this issue.

Question…

Should accountants charge for the additional work and obligations they will have when MTD ITSA finally comes into play next April?

Not sure? Let me ask another one…

Should business owners and taxpayers be expected to pay for the work that their accountant does for them and for the expertise that they receive?

Put down in black and white, the answer seems obvious but there are many in the profession who are losing sleep over this issue.

Should we charge for our professional services and should clients expect to pay for them aren’t difficult questions. They only become problematic once we start lining up the barriers that we perceive to us charging and introduce the word “how’.

“How can we charge when…

· our clients think we are expensive as it is”

· our clients won’t want to pay more”

· our clients can’t afford it”

· our clients will just go somewhere else”

· there is too much cheaper competition in the market place”

· clients will just do it themselves”

· we’ll get the blame for this”

· there is no new added value”

These worries make us forget our answer to the ‘should we’ question.

We cannot forget the ‘should we’ question. The answer to ‘Should we charge for our additional professional services, advice and support when it comes to MTD and should clients expect to pay for them’ is very easy…

Yes, we should… and must, unless MTD is to become our next big giveaway!

The issue is not “it’s too hard so we won’t” but “We should and so we must”.

Once we accept that we must then our focus can move onto the how.

Step 1: Make sure that you are informed

It may seem obvious but you and your team must be technically competent and abreast of the changes and new rules. Don’t short change your training needs.

Step 2: Appreciate your value

Take a good look at yourself. Commonly, accountants don’t believe enough in the value of what they offer. We don’t ‘just do compliance’. We take the hassle, stress and time-cost away from clients and give them confidence that everything is done right. Add to that the tax knowledge that we bring to the table and the value is huge.

If you don’t appreciate this value then how will your clients? You can’t increase your charges if you, yourself, don’t believe that you are worth it. Sit down with your team and look at the true value of what you probably take for granted.

Step 3: Clean the decks

2025 is the year when you review your production processes and training to ensure that you are as effective and efficient as you can be. That way, you can be confident that you can handle the increased workload and also that you are as cost effective as you can be. You don’t want to be bringing avoidable extra cost into the equation to muddy the pricing strategy. Sit down with your team and talk to your fintech and digital partners. Where can we be more efficient? What mundane and repetitive tasks can we automate?

Step 4: Prepare your clients early

Firms are already forewarning their clients of the changes coming up and reviewing the clients’ readiness. That’s a good place to start. Planning for MTD ITSA is for throughout 2025 and not post 31 ^st January 2026. Clients need to know from you what is happening, what it means for them, what their responsibilities are and what you are doing to help and support them.

Step 5: Remove unresponsive clients

We’ve all put up with clients who simply aren’t prepared to sort themselves out. Whilst there has been sufficient capacity in an annual cycle to manage these (even though they cost us money and detract us from our best clients), they can no longer be entertained in the upcoming quarterly regime. Clients who don’t work with you have to go, for the sake of all your more responsible clients and the welfare of you and your team.

Step 6: Plan you client options

You are going to be charging your clients more, unless your efficiency savings are so spectacular that you have no commercial need….and, if that is the case, just what have you been doing these last few years!

There are two vital things to consider:

1. Its right and fair that you give your clients options so they know they have a choice

2. It’s commercially critical that you spell out the benefits and downsides to those options

I envisage something like four options:

a) DIY

Some clients won’t accept your charges and will believe the advertising about how easy it is to do it themselves. That’s their choice. The upside is that they save on fees (at least in the short term). The downside is the stress, hassle, time-consumption, the risk of error and the lack of advice. You don’t necessarily lose them as a client as they may still require other services and can access your advice and support on a PAYG basis. It’s an option.

b) Basic checks

The client still does it themselves but you offer a ‘check and file’ service, for a fee, obviously.

Upside is that they still save some cost and have a better degree of confidence but they still have the hassle, stress and time-consumption of preparing as well as correcting any errors. They also still have to pay extra for advice and other services. Again, it’s an option.

c) Standard MTD ITSA service

The nearest to your existing tax return service. You manage the process whilst the client submits the data (subject to your data requirement rules). You use your expertise properly complete and submit the returns, providing the client with tax management advice as you go. The upside for the client is trust, confidence, correctness and no hassle. The downside, for them, is they pay you a fair fee for the privilege of a quarterly, rather than annual service.

The opportunity you have for delivering greater value here is that you can give regular updates as to the client’s potential tax liabilities, helping them better prepare and manage their cashflow.

d) Premium MTD ITSA service

As for your standard service but includes a higher degree of tax planning and advice. Potentially you can add KPIs and more regular commercial reporting because of the quarterly data.

That last point is an interesting one. For all my decades in the profession, accountants have struggled to get clients to buy into quarterly management services, usually because of the ‘optional’ cost and the lateness of records. Here, the government are mandating the availability of the data and forcing a quarterly regime. What an opportunity this presents for us to take the client relationship up a few notches!

MTD ITSA doesn’t have to be the painful experience that some are dreading. Taking control of client expectations now is the way to manage your way to the start. Fail to do this and you increase your risk of not being able to charge your full service.

“Accountants can’t or won’t sell”

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 14:03:51 GMT

Accountants selling to their clients is a topic as old as the profession itself. I regularly hear criticism from those looking to monetise the accountants’ relationships with their clients that “accountants can’t sell”. I also come across an attitude within the profession that “accountants shouldn’t sell to their clients…it’s unprofessional…it’s not what my clients expect”.

Let’s tackle the issue.

My starting point is this: if you own and/or manage an accounting firm they you are running a business and any business that doesn’t sell, or have a sales strategy, has a problem. If you had a client come to you and say that they didn’t want to ‘sell’ to their customers then I’m sure that you would challenge their logic.

Let’s be clear what we are talking about here. I’m not talking about sales techniques or attitudes that promote a “Hello John, I have got a deal for you”, bombard customers with unwanted messages or jam a foot in the door. Unprofessional? Absolutely!

Look at some of the dictionary definitions of the verb ‘sell’:

· ‘Give or handover something in exchange for money’ – Are we running a business or not?

· ‘Persuade someone of the merits of’. ‘Be the reason for something being bought’ – Are we the trusted advisor or not?

· ‘Cause someone to be enthusiastic about’ – Do we want to make a difference or not?

The issue is not ‘should we sell’ but ‘how do we sell’ isn’t it?

Where we reach common ground is when we start talking about giving advice, rather than trying to sell. Most accountants are comfortable in giving advice and clients are comfortable to receive it. The accountants’ business model is based around selling our services, knowledge and support so, as long as we are charging fairly for that, we can ‘sell’ all day long.

Of course, charging fairly for what we do is a big subject in its own right but our failure to charge doesn’t limit our ability to sell. As an accountant, recognise that you do sell!

We limit ourselves with our pricing and with the levels of free work that we do. That won’t surprise anyone. But, we also limit ourselves in the conversations that we have through a fear of being seen as selling.

We have a wealth of knowledge and insight into financial management, personal finance and business matters and, of course, tax. We can be guilty of not laying all of that out in front of the client, at the right times, for fear that they think we are pushing for additional fees. That’s an internal barrier that we have to get over.

Think about our role as the trusted advisor and our desire to make a positive difference for clients. If we don’t talk about the risks, threats, actions and opportunities that impact on our clients, and put forward the advice and solutions that we have for them, then how are we truly fulfilling our role?

It is our role to advise, inform and alert clients. What clients choose to do with that is entirely within their own hands. Whether they choose to act and to buy is their call, not ours. If we are effectively censoring what we put in front of our clients for fear of being seen as ‘selling’ then we are doing the client a disservice. Treat them as adults and give them the information for them to then make their own calls.

Believe in the advice and services that you offer and in the fair price that you charge. Then let the client decide for themselves.

They have the right.

Progress, what progress?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 11:32:16 GMT

Back in the 60’s and 70’s, when I was a lad, doing the family laundry was a time consuming chore. Mum would disappear into the kitchen and close the door so that the noise around the rest of the house was at least manageable. She would be in there for hours, swapping between washing, rinsing and squeezing out.

Every so often the noise level would resemble a fighter jet taking off on an aircraft carrier as the tumbler element kicked in and then she’d reappear, wooden tongs in hand, to ask for help to reposition the twin tub that had danced across the kitchen floor.

Her only break would be the trip into the garden, a full, heavy laundry basket under her arm, to hang out the clothes.

Mum is 91 this year, bless her. She still does her own washing but now it’s a bit easier. One click to set the programme, press the button and walk away until the machine beeps to say everything is washed and dry. Huge progress over the years, as with so many other household chores and a good example of how technology has been used to change our lives for the better.

How come, in accounting, we had more time in the 60s and 70s then we have today? Like Mum, why are we not all out in the garden or drinking coffee with friends, whilst the technology does the job for us at the push of a button?

Of course, we’ve seen progress. The profession has not been blind to the internet, digitalisation, systemisation and automation, but why is it that our single most limiting factor remains a lack of time?

The most noticeable impact of technological advancement has been in staff numbers. From what I see, accounting firms today operate with approximately a quarter of the staff that they would have done 50-60 years ago. That in itself raises another question: why are we not rolling around in much more profit as a consequence?

Technology has changed how we do things but it hasn’t achieved fundamental changes to our daily working lives. Is that the fault of the technology or how we’ve applied it?

The tech world has to accept some of the blame. Mum’s transition from twin tub to the fully automated, multi-functional washing machine of today has been relatively painless, without a need for protracted training, education programmes and engagement strategies. As accountants we don’t often benefit from plug-in and press tech. The fintech industry’s approach of launching minimum viable products hardly helps that. We are generally expected to do the heavy lifting when it comes to onboarding, and team and client training and engagement. Too often we’ve been sold what the tech world wants to sell us and not necessarily what is the best and simplest fit for our needs. Too many features and not enough benefits!

We can’t just blame them though. As a profession, we have been relatively slow to embrace change in general and technology in particular. We’re not known to be risk takers or cutting edge decision-makers and that has held us back. There are fundamental failings around our profession when it comes to strategic progression, commercial thinking, decision making, skills training and standing up for our true value that technology cannot fix as a magic button.

Too often, we’ve passed on to clients the full savings of our digitalisation and systemisation in the form of holding or cutting prices without allowing ourselves the benefit of the investment or standing by the fact that the value of the service or advice has not been diminished by the efficiencies.

I don’t aim to be negative, more to challenge our relationship with our tech and raise awareness about what brings about real change.

People change firms, not tech. The tech should, and must, deliver the tools to enable us to change more efficiently and effectively but it’s the decision-making and drive of the accountant that will create a better accounting firm for all.

Think about what changes you and your team can bring to your firm by changing your thinking, focus and behaviour. Then look at your tech again with more clarity…does it help or hinder?

How much tech do you have in your firm that is underused or fully neglected? Is this evidence of tech for tech’s sake? Tech as a dream rather than a reality?

I am more encouraged by the way that APIs, AI, robotics and wider automation are enabling smaller, more versatile tech companies to come into the fintech space and work with accountants on their needs. It is easier now to go to a provider and say: “This is what I have. This is what I need. Can you do that for me?”

To do that, we need to be clear on our basics, as usual.

· What’s the vision?

· What are the goals?

· What do we do right now?

· Where are the gaps and inefficiencies?

That puts us in charge of the conversation, probably for the first time.

Let us shape the tech, not vice versa.

Keeping your priorities clear

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 14:23:48 GMT

Do I deal with the client who is shouting the loudest, the most pressing deadline, the thing that is most stressing me out, the best thing for my cash position, the team member who is stuck without my help, the thing that I had set out to do today or any one of all those other issues that are lined up at my door?

I would love to give you a definitive or simple answer but, of course, there isn’t one. Welcome to every day decision-making, not just in an accounting firm but in life!

Accounting firms are built on regulated deadlines, systems and processes. In theory, it should all run to plan and we have a habit of beating ourselves up when it doesn’t, but we live in the real world and the reality is that every day has the potential for chaos.

We are all mostly aware that we should be working ON our businesses and not just IN them, proactively applying the strategies, decisions and focus that are in line with our vision, goals and plan, but, it is extremely hard to maintain that clarity in the face of the challenges arise every day. Circumstances demand attention and, often, a reactive decision.

However, there is a difference between taking reactive decisions and actions to deal with the chaos of the moment and allowing those short term responses to then become the norm.

In the second week of January, right in the middle of tax filing deadlines, I ran an on-site mastermind event for an audience of accountants. My argument was this: SME clients need their accountants more than ever right now, and are taking decisions about the service that they are getting. Accountants in the UK may think that the year starts after the 31 ^st January deadline has passed but their clients want to hit the floor running straight after the Christmas break. Accounting firms need to kick off their plans much earlier.

Every accountant in that room had plenty of reasons not to be there, all driven by the daily demands back in their offices, but everyone recognised the importance of prioritising beyond the chaos and took a day out for the longer term benefits.

We can’t avoid chaos, it’s a feature of life, but we can use our understanding of our priorities to ensure that we don’t succumb to it. Making decisions based upon of recognised priorities can be our secret weapon in the battle.

1. Be clear on your vision and your goals

2. Have a plan

3. Communicate these across your firm

4. Recognise that your medium and long term actions are your way forward and build in a framework for their continued attention

5. Recognise equally that our ability to react to circumstances is a strength, and a facet of client service and commercial gain, but don’t allow it to be the norm.

We can lose a lot of time, and gain a lot of stress, by worrying about the fact that things haven’t gone to plan. If we accept that things very rarely go to plan in life and, instead, look to learn from the experience, then we can build routes out of the chaos.

Take the 31 ^st January filing deadline. If your firm has been up against it this year then the first objective has to be to meet client promises (not bail out bad clients, that’s an entirely different issue!). Get that done first but then learn from the experience. “What are we going to do differently to avoid a repeat of the issues that is more in line with our vision and goals?” Then, amend your plan.

Every day may be chaotic, but our ability to step back from the chaos, refresh our thinking and then re-enter the fray is what makes the difference between progress and stagnation, success and failure.

What makes a good client

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 14:10:20 GMT

There’s something like 5.5million SME businesses in the UK. To use another measure, there are approximately 2.72 million VAT registered businesses on these shores.

That’s an awful lot of potential clients for accountants. You would think that there would be some good ones in there for you.

Why is it that so many accounting firms end up with a significant proportion of ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ clients who absorb the firm’s resources for little or no benefit?

There’s something like 5.5million SME businesses in the UK. To use another measure, there are approximately 2.72 million VAT registered businesses on these shores.

That’s an awful lot of potential clients for accountants. You would think that there would be some good ones in there for you.

Why is it that so many accounting firms end up with a significant proportion of ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ clients who absorb the firm’s resources for little or no benefit?

Replacing bad clients with good ones positively changes the outlook and results for the accountant. Easier said than done, of course, but, to not replace bad with good causes serious harm and firmly shuts the door on progress.

A bad client doesn’t necessarily mean a bad person. A bad client can be a good client elsewhere but not the right fit for their existing accountant. I use the terms ‘good client’ and ‘bad client’ to make it a straightforward issue but we could just as easily talk about ‘good relationships’ and ‘bad relationships, ‘good fits’ and ‘bad fits’.

However we define it, working with a client where the relationship isn’t mutually beneficial isn’t a good place to be and the lack of slack in accounting firms today makes it a situation that should not be tolerated. It’s not just clients who have the right to take their business elsewhere!

To understand a bad client we need to recognise a good one. We will all have different ideas on what good looks like but, in general terms, a good client is one who:-

· you and your team enjoy working with

· is engaged in a business and sector that you understand

· respects the terms of the engagement

· reflects your values

· is honest and open

· listens to and values your advice and instructions

· takes their responsibilities as a business owner and taxpayer seriously

· is commercially viable for your business

In my mind, a bad client is one who fails any of the above, at least on more occasions than you are prepared to tolerate.

It’s that level of toleration that is quite often the issue, and a fundamental cause of accounting firms frustratingly not progressing. Most accountants can point out their bad clients, especially since a lot of the measures listed above are subjective, but often fail to do anything about it. The nature of the profession's recurring fee model works against the actions necessary. The client might be a complete pain (I’m being polite!) but its only once a year and at least it’s a fee.

It's not good enough. Because they absorb resources, every bad client is a block to so many valuable and essential steps:

· better service for good clients

· targeting new good clients

· training and development

· systems development

· strategic thinking

In other words, bad clients stop the accountant doing the valuable things that will fix all of their sources of frustration and poor performance. The annual fee just isn’t worth the cost, however big it is (and I talk as someone who sacked their biggest fee-paying client because they were a bad client).

It’s wishful thinking that your firm will somehow morph over time to bring in good clients to swamp the bad ones. Bad clients suck the life out of a firm and have to be addressed.

I understand the commercial pressures but the critical step is to recognise who your bad clients are and to put them on your naughty list. This is the first step towards change.

By putting them onto your list, you are recognising that they are on their way out. You are also recognising that they are ranking below your good clients in your order of priorities. When and how you choose to remove them is now entirely within your power. Whether you choose to sack them now, price them out the firm, bundle them up and sell them (yes, this is a thing!) or remove them once they’ve paid their big fee for the year, you manage the process so that it minimises any short term commercial hit that you may take. My personal favourite was to sack one off the list every time we picked up a new good client.

Make 2025 the year when you no longer tolerate bad clients. You will be in such a better place by the end of it.

Control the controllables

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:11:09 GMT

Do you feel in control today?

You’re not on your own if you don’t.

Running an accounting firm or client portfolio should be a relatively straightforward task according to the text books. Most of the deadlines are known well in advance and are cyclical so It’s simply a case of managing the resources, workflows and clients isn’t it?

We all know it’s just not the simple!

Do you feel in control today?

You’re not on your own if you don’t.

We all know it’s just not the simple!

Much of the frustration and stress faced by accountants comes from not feeling in control of resources, workflows and clients. Add to that what is happening in the world today outside of the office walls. Global conflict, economic crisis, political and social instability, AI, social media, genetic engineering, climate change…is it no wonder that a sense of overwhelm and spinning out of control impacts on performance and health.

Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist, coined the phrase “Control the controllable”. As a survivor of the Holocaust and, specifically, Auschwitz, Frankl knew a thing or two about how to stay in control of one’s headspace. He believed that the meaning of life comes from within and that life is what we make it. In that context, focus on what can be controlled and don’t get distracted by what falls outside of your control.

There is so much to be distracted by on a daily basis and those distractions rob us of vital time and focus. If we can eliminate the uncontrollable from our minds and, instead remain focused on what we can influence then we are much more likely to regain control of our days.

Take the Digital World that we live in as an example. Technology has the power to make dreams come true and bring nightmare scenarios to life. We can lose sleep over things that we have no or very little influence over or we can focus on the aspects that we can control and influence. By controlling the controllable we can make progress. By losing sleep over the uncontrollable, nothing changes but our health for the worse.

So it is when running your accounting firm or client portfolio. By focussing on what you can control you can positively impact your future but by stressing over the uncontrollable, nothing gets better. When you think about it, you may worry about your lack of control but there are many things that you can control that make a huge difference, but only if you commit to focus on them:

· Which clients to work with and which to reject

· Which sectors to work with and which to reject

· What work to prioritise and what to push back

· What services to offer and what to distance yourself from

· What pricing makes the work worthwhile and what doesn’t

· When to offer credit and when not to

· What deadlines to agree on and what to turn down

· What training to focus on and what to pass on

· What skills to develop and what to see as irrelevant

· What working environment suits you and what doesn’t

· What working practices suit you and what don’t

· When to say YES and when to say NO

Each of the above, and more not on the list, are fundamentally controllable by you. Your clients, team members and the rest of the world may agree with your approach or they may not, that is entirely their prerogative but, if you don’t control what is within your power to control then it is no surprise that your working day lacks control.

As you turn your thoughts towards 2025, there is an opportunity to shift your mindset and select the controllable areas that you are going to focus on to change them from ‘controllable’ to ‘controlled’. Any one of the above is a place to start.

Control the controllable.

Turning the table on your time restraints

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 14:40:57 GMT

It’s frustrating when you don’t know what to do next.

It’s even more frustrating when you know what you want to do next but don’t have the time to do it.

The frustration of not being able to get off the hamster wheel for long enough to take back control of your task list or your firm is endemic within the accounting profession.

It’s frustrating when you don’t know what to do next.

It’s even more frustrating when you know what you want to do next but don’t have the time to do it.

The frustration of not being able to get off the hamster wheel for long enough to take back control of your task list or your firm is endemic within the accounting profession.

Technology was supposed to fix this by taking away the mundane, speeding up processes, automating actions and freeing up partner and team time for more creative, value added and leisure activities.

Without question, technology is achieving the actions but the outcome of more time is yet to crystalise in too many cases. From a firm leader and manager perspective, firms seem to be busier than ever, still doing the same compliance and client support tasks they’ve always done, just with more tech in the process.

Part of the problem is that the addition of new technology requires time to onboard, train and educate. The challenge of getting team members and clients to embrace technology and understand the need for change feels like it has been delegated by the tech world to the accounting firms and I believe there is much more that leading Fintechs can do to support accounting firms in this. If software needs so much time to educate its users then is it really delivering?

Accountants can’t just wait for tech companies to become better suppliers though. The tech they provide has value and benefit for accounting firms. Rather than reject further investment or shy away from change because partners don’t have the time to invest, especially in client education, managers can look at the time already allocated in the office schedules and workflows and see how the firm can make more effective use of it.

“I don’t have any more time” is a common reason given for not actioning the steps needed to take firms forward and it is the reality, but accountants can do better with the time that they already have. To do this it is necessary to question how effectively time is currently utilised.

There are two big opportunities here.

The first relates to workflow. Hours are already allocated in capacity planning for every client but, rather than filling these by following last year’s path, the firm should challenge the established approach:

Can the firm put the time already allocated to a client to better use?

o Are the priorities right?

o Is the approach to the tasks smart enough?

o Are there more effective ways to manage the client?

o Are there more effective ways to get the work done?

o Does the firm make enough profit on these tasks to make them worthwhile?

o What needs to change at the client’s end to make this work better?

Time is wasted on every client, it’s just a matter of how much. Taking that wasted time and using it instead to challenge the status quo from a production perspective uses no more time but leads to better outcomes.

The second relates to the time in communicating with clients and, especially, meeting time. Again, rather than following the traditional conversations, firms should re-think the approach to client meetings :

Can the firm make better use of the time already allocated for a client meeting?

o Is the conversation about the most important things?

o Does it cover topics that the client will engage with?

o Is the conversation honest and direct enough?

o Does the accountant listen and respond to client-raised issues?

o Does the accountant focus on the client, not just the client’s business?

o Does the firm truly fulfil the role of trusted advisor and show enough genuine interest and care?

Once the firm’s leadership and management recognises that the challenge is about using existing resources effectively then it changes how they assess the value of technology. I am gradually seeing more tech come to market that is designed to enable accounting firms to make more effective use of the client relationships and services they already have rather than try to take them down new pathways.

Doing better with existing time and existing clients is a starting point for growth.

For instance:

@Kamozo gives a firm the client analysis to help answer those workflow questions, creating more effective decision making on existing client relationships and services

@AllInPlace puts the focus on the client, not just the client’s business, creating more powerful conversations from existing meetings

@Xylo analyses the meetings and provides the follow up, across both workflow and wider value added meetings to create a more proactive stance with existing clients.

This is the software that I look out for these days. What can make existing processes and relationships more effective? By looking for these solutions, rather than ‘new’ services, firms can take existing time and pivot it more effectively.

I’m looking forward to 2025 with the expectation that this approach to software adoption is going to grow. Are we on the cusp of finally having more time!

Turning chore into opportunity

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 25 Oct 2024 09:33:58 GMT

I was interested to read the comments coming out of the ICAEW this week regarding the number of supervised accounting firms being told to improve their anti-money laundering processes. With the number of reprimands, and especially severe reprimands, on the increase, it is understandably an area of concern.

This comes off the back of the good people at All In Place releasing the results of their ‘The Human Touch In Accounting Survey’ that highlights the weaknesses in accounting firms when it comes to their KYC processes and how well they really know their clients, not just for compliance purposes but from a core ‘trusted advisor’ perspective.

For instance, looking into the results of the All In Place survey, carried out amongst accountants attending Accountex 2024:

· 73% of firms have no visibility of their clients’ personal ‘balance sheets’

· 42% of firms have little confidence in engaging with their clients on their personal finances

· Only 15% of firms capture details of personal income and expenditure to help with remuneration planning

· Only 15% of firms know if their clients have a will and enduring power of attorney in place

· Only 9% of firms document their clients goals and objectives, 12% their exit plans

In other words, we might know our clients’ businesses inside out but how well do we know the full picture?

Accountants are busy people. It’s great to pick up business and work with clients new and old but more often than not, the associated onboarding, money laundering and KYC requirements, both compliance-based and operational, are seen as a chore. Boxes get ticked, hopefully, but they are seen as a time-cost rather than business investment.

I remember when the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, triggered a very different approach to accountant-client relationships. Whilst much of the conversation at the time was around the hassle-factor, I saw it as a great opportunity for our firm to set the tone of our client relationships from the outset. I don’t mean by eradicating dodgy clients, I’d like to think we’d always done that, but by emphasising the professional manner in which we work from Day One.

I think that this is the issue. Whilst firms see onboarding, money laundering and KYC as necessary chores, they miss the potential value that lies within. We need to change our mindset to turn chore into opportunity.

· Taking a positive approach towards onboarding is an opportunity to show new clients that you are the professional – you are in charge of the relationship, are effective and organised and know what you are doing. You do things properly and well. clients who work with you and follow your lead will see the benefits. Those who want you to cut corners and jump through their hoops will be put off.

· Taking a positive approach to money laundering sets that same professional, ‘we do things properly’ tone from the outset. We seem embarrassed to hit clients with our own questions and requirements but it highlights our professional standards and avoids a lot of hassle and cost down the line.

· Taking a positive approach to ‘know your client’ is at the very heart of the client relationship. The phrase ‘trusted advisor’ is bandied around but how can we be if we know only part of our client’s story? Understanding a client’s business is important. Understanding the client is even more important. For many, the business is a means to an end. Behind that business sits a whole personal world full of goals, hopes, dreams, fears, challenges and issues that mean far more. The client hopes that the business is the panacea for these. There are often far better resolutions and opportunities out there but we don’t know them if we don’t know the client. We leave fees on the table and under deliver on our role as a result.

All In Place’s survey is a thought provoking piece. You can access your copy, including a forward by Will Farnell, by going to https://www.allin.place/the-human-touch-in-accounting or directly to https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ebaa508c39a0a160e958494/t/67126b9526385a390612b61b/1729260438497/AllInPlace-HumanTouchInAccounting.pdf

Follow your own path

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 10:04:04 GMT

If your childhood was anything remotely like mine then you’ll be familiar with the scenario where you were in trouble and the only defence you could offer the parent standing in front of you was that “everyone else was doing it” to which came the crushing response “And if they all jumped off a cliff would you jump off too?”

You may be familiar with Roger’s Innovation Adoption Curve. If not, you’ll certainly be familiar with the terminology used. We have the innovators, the early adopters, the early majority, the late majority and the laggards.

The innovator are the creators of something new, an idea or product.

The early adopters are the first to jump on board. They take the risk of investing in something without a track record because they want to be cutting edge and different.

The early majority are mainstream but still looking for change and progression. They don’t want the risk of being first in the queue but are willing to sign up once they see others of their kind adopting it successfully.

The late majority will still follow change but more because they have to, driven by commercial or compliance pressure or the sway of market opinion.

The laggards we don’t need to worry about, they won’t be reading this!

When it comes to innovation, there is a safety in numbers. Doing something because others are doing it gives us comfort but also a ready-made excuse if it goes pear-shaped. There are plenty of others to blame.

I have no issue with accounting firm leaders sitting within the majority. I think that, for a firm to be progressive, it will sit towards the front of the pack with the rest of the early majority but that isn’t a bad place to be and I suspect that many of you will comfortably recognise yourself there.

Where I do worry is when we take the same pack mentality into how we define ourselves and our firms. As accountants we talk about profitability, net worth, capital value. We use gross recurring fees, the number of clients or the size of our offices to define our businesses. This is our safe space. We do the things that other accountants do and benchmark ourselves accordingly.

But is that where fulfilment comes from? What about passion, excitement, satisfaction and enjoyment?

We are all driven by different things. We have different values and goals. Our beliefs and priorities are personal and vary from those of others. If we play safe, stick with the majority and limit ourselves to doing the things that other accountants do, how to we achieve fulfilment when it is so personal to us?

Accountants are constantly being told what they should and shouldn’t be doing. I must be guilty of it myself on occasion. We should be doing ‘advisory’. We should be embedding ChatGPT in our client communications. We should be utilising AI. We should be increasing our fees, niching our firms, automating our delivery.

What we should be doing is following our vision, our values, our dreams and doing whatever the hell we want to do in line with those!

And before you hit the panic button, I’m confident that the vast majority have the morals, values and ethics and professionalism for that not to be a problem.

Choosing your own path is the route to fulfilment. Doing what you really believe in, what you enjoy and what you are great at, is how create workplaces full of passion, excitement, satisfaction and enjoyment. You don’t achieve that by following the crowd.

Think about what will give you fulfilment, satisfaction and pride. Think about where your passion lies. Think about what really matters to you.

That’s how to plan your firm or career forwards.

Be inspired by staring at the wall

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:08:54 GMT

We are very insular as a profession. Conversations tend to revolve around what is happening within the profession, what the latest developments and trends are, and yet there is a whole world out there that is creating new ideas, trends and thoughts that could help us as accountants to be more successful if only we were to look over the fence.

Part of my role as a mentor and coach to accountants is to keep looking over the fence at what the rest of the world is doing. I get much of my inspiration from doing so.

Those of you who know me will know what’s coming next!

Part of my role as a mentor and coach to accountants is to keep looking over the fence at what the rest of the world is doing. I get much of my inspiration from doing so.

Those of you who know me will know what’s coming next!

Every year, at this time of year, I draw inspiration from one of my favourite programmes, Australian MasterChef. The differences between the tried and tested formula that is the UK original on the BBC and the Australian version mirror the differences that I seek to help accounting firms achieve. One is solid, reliable, okay in all that it does whilst the other is exciting, challenging, inspirational, delivering awesome chefs out of home cooks.

I recommend you watch it to see what I mean.

An example comes from a recent episode from Australia. The contestants number around 16 at this point. They walk into the trendy warehouse style kitchen that is the main set to be faced by a gigantic wall screen.

As they stare at the screen writing starts to appear, apparently randomly, around the screen. The contestants begin to realise that this is their handwriting and it is revealing, anonymously, the dreams that they had previously written down about their culinary future. What appeared were their ambitions, their passions and their visions. Some related to future business ideas, some to family members who’d sowed the seeds in their younger selves, some to personal drivers and points to prove.

“Wow”, said a contestant, “It is a Wall of Dreams”.

The judges then challenged the contestants to create a dish that reflected those dreams.

Inspired, motivated and personally invested in the passion of the task, the results were outstanding.

I’m thinking: What a fantastic idea! Accountants want to inspire themselves, their team and their clients. How cool would it be for accountants to have their ‘Wall of Dreams’!

So here’s my tip:

Create your Wall of Dreams. It could be a physical wall in your office, an onscreen wall in reception, a digital wall on your website…or all three!

Get you, your team and your clients to write down, anonymously, the personal hopes, dreams, goals and drivers. Get them to think about what they dream of achieving and, most importantly, why.

Put it all on display as a permanent source of inspiration for everyone connected with your firm. People will be able to recognise their own and have it as a reminder and point of re-focus. Being able to see all of the others adds a much wider context and will provoke more thoughts and ideas. People will be able to see that it’s not just them; that there not being daft; that they can dream bigger or in a different direction.

There is so much talk today about engaging clients and team members in different conversations and getting them to step up in their thinking and behaviour. Having a Wall of Dreams is like having an incubator in your firm to grow ideas and energy.

Why not give it a go!

The key resource that accounting firms are seriously under-utilising

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 14:12:09 GMT

We talk a lot about the resources that the accounting profession feels short of. Deficits of time, people, skills and even money are subjects to be found in many firm owners’ in trays.

Yet we have access to a largely untapped resource that can help to address and even eradicate these other problems. We just don’t use it.

This resource is energy.

Not the National Grid but Human Energy!

We talk a lot about the resources that the accounting profession feels short of. Deficits of time, people, skills and even money are subjects to be found in many firm owners’ in trays.

Yet we have access to a largely untapped resource that can help to address and even eradicate these other problems. We just don’t use it.

This resource is energy.

Not the National Grid but Human Energy!

Offices can be lacklustre places. People lack energy, drive and enthusiasm. They can be bored, going through the motions, stuck in repetitive processes that fill their day.

Why do we allow that?

I’m told that it isn’t about us ‘allowing it’ but the nature of the work that we do and the hamster wheel that we are all on. The work is repetitive, mundane, boring even. The problem with the hamster wheel is the faster you run, the faster you have to run, so better to settle into a steady pace below your best.

Here’s the thing…

First of all, accountants deal with a wide range of issues and tackle important matters that require skill and expertise. We can achieve amazing things for our clients. We are in a people business surrounded by many different individuals with a whole spectrum of challenges, needs and opportunities. We deal with the applications of law and the wheels of commerce. What’s mundane about that?

Secondly, as leaders of our firms, we set the pace and the mood. We create the vision and goals. We go into work every day and set the tone and pace. When did you last inspire and energise? When did you last have a conversation with your team around happiness, satisfaction, pride, drive and energy? When did you last explore strategies for raising these emotions and for doing things differently?

Working in an accounting firm is only as mundane as you make it.

I can hear the objections raised around our compliance work, the nature of bookkeeping, the challenges brought by deadlines and reticent clients but any negativity around our daily tasks is an internal issue for us to address, not put up with. The problems brought about by clients are something very much within our control. We choose our clients and tolerate their behaviour or not.

Ask yourself some questions:

· Does your work environment energise or suppress your team?

· Does your messaging to your team around your core work emphasise its value and importance, the difference that we make, or focus on its pressures and repetitiveness?

· Does the office chatter highlight your clients’ successes or moan about their failings?

· Do you talk about business opportunities or just delivery needs?

· Do you encourage training and development or complain about lost hours through CPD?

· Do you raise your own energy levels for work or hideaway behind a pile of tasks?

· Do you lead your team from the front or let them get through their day as you try to get through yours?

· Do you actively try to be better and progress every day or is your focus on survival?

I know that I get sneered at but, after over four decades within this wonderful profession, I still refuse to accept that we can’t be as creative, energetic, interesting, rewarding and as much fun as any other business sector. We should feel passionate about what we do.

If accountancy is truly a people business then we are the people who make it mundane, nobody else.

That’s great because that means that we are the people who can do something about it and do things differently.

Where to start?

First, put a smile on your face!

Second (sigh, he’s going to say it again!) make sure that you are so clear on your vision and goals that you can confidently share them.

Third, sit down with your team and a blank piece of paper and ask yourselves this:-

“How do we take what we do and make it more fun and more interesting for us and our clients? Let’s start by looking at…….”

There is so much that we can do to make our workplaces and services more enjoyable. To do so, we should look at them with a fresh set of eyes. Creating a more enjoyable work environment will raise energy levels so what can we do around us to achieve that? Is it about redecoration, changing desks, changing the sounds and smells of the office, looking at different work patterns? Maybe!

Creating more enjoyable services and work patterns requires a different approach to education, learning, development, understanding both team and clients better. The final delivery of our services maybe the same but how we perceive them and approach them can always change. It’s about understanding the true value and not forever putting ourselves down.

It's not about changing what we do but changing our attitude towards how and why we do it

How we approach our working lives is a choice. Focusing on energy levels, having a better appreciation of value, looking at how we can mix things up in the office, these are not just tips for a better day but make a real difference to your performance as a firm.

Next time you want to have a conversation with your team about how much time you have, or don’t have, how about talking about what would make things more interesting and fun instead.

Time to focus on energy!

Who cares!

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 14:05:58 GMT

Care is an interesting word within the accounting profession. We commonly come across reference to a duty of care, demonstrating reasonable care, acting with due care and showing an awareness of client care. All correct, of course, and, I would suggest, fundamental to professional service and behaviour.

However, these tend to define care within a technical context. How often do you think about care within a personal or business context?

As a verb, care is defined as being concerned or interested. As a noun, it is the provision of welfare, maintenance and protection or applying attention or consideration to doing something correctly.

Our profession tends to focus on the noun and primarily from a risk perspective. Applying attention or consideration to doing something correctly is what our training, systems and processes are all about. Professionally and commercially, that is important, of course. The training, systems and processes are only part of the equation here though.

When human characteristics such as boredom, frustration, anxiety, stress and lack of confidence come to the fore then care, as in applying attention or consideration to doing something correctly, is often what suffers. Do we focus enough on looking to eradicate these points of weakness?

I don’t think so. In this Digital Age, we seem to apply much more attention to fixing systems than fixing people.

Should we not be shifting our emphasis more towards care as a verb?

For many firms, the challenges they face revolve around three critical areas:

1. Getting clients and team members to better adhere to systems and processes

2. Getting team members to step up into more responsible roles

3. Getting client relationships to move onto a more added-value footing

If we focus more on care within the context of people being genuinely concerned and interested then we can drive change in these areas much more effectively than if we simply introduce more systems and processes.

I wonder if there are enough conversations within accounting firms about care in this context. We can see accounting as ‘just a job’ and focus on the technical qualities of care but does that move us forward on any of the three points above?

What we need is for people to truly care:

· Care about the quality of their work

· Care about their colleagues and firm

· Care about their clients

To do that we have to take their understanding beyond just the technical aspects of their work and to do that, we need to build far greater engagement in the human side of the firm and its clients. This means:

· Office conversations that go beyond deadlines and workflows and talk about people, visions, values, personalities, emotions and goals

· ‘Know you client’ evaluations that go beyond just the business numbers and involve the personal world of clients

· Client conversations that go beyond the tax and accounts and seek out positive influence and support

Creating an environment that defines care as a human consideration and not just a technical one can be the strategy that redefines an accounting firm and brings about the change in team and client engagement that many firms are struggling to initiate. The beauty is that it doesn’t require a huge investment in time and resources. What it does need is a flex in the way that we think: maybe more like the people that we are away from the office and less like the accountant that we are within it.

Turning the focus onto ourselves

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 11:32:05 GMT

I’ve had a thought-provoking couple of days.

It started with me joining a webinar hosted by the engaging David I Eriksson, talking about the importance in business of relationship-centric thinking in this digitally driven world, something at the core of my own mentoring and coaching. It’s always great to listen to the views of others when they are so passionate about them and so creative in their thinking.

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Delving into the mindset of an accountant

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 10:26:21 GMT

Generalisation alert!

There are millions of accountants in this world. The number seems to lie around 2m-3m but it’s hard to pin down because some don’t admit it! Anyway, I readily admit that I have not delved into the mindset of them all and my views in this article are based just on the hundreds that I have come across. You may not recognise yourself in some of the words that follow….that is great!

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How much?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 14 May 2024 10:51:04 GMT

Accountants don’t charge enough (usually!)

When I look at the average fees per client in a ‘typical’ accounting firm then, all too often, two things become painfully obvious:

1. We don’t charge enough for the services that we already offer

2. We leave far too much money on the table when it comes to the services that we could/should offer but don’t.

It’s very easy to get sucked in by the social media hype but the reality for smaller firms is an average annual fee per client (even excluding ‘tax return only’ clients) of less than £3,000 ex vat, considerably less in many cases.

Accountants don’t charge enough (usually!)

When I look at the average fees per client in a ‘typical’ accounting firm then, all too often, two things become painfully obvious:

1. We don’t charge enough for the services that we already offer

2. We leave far too much money on the table when it comes to the services that we could/should offer but don’t.

It’s very easy to get sucked in by the social media hype but the reality for smaller firms is an average annual fee per client (even excluding ‘tax return only’ clients) of less than £3,000 ex vat, considerably less in many cases.

How much this figure means to you will, of course, depend on the type of firm you are and your target market. For online and physical firms focused on the compliance needs of small businesses and taxpayers, that isn’t really a benchmark but, if you are a firm seeking to work with SME business owners and looking to offer a CompliancePLUS service then it becomes relevant.

Take the basic needs of a small SME limited company for example:

· Accounts compliance

· Personal and business tax compliance

· Payroll

· VAT and bookkeeping

· Company secretarial

· Advice on typical financial issues

· Advice on the issues of being an employer

· Help with the bigger and more urgent challenges

· A degree of tax planning

There is nothing special here and no areas that we might consider to be ‘advisory’ or value added, just a typical client’s needs over a typical year.

Even for a fairly small client, there is comfortably £3,000 plus of annual fees and value there and yet we struggle to achieve that sort of average fee across the client base as a whole.

Of course, I am generalising here and you’ll easily be able to find exceptions but, if you are worried about your average annual fees then you’ll relate to my point.

Why don’t we get as much money from our clients as other professional advisors, such as lawyers, IFAs, banks and a whole range of other consultant/advisors do?

There are many reasons and you will recognise those that apply to you:

· We may lack the confidence to charge what we should: a factor of our training, environment, experience and much of what follows below

· We may fail to demonstrate our true value: we often don’t value our own work so how are others supposed to

· We maybe don’t deliver a great job: in too many cases we may deliver a reactive, low-key service that doesn’t address the major client issues

· We may fail to agree fees in advance: the absence of clear pricing creates a reluctance to then charge more than we think the client expects

· We may fail to clarify the scope of our work: the absence of a clear work schedule invites over-servicing

· We maybe don’t believe in our own worth: the number of accountants who tell me that there is little value in compliance is quite scary!

· We maybe are weak commercially: do we really walk the walk and follow the advice that we give clients?

· We may lack consistency and transparency in our pricing: do you have two clients with similar businesses but very different fee structures who you don’t want to meet each other?

· We maybe allow the client to be in charge of the relationship: we are the professionals and should be driving the relationship and yet, too often, there is a master-servant profile to it, dictated by the wishes and behaviour of the client

· We maybe don’t actively upsell for the client’s good: We use the excuse of being too busy, or the client not being interested, but we are aware (or should be aware) of a greater range of client needs than we actively drive to address

· We may think that ‘sales’ is an unprofessional word: Still, in 2024! Being professional and being commercial are not mutually exclusive. Quite the opposite!

· We may fear being undercut by the competition: Competition has always existed in our market but no two accountants are the same. Do we highlight this enough?

· We maybe don’t focus the client on their real needs: Again, we may use the excuse of being too busy to avoid doing enough to change the behaviour and thinking of clients

· We maybe don’t educate our team in the true value of our work: Achieving CPD hours should not be the only training goal. Training our teams to see and deliver true value is key to individual and firm performance

· We may not maximise the value of our professional networks: We may see our contacts as just introducers when there are many collaboration opportunities out there

· We may continue to work with the wrong clients: So many of the above points are addressed once we start to focus our firms on the right clients

Back in the 1980’s, the performance model for an accounting firm was built around a simple three way split of fee income:

1. A third to cover staff costs

2. A third to cover overheads

3. A third left in profit for the partners

Since those times, systemisation and technology has driven down both the number of people required to work in an accounting office and the length of time that tasks take to complete. You would expect that profit share to therefore be significantly higher these days, say 40% plus?

We saw it fall during the 1990s and 2000’s as employee salaries soared, typically to around 28%, but digitalisation should have balanced that out by now. The bottom line, quite literally, is that:-

· We don’t charge enough!

· We don’t earn enough!

All of the points I make above can be fixed but it does become a race to the bottom if the desire isn’t there to fix them.

As a profession, and as individual firm owners, it’s our call and in our hands.

How are you feeling

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 11:26:03 GMT

I wonder if there are any other trades or professions that are as ‘glass half full or half empty’ as accountancy?

I spend much of my time digesting the thoughts of people in and around the world of accountants and bookkeepers. I come across lots about what we are apparently getting wrong, less so about what we get right, and I see the decline of the profession forecast more often than the hopes of a rosy future.

It feels different when I’m out in the field.

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Where does all the time go?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 14:00:07 GMT

If I may steal a line from Take That:

“We've come a long way
But we're not too sure where we've been”

In music terms, the digital pathway is clear. From the time it took to record your music onto a C90 cassette (ask your parents!) and then spend ages fast forwarding and rewinding to find the right track, to today’s instant download options from thousands of songs, the progress and time saving is tangible. Our music is available to us in an instant.

If I may steal a line from Take That:

“We've come a long way
But we're not too sure where we've been”

Back in 1981, in a pre-office computers, pre-digital accounting world, a set of accounts could take weeks to prepare:

· Book the incomplete records in

· List out the cheque stubs and banking slips

· Tick to the bank statements (multiple times!)

· Grab your trusty 16 column analysis pad and trawl through the invoices

· Prepare your control accounts for sales, purchase, cash, payroll, vat etc

· Stress for hours finding the differences

· Sort out the opening balances that hadn’t been finished off in the last year

· Post up all you’ve done onto your extended Trial Balance

· Do your journals, accruals and prepayments.

· Balance your job off

· Handwrite out your draft accounts

· Get them typed up

· See the client

· Do all the adjustments manually (The TB is getting messy by now)

· Manually prepare the final accounts

· Get them typed out again

· Call over and Proof read the final sets (a two person job)

· Finally, post out to the client

Like I said, weeks of work!

Today, accounting firms go through the same processes, but digitally, and measure the time spans in minutes and hours, rather than days and weeks.

The time savings are huge…so why are we not all sitting around twiddling our thumbs?

Part of the answer lies in the size of the workforce.

The firm that I joined in 1981 had four partners and forty staff. A progressive firm with a similar number of clients today would typically be one/two partners and no more than twelve team members. We need far fewer people to do the work, even though the compliance levels are greater, as a consequence of computerisation and digitalisation. Automation will see those numbers drop even further.

That’s only part of the story though. The reality is that we’ve filled the time savings with other ‘stuff’ and failed to adapt our thinking about the potential in accounting firms and how they fundamentally operate. The time has been absorbed by more of the same, with more mundane work and more un-commercial clients.

For instance, how many client relationships still rotate around quarterly cycles of bookkeeping, vat returns and management accounts, like we did in 1981? And how many of those are still on the March/June/September/December peaks, like they were in 1981?

How many jobs still sit around for days and weeks to get reviewed, like they did in 1981?

How many clients do we still have to chase on multiple occasions, like we did in 1981?

How many team members do we limit in their development by following rigid training routes, like we did in 1981?

I could go on, and, no doubt, you can think of many frustrations to add to the list too.

My point is this:-

We can (and should) continue to invest in digital progression, updating our systems and processes to take advantage of the latest tech advances, but, unless we change our thinking around the human and people management side of our work, we are never going to fully benefit from the time savings in the way that other sectors have.

I spoke with an accounting team recently about the advances in automation and how we could utilise them in their firm to free them up from repetitive and mundane tasks. Their first question was “but what will we do then?”.

It feels like, for the last forty years, we’ve just filled the gaps with more repetitive and mundane tasks. My response to the team was that “it is time to use your imagination. What do you want to do?”.

We need to be more creative around:

· Individual and team development of skills and knowledge

· Client management, building more effective relationships

· Service offerings, delivering more worth and having greater impact

· Firm progression, thinking outside the standard accounting box

· Life balance, doing more of what we all enjoy

What’s the point of saving time to just fill it with something just as frustrating. It feels like that’s mainly what we’ve done as a profession to this point.

Hats off to those firms breaking the mould.

Don’t just be part of the herd

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 09:27:44 GMT

In 2008, Professor Jens Krause and PhD student John Dyer of the University of Leeds, conducted an experiment into human herd mentality and how people, quite literally, follow the crowd*.

Groups of people were asked to walk randomly around a hall. They were not allowed to communicate with one another but had to stay within arm’s length of another person at all times. Among the groups, a few individuals were given more specific instructions on where to walk. The researchers found that, very quickly, people started to follow the select few who appeared to know where they were going. The researchers found that it only took 5% of confident looking people to influence the direction of the other 95%.

In 2008, Professor Jens Krause and PhD student John Dyer of the University of Leeds, conducted an experiment into human herd mentality and how people, quite literally, follow the crowd*.

Groups of people were asked to walk randomly around a hall. They were not allowed to communicate with one another but had to stay within arm’s length of another person at all times. Among the groups, a few individuals were given more specific instructions on where to walk. The researchers found that, very quickly, people started to follow the select few who appeared to know where they were going. The researchers found that it only took 5% of confident looking people to influence the direction of the other 95%.

In nature, many animals demonstrate a herd mentality for safety reasons and to make life easier when it comes to finding food, shelter and a mate. That same herding mentality though can also make them easier to be controlled by others, something long used by farmers, nomadic tribes and animal herders but also in nature by whales, dolphins, sharks etc.

As accountants we are trained to be cautious and risk-aware. We are taught to be wary of exceptions and be more comfortable with established patterns. That can make us more susceptible to herding and developing a herd mentality whereby our thinking and actions are determined by the behaviour of others and, especially, by the behaviour of our peers. Rather than conduct our own research, we rely on the assumed research of others.

This can be a nice place to be. It’s warm and safe in the middle of the herd. Someone else has the stress of the big decisions, we can just follow them.

It can also be dangerous. The classic boom and bust of stock market investments are examples of following the herd and of panic buying and selling based on the actions of others.

It is wise to learn from others but, to essentially sub-ordinate your own decision-making to the actions of others can hold back your own progress, even if it keeps you safe.

Choosing to run your own accounting business isn’t a ‘safe’ decision. Accepting a senior role or management position in an accounting firm isn’t a ‘safe’ decision. At the point you commit, you are backing yourself. The challenges of the job can then push us down a pathway that we didn’t intend to take but seems the easier, or maybe the least difficult, option. But aren’t we just reacting in the same way that the flock reacts to the sheep dog?

Deciding on your own path, doing your own analysis and making your own decisions is harder than simply following the accountants that surround you but there is a freedom and a reward that comes with being bold. Yes, there is a risk, but you’ve taken considered risks before to get to this point.

Many accountants are frustrated by the way that their working day pans out. The root cause of that can lie in allowing ourselves to be herded, to adopt a herd mentality and follow pathways that are inconsistent with our own vision and goals and therefore bring little satisfaction. If you want to break free then:-

· Do your own analysis

· Establish your own path

· Make your own decisions

· Take the actions that you believe to be right

Listen to others but, ultimately, back yourself to make the call!

* "Sheep in human clothing – scientists reveal our flock mentality" . University of Leeds Press Office. 14 February 2008.

Staying alert to the metrics that really matter

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 11:28:56 GMT

Too much water of the wrong kind was the misfortune of the Ancient Mariner, quite literally the albatross hung around his neck, but, to paraphrase Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s rime about the cursed sailor, the modern day accountant will feel the frustration of ‘data, data everywhere nor any time to think’.

Historically, the challenge of our profession has been the time it has taken to produce meaningful data, either on a client’s business or on the accounting firm itself. Incomplete records and the difficulty of extracting information has always held back our decision-making and actions.

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Where did all the profit go

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 12:58:42 GMT

I’m 65 this year.

That used to be a significant milestone before the government shifted the statutory retirement age but, whilst I must wait longer for my state pension, I’ll still qualify for cheaper haircuts at my local barbers and a discount on my Leicester City season ticket so it’s not all bad news.

Besides, I have no intention of retiring. I love what I do and have plenty of passion and energy for working with fellow accountants for a good few years yet. I mention my age because I came into this profession long enough ago to remember how simple the profit equation was for accounting firms once upon a time.

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Stepping up or stepping out

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:00:12 GMT

Our teams are a precious resource. Like any relationship, there are times when they frustrate, disappoint and annoy us (rest assured, the feeling will be mutual) but, I know from my own experience and from the many accounting firms that I visit, that your typical accounting team member is hardworking, loyal and endeavouring not to let anyone down. With recruitment being costly and challenging these days, and with firms being so leanly resourced, I come across very few team members that the firm leaders would be happy to see go.

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What’s ‘just’ about being an accountant

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 12:16:09 GMT

The words that you use matter not only in the way that you express your thoughts but in what they say about your mindset, to yourself and to others.

I’m going to take issue with a simple four letter word that I hear too often within the accounting profession and a word that does us no favours.

Just.

“I’m just an accountant”

The words that you use matter not only in the way that you express your thoughts but in what they say about your mindset, to yourself and to others.

I’m going to take issue with a simple four letter word that I hear too often within the accounting profession and a word that does us no favours.

Just.

“I’m just an accountant”

“I’m just a manager/junior/ clerk/administrator* (insert your job title)

“I just need to finish something else first”

“I just need to do this before I go”

“I just need to look into it”

“I’ll just be a minute”

“I just need to call the client”

I have two problems with the use of the word ‘just’ in these contexts:

1. Nobody is “just an” anything! In the accounting world, whether you are a senior partner, a junior on your first day or anything in between, you have earned the right to be where you are today. To have the word ‘just’ precede your job title demeans you role. It tells the rest of the world that you are somehow less than the standard. Worse still, it suggests the same thought lurks within your own mind. How can anyone else appreciate your value if you don’t recognise it yourself.

2. In a similar vein, using ‘just’ to precede a task devalues your work. It suggests that it’s not a problem or it’s just a small thing. If you’re using it in the context of being asked to do something different then it gives the impression that what you have to do is somehow less important.

If you are looking to manage your workload, take control of a situation and demonstrate to a client that there is value (and hence a fee) coming into play, which of these sends out the right message:-

· “I just need to look into it”

· “I need to look into it”

Removing that one word creates a sense of a more tangible, significant action. It may look like splitting hairs but in a world where accountants are undervalued and guilty of giving so much away for free, being aware of the language that we use is one step in the right direction to being better respected.

Let’s try again:

“I’m an accountant, how can I help you?”

“I’m a manager/junior/ clerk/administrator, how can I help you?”

“I need to finish something else first but let’s get you scheduled in”

“I need to do this before I go, because this is my priority right now”

“I need to look into it, it’s important, not easy and it’s going to cost you”

“I’ll be a minute, actually, it’ll take longer than that”

“I need to call the client, I need to do my job”

Don’t undersell yourself and don’t undersell your activities.

How about we just ban the word!

Why accountancy should no longer be seen as ‘just a job’

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 16:27:59 GMT

The roles for people owning or working in accounting firms are changing. Digitalisation is transforming the ways in which we work and many of the tasks that have traditionally consumed the time and focus of accounting employers and employees are becoming far less dependent on human hands and minds.

The demand for the core services that we offer hasn’t changed significantly but the way in which we deliver them has. The demand for wider services is growing and so too is the desire among accounting firms to offer them.

The ability of firms, their leaders and their teams to evolve is being tested and this is leading me to challenge some deeply rooted issues, fundamental to how firms and individuals have worked to this point and now have to address as they approach their future in the profession.

The ability of firms, their leaders and their teams to evolve is being tested and this is leading me to challenge some deeply rooted issues, fundamental to how firms and individuals have worked to this point and now have to address as they approach their future in the profession.

To some in our profession, accountancy has always been a professional vocational. I would certainly class myself in this camp and I meet many others: accountants who look far beyond the numbers and deadlines and have a real passion for helping their clients, creating opportunities for their team and building thriving, positive firms that make a difference in their community. Accountancy to them isn’t just a job, it’s a means of fulfilment.

For others, accountancy is a job: not a vocation, but a professional job that they are very good at and gain satisfaction from doing well. They don’t seek to use their skills to change the world but do gain fulfilment from a job well done.

For the rest, accountancy is a job in its most basic sense: a series of tasks to be done to meet their contract and a way of paying the bills. A day to be endured.

Working in an accounting firm will always be challenging. We work in an environment driven by multiple customer demands and deadlines, governed by professional and legal standards, where we must consider complex, important and high value matters under time and fee pressure. It’s never going to be easy.

In such a challenging environment, if you are not going home at the end of the day fulfilled by what you have achieved then you have to question whether the pressures and stress are worth it. There are easier jobs out there!

And this is where my challenge comes in.

As a leader of an accounting firm, I used to accept that not everyone in my team had the same passion that I had for helping clients. However, If they fell into the second category and took pride in their performance then that too was great.

However, if they fell into the third category, and saw their role as very much ‘just a job’ then that was still okay as long as they delivered on their contractual responsibilities.

I don’t think that works any more, for three reasons:-

1. If firms are to be successful today then they need the whole team to engage in the culture and the plan. We constantly witness discussions around teams ‘stepping up’ – because accounting firm leaders need to be free to work on their businesses and not in them and because a wider spectrum of service delivery and higher client expectations requires a whole of firm effort and engagement. Teams must step forward as one otherwise the reality of only being as strong as your weakest point will always hold the firm back.

2. Accounting firms require energy, positivity and ambition to grow and stand out in today’s world. Add these to a shared vision and you have a powerful mix. Allow this to be diluted by negativity, obstruction or an unwillingness to engage and you add a bitter taste to the cocktail that impacts on the whole experience, internally and externally.

3. For those who see it a ‘just a job’ not only is the growth of the firm going to add to the hassle that they feel but, for dynamic firms seeking change, they can no longer accept working around such individuals. It’s in everyone’s best interest to recognise that it’s no longer a healthy relationship.

I believe that we should talk more openly about accountancy as a vocation and about the challenge of driving standards. Instead of shying away from conversations that may seem a bit weird (“let’s talk about passion, emotion, belief”) or scary (We’re going to push you outside your comfort zone and challenge you to be more”), we should embrace the concepts of making a difference and bettering ourselves to the extent that they become fundamental to our team cultures. Everyone wants to learn. Everyone wants to be better and progress. Only then do we build the firm and level of performance that we seek with a team who want to shine.

Just doing your job is no longer enough for a firm that wants to deliver more. I’m not sure that there is room anymore to compromise with team members who don’t engage with the plan and vision.

Often, those who see their role merely as doing a job are still hardworking, loyal individuals. That’s why they are still with you and I’m not advocating dismissal. I’m simply saying that the lack of a fit in your future isn’t healthy for either them, you or their colleagues. With over 40,000 firms in the UK, there are plenty of places for those who are no longer comfortable in a more progressive firm.

Incidentally, I have other issues around people who describe themselves as ‘just an accountant’ but that’s for another time! body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

What to do when recruitment is no longer the answer

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 15:00:08 GMT

The accounting profession has always found recruitment to be an effective solution for a range of operational challenges.

Want to grow your top line?

Bring in some more fee earners.

Need to add some skills?

Select from a range of candidates who tick the right boxes

Losing a team member?

Seamlessly get an oven-ready replacement within the notice period

Today we face a very different situation with recruitment proving a major headache for firms right across the accounting spectrum. There are numerous factors at play here:

The accounting profession has always found recruitment to be an effective solution for a range of operational challenges.

Want to grow your top line?

Bring in some more fee earners.

Need to add some skills?

Select from a range of candidates who tick the right boxes

Losing a team member?

Seamlessly get an oven-ready replacement within the notice period

Today we face a very different situation with recruitment proving a major headache for firms right across the accounting spectrum. There are numerous factors at play here:

· Recent years have seen a fall in the number of accountancy-related graduates as undergraduates select apparently more attractive options.

· Accounting firms have tended to cut back on their recruitment and training programmes in the face of commercial pressures and digitalisation whilst, at the same time, worked harder to retain the skills and experience that they already employ.

· The pandemic has accelerated society’s changing perceptions to life balance and health, causing many to re-evaluate their career paths and work requirements.

· The rapidly growing value of data has driven demand for accountants across far wider business and organisational sectors. There is more choice for

· accounting talent than ever.

Whatever the reason, the ability to be able to recruit the right level people, when you need them, has gone from a core strategy to a matter of luck.

I don’t see any of the conditions working against effective recruitment changing any time soon. So, do we continue to chance our arm in the recruitment lottery or do we start looking for different fixes to the problems where recruitment would have traditionally been the answer. How do we grow our firms if we can’t rely on our recruitment?

These are my thoughts:

1. Treat your recruitment as an ongoing marketing campaign

Recruitment can no longer be relied on as a quick fix but remains a long term strategy for helping you to build the right team. It’s not the best idea to only start marketing for a new client once you lose an existing one and the same applies to your people. Attracting people who are a great fit and who you can then build a role for is far more effective than trying to wedge panic buys into existing holes.

2. Grow your own

Accounting firms used to regularly recruit new trainees annually. Bring in a bright young thing each year, with little experience but a great attitude. Train them up and let them become the guide for the next year’s intake. It not only created continuity but enabled firms to build strong cultures around teams organically introduced to their values and systems. Smaller firms in particular seemed to get out of this habit, scared of training only for the benefit of larger firms down the line, but we should get back to creating home-grown teams. It’s also hugely rewarding to give young people the opportunity and watch them flourish.

3. Be more effective with your systems

Ask any fintech and they’ll tell you that one of their big challenges is getting their customers (you!) to fully use their systems. Whilst accountants generally embrace technology, I’m not convinced that we put enough resource into the ongoing training and development to ensure that we get the best out of it. One way to ease the pressure on your existing team is to make your use of your existing software much more effective. This can cost time and money but how else do you then save it thereafter?

4. Create an environment of challenge and development

There’s much talk of getting teams to ‘step up’ but how do we initiate and encourage this? Generally, accounting teams work hard but not necessarily smarter. We need to challenge our teams (and ourselves!) to be better and to build an environment of learning, self-development, management and support that encourages this. I don’t accept that accounting has to be seen as ‘just a job’ but it’s up to firm leaders to foster more vocation-based thinking. We work together to be better and to want to be better.

5. Look down to telescope from the other end

Recruitment is an issue because of a shortage of resources. If we can’t fix the recruitment then look instead at where the resources are being used. The reality is that many accounting firms spend too much time and resource focusing their efforts on trying to satisfy the wrong clients. Remove those clients and you free up that resource. You will be familiar with Pareto’s 80:20 principle. We can argue about the accuracy of the split but the basic principle that most of your profit comes from the minority of your clients is true in most cases. In our own work, we estimate that, in a typical accounting firm, up to a third of the client base contributes virtually nothing to the firm’s bottom line but absorbs a disproportionate amount of time. Remove your ‘D’ clients and free up resource to grow.

6. Widen your search

If you must recruit for now, think more about the core skills that you need. Technology has reduced our complete dependence on traditionally trained accountants to the extent that some roles can now be adapted to be successfully carried out by individuals who maybe don’t have the perfect accountant cv history but who have the interest and skill sets to still be effective. Management skills, data skills, analytical skills etc cross boundaries with other jobs and professions and could introduce some effective lateral thinking into your operations.

None of these ideas will necessarily fix the recruitment headache that you are mulling over today but by taking a longer term approach to your recruitment and by making more effective use of your existing resources you can still grow your firm without being strangled by the employment market.

There’s more to being a public accountant than tax!

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 16:09:28 GMT

Since running a poll last week on whether accountants should be inspirational, I’ve had some brilliant conversations around the globe.

Results first: 100% of voters agreed we should be, although almost 1 in 5 didn’t then know how. That’s okay, we can fix that.

I’ve followed up the question in my conversations.

Since running a poll last week on whether accountants should be inspirational, I’ve had some brilliant conversations around the globe.

Results first: 100% of voters agreed we should be, although almost 1 in 5 didn’t then know how. That’s okay, we can fix that.

I’ve followed up the question in my conversations.

· Should we aim to be more inspirational?

· Should we challenge more?

· Should we be bolder?

Yes! Yes! Yes!

There’s plenty of agreement but is there action?

Okay, it’s not for everyone, and I’m not being derogatory of those accountants who focus on getting the job done, we all have a place in the process of providing client service, but we don’t talk about being inspirational, challenging more and being bolder enough, if at all!

Here’s the thing…

I know, from years of conversations, that, for many accountants, their driver is to make a difference.

I know, from conversations every day, that the need to change the behaviour and perception of both clients and teams is a primary challenge for accounting firm leaders. Lovely clients and lovely teams but both need to step up if change is to be effected.

You don’t effect change by taking the same approach that you’ve always done. Being inspirational, challenging more and being bolder needs to become part of the conversation.

We don’t need to be heroic to be inspirational. We just need to set a standard with a clarity and a consistency that others can draw strength and direction from.

We don’t need to work harder to challenge more. We just need to raise the bar for ourselves, our team and our clients and show that we have the trust, support and guidance to create successful outcomes.

We don’t need to become someone who we are not in order to be bolder. We just need to be more committed and honest with ourselves, our teams and our clients.

To kick things off, especially if you are one of the 20% who don’t know how to:-

1. Set the standard

2. Be true to your values

3. Communicating clearly

4. Be positive

5. Lift others up, don’t knock them down

6. Value time

7. Show respect

8. Face up to challenge

9. Promote the value of learning

In other words, be you but on a good day, every day and, in the words of rock legends Crowded House, “Always bring the weather with you”.

How do you change your firm?

· Be inspirational!

· challenge more!

· be bold!

We stare at our challenges but the answer lies in challenging more

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 04 Oct 2023 09:44:57 GMT

As accountants we don’t have to look hard to encounter the headaches in running an accounting firm today. Whether it be meeting deadlines, resolving tech issues, managing the team, improving margins or staying on top of client needs, finding the time and resources to get on top of the daily challenges dominates the thoughts of partners, directors and managers.

The nature of the challenges is such that short term thinking dictates our days. When time and resources are tight then we have to deal with the challenges that are immediately in front of us. This may be a reactive approach but tomorrow’s challenges are just going to have to wait their turn, and, as for longer term solutions….well, what can you do!

The nature of the challenges is such that short term thinking dictates our days. When time and resources are tight then we have to deal with the challenges that are immediately in front of us. This may be a reactive approach but tomorrow’s challenges are just going to have to wait their turn, and, as for longer term solutions….well, what can you do!

There is a lot of frustration amongst accountants who want to achieve something more and who recognise that they are stuck in a vicious circle but don’t know how to step away from it without everything very quickly going belly up.

Let’s not kid ourselves, there certainly isn’t an easy solution. Changing the status quo is difficult in most aspects of life, which is one reason why so many accept it. However, change is possible for those prepared to face up to it and break through.

We focus on our challenges but, if we are to change our world then we need to focus more not on the challenges that others present us but on the challenges that we set ourselves.

Ask yourself:

1. Do you challenge yourself enough?

This isn’t about challenging yourself to work harder but do you challenge yourself to be better, be more ambitious, be more creative, take more risks?

Take your own personal development as an example. Do you see CPD as hours to be recorded in order to stay compliant or do you actively search out training that will improve your levels of expertise and skill sets in areas that you want to develop? Do you seek out others as examples to be inspired by and learn from?

In terms of your ambition, do you settle for a bit better than last year or do you really consider what levels you can strive to achieve? Do you wait for things to happen or make things happen?

When it comes to being creative, do you aim to just match the profile of an accountant or are you prepared to be different?

Risk gives us a particular problem as we are trained to be risk averse. Are you prepared to adopt a more commercial, even entrepreneurial approach to risk?

Most importantly, do you challenge yourself to perform in a manner that will inspire others? Do you recognise your role as a leader and not just an accountant?

2. Do you challenge your team enough?

Again, this isn’t about challenging them to work harder. My guess is that you already have a loyal and hardworking team. Do you challenge them to work smarter, learn beyond their exam training and step up to do things they never thought themselves capable of?

Do you give them the space and the opportunity to step up, demonstrate the trust and confidence in them to encourage them to do so and provide them with the training, guidance and support to achieve beyond their current perceived limits?

Do you challenge their attitude and get them to break away from seeing each day as a list of tasks to complete and, instead, have them focus on your real vision and goals. Is their work life about simply getting jobs done or supporting you in your ambitions and helping clients with theirs?

Take the simple tax return. Do you and your team see it as just another task to get done or do you recognise and embrace the benefits of you doing it well – the reduced stress and worry and the increased clarity and certainty that you bring to the client?

Same exercise. Same cost and time but a very different mindset and perception.

Do you shape your team to embrace a challenge or continue the drudgery?

3. Do you challenge your clients enough?

We too often accept the limitations that clients place upon themselves. If a driver of yours is to make a difference to the lives of your clients then we are almost duty bound to challenge their thinking. “Too busy”, “Can’t afford it”, “Do it later” are excuses that we recognise hold back our own businesses. Why do we allow our clients to make those same mistakes?

Are we bold enough and driven enough in our client dealings?

Challenging ourselves, our team and our clients to be better, to step up, to want more is the route out of the daily grind that we face. The beauty is that it doesn’t have to cost us an arm and a leg or use up massive amounts of our scarce time.

Passion, energy, drive and mindset are the things that make the real difference to individuals and teams. They use up no more than the same time and money that we have now, just to better effect…and, over time, they save both.

Let’s talk about time recording

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 11:23:04 GMT

A conversation about time recording is not automatically a conversation about billing, although it sometimes feels like that on the accounting social media and forums.

A conversation about time recording is actually a conversation about effective business (practice) management.

Let’s cover the billing piece first. The narrative is that, as a profession, we used to bill our time and therefore everyone kept timesheets. That became more and more problematic for clients and didn’t reflect our true worth and so we evolved into fixed pricing, value pricing, transactional pricing, outcome pricing and the rest. Timesheets became irrelevant and so we binned them.

A conversation about time recording is not automatically a conversation about billing, although it sometimes feels like that on the accounting social media and forums.

A conversation about time recording is actually a conversation about effective business (practice) management.

Let’s cover the billing piece first. The narrative is that, as a profession, we used to bill our time and therefore everyone kept timesheets. That became more and more problematic for clients and didn’t reflect our true worth and so we evolved into fixed pricing, value pricing, transactional pricing, outcome pricing and the rest. Timesheets became irrelevant and so we binned them.

Only, that’s not what happened!

When I joined the profession in 1981, the first thing I was shown was how to complete a timesheet. The system was a simple one. Everyone had a charge out rate that was linked to your level of expertise. You carried out work that reflected that same level of expertise and so the bill was an easy formula of time multiplied by rate.

But it wasn’t, because the partner would review the time records ahead of their billing run and raise an invoice based upon what they considered to be the ‘right’ price taking into account the work down, the client relationship, any obvious cock-ups, last year’s fee and so on. In theory, we charged time but, in practice we charged a ‘market’ amount.

Clients grew frustrated with time-based billing, not because of the process but because the inefficiencies at both the client and accountant’s end pushed up the cost and a lack of communication brought nasty surprises.

Accountants grew frustrated with time-based billing, not because of the mechanics but because charge out rates became driven by salary rather than expertise and so fees didn’t reflect value.

The other side of the coin was that time recording measured performance. We could see which clients, team members and services were profitable and which weren’t.

We were all accountable and that can be an uncomfortable thing when performance isn’t great.

In a nutshell, timesheets made us feel bad because, by the early 1990’s, the profession was horribly inefficient with no clear pricing or service structures. Clients were fed up with the surprise fees and accountants were fed up having to justify their performances and so, rather than face up to the root causes, we all blamed the timesheet and binned it.

Don’t misunderstand me, the developments in better client communication, more transparent pricing and more value-based pricing are all good, essential steps that the profession has had to make to reflect a more commercial world, but we could have achieved all of those without dropping the much maligned timesheet by communicating better, being more efficient and having a more appropriate charge out structure.

In removing time recording we removed a key source of management data in our firms and we have seen the financial performance of the typical accounting firm suffer as a consequence. We stress today about how much time we give away, how many clients we have who aren’t profitable and how inefficient our production processes are. These all impact on our profitability. Where did we use to get that information from I wonder!

As a partner in 1991, I would review my client portfolio every month. My main resource was time and I could see exactly how it was being consumed by clients, team members and myself. We were all visible and accountable. That wasn’t always comfortable but it sure as hell enabled effective decision making.

As well as giving me performance data, the fact that we used time and rates as a management tool gave me critical planning data and a clear view and understanding of my resource capacity, team training needs and future income streams.

Removing time sheets didn’t fix our billing issues or client arguments but it did cut off access to key management data on our own business performance.

It has taken the profession a long time to get back to where we were when it comes to practice management data. Many accountants still choose to ignore data-driven performance of their own firms, believing instead that to be busy is a sufficient strategy, but for those accountants actively looking to improve their own businesses, practice management data is critical.

Digitalisation has, of course, made the extraction and analysis of that data far more efficient than the old manual timesheets but I do feel that software suppliers have a way to go in fully understanding the needs we have to run our own firms. It isn’t just about task and workflow management.

Kamozo is an excellent example of software that is now addressing this and it is no coincidence that it has been developed by an accountant in practice, the excellent Mark Hill.

Client conversations for many accountants increasingly focus on what the client can do to run a better business. Are we practicing what we preach?

How to upgrade a compliance-based client relationship

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 09:54:32 GMT

For many accounting firms, the majority of their clients will be what I categorise as ‘B’ clients. These are small business owners who are nice people, no problem to deal with and appreciative of your role as their accountant but who typically will only buy compliance services from you unless they have a very specific issue that they need you to fix.

They will politely listen to you when you raise the possibility of higher value work but there will always be a reason why they can’t do it right now:-

“Thank you but we’re too busy right now”

“Thank you but we can’t afford it this year”

“Thank you but I don’t think we’re a big enough business for that”

“Thank you but we can manage”

We tend to let these situations slide because we are almost expecting the response that we get and because we’ve got plenty to be getting on with ourselves, but we shouldn’t forget the reasons why we raised the possibility of additional work in the first place.

Many accountants want to provide more than just compliance services and advice for their clients. Obviously, There is a commercial benefit to us in doing so, but also its fundamental if we want to make a real difference to the lives of our clients, and that is a common driver for the accountant.

Rarely would an accountant seek to sell a new service to a client purely for their own gain. We seek to offer services beyond compliance to our clients because we know that it will be good for the client themselves. It will fix the issues of time, money, growth and frustration that they face.

If we could deliver just one more value added service, whether it be financial management, advisory or a support service, to each of our ‘B’ clients then we would make a significant and positive difference to both them and us.

How do you do it?

1. Most importantly, you must believe in the value of the service that you offer. If you don’t believe that your advice or service will make a genuine and positive difference then don’t promote it. Instead, look inwards at how you can improve your offering. A belief in your service will give you the energy, commitment and drive required to promote your case.

2. Create an environment that continually highlights the value of your services and expertise. If you seek a positive, creative, enthusiastic, entrepreneurial response from your clients then your firm needs to emit the same. Your offices, your team and you need to be continually seeking to inspire your clients to change. Your environment, messaging and behaviour are a key element of the sales process.

3. Ensure your messaging continually supports your thinking. Online and offline your tone and content should reflect the direction in which you want your clients to travel. Most clients will sign up to an accounting firm for compliance reasons. That’s a good thing, it helps attract new business and builds trust. Your messaging needs to constantly develop on this though and get your clients thinking about what their business and life could be like with a few changes to their systems and thinking.

4. Show the relevance to your clients. It’s okay talking about how to be a better business but if the client can excuse themselves by saying that it isn’t aimed at them then we give them an easy way out. Utilise case studies, testimonials and statistics to show that the services you talk about are aimed exactly at people like them.

5. Walk the talk. This is crucial. Don’t try and sell what you don’t apply. Be your own advocate by showing clients how you do it.

6. Tag your services to specific clients and know the journey. Look at your list of ‘B’ clients. Understand where you are trying to take each client, what service you will target as the next step on the journey and what benefits it will deliver. Know what you plan to sell (advise!) them.

7. Have your tools ready. Clients are more easily swayed if they have something tangible in front of them. In this tech driven age we have a whole toolbox of digital offerings for our clients that enable us to do just that. Prepare a report, dashboard, plan or set of numbers that show the client the benefits that you want to talk about. “Let me show you something” is a powerful way to get your message across so make sure you have your digital offerings in place. If you don’t have software to back up the services that you want to offer then you must address that as an issue.

8. Be persistent and consistent. If what you are offering is of genuine benefit to the client, and you really want to make a difference, then it is worthwhile sticking to your guns. People don’t tend to buy other than essential items on the first point of contact so have a sales plan for the year, not just for the meeting. Show the benefits using all of your marketing tools, don’t rely on a one-off meeting.

Providing more value added services for your clients isn’t about the profession’s drive to be more advisory based. It’s about helping your clients to address some of the frustrations, risks and challenges in the lives. In other words, it’s about helping to create positive change and make the difference that lots of accountants wish for.

Getting customers to buy is a challenge for any business. It’s not a challenge that we should be giving up on.

Getting your team to step up needs more than just encouragement

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 24 Aug 2023 11:43:49 GMT

There are lots of conversations around at the moment about how to get a team to ‘step up’. It’s not surprising.

Time and resources remain in short supply in accounting firms. There are plenty of firm owners and directors out there who have hardworking and loyal teams but who remain frustrated that their own time is still occupied by tasks that they’d love to delegate but feel unable to. They look to their team to step up when it comes to taking responsibilities and actions but can’t seem to trigger the right response.

There are lots of conversations around at the moment about how to get a team to ‘step up’. It’s not surprising.

Time and resources remain in short supply in accounting firms. There are plenty of firm owners and directors out there who have hardworking and loyal teams but who remain frustrated that their own time is still occupied by tasks that they’d love to delegate but feel unable to. They look to their team to step up when it comes to taking responsibilities and actions but can’t seem to trigger the right response.

The role of the team in an accounting firm is changing. Many of the traditional number crunching and administrative tasks have been replaced by digitalisation and firms are looking increasingly to team members to become more involved in client management, process development and service delivery roles. Partners and directors, under pressure to work more on their own business and spend less time in the daily grind, are looking to loyal, hardworking staff to step into areas of the firm that they wish to leave behind but they are finding too many barriers around confidence, availability and skills.

I see four stages to successfully addressing the problem:

1. Create the space

If you want your team to step up then there has to be a space for them to step into, which inevitably means you getting out of their way. If you are micro-managing their work, correcting their communications, shutting down their ideas and rejecting anything that isn’t done the way you’d do it then your team have no space ahead of them. Our team are not us. They have grown up in a different world and trained in different ways. We have to recognise that doing things differently is part of the firm’s progression.

Trying to create diluted versions of yourself, even subconsciously, will not take your firm forward. Your team can’t advance if they are constantly trying to second guess what you would have done. Allow them the space to think and act for themselves.

If you don’t trust them to fulfil their role then don’t employ them!

2. Build the foundation

Your team won’t just walk in to any space you leave behind. They have to have the confidence that this is the right thing to do and that they are capable. Having clearly defined roles and responsibilities that are understood by everyone is fundamental to team progression. People have to understand what their job is in order to fulfil it. Expectations too should be equally transparent and communicated. Knowing what is expected of us helps to build our confidence and enables us to attempt better decisions.

Don’t wait for your team to knock on the door. Welcome them in, show them the floor plan and stick their name on the top of the desk!

3. Encourage the growth

Lack of confidence is the biggest barrier to stepping up. Creating the space and setting the foundations can still see team members hesitant to cross the threshold. Two more ingredients are required:

i) A culture that sees mistakes as part of the learning process rather than the disciplinary one

ii) A visible platform of training and support that encourages positive thinking and actions

If your team are scared to make mistakes then they will stay firmly within their comfort zones. Quality control is clearly important but shouldn’t be a block to people testing out their own thoughts above the safety net. Training, management support, mentoring and coaching should enable an environment of experimentation, free thinking and individual actions without fear getting in the way.

We’ve all learned from our mistakes, just don’t repeat them too often!

4. Firm up the structure

You’ve stepped away from the space, created a clear structure of roles, responsibilities and expectations and put in place support to help remove the fear factor. To truly free yourself up, we now need the team to become autonomous. Having a team who are confident in making their own decisions and taking their own actions is part of the process but to have the team become fully self-sufficient we need them to support each other, manage each other and hold each other accountable. Checking each other’s work, holding each other accountable and helping each other to achieve targets and goals are characteristics of a true team.

This requires you to build a different relationship with your team. You’ve moved from being seen as the decision-maker, enforcer and goalkeeper to a more remote figure, in a good sense. They still report to you but no longer rely on your for every minute of the day.

They are free to expand…and so are you.

Seeking inspiration for change

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 17 Aug 2023 11:15:24 GMT

Author Mary Ann Evans, better known under her pen name of George Eliot, may seem an odd place to start for an article written for accountants.

I live quite close to the town of her birth, Nuneaton. The town’s hospital is proudly named after her. That’s a connection rather than a reason though.

No, the reason why I start with the great English author is because of this quote from her:

“It is never too late to be what you might have been”

Author Mary Ann Evans, better known under her pen name of George Eliot, may seem an odd place to start for an article written for accountants.

I live quite close to the town of her birth, Nuneaton. The town’s hospital is proudly named after her. That’s a connection rather than a reason though.

No, the reason why I start with the great English author is because of this quote from her:

“It is never too late to be what you might have been”

Those of you who follow my material will know that I love using quotations. The many, many people out there who make far better use of the English language than my own ‘O’ level standard provide inspiration for much of my content, as George Eliot has done here.

I have had another week of introductions to accountants who know what they should be doing but are frustrated by the place that they find themselves in.

They want to:-

· change their firm for tomorrow but are blocked by the demands and deadlines of today

· change their client relationships onto a more value-added footing but don’t have the buy in of the clients

· change their team into one that steps up but can’t get the engagement from those around them

In my experience, most accountants running their own firms find themselves in the position of working in their business rather than on it. For many, there is an acceptance that this is just how it is. They talk to other accountants in the same boat and console themselves that, whilst their original goals are now just a distant dream, the recurring income model of our profession and the ongoing compliance volumes means that their firm may not be amazing but it’s still okay. Can’t complain!

The greater frustration comes for those who still want to change. They want to be better with better clients outcomes and better team engagement. They know what they want to do…but how when there is no time beyond the present stresses?

I’ve said on many occasions that there is no magic button, no easy fix or route to success. However, to achieve desired change isn’t as insurmountable as it may seem today either. To change you have to build momentum, and to build momentum you have to be prepared to push through the initial inertia.

Two factors are crucial:

First, we have George Eliot’s quote. “It is never too late to be what you might have been”.

If you are going to change then the first thing to accepts is that you start from where you are today. We’d all love to start from somewhere easier, when we are less busy and with more resources, but, in waiting for that time to arrive, we don’t make the changes that will create it. There is no point regretting where you are or what might have been. Accept where you are today and start your journey from here. Start doing things differently today.

Second, changing your firm inevitably means changing your client and team relationships. You want both your team and your clients to better engage in your vision and goals. We’ve all tried to convince others to do things our way, to buy into our advice and plans, and usually with only limited success.

If you think about it, the people who drive change in you are those who inspire you, through circumstance, actions or words. If you are going to drive change in others then you are going to have to do more than just talk to them or send them an email. You’re going to have to inspire them with your circumstances and actions as well as words.

We don’t talk about being inspirational enough in our profession, in the same way that we don’t talk enough about passion, energy or belief. If you don’t believe passionately in what you do then why should others follow you?

Life is too short to not be passionate about what you do each day. Equally, life is too short to settle for the frustrations of today.

Being an accountant, working for you own family, with your own team and for your own SME clients is something that you can be passionate about. Passionate enough to not just settle for the status quo.

I get that some of you won’t relate to this and maybe think me a bit odd. That’s fine, you’ll not be alone!

For those who this does resonate with though, remember George Eliot’s words…

“It is never too late to be what you might have been”.

Mary Ann Evans adopted the nom de plume of George Eliot because she didn’t want to be limited by the stereotypical views of the time of women’s writing being frivolous and light hearted.

She didn’t accept the status quo.

Neither should you.

My top 7 tips for running your accounting firm

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 16:28:15 GMT

(And no, the shameless use of seven puppies to grab your attention isn’t one of them!)

I’ve spent pretty much every working day of the last 42 years working either as an accountant in practice or with accountants in practice. I’m privileged these days to work as a mentor and coach in the profession and fortunate enough to have stayed relevant and have people willing to listen to me. Equally fortunately, they don’t always agree with me!

(And no, the shameless use of seven puppies to grab your attention isn’t one of them!)

I’ve spent pretty much every working day of the last 42 years working either as an accountant in practice or with accountants in practice. I’m privileged these days to work as a mentor and coach in the profession and fortunate enough to have stayed relevant and have people willing to listen to me. Equally fortunately, they don’t always agree with me!

I woke up this morning and decided, for whatever random reason, that today was the day to share my top tips for running an owner-managed accounting firm.

Surprise, surprise, none of these are instant fixes but, in my experience, they all lead to happy and successful outcomes.

1. Don’t have anyone tell you how you must run your firm (me included!). It’s your firm to run your own way; to your vision, values, goals, interests and ideas. Enjoy the rewards of your successes and learn from your mistakes but do it your way. Otherwise, what is the point of having your own firm?

2. Always work to internal deadlines, not filing deadlines. The curse of the accounting profession is reactive work scheduling. Not only does this create an horribly inefficient use of resources but it prevents proactive client work because the data is always too old. Of course, this requires active client management which brings me onto….

3. Remember that you are the professional and manage your client relationships accordingly. Clients should work to your guidance and management and not see you as a last resort to dump things on. Its inefficient and disrespectful. You and your team set the timetable for all compliance and planned support work. If the client can’t agree a schedule that works for you both then that’s okay but does mean that you cannot work with them.

4. Be crystal clear on your target market and model client. Not all clients are the same and segmenting your clients into A (best), B (regular), C (disruptive) and D (causing you losses) is critical in focusing your systems, resources and time effectively. In addition, fine-tuning your marketing and brand to attract clients who fit your A and B segments rather than accepting everything that crosses your threshold will help to build the right client base for your plans.

5. Give your team the space to develop. A lack of confidence kills engagement and development so show them that you trust them and give them the room to grow. You learned from your opportunities and mistakes so give them the same chance.

6. Actively plan your resources. Whether it be taking onboard a new client or promising to achieve an imminent deadline, we often hit and hope and suffer the consequences. Plan your resources to back up your decisions. You may have to give an answer that you don’t want but you’ll reduce stress levels and build a far more stable business. Always have a plan to deliver.

7. Price according to your own perception of value and reward. You can’t ignore what the competition are charging but you can’t be driven by it either. You will be successful in your pricing if you set levels that enable you to confidently present the cost-benefit proposal to the client AND that you feel fairly reward you.

Good luck and, most importantly, do your own thing!

Wonder which W word works wonders

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 26 Jul 2023 11:22:47 GMT

One of the big challenges facing accounting firms is how to get their regular SME clients to think differently about the role and value of their accountant.

Progressing clients from a compliance based relationship that is probably the reason why they sought out an accountant in the first place and may well have been the basis of the relationship for years is not simply a matter of putting a new planning tool in front of them.

One of the big challenges facing accounting firms is how to get their regular SME clients to think differently about the role and value of their accountant.

Progressing clients from a compliance based relationship that is probably the reason why they sought out an accountant in the first place and may well have been the basis of the relationship for years is not simply a matter of putting a new planning tool in front of them.

As an accountant, whether you are seeking to develop more advisory generated fees for commercial reasons or because it’s one of your fundamental drivers, to make a real difference to the lives of your clients, getting them to engage in fee-generating conversations about their businesses and lives is far harder than just asking them in for an annual meeting to sign off their accounts.

I’ve talked for a long time now about the need to change the client conversation. That change has to be driven by you, the accountant, but what is the most effective way for you to initiate it?

There are commonly ten interrogative words in the English language, words used to introduce a question, all but one beginning with the letter W (‘How’ is the exception if you were wondering).

Parents and grandparents will know that the most commonly heard of these from the mouths of young children is “Why?” The response to every statement, every image, every experience for a three year old is “Why?”

And one of the tests of parenthood is how quickly you get to the point of responding with “Because it just is, that’s why!”

Children ask why because they are trying to get to grips with a world that they don’t yet understand. Their brains are expanding and they need to populate them. Whilst it seems that the long held theories around left sided brain people and right sided brain people are gradually being debunked (its more about connectivity), the left side of our brains is known to be related more closely to language, logic, reasoning, numbers and critical thinking. It is a need to expand their understanding in these areas that drives a youngster’s mind.

Hence “Why?” “Why?” “Why?”

We get frustrated as parents because “Why?” is the toughest of questions. Why something happens, as opposed to how, when, what or where it happens for instance, forces us to think about what is at the very core of the matter. We can know how we do something or when we do it but do we always know why?

Asking a client what they do, or how, when or where they do it can generate a response without too much thought. Asking a client ‘why’ requires much more consideration.

· Why do you do that?

· Why do you think that is the case?

· Why don’t you do that?

· Why do you think that happened?

· Why can’t you do that?

When a child asks us why, we can get frustrated not just because it’s the 50 ^th time today but because they really make us think about things that maybe we’ve just accepted, find hard to work out ourselves or don’t want to face up to:

· “Why is the sea blue?”

· “Why is that man cross with Daddy?”

· “Why do we have to go?”

· “Why don’t penguins fly?

Children ask why to expand their logic, reasoning, understanding, language and numeracy. Challenging clients on their thinking in these areas can get them thinking about things that maybe they’ve just accepted or have been shying away from.

In doing so we can start to change the conversation, and start to change their perception of our value and our role.

It’s also a great way to address a fear that holds many accountants back from digging deeper into issues that a client has for fear of not having the answer.

Clients know more about their businesses and their lives than we will ever do. By bringing out our inner toddler and asking them ‘why’ we may just get them to focus on the things that really need their attention.

You become aware that the client has a problem. You may know the answer. That’s great!

But equally, you may not, or fear that you won’t, and so you shy away from asking the question.

Don’t dodge the issue. Raise it and ask them why:

“Why do you think that is?”

“Why do you think that happened?”

It gets the real expert on their business, the client themselves, thinking more deeply about the issue. Then you can work together on finding a solution.

Asking a client ‘why’ may just be the trigger point you need to change the relationship for good.

How passionate an accountant are you

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 21 Jul 2023 14:08:24 GMT

Passion is a driving force in any business. Being truly passionate about what you do and why you do it creates an energy, belief and focus that lights up any enterprise and creates an environment in which dreams can be achieved.

Being passionate about what you do and, crucially, showing that passion can drive others along with you. The energy, clarity and power of belief that you have positively influences those around you to share your cause.

Being passionate about what you do and, crucially, showing that passion can drive others along with you. The energy, clarity and power of belief that you have positively influences those around you to share your cause.

Accountants, of course, can be stereotyped as numbers-orientated people, more concerned about compliance and risk than changing lives, and yet that is what we can do, and what many of you are driven by, at least initially.

I meet many accountants who want to positively influence the lives of their clients, team and selves. Sometimes it gets squeezed out of them by the daily grind. Others start to doubt whether this is what those around them want or is it really just about meeting those deadlines.

I also get the impression that there is a conflict in the minds of some. By openly showing our passion, our determination and our emotions are we behaving in a manner that is somehow dissonant with being a professional accountant? are we supposed to tone it down?

In toning down our passion we dilute its power.

Is it daft for an accountant to be passionate?

· We are problem solvers, helping clients address their headaches and fears

· We help clients to improve their finances, generating more cash and profits

· We enable clients to use their time more effectively

· We help to bring clarity into clients’ thinking and strategies

· We, of course, save clients tax

· We support businesses new and old

· We create career opportunities for young people

· We support communities and networks, have a strong belief in collaboration

· We adapt to change and support technological development

· We strive to build values and standards

In other words, we work to have a positive influence on those we come into contact with.

What’s not to be passionate about?

I firmly believe that we can show our passion and emotions within a professional context. We can be calm and considered without being guarded and quiet. If our passion, emotions and honesty create a response in others then isn’t that what we are seeking to achieve?

Our passion and our honesty is what sets us apart, our unique edge.

Show your passion.

Is it time you turned your spotlight around

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 15:19:33 GMT

One of the most exciting things about our profession today is the wide range of software tools available to us that help us to deliver great services to our clients.

I split them into two broad camps.

There are the internal tools that enable us to deliver our services more effectively. These include our practice management software, CRM systems, workflow software, communication systems and core compliance products that not only enable us to deliver our essential services but also help us to manage our clients and track our delivery more effectively. In theory, at least.

One of the most exciting things about our profession today is the wide range of software tools available to us that help us to deliver great services to our clients.

I split them into two broad camps.

There are the internal tools that enable us to deliver our services more effectively. These include our practice management software, CRM systems, workflow software, communication systems and core compliance products that not only enable us to deliver our essential services but also help us to manage our clients and track our delivery more effectively. In theory, at least.

Then we have our external tools, those that encourage us to deliver a wider range of services and more value-added products. This may be tax planning and mitigation, advisory services, outsourced solutions, HR, marketing, app implementation, tech support and the like. The digital revolution is enabling us to deliver better and across a wider spectrum than ever before, if we choose to and if we apply it right.

Such tools enable us to shine a light on how well we manage our clients, how effectively we deliver on our promises and what areas of the clients’ businesses and financial affairs need greater attention. All essential areas to focus on that derive significant benefit from the greater awareness and attention. This is how we deliver better service to our clients and demonstrate greater value.

All well and good…until the conversation moves to the accountant’s own firm.

We have the tools to give us the data we need to help our clients improve their own businesses and financial well-being, but do we have the data that we need to make our own firms better, not from the client delivery perspective but in terms of our own rewards?

An accountant can show me how much profit a particular client is making, virtually in real time, but they cannot tell me whether that same client is a profitable account within their own accounting firm.

They can show their clients which customers, products and services are making them money but don’t have the same information for their own business.

They can help their clients to use their resources more effectively but don’t track how the people and systems within their own accounting firm are performing and being utilised.

They can help clients to foresee and better manage issues coming up but still end up with a reactive approach to the same challenges in their own firm.

We’re getting so much better at working with our clients and supporting our clients but don’t seem to be making the same advances with the management of our own accounting firms at a time when the commercial pressures and demands are getting greater and greater.

Most conversations with Fintechs seem to be about the accountant-client interface, delivering better services and a wider range of services. That’s no bad thing but I do feel that there needs to be greater emphasis on how well our own firms are run, and not just from a delivery perspective.

Ask yourself some basic questions with your focus entirely on your own accounting business:

· Are you getting the information that you need accurately enough and quickly enough to make the decisions needed for you to be successful?

· You may know how profitable you are, but do you know where your profits and losses are coming from specifically enough to manage them better?

· Can you track the performance of your resources close enough to operate a lean business whilst delivering on your promises?

· Does the management organisation of your firm allow you to focus your actions and improvements in specific, informed terms rather than generic, ‘gutfeel’ terms?

We talk to our clients all the time about working on their businesses rather than in them and about having the necessary data and tracking the right KPIs to allow informed decisions but are we doing this enough in our own firms? When I look at the software that we are using to deliver services to clients, you get a sense that the focus on the clients, whilst important, is almost masking the same necessary level of focus on the accounting firm itself.

I think it’s time we brought our own needs and businesses out of the shadows.

Narrowing the scope of the general practitioner

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 11:37:52 GMT

In my last article I questioned whether it was still viable to be a sole practitioner if you are ambitiously seeking to scale up your firm. My question was drawn not by doubts over whether accountants would want to run their own firms (I totally get that!) but whether it is still possible to take on growing a firm single-handedly, given the level of the mental and emotional challenges as much as the technical knowledge, skills and resource demands.

My opinion is that you can run an accounting firm on your own, utilising the resources and technology that are out there, but growing a firm to meet bigger ambitions is a different story. It’s still possible but it’s a damn sight easier with the right partner(s) and network around you. Of course, picking those is a challenge in itself but that’s for another time.

My opinion is that you can run an accounting firm on your own, utilising the resources and technology that are out there, but growing a firm to meet bigger ambitions is a different story. It’s still possible but it’s a damn sight easier with the right partner(s) and network around you. Of course, picking those is a challenge in itself but that’s for another time.

Following on from that, let’s move onto looking at ‘general practitioners’ and the ‘general practice’ firm.

Both have been, and remain, the bedrock of our profession. I would say that, with the exception of a few years in Big 4 audit, I have always been a general practitioner. My role has been to support a wide range of SME clients in a wide range of financial, business and compliance matters, either using my own skills and expertise or those of my colleagues and network. I’ve never been offended by the phrase “Jack of all trades…” although I would definitely take exception to “…master of none”!

General practice firms have always at the forefront of the accounting space, dominating the overall number of firms. Typically, these are firms that are built on compliance but many develop strengths in other areas through their own interests and skills and the demands of their clients or market place. You will commonly come across firms that are ‘general practice’ but with a particular strength or reputation for tax, business advice (definitely in my case!), audit and so on. They still seek to offer a wide range of services to a wide range of clients but the conversations tend to have a bias towards their particular strengths.

This is a long way from a niche firm that focuses on a particular service or sector and heavily targets its delivery, expertise and marketing on that to the exclusion of other areas.

Being a niche firm has benefits in enabling the firm to focus its development on skills, resources and marketing specific to a clearly defined market. Being seen as a specialist in the field has obvious attractions to that market place and is a recognised growth strategy. However, putting all of your eggs into a handful or less of baskets has risks as well. The pandemic highlighted how individual sectors can be exposed.

Spreading your wares over a wider range of sectors and services reduces exposure and is the land of the general practice. Many accountants want to work with varied communities rather than niches and so like that general approach. The challenge now though is that, as clients themselves become more demanding and selective, and as running an accounting firm becomes more challenging, requiring greater skills, resources and knowledge, is it too difficult to offer a wide range of services to a wider spectrum of clients?

I believe that the answer lies in applying a little more focus and clarity without compromising your general practice status. I don’t think that we can any longer be all things to all people but, by focusing on our greatest interests, our best skills and our most appealing markets, we can still deliver the wide range of services that those clients want, and work in a wider spectrum, without spreading our expertise too thin.

General practice firms will always have a compliance base, that is a good thing! It must continuously evolve with technology but clients will always need compliance support and advice.

What I see changing is that compliance base becoming part of a wider service offering to a more defined client base that makes it easier for the accountant to then resource and model their own firm. Rather than trying to resource and promote a firm that can deliver every service to every client, focus more on the sort of clients and types of project that you really want and ensure that you can meet their needs. It eases the pressure on your resources, training and development and allows better client service through better focus.

A general practice firm can still focus on multiple clusters of client types, depending on your interests, but because your client base doesn’t also populate the gaps in between, your resources and development can be much better targeted.

Those clusters can be whatever piques your interest. For instance:

· IN: creative industries, professional sectors, high wealth individuals

· OUT: tax only, farmers, property developers, contractors

· IN: >£2 million turnover, >10 staff

· OUT: < £250,000 turnover < 3 staff

· IN: entrepreneurial clients

· OUT: compliance only clients

· swap any of the above around….Add/delete whatever you want! It’s your firm!

By better defining your range of target markets, still within general practice mode, you can better define your resources, systems, skills, training and marketing.

Compliance and value added services are delivered to more specific markets, with more specific needs and questions. Your knowledge, team and systems can be streamlined as a result. There is less ‘noise’ around.

In better focusing your marketplace, and gradually bringing your existing client base into line, you can actually become a better general practice firm.

Can a sole practitioner still flourish

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 15:58:24 GMT

Is running, and especially growing, an accounting firm today too big a job for just one person?

The sole practitioner has always been the bedrock of our profession. Whilst the big 10/8/6/4 may make most of the noise, the sole practitioner has always dominated the High Street, either on their own or as a route into partnership.

With the digitalisation of the profession streamlining data, delivery and information processes, it has never been easier to start your own firm and the large numbers of new firms registering each year, especially since the end of the pandemic, reflects this. Whether driven by ambition or lifestyle choices, the sole practitioner market at first glance looks healthy.

So why question it?

Is running, and especially growing, an accounting firm today too big a job for just one person?

So why question it?

It’s exciting to see the new blood coming through and to watch the growth in accountant entrepreneurs but, as with any business, the real challenges come when growth starts to outstrip the supply of resources. Those early years can be great with relatively low costs and a close relationship with clients but, as the business grows, both will get tested. Can the sole practitioner stay ahead of the game, particularly in developing the software, systems and people needed to support a growing client base.

Whilst it has always been a challenge, the rapid rate of technological development today, the increasing range of client needs and the pressures on recruitment and retention makes staying on top of it a much bigger test for a single business leader.

As well as the practical challenges brought by managing resources, there are wider, and, possibly, even more fundamental issues around support. I wrote in my previous blog about the pressures of being the person at the top who everyone turns to but who has no-one themselves to share the load with. Growing a firm today requires ambition, drive, energy and focus as well as a confidence in your own decision making. Whilst a sole practitioner’s team may go some way along the road in sharing those attributes, it’s unlikely that they will fully match those of the boss. Is it too hard now for a sole practitioner to sustain their own performance without a like-minded soul in the office alongside them?

Some may point to the model of a sole practitioner supported by a layer of managers sitting between them and the challenges of the firm. I’ve seen this work well on occasion but seen too many more examples where it has stifled growth. More than ever, the difference in mindset between an ambitious, entrepreneurial sole practitioner, and a hardworking, loyal but commonly less ambitious team cannot be ignored.

Then there is the challenge of meeting the wide range of skills required to run an accounting firm today. In addition to the professional knowledge required to meet standards and client needs, running a firm requires expertise in technology, HR, sales & marketing, customer service, data analytics, production and so on. Does one person have all this?

I wrote at the outset that sole practitioners were the gateway to partnerships. Historically, as a sole practitioner grew their firm, they were able to recruit more and more team members with core accounting skills to fuel that growth. With an expanding team came a greater likelihood of future partners. Succession plans typically would grow from within, at least until the original sole practitioner’s final exit.

These days, firms grow with much smaller teams and many in those teams will have work-life or career ambitions that certainly don’t include facing up to the stresses of running an accounting firm. In-house partners are becoming as scarce as ambitious qualified accountants in the recruitment pool. Natural succession looks anything but natural today.

If a sole practitioner either feels the need for a partner now or recognises a future need, then we have to be thinking of different solutions.

One route, given the points above, is to look outside of the profession and bring in like-minded people with different skill sets in areas relevant to the needs of the sole practitioner’s firm and clients’ businesses. This is a great way to accelerate growth but does come with its own challenges, particular around the restrictive thinking of some of the professional bodies towards ownership criteria.

An alternative is to consider a merger, sale or acquisition. A merger or acquisition can be a short cut to the resources and partners that the sole practitioner needs although, of course, a degree of compromise is inevitable required. Matching vision, values and culture is crucial but a smaller slice of a much bigger pie can enable ambitions currently restricted by resource to be achieved.

A sale may seem like a failure. Surely this is for those looking to exit or admitting defeat? However, by ticking those vision, values and culture boxes, it can also be the step to free the sole practitioner’s wings, enabling flight to much higher levels.

If growth cannot be fuelled by the traditional model of bringing in more bodies then we need to think more creatively about how we are to achieve it, and spread our nets in different directions as a consequence. If you are an ambitious sole practitioner, don’t let a lack of like-minded people overwhelm you.

The loneliness of the sole practitioner

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 24 May 2023 15:32:19 GMT

Being your own boss is great:-

· No-one to tell you what to do

· No-one to disagree with you

· A business built on your ideas and expertise

· Everything is your call

However, being your own boss also has its downside:-

Being your own boss is great:-

· No-one to tell you what to do

· No-one to disagree with you

· A business built on your ideas and expertise

· Everything is your call

However, being your own boss also has its downside:-

· No-one to tell you what to do!

· No-one to disagree with you!

· A business built on your ideas and expertise!

· Everything is your call!

It’s quite a paradox that a sole practitioner, in a relationship-based profession and dealing with high levels of demand from clients, team members and others on a daily basis, can commonly feel isolated and alone.

It’s not an experience that is limited to the more shy and retiring types either, or those struggling with their impact as an employer. I meet accountants who are great with their clients and teams, who love to meet up, get involved and get out there, but who also talk about the loneliness of their role.

You can have the best team, the best clients, the most caring of family and friends and yet still feel alone at your desk.

I’m no psychologist, can barely spell it, I can only write from experience and discussions with others in the same position, but there seem to be some common mental barriers for those on their own at the top:

· Who do we turn to when we are supposed to be the people, as employers and advisors, to have all the answers?

· Who else understands the full implications of the big decisions that we face?

· Who else can we give all the facts to that will understand what they mean?

· How do we reach out for help without looking like a failure?

· How can we express our weaknesses when we’re not supposed to have any?

· Who else can help us build, what is, after all, our own personal dream, when it becomes too hard for us alone?

The mind of a sole practitioner can be a scary place at times. It doesn’t take much to undermine the energy, belief and self-confidence that is so important in driving the performance of the firm but, at its worst, the impact on health and relationships can be traumatic.

What steps can you take to open the curtains and let more light in?

1. Keep work in perspective, there is so much more to life. Be aware of your health and make time for the things away from your office that really matter

2. Remind yourself of why you do what you do and what your prime goals are. Some of this stuff really doesn’t matter in the full light of the day

3. Don’t assume that it is a temporary feeling that will go away if you work hard enough. Head down tends to create a longer shadow over time

4. Trust your team. They may not be right for your deepest concerns but they can often help you far more than you would expect

5. Don’t isolate yourself. Get out to see clients, attend courses and society events, do a bit of networking. Not only do you get a break and a bit of fresh air but you just might pick up that gem or piece of inspiration that makes the difference

6. Get yourself a mentor, someone who isn’t limited by the reservations of family, friends, competitors, team members or clients. As Bob Hoskins used to say in the BT adverts back in the 90s, “It’s good to talk”. This is not a sales pitch but it is what I do! You can always talk to me.

7. Speak with your professional body. You may have frustrations with some of what they do but member support, when it is asked for, is generally one of their stronger points

8. Write it down. Expressing thoughts to paper, either written or drawn, can help to clarify your thinking and trigger wider fields in your brain. Don’t hold everything in

9. Listen to those around you. They may not be able to help but they can tell you what impact the issues are having on you as a person

10. Remember that it is your firm. Ultimately, you can decide what it does and doesn’t do. You are in control, don’t be bullied by your work

11. Most importantly, if you are experiencing physical symptoms or have any concerns for your well-being, get professional help. Don’t delay or excuse yourself, think how annoyed you get with clients who don’t come to you soon enough with their problems

One final point…

I’ve always been fortunate to have a fantastic partner, as my wife as well as business partner, and the ability to share is invaluable. Even though you are a sole practitioner now, giving consideration to having a partner, through recruitment, merging or selling, is something not to be dismissed. If you want to grow your firm then it is a strength to recognise that, just maybe, you can’t do it all on your own.

You don’t have to marry them, of course!

Change your approach towards when the heat is on

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 12 May 2023 16:00:10 GMT

I expect working within the accounting profession to always be a demanding, pressurised job. We are a profession that is not only governed by professional and legal standards but driven by deadlines and important matters. We work within an agency style world, providing services on behalf of others who have high expectations of our abilities and capabilities. Although technology is speeding up our processes, we fill the notional holes with more services and clients to meet the commercial needs of them and us.

It's never going to be a stroll in the park.

A demanding job can be fulfilling and rewarding. There can be a high sense of achievement, of personal satisfaction and of reward in such a role… but not if the levels of stress and frustration are continually beyond the levels that a person can personally manage.

If we accept the premise that we will always be busy then there is no point in just hoping that things will get better. If we want to be more fulfilled and less stressed then we need to do something about it.

Take the kitchen of a quality restaurant. Like us, it is a high pressure world, driven by deadlines, quality, standards, and expectations. As a paying customer, would you be happy with a restaurant whose goal is simply to get through the orders, get the food served up and get the plates onto the tables or do you expect better? Is this a kitchen that a quality chef or restaurant manager would take pride and satisfaction in?

Compare that with what we see in many accounting firms when things get busy. The team member sits down at their desk with a whole list of tasks and demands facing them and with more coming in throughout the day. Understandably, it’s time to get the head down and plough on through, getting as much out as possible before the day runs out.

It's an admirable commitment but one with very little personal satisfaction. There is also a quality issue. Very few of the tasks on that list will have an objective that is to simply be got out the door. We may say “just get it done” but we don’t mean that.

The team member may have an objective of “just getting things done”, usually driven by deadline, but many of the tasks on the list will have entirely different objectives around quality, standards and expectations.

If a chef simply gets a steak ‘done’ then chances are that neither the chef nor the customer will be satisfied. Yet, in our haste to get through our worklists, we find ourselves making that mistake.

In a quality kitchen, the team, under the direction of the head chef, have learned that quality, standards and expectations trump hasty delivery. Part of the solution, of course, lies in good preparation, great processes, strong systems and quality equipment, and we can always work on those, but mindset, discipline and communication, within the kitchen, with the ‘front of house’ team and with the customer are the bedrock. We have to get better at this approach.

The second area of comparison lies in understanding capabilities. A chef may have grand ambitions: to have a menu with dishes and choice to die for, a wine list fit for a connoisseur. However, they understand that to fall short is to fail when it comes to quality and customer service. If they don’t have the skills, budget or resources to achieve their ambition then they will make the best with what they have. An awesome Sunday roast beats an average chateaubriand every time and keeps the customer happy.

As accountants we often hold back our own firms because we can’t do what we wish we could do. How often do we hear it said that “I don’t have the time or money for that”.

What we can be poor at is recognising the resources and skills that what we do have and making best use of them. I think it is a throwback to our time-based fees heritage. In the past, a firm grew by more clients, more staff, more hours, more bills. Today, not only is the fee model different but the production model has changed and more staff is a challenge that isn’t going away any time soon. So, we have to get better at making the most of the resources and skills that we do have, being more efficient and profitable as a result, and then building from a stronger foundation.

So:

· Don’t panic: Make decisions based on the real objectives within the work pile and not simply the size of it. Hold your discipline and you will break the cycle over time

· Focus not on what you can’t do but celebrate making the best of what you can achieve. Again, you will move forward better over time

Sorry for the lecture but sometimes we have to face up to what real change actually requires. Discipline is rarely an easy or welcome topic but someone has to raise it!

How do you solve a problem like Maria (with due respect to Rodgers & Hammerstein!)

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 16:18:16 GMT

Maria is a talented young accountant just approaching her final professional exams. She’s been with the firm for over three years and is very much the sort of team member that the firm want to keep. Maria is a loyal team member, gets on well with clients, is competent and trustworthy and, we think, has a promising future. She lacks experience beyond compliance but the firm would certainly struggle to replace her. However, there are problems ahead.

Maria is a talented young accountant just approaching her final professional exams. She’s been with the firm for over three years and is very much the sort of team member that the firm want to keep. Maria is a loyal team member, gets on well with clients, is competent and trustworthy and, we think, has a promising future. She lacks experience beyond compliance but the firm would certainly struggle to replace her. However, there are problems ahead:

· She’s getting bored with the repetitive nature of compliance work

· She’s getting more concerned about the deadline and workload pressures

· She’s looking for greater flexibility in her work arrangements

· She sees greater promotion and earnings potential elsewhere

· She is good with tech but not motivated by tech

· She’s read about the impact of technology on accounting careers and has questions about her future

All in all, we think that she’s starting to have doubts about her career with the firm and maybe even with the profession.

To make matters worse, the firm want to keep her but aren’t sure about the roles of their team or what resources they will have in future.

So, what do we do with a problem like Maria?

We could start by looking at her role. Digital automation allows us to remove many repetitive tasks from human minds so is the firm maximising the digitalisation of its systems and processes, freeing up time for the team?

If Maria’s interest lies with compliance then is the firm providing her with the training and opportunities to move into a more quality control or management-focused role? With recruitment being such a challenge, utilising systems and outsourced opportunities for the more mundane tasks and freeing up the team for higher value roles in production and delivery is a way to adapt the existing team to a more contemporary approach.

Deadlines and workload pressures are typically driven by the quality of the relationship and communication between the firm and its clients. Most deadlines are not a surprise so is the firm doing enough to actively manage the behaviour and expectations of its clients to take away foreseen pressures?

If Maria is looking for greater flexibility in her working arrangements then the last few years have proved to us that we have the technology to do this, it is more a matter of whether the firm is willing to adapt. It’s a two way conversation but it’s a conversation that is becoming increasingly important as firms not only look to retain their people but deliver high levels of client service. We need happy teams and happy clients. Since everyone is different, an ability to think and work flexibly is surely a requirement today.

Maria sees greater opportunity elsewhere but has the firm sold itself, and the profession enough? The firm are unclear on what the future looks like so the likely answer is no. A clear vision, accurately communicated is vital if a firm is to engage its team. And, let’s be honest, if you don’t have vision of an exciting future then you can’t blame the team for migrating. Maybe you should be reconsidering your future actions too!

Maria is good with tech but not motivated by it. Here is another chance to both revisit her role and clarify the vision of the future. As firms become more digitally based, so human traits become differentiating and powerful resources. People being people can drive a digital firm and its client relationships. Maria’s role in the future is not determined by her experience to date but by her training, coaching and support from here on. If she wants greater client involvement, or the opportunity to develop skills and services for which she currently has little or no experience, how the firm responds to this will go a long way to keep her engaged.

Does the firm properly understand the role and power of its people going forwards and has this been communicated? Google may see the upcoming obsolescence of accounting but, as an accounting firm, the leaders of the firm surely have a plan for remaining relevant. If not, why not and if so, is it communicated.

The profession hasn’t got the best public image and faces many challenges through digitalisation and changing competition. People do have different priorities post-pandemic and generationally. Recruitment and retention are both issues. The traditional model and role of an accounting firm, based on labour intensive strategies is defunct.

You can see where Maria is coming from.

But the firm has many things that it can actively do now to fix the problem before Maria is gone.

AI, the accountant’s friend – or why cheats never win!

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 10:48:43 GMT

Back in the days when my beloved Leicester City used to play at their ancestral home, Filbert Street, I would regularly stand on the terrace in the vicinity of an older Scottish gentleman. Every time an opposition player fell to the ground or appealed for a decision, you would hear his broad Glaswegian ‘Burr’ utter the same three words at full volume…

“Cheats never win!!!”

Unfortunately, I’m not sure that the data would back up his claim but I always took it as a longer term view on life…eventually the cheats will get caught out.

It is a phrase that came back into my head, still with that Glaswegian accent, this week when reading an article on the impact of Artificial Intelligence and, in particular, ChatGPT, on the accounting profession.

Since the launch of ChatGPT late last year, there has been an explosion of interest in AI. The subject isn’t new. AI software has been around since the early 1950s and Hollywood has made a fortune from dramatising intelligent robots and cyborgs.

Neither is the impact of technology new to our profession. When I first started in 1981, a three partner firm had over forty team members. That would be unusual today as technology has taken over systems, processes and tasks. Much of the software that firms have embraced in recent years encompasses AI and machine learning. Iris software, for instance, released their first family of AI-based products back in 2018.

What ChatGPT has done is to create a visible presence for AI and dump it firmly in the middle of the board room table. Now we are not just talking about what AI might do in the future but what it is doing for accounting firms right now!

The Armageddon angle, of course, is better for the headline writers. The loss of thousands of jobs, the dumbing down of the profession by allowing anyone to give ‘advice’, an explosion of new competitors: there are significant elements of reality in all of these and they are topics that accounting firms need to be aware of but let’s look at the other side to the growth of AI.

Technology in the accounting profession has always produced the tools to speed up what we do. The pace of change may be much quicker now but the basic premise remains.

Digitalisation makes our processes more efficient, from the mundane such as data collection, repetitive tasks and basic compliance to the more progressive, such as analytics, reporting and research, digital technology helps us to do what we’ve always been able to do in theory but much, much quicker.

Embracing the development of AI will enable us to keep pace with the rapid changes of the world we live in today. On the basis that time is a major limiting factor for most accounting firms, especially now that recruitment is probably a long term issue, being efficient enough to develop and deliver the services and information needed by our clients today and tomorrow is key to our commercial success. Long live AI as our tool for doing this.

However much AI is embraced by competitive or dark sources, the time we save by using it properly in our firms, still keeps us ahead of the game.

For some business owners and taxpayers, AI generated answers and solutions are all that they need, in the same way that free software ticks the boxes for their compliance. These are not the clients most of us seek. How is AI different to ‘the friend down the pub’ or ‘Google says…’ in this respect?

The computer is not always right. Software is not always right. As for the internet….!!

For increasing numbers of accountants, a client not willing to value their expertise is not a client. A client is someone seeking reassurance, guidance, empathy, understanding. A client is someone who wants things done right. A client is someone looking for an accountant who ‘gets’ their world and supports them in a professional manner.

To utilise AI as a tool in your firm makes perfect sense.

To hide behind AI to cover up a lack of expertise, professionalism or care is quite simply to cheat….

And Cheats Never Win!

What is your client switch?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 12:26:30 GMT

I recently posed a question on LinkedIn to see what switches accountants on when it comes to advising and supporting their clients. You’ll see the link to the post below.

In true Simon Sinek fashion, I talk a lot to accountants about the importance of understanding their ‘why’, the reason why they do what they do. Understand your why and you can better build your firm around your core values, goals and drivers.

I recently posed a question on LinkedIn to see what switches accountants on when it comes to advising and supporting their clients. You’ll see the link to the post below.

But your own why isn’t necessarily what switches you on in the context of supporting and advising your clients. It may be, but equally the nature of your client relationships could be as much about the how as the why.

For example, your own personal why may be to create an amazing present and future for your own children, given your own experience as a child. As an accountant, you design your accounting business to fulfil that why. Tax happens to be your thing and therefore, in building your accounting firm you decide that utilising your strengths and interests as a tax advisor is both what you want to do and what you are best at and therefore your best route to achieve your goals driven by your why.

You design and market your firm and build your brand around minimising the tax liabilities of your clients, attracting clients with similar goals in the process and achieving success as a result.

Why do I raise this?

Because that’s not my dream nor my firm. They are not my strengths and that’s not my target market. It’s not my route to happiness or success….but it may be yours!

My LI question was this:

As an accountant in practice, what, ideally, is your primary aim when it comes to having a positive impact on your clients.

· Increase their profits

· Reduce their tax bills

· Improve their business

· Ease their compliance

The answer is possibly all four, and, of course, they easily inter-relate, but I didn’t want to give an easy way out. If push comes to shove, which would be your primary aim?

It has prompted some interesting comments.

There is no wrong answer. Each one of us will have our own right answer, depending on how we intend to deliver our why but that doesn’t make the answers of others wrong.

As accountants in practice we are told too often what we should be doing. Maybe I’m guilty of that practice as well and you are welcome to call me out if that is the case but I think that there are only four things that we should be doing:-

1. Providing great services for our clients

2. Delivering the services efficiently

3. Charging fairly for those services

4. Framing them all within our vision, values and goals

What those services, clients and prices look like is surely determined by your own values, goals, drivers, strengths and interests. Create a firm reflective of those and you attract the right clients. Where you focus in terms of increasing their profits, reducing their tax bills, improving their business and easing their compliance, or any combination thereof, is your call and yours alone.

Build your firm your way. Believe in that and the right clients will come. That’s what will underline your focus.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/richard-brewin-fca_accountant-accountingfirm-accountantonamission-activity-7046125118531547136-4v42?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Is it right to expect unpaid hours from your team

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 14:44:49 GMT

In 1981, when I first came into the accounting profession, unpaid overtime, in my experience, wasn’t really a thing. Office hours were 9am to 5:30pm with an hour for lunch between 1pm and 2pm. If people arrived earlier or left later it was generally because it suited them to do so, usually for travel arrangements.

If someone did work later, or, in practice, take work home because the office would be locked up, it would be because they felt responsible for taking too long on what they were doing and were looking to catch up. Compliance deadlines, for unincorporated businesses especially, were yet to really hit us and so backlogs were much less of an issue. The phrase, “A job takes as long as it takes” was commonplace, even if it was as wrong then as it is now.

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Is it time to call time on the Nine to Five?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 16:43:55 GMT

“Working nine to five, what a way to make a living!”

It’s clear that Dolly Parton wasn’t a fan but is it time that we all questioned the validity of the standard accounting office working day? Does it even exist anymore and, if it does, is it relevant to today’s business models and needs?

“Working nine to five, what a way to make a living!”

The nine to five working week was most noticeably introduced by Henry Ford in the 1920s when he reduced the Ford Motor Company’s weekly shift from six days down to five without any reduction in workers’ pay. When you think about it, it’s astonishing, given the level of technological and social change, that it’s taken a century and a pandemic before serious conversations have moved towards the next steps in reducing workloads.

In the UK, the focus has traditionally been on the eight hour day rather than the weekly commitment and it is the historical wranglings between employers and trade unions that has lead us to our common nine to five.

Take a look at any accounting forum and you’ll see our profession’s approach to the nine to five. It’s fair to say that, for many employers, it is deemed the bare minimum work commitment with additional hours common, often expected, and, equally often, unpaid. There is a whole separate discussion to be had on this issue alone (Watch this space!) but it seems to me that too many firms depend on unpaid overtime for their business model and that being salaried has become an excuse for this practice.

Nine to five may be a phrase but it isn’t the reality for many in our profession.

Nine to five comes from a time when:-

· The office was central to communication and information. All the records were there and all the post and phone calls went there

· Working from home was impractical since all the resources, supplies and equipment were in the office and not mobile

· All businesses were on the same clock with clients working similar hours

· International business was unlikely for most firms and so international time differences were never an issue

· The demarcation was clearer between work and home life. People ‘clocked off’ at five to go home and have dinner (or tea if you, like me, are north of Watford!) with their family

· The pace of work was slower. Compliance deadlines were less rigid and there was just more time to get stuff done

The 1980’s blew this world away with greater emphasis in the financial and banking world on money, careers and prioritising work over everything. Technology has further disrupted off the back of this decade, creating a smaller world, instant communication and facilitating a work anywhere, anytime culture.

We can’t unscramble what has happened but we can decide that nine to five is no longer fit for purpose.

Fortunately, (and I genuinely mean, fortunately) Millennials and, even more so, GenZ, have called us out on the whole unpaid work, prioritising careers thing. It may have worked for older generations but it’s hard to argue with someone that “this is not the contract that you and I signed”.

A generational change of attitude is to be welcomed and applauded (although I don’t expect everyone to agree). The pandemic has then added to this by pressing employers at look at more flexible work and delivery patterns and recognising that things can be done differently. Organisations now have options away from that traditional model to consider:

· Working from home/anywhere

· Flexible working hours/arrangements

· Four day weeks

· Conversely, 24/7 operations, driven by automation

· Adapting management cultures to reflect a better awareness of mental and physical wellbeing

· Adapting client relationships and services for the same reasons

Our clients are now used, elsewhere in their lives, to accessing the help and information that they need on a 24/7 basis and, as their primary business advisors, we should work towards accommodating that. At the same time our teams, and we ourselves, deserve a more enjoyable and rewarding workplace and a better life outside of work.

The nine to five mentality and enforcement makes these ambitions harder. We need to be smarter about what works best for our people as well as our clients and we have the tools and thinking to turn this into a new reality.

It’s worth taking a new look at how you work.

What have accountants ever done for us?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 12:11:15 GMT

I was reading yet another article on social media last week about all the things that accountants are bad at, can’t do and won’t do. Apart from maybe estate agents, is there any other profession that gets so tarred with the same brush?

It set me thinking about the well-known (at least for those of us of a certain age!) Monty Python sketch lampooning the ‘failings’ of the Roman Empire in their film “The Life Of Brian”:

“Well, apart from medicine, irrigation, health, roads, cheese and education, baths and the Circus Maximus, what have the Romans ever done for us?

Brought peace.

Oh, shut up”

So here’s my top ten list of what accountants have done for us:

1. Luca Pacioli and his systems for ledgers and double entry. Love it or hate it, no-one has found a better way for underpinning trade and enterprise in 600 years.

2. Josiah Wedgwood’s 18 ^th century efforts to save his pottery business focussed on understanding the associated costs, and hence profits and losses of individual product lines. Without cost accounting, where would today’s major enterprises be…and where would other businesses be if they paid attention to it?

3. Accountants aren’t entrepreneurial apparently, yet William Welch Deloitte founded his firm in 1845 at the age of 25 and its still strong and global today. Every year, thousands of accountants start their own firms. For many it is a way of life, and absolutely nothing wrong with that, whilst for others, it is the start of a truly entrepreneurial journey. Accountants are investors, employers and contributors.

4. Accountants doing compliance has its critics but where is the country, the investors and the taxpayers without it? You must have rules and people who know them, to both protect and grow. Yes, digitalisation is providing DIY options but DIY exists in pretty much every sector. It has its place and it has its dangers. Nobody trashes the role of a decorator simply because you could do it yourself. It’s a matter of choice.

5. Accountants share best practice. Not only are we trained but we immerse ourselves in the business world and surround ourselves with a network, all to the benefit of our clients. We look about when others are heads down.

6. Accountants understand the value and meaning of data. Being all about the numbers is held up as a criticism and yet we have the skills to reveal the stories that lie behind them. Nobody dismisses a car’s dashboard because it is just about the numbers. We help others to drive their businesses.

7. Accountants follow a career of trust and confidentiality. In an online world where we are all increasingly exposed to mischievous, misleading and criminal activity, trust is a precious resource.

8. If Britain is a nation of shopkeepers then it is accountants who both support those businesses and provide the link to national government. Who else does that?

9. Accountants care. They care about their team, their clients and their communities. Whatever the challenge, good or bad, they are there. The accountant is there when there is no-one to turn to and no-one else is listening. For every one that doesn’t care, I’ll show you one who does.

10. Accountants get on with the job. Amidst all the challenges and disruptions of life in 21 ^st century UK, accountants rarely make a fuss. They just keep supporting clients, meeting deadlines, tidying up systems, resolving disputes, creating opportunities and putting others first.

So, apart from the foundations of trade and industry, understanding the numbers, supporting taxpayers, supporting government, sharing best practice, being investors, employers and business leaders, creating an avenue of trust, supporting clients and generally just getting on with what is needed….what have accountants ever done for us?

Five indications that you are heading in the right direction

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 14:33:46 GMT

We talk about the KPI’s that are tracked in accounting firms and their importance as a measure of improvement but I believe that there are equally important tell-tale signs in your firm that will confirm to an outsider like me that you are on the right track. Conversely, an absence of these would suggest that these are areas of weakness for you to focus on.

Here are the five signs that I look for:

1. As a matter of practice, you explain to your client how a project is going to proceed rather than react to one that they drop on you

2. You regularly engage your managers and senior team members in discussions concerning the development and progression of your firm

3. You know all of the subscriptions and licences that your firm pays for relating to software and apps and where they all fit into your systems and processes

4. You track how your time resource is utilised within your firm and use this information to improve your profitability and client relationships

5. Every team member has an up to date contract and a personal development plan in place

Why do I highlight these as the five key indicators?

1. Actively managing the client relationship and getting the client to work to your systems and timescales is not bad service, quite the opposite in fact. Business owners want accountants who proactively manage their requirements and financial affairs, not who are constantly chasing them and running up against deadlines (even if it is their own fault!)

2. Involving team members in working on your business not only creates better engagement but provides you with greater support and, most importantly, brings their ideas, perceptions and intelligence into play to the benefit of your firm

3. Knowing what tech you have and where it fits into your plans shows that you have a clear and managed digital plan. Without it you waste money, are less efficient and potentially lack direction

4. Time used to mean fees. Today, it is the tracker for what is happening in your business in terms of efficiency, effectiveness and compatibility. Imagine a sprint coach focusing purely on technique, style and effort and not bothering with a stop watch to track the outcomes. It’s hard to have a measured view of the trends and events in your firm if you don’t track such a key resource.

5. An up to date contract means not only compliance but clarity, whilst personal development plans line the team member up with your firm’s wider progression. The challenges faced in retention and recruitment are not a temporary blip and offering your team clarity and development are key strategies today

The evidence may be anecdotal but, in my experience, firms that demonstrate these five indicators perform better than those that don’t.

· They know what is going on within their own firm

· They manage clients effectively to a plan that suits both accountant and client

· They have an engaged team who have stepped up

That’s not a bad place to be!

Accountant v Social Media Accountant

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 16:50:52 GMT

For much of my forty plus years in the accounting profession, our perception of what other accountants were achieving was relatively limited, based upon local chat, articles in the trade press and the noise made by those who were louder on the networking circuit.

Whilst my own confidence levels lead me to believe that there were many accountants better than me out there (they weren’t wrong!) it didn’t particularly impact on me in a negative way because my world was quite small. My colleagues and clients were happy with me and I heard nothing negative from outside so I was content within my bubble.

Social media has well and truly burst that bubble. I spend a lot of time on it, LinkedIn in particular, as a consequence of the needs of our business. Now you cannot hide away from the apparent successes of others.

Of course, social media gives a distorted version of the truth, if indeed the concept of truth even exists these days. Social media gives us a version of our world that others want us to see and not necessarily the world that actually exists. As a consequence, we may benchmark ourselves against someone else’s rosy picture or see ourselves in the minority against an artificially created majority.

So, for those accountants struggling with the view of themselves and their own firms against the apparent highflyers out there, here’s some observations from my life as an accountant amongst accountants to balance things up.

It’s okay to:-

· still wear a suit and tie

· be over 45 and still consider you have a future

· be under 35 and not have a life plan

· see compliance as your bread and butter

· class tech as useful tools rather than the promised land

· have an office

· not be a follower of gurus, thought leaders and visionaries

· not bombard your clients with your holiday snaps

· not yet have AI running your communications

· still work a five day week

· not have a workforce thousands of miles away from you

· think that ‘sick’ is bad

· believe that experience matters

· believe that being professional matters

· be a ‘general practitioner’

Care about your people and yourself, have a vision and plan for your firm, be aware of what’s happening around you and live by your own values and rules. Don’t let LinkedIn tell you otherwise. That way, you will succeed or fail by your own hand, rather than the hands of others. That’s how it should be.

Maybe I’m being hypocritical in posting this on social media, and I’m certainly not advocating that some of the topics caught in the net above don’t matter, simply that you and your firm are almost certainly better than you give yourself credit for.

You’ve read this for a start!

How to stop giving it away

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 12:17:26 GMT

Do accountants give away too much of their time and expertise for free?

Don’t answer that!

From free initial meetings and free support to uncharged emails and telephone calls and undercharged services, we are regularly giving away our resources and knowledge.

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Can you draw your business?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 17:00:41 GMT

They say that a picture paints a thousand words.

There are advantages to being able to succinctly describe your business. It is easier for your target market, your team, your customers or clients, your investors and your wider business partners to work with you in the right way if they are completely clear what your business is all about, what it does and why.

However, being able to succinctly describe your business isn’t necessarily that easy to do, especially if you are not entirely clear in your own mind!

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Moving around the triangle

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 15:49:15 GMT

The humble triangle, considered by many to be the strongest shape in nature.

The three points of a triangle make a great model for a modern, progressive accounting firm.

The humble triangle, considered by many to be the strongest shape in nature.

The three points of a triangle make a great model for a modern, progressive accounting firm.

At the apex (A) we have leadership: the vision, guidance, influence, direction, plan and role model for the business.

Bottom right (B) we have the internal management: the organisation, teams, systems and processes that produce the firm’s output.

Bottom left (C) we have the external management: the brand, client relationships and marketing strategies that grow the firm.

Focusing your management strategies on these three points is essential to the good running and development of your firm. Hence the triangular model and the reason why we use it as the structure for the professional business model that we advocate.

But three points on their own don’t make a triangle. Three points on their own are just three random dots floating around without strength or structure. What brings both strength and structure to a firm’s management are the lines that connect these three points.

These connectors are the lines of communication.

Question: What can be improved in pretty much every business that you know?

Answer: Communication!

Let’s look at these lines of communication.

A-B connects the leadership of the firm to its internal people and processes, essentially it production. Along the line, in the direction from A to B, should flow the vision and values of the firm, the plan, the strategies, the guidance, the expectations, the goals and the targets. Everything that the team need to know in order to function and everything that will help to formulate the right systems and processes.

Along the same line but in the opposite direction, from B to A, should flow the feedback and reports that allows the leadership to monitor and assess the effectiveness of the strategies and performance.

Communicate effectively along you’re A-B connector and you have a firm engaged and performing to the vision of the leadership.

A-C connects the leadership of the firm to the outside world and hence to how it interacts and is perceived. Along the line, in the direction from A to C, once more should flow the vision and values of the firm, the plan, the strategies, the guidance, the expectations, the goals and the targets. Everything that will present the right image of the right firm to the right clients and market.

Flowing in the opposite direction, from C to A, should be the feedback and the reports that tell the leadership whether they are getting it right or not.

Communicate effectively along the A-C connector and you have a firm with the right client base attracting more of the same.

Finally, we have the B-C connector, the line of communication between your internal operations and your clients and outside network. From B to C should flow the communications around what your operation needs and what it is doing.

From C to B should flow the opposite, what you clients and network need and are doing.

Communicate effectively along the B-C connector and you have efficient and effective service delivery…and happy clients and team!

Viewing your firm in this way, by managing the three points of the triangle and monitoring the flow along the connectors in between, brings structure and focus to your strategies, reporting and performance.

How do you shape up?

The big question about your systems and people

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 15:26:49 GMT

Which is more important to your accounting firm, your systems or your people?

It’s tempting to jump in, of course, and say “both” and most firm leaders will try to develop this way but, are we diluting our efforts in doing so? What if, by focusing just on one, we made better progress across them both?

Which is more important to your accounting firm, your systems or your people?

It’s tempting to jump in, of course, and say “both” and most firm leaders will try to develop this way but, are we diluting our efforts in doing so? What if, by focusing just on one, we made better progress across them both?

In which case, which one?

As with many things in our profession, the general answer is “It depends”.

It depends on:-

· your vision for your firm

· your own values and drivers

· how you aim to deliver your services

· the commercial goals that you have

· your target market

There is a very strong argument for prioritising your systems. Systems bring a consistency and efficiency to your delivery. The processes within them provide a framework and rulebook for your firm. With systems in place you can more easily drive and monitor your operation, embed new people and scale up your business.

But…

what if your people don’t stick to them?

what if they present too many constraints?

What if they prevent you from being agile in a changing world?

Conversely then, there is a strong argument for prioritising your people. Their thinking brings creativity, flexibility and solutions to your firm. Their personality brings energy and drive. The human touch is a great differentiator in our tech-based, system-driven world and is often what clients crave.

But …

how do you manage the timing and quality of your delivery?

how do you make your business scalable when the talent pool is running low?

how do you guarantee your outcomes?

I wonder if, by trying to better both aspects of our firm at the same time, we end up in a less effective middle ground, mixing our strategies and creating a people/systems muddle as opposed to a people driven or systems driven strategy.

It’s common to walk into a good firm but still see people frustrated by systems or systems not being used properly by people with less effective outcomes in either case.

Take a step back.

Do you want a people driven firm supported by systems…

or a systems driven firm supported by people?

Be clear on that point first, a point fully aligned to your core vision, and then use this to determine which aspect is your number one priority. That will then shape how you address the other side.

As a people driven business you want systems that help them to excel.

As a systems driven business you want people that help them to function effectively.

That clarity may just help you to make better decisions.

Which is more important to you?

Don’t wait to turn over a new leaf

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 11:23:27 GMT

We humans are a funny lot!

Whilst we may be attached to the idea of change, we often wait for a trigger to launch us into it.

An arbitrary date in the calendar or time of year can become our notional motivation. We set our New Year’s Resolutions or roll up our sleeves for a Spring clean.

We humans are a funny lot!

Whilst we may be attached to the idea of change, we often wait for a trigger to launch us into it.

An arbitrary date in the calendar or time of year can become our notional motivation. We set our New Year’s Resolutions or roll up our sleeves for a Spring clean.

Remember your days at school when a pristine new term’s notebook or file was treated with greater care and neatness.

There is always that extra care that you take when parking your new car compared to its predecessor.

Committing to positive changes in our behaviour or lifestyle, de-cluttering our homes and offices, taking care in our work and looking after our possessions are all great steps to take at any time and yet it takes a certain date or new addition to motivate us.

Why do we find it so much more difficult to make such improvements on a Wednesday afternoon in February? (without blaming Wednesdays or Februarys!)

There is a mental tidiness to a new year, new school book or new car. They offer us a clean slate such that we can mentally bin the weaknesses, untidiness and scratches of our past behaviours and start again. That tidiness is too often a false dawn though. It only exists because we haven’t slipped back into our old ways yet.

Change isn’t created by turning over a new leaf. It may be triggered by that but it is achieved by doing things differently for a sustained period until new habits or systems have become embedded and that is a process that can be kickstarted at any time.

If you want change to occur then it can start right now.

As accountants we live busy lives, especially as deadlines approach, and so we have ready-made excuses for not implementing changes in ourselves or our firms. Yet not all change takes up time and not all change needs to be dramatic.

Even in a busy tax season, how much time does it take for you to commit to being a better listener, a more caring employer, someone who better ‘walks the walk’ right now?

How much time would it take for you to bullet point a few thoughts around what you want your firm to achieve this year and share it with your team, adding a meeting on a Wednesday afternoon in February to discuss and act upon?

How much time would it take to book some training for later in the year, get some dates in the diary to meet your key clients, organise a decorator for the meeting room?

I’m now into my fifth decade as an accountant so I understand the time pressures that we all work under but that has always been the case. Time is the resource of an accounting firm so being more aware of how we make effective use of it goes a long way to determining our levels of success. Delaying change not only impacts on the use of our time but means that the conditions that we are unhappy with persist for longer, impacting on our performance for even longer.

You can change things for the better every day.

Money saving expert, Martin Lewis, talks about a savings method where you save 1p on day one, 2p on day two, 3p on day three and so on throughout the year. By the end of the year, £667.95 has been built up.

Imagine taking that same approach to the changes that you want to make to your own behaviour or performance and that of your firm. Committing to one change every day builds momentum.

What if you and every member of your team took just five minutes each day this week to make your business better? Tidy a space, talk (and listen) to a colleague, read an article, catch up on a client issues.

What if that five minutes per day moved to ten minutes per day next week?

What if you kept doing that up to a maximum that you set, say one hour per day.

I know that some will say, “hang on, one hour per day per team member, that’s x hours per week of chargeable time!”

You can see it that way or you can see it as x hours per week, every week, making your business better.

Who knows where you will be in twelve months.

Your choice!

2023 and all that

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 14:14:42 GMT

Over the last six weeks we’ve been looking at the steps involved in building your own five star firm. More of this in the New Year but, with Christmas approaching, I thought I‘d take a break from the plan and look at the areas that you may want to focus on in your firm next year.

Far be it from me to tell you how to run your firm; it’s your firm to be ran your way, that’s one of our mantras. I am around to chip in with opinion and thoughts though so here goes:-

#1 Wellness – no point in having your own firm if you and your team aren’t happy and healthy, and it won’t wait until you’re less busy. Having a wellness strategy planned into your diary and resources is as important, arguably more so, than all of your production and marketing plans.

#2 Accountability – few of us like the thought of being held accountable but the hard truth is that this is how things get done. It doesn’t have to mean people being beaten around the head with a rolled up timesheet, that’s for the culture of your firm to determine, but having clear and fair KPIs, deadlines and goals and accepting that we are going to have to deliver on those is just grown up business isn’t it? Of course, this is going to test your management qualities, hence….

#3 Leadership – allocating time to your personal development and your leadership style will pay dividends throughout your business. When did you last work on how you influence those around you and the impact that you have? Having a personal mentor or coach will help you to focus on yourself as well as your firm (I would say that of course, it doesn’t make it wrong!)

#4 Team – firm leaders generally don’t allocate enough time to developing the skills and confidence of their team. I’m not talking CPD but helping them to develop the wider skills and personalities needed in your business. In this tech driven age it is our human side that will differentiate us so helping your team to grow in a more rounded way can be very powerful and a great retention and recruitment strategy.

#5 Client management – accountants generally have good clients but they can be a pain! We lose too much time chasing them up and having our advice ignored. Given the greater pressures on accounting firms today, we can’t afford to keep doing this. The chances are that roughly one in three of your clients are barely profitable to your business. It’s time to focus on creating better balanced client relationships and exiting those who don’t see that as fair. They trust you and like you, otherwise they’d go somewhere cheaper, so it’s time they started to show it by paying attention to you. Draw your lines on client behaviour.

#6 MTD – we live in the Digital Age where real time, accessible data and information is the norm and a feature of all of our lives. Why are some firms therefore allowing HMRC to drive the digital progression of their clients? The timetable for HMRC’s digital strategy shouldn’t be the issue; your clients need to be working smarter regardless of when HMRC will mandate them to. You can’t help clients who won’t help themselves. Your own digital strategy should trump HMRC’s.

#7 Work cycles – the quarterly cycle of bookkeeping and management accounts has been around since the inception of VAT almost five decades ago, a time before internet, apps, mobile devices, machine learning and AI, so why is it still the staple work cycle for many? Daily and weekly cycles will become the norm and are already for many. Are you up to speed?

#8 Embrace change – professional firms have traditionally improved by looking at what they did yesterday and working on it today to improve things for tomorrow. The pace of change in people and tech is so rapid these days that sometimes yesterday isn’t the right place to start from. Better to stand back and ask the question: “forget where we are for a moment, if we were starting afresh today, how would we do it?” This can lead to the agile, pivotal firm that we all talk about.

Just some personal thoughts ahead of 2023. Whatever you do next year, do it with vision, clarity, energy and belief. If you are doing what you believe in then it is up to others to decide whether they like it or not, that’s their choice. In the end, those who share your vision and beliefs will side with you.

That’s how it should be.

Merry Christmas to you. Have an enjoyable and relaxing break and set yourself up to smash 2023!

Getting your team on board

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 11:47:42 GMT

In this series of articles, we are working our way through a nine step plan for a five star accounting firm.

We’ve addressed your vision and cause, looked at how you can better influence others and plotted your action plan. It’s now time to look beyond your own self.

In this series of articles, we are working our way through a nine step plan for a five star accounting firm.

We’ve addressed your vision and cause, looked at how you can better influence others and plotted your action plan. It’s now time to look beyond your own self.

Your team are an integral part of your business. Whether they be full time or part time, internal or outsourced, getting your people onside is critical to your success. Recruitment and retention are a problem in this post-pandemic era, requiring a different approach to both, but the performance benefits of having an engaged team go beyond the issues of finding the right people. This is about whether you want to face the challenges of growing your firm alone or with a genuine team alongside you. It’s about getting the best out of who is around you.

I hear much boardroom talk in accounting firms about now being the time for the team to ‘step up’. These are the areas to consider if you are to achieve this :-

#1 Vision – sorry to be predictable but everything does start here. If you haven’t shared a clear vision with your team then what are they supposed to be buying into? Don’t criticise your team for “just treating it as a job” if that is all you’ve given them.

#2 Plan – again, predictable (just proves that you know this stuff but, of course, you have to apply it!), but communicating your plan converts your vision into a clear route for the team to follow. Be aware, they’ve probably heard your plans before so there could be some cynicism here. This is just the next step, don’t expect lift off just yet.

#3 One team – full or part-time, internal or outsourced, in the office or at home, fee earner or not, your whole team are engaged in one process which is to deliver a great service to your clients. Your strategy has to be to engage your team as a complete unit, whatever they do and wherever they are based. A chain is only ever as strong as its weakest link.

#4 Organisation – hard to be part of a team when you don’t know your position, what the formation is or who the captain is. A clear and communicated organisation chart not only brings clarity but demonstrates that you have a clear model to back up your plan. My advice is to start with your theoretical chart, what it should look like in order to process your plan. Then populate it with where you are today so that you and your team can see the gaps. This helps them to become part of the solution.

#5 Roles and responsibilities – just as hard to be part of a team if you don’t know what is expected of you. The confidence, decision making and progression of a team member are held back by not having a clear understanding of their role and responsibilities and of the roles and responsibilities of those around them. Creating clear job descriptions to meet every position on your organisation chart allows the team to approach their job with greater confidence and ownership and provides aspirational targets for those looking to progress.

#6 Safe space – if you want your team to step up then you need to give them the space to step into. Trying to create mini versions of yourself or pushing back on anything not done the way you’d do it only suppresses their progress. But you stepping away is only half the story as they have to be confident in stepping forward. You have learned by your mistakes so give them the opportunity to do the same. By all means build a safety net between your firm and the outside world but allow your team the space to explore and learn.

#7 Trust – the most powerful statement you can give to your team is to show that you trust them. Trust in a work environment shouldn’t be unconditional, we all have our limits, but trusting them to fulfil the clear role that you have given them and to their level of experience gives them the confidence to then trust themselves. If you don’t trust your team then why should anyone?

#8 Adapt to their world – King Canute made the mistake of not changing his position in the face of an unstoppable incoming tide. Your clients and team members are increasingly representative of the Millennial and GenZ generations. Like it or not, they have different mindsets to older generations. They have a different approach to work, careers and life balance. Feedback, learning and progression matter….and they are NOT work shy (don’t even get me started on this one!). You can argue all day long that you travelled along a different path but you’re not going to win. Take the time to understand later generations. Listen to the thoughts of your team. Change your position and adapt your approach to harness the power of the incoming tide. Don’t be KC!

Your team can be your greatest asset. It’s easy to dismiss them (not literally!) but I’ve seen so many ‘wrong’ teams excel once they are given the opportunity to do so and the time and support to build their confidence. Some of the answers to your big challenges could be in front of you right now!

Creating your nine step action plan

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 12:59:16 GMT

It’s that time of year when our minds are split.

We are rushing to complete all of those tasks that have got to be done before Christmas (even though some have sat around for much of the year!) but we’re also very conscious of 2023 being just around the corner and the need to put some plans in place.

In previous articles I’ve written about clarifying your vision, understanding your influence as a leader and recognising the value and importance of having a plan. Let’s now kick that plan into place.

To be clear, this isn’t a business plan. This is an action plan.

It’s that time of year when our minds are split.

To be clear, this isn’t a business plan. This is an action plan. Both have their place but, having gone through the steps I’ve already covered, and making the assumption that, as an accountant, you are already on top of the numbers (!), in my experience, many people’s attention in December is drawn towards “What are we going to DO next year to fix or improve things?”

Here is my nine step guide to building your 2023 action plan:

1. Focus the mind

Creating your plan needs dedicated mental space so isolate time in your diary for an uninterrupted planning session. When it’s time, turn off your phone and emails, get out of the office if possible and avoid any distractions. Make sure you are fresh too, this is not a midnight task after a hard day at your desk.

2. Remind yourself of your ultimate goal

Vision is not the realm of the already successful but critical in your planning and decision making. Know your ultimate goal and you have a critical guide for your actions. However short term, they should still be steps toward your ultimate goal. Make it clear and write it down.

3. 2023 – months 1-12

You may want to consider having your senior team, or indeed your whole team, in on this step.

List what you want to achieve or tackle in 2023, both big and small. Don’t worry about ‘how’, this is about identifying ‘what’. From buying a new kettle and tidying up that junk room to your sales targets and team numbers, list out what you want to fix and achieve. Now do two things:

· Pull out the low hanging fruit, (that new kettle) and simply get it done!

· Prioritise the rest and pull out those you consider to be your top priorities, the things that must happen in 2023. The rest will get done as you re-visit late in the year bur let’s focus on the key ones first.

4. 2024 – months 13-24

Now repeat step 3 for 2024. We want to make sure that the two are consistent and that your future priorities are lined up as part of the plan. We focus on 2023 but, as the year progresses, the priorities of 2024 becoming increasingly relevant. Doing this helps you to keep focus and manage your priorities.

5. Select your facilitators

You’ve identified your key priorities. You now need someone to focus on their delivery so that they remain a priority. This person is not responsible necessarily for coming up with the solutions or with doing the work themselves but they are responsible for reporting and delivery. It is their responsibility, with others if they choose, to come up with the plan for the particular priority and to track its progress. They may chair a working group for instance or coordinate with an outsourced resource, or they could have the skill sets to actually run the delivery.

6. Set your timetable

Agree your timetable for progression, delivery and reporting. Get it into the diaries so that it’s not nudged to one side as the workload mounts.

7. Check your resources

Do you have what you need in order to deliver on your priorities? Before you go shopping, check that you are making the best use of what you already have available: your people, systems and funds. If you identify any deficits that will delay or prevent progression, either plan to address the deficit or recognise that you’re going to need to reset your plan. Don’t defeat yourself by trying to achieve what is unrealistic.

8. Agree your measurements

You can’t manage what you can’t measure. For each priority, identify your KPI’s. Understand how you are going to track progress.

9. Build your review process

Plans evolve, they don’t tend to be fixed, especially in the volatile and rapidly changing world we live in today. Reviews should be regular and set close enough to the activity that the response is meaningful. Regular reviews means regular progression.

These nine steps are one way to build an effective action plan. They are neither unique nor the only solution but they are steps proven to work. Hopefully they will provide you with a useful guide to your 2023 success.

Good luck!

Ok, what's the plan?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 23 Nov 2022 09:56:39 GMT

Creating a clear plan for your accounting firm in these times of rapid change and dramatic global and political events can be something of a conundrum.

Pablo Picasso told us:-

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”

Absolutely! I couldn’t agree more.

Then Mike Tyson comes along:-

“Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth.”

Absolutely! He’d know.

These two quotes neatly book-end the arguments that surround the creation of a plan. You need a clear plan if you are to successfully map out your route to success but what is the point if it can be smashed at any point by forces outside of your control?

In the three point, triangular model that I use for the development of accounting firms, the Leadership apex itself consists of three steps:

1. Vision

2. Influence

3. Plan

I’ve covered vision and influence in previous articles.

Clearly, I believe in the value of having a plan, not just because it helps you as the leader to focus on your route to success, to your vision, but it means that you are able to communicate that route to those who need to know: yourself, your team and your clients.

I am very much in the Pablo Picasso camp then.

But Tyson is right. The possibility of us getting punched in the mouth, in a business sense, has always been there, but, in these challenging political and digital times, we face a particularly busy and aggressive opponent. We’re going to take some blows.

Having a plan doesn’t necessarily help us to withstand those blows, that will be down to our training, state of fitness, team support, mental strength, luck and sheer bloody mindedness, but what it does do is give us a route back into the fight, a way forward.

Without a plan, decisions tend to be reactive, inconsistent, longer to take. Yes, there will always be times when we need to think on our feet but that’s about decision making, it’s not a plan.

With a plan, our team are onside, our training can be focused, our business fitness can be better prepared. Most importantly, our decisions are lined up with our vision. We may have to adjust them to accommodate the moves that we face but we understand what adjustments we need to make to get back on route to our goal of success.

How to create your plan is for another article but the first step in any plan is recognising the need for one.

The second step is committing to get it written down.

To quote Eleanor Roosevelt:

“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”

Many will have a wish list for next year, fewer will have a plan.

You choose.

Is your influence in line with your vision?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 11:45:27 GMT

In the context of running an accounting firm, I’ve written about the importance of your vision and understanding why you do what you do. It is frustrating for the leader of a firm when they know what they are trying to achieve but can’t seem to get those around them, team members and clients, to respond in a way that they envisioned.

In the context of running an accounting firm, I’ve written about the importance of your vision and understanding why you do what you do. It is frustrating for the leader of a firm when they know what they are trying to achieve but can’t seem to get those around them, team members and clients, to respond in a way that they envisioned.

It's easy to blame others but are we influencing those around us effectively and in a way that will line them up with our vision and plans?

Do we pay enough attention to the influence that we have?

Can we do better?

These are my tips:

Understand your leadership style and how you influence others. We all have different ways of thinking and approaching things. We all have different visions for our firms, for its culture and working environment. Understanding your style will give you a benchmark for assessing how you influence others. Are you hands-on or do you prefer to step back? Are you quiet or more forceful? Are you confrontational or do you prefer a more indirect route. What sort of ‘boss’ do you want to be and is that who you are?

Be more conscious of our own behaviour and mood. I believe that the leader of a firm sets the tone, consciously or sub-consciously. Our mood and behaviour has a direct influence on our team and clients. Any negativity, stress, frustration, indecision or unhappiness will filter through. Fortunately, so will any positivity, calm, satisfaction, decisiveness and happiness. You choose.

It’s okay ‘talking the talk’ with our teams and clients but we do have to ‘walk the walk’. Leading by example is the best way to influence those around us towards the thinking and actions that we are looking for in our vision. It’s hard to be that leader every day but it’s what we’ve signed up for.

Be more aware of what is happening around you, which means listening more and being more observant. Again, hard to do when the pressure is on but one thing that we have learned from the experience of the last few years, with remote working and fewer people in the office, is that people and issues can slip off the radar. Whilst it can be useful not to be interrupted and to be able to get on with our day, cutting ourselves off from those around us reduces our opportunities to positively influence what is happening.

Be consistent in your behaviour and thinking. To influence something towards a particular outcome, you need to consistently apply your forces in the same direction. Regularly changing your position will unsettle those around you and dilute any influence that you have. If people are waiting to see which version of you or your plan turns up each day then you are creating a problem for yourself as well as them. Eventually, they’ll ignore you.

Seek the advice and opinion of others who care about the same things as you. Unless your leadership style is dictatorial, feedback and advice are valuable in helping you to shape your powers of influence. Are you coming across the way that you think you are coming across? Are you aware of your real impact?

I will use a quotation by Omar Khayyam for my last point: “Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life”. Sometimes we get too preoccupied with tomorrow, especially in our world of deadlines. Living in the here and now doesn’t necessarily mean jumping out of airplanes or bungee jumping off a bridge. It can mean simply being aware of the moment that you are in. Opportunities to positively influence don’t always come along to a plan. Grab the opportunities that are there in front of you in that moment.

I hope that this helps you. We all keep learning every day.

Unlocking the power behind your firm

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 10:56:55 GMT

In my last article, the jigsaw piece, I wrote about the important of creating a clear vision for your firm. With that vision in front of you it is tempting to dive in and create your plan.

However, there are a couple more steps to take first if you are to create an effective pathway to follow.

In my last article, the jigsaw piece, I wrote about the important of creating a clear vision for your firm. With that vision in front of you it is tempting to dive in and create your plan.

However, there are a couple more steps to take first if you are to create an effective pathway to follow. The second of these I’ll write about next time (just to keep you in suspense!) but the first, and actually most important, is understanding why you do what you do.

If you’ve listened to Simon Sinek’s TED talk ‘How Great Leaders Inspire Action’ or read his book ‘Start With Why’ then you’ll already be on board with the power and importance of your Why. If not, then the TED talk is a great place to start.

Running an accounting firm is challenging. Every day you are pulled in different directions by clients, team members, regulatory bodies, professional organisations, suppliers, resources and family. It can be hard work, frustrating and stressful.

Now, all of these can be addressed (it’s what I do, after all) but trying to bring control to the chaos every day is so much harder if you don’t know Why you are doing it.

WHY do you get up and go into the office every day?

WHY do you deal with these clients?

WHY do you have your team?

WHY do you keep wanting to progress?

The answers that jump most easily to mind are often along the lines of:-

“I have bills to pay”

“What else can I do?”

“No idea, it’s just how it is!”

The responses are understandable but rarely are they the underlying Why.

Most accountants don’t start their own firm because they have bills to pay or can’t think of what else to do.

They start their firm because they have their own personal vision of what an accounting firm should be.

They start their firm because they want to help others to achieve success.

They start their firm because they want the best life for their family.

They start their firm because they believe there is more to life.

They start their firm because they want to prove themselves.

Whatever the reason WHY you made the leap, having that reason front and centre in your firm and in your thinking is critical because this is where your energy, drive and direction come from.

Your vision, your key strategies and your culture should all be built upon your WHY. In doing so, you shape your firm around something that is fundamental to your reason for getting up every day. Accountants rarely talk about passion but without passion you are, quite literally, just doing the numbers.

That’s not why you do what you do!

Understand your WHY and put it front and centre in your firm.

Where do you start?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 10:50:43 GMT

Clarity of vision may sound superfluous but it is what you base your decisions on

I was taught from a fairly young age that there is an effective process to follow when it comes to completing a jigsaw, regardless of the number of pieces involved. First you sort out all of the straight-edged pieces and especially the four corners. Put those together and you have your framework.

Then you sort out the dominant colours, often the blue sky or sea, a bright red London bus, the autumnal colours of a woodland and so on. You patiently build your jigsaw to a well-tried formula for construction. What you don't do is dive in and hope for the best, or start on one bit, go so far and then leave it because you get stuck and start somewhere else.

Of course, this process depends on two fundamentals: that you have a picture of the completed jigsaw and that all the pieces are present.

Is completing a jigsaw a good analogy for running an accounting firm today? Let's face it, there are certainly many pieces to the practice management jigsaw lying on the desk in front of you. Digitalisation, technology, systems, processes, recruitment, retention, team performance, profitability, recovery, cashflow, workflow, pricing, growth, client management, changing expectations, compliance, advisory, rewards. The list is endless.

It's hard to know where to start. Often the conversation flips to the need to get more clients or more staff but are they really the corners of the jigsaw, the straight-edged pieces that will give you a framework, or is this a case of picking up a piece that you recognise in the hope that it will lead you onto more structure?

The key to completing a jigsaw lies in having a clear image of what the completed product should look like. The process is based upon having that picture in front of you at all times. You may have different techniques for approaching the construction but the final image is always front and central. You can try it without, you can dive straight in and make a start without sorting out your pieces, but it will take you a lot longer and you will make many more errors along the way.

Having a clear vision of what your accounting firm should look like may feel like management consultancy hype, or may seem like a lot of precious time to use up when you have demands being thrown at you on a daily basis but if you don't have a clear picture of what you are trying to build then how are you going to know where to start? How are you going to sort out the pieces? How are you going to devise a plan? How are you going to know if anything is missing?

If you want to manage change rather than have change descend upon you then you have to be prepared to break the cycle that you are currently in and work to your own plan based on your own vision.

Take time out to re-focus on your vision. The reality is that you are possibly the missing piece in your own jigsaw.

Why we should accept that our Gen Z people are right

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 22:35:05 GMT

As a Baby Boomer (albeit towards the back end) I accept that this isn’t my world anymore. For much of my time in the accounting profession, we Baby Boomers ruled the roost, or thought that we did. We were the rising stars, the next generation of firm leaders, the experienced heads.

As a Baby Boomer, I had a career path. I recognised on entry into the profession that there was a clearly defined route from tea making junior to golf playing partner and that it would take time to follow. That was okay, I was aiming to hit the heady heights by the time I was forty. Just shy of twenty years to get there was a learning experience.

There were no real issues with this. My colleagues, clients and network were largely either fellow Baby Boomers or from the Silent Generation, two generations who tolerated each other without really understanding each other.

The model of advancement never really changed as Generation X came and went and Millennials began to fill the posts but the move from Millennial to Generation Z coincided with the explosion of the internet, social media and digital disruption as a whole.

Increasingly, our teams and clients are Gen Z or under the same influences. Those who are parents as well as employers will know that we face a very different beast today.

Gen Z are streetwise. They understand that there are winners and losers and want to be on the right side of that. They want to make a difference but come out on top.

So, they want to learn, want to develop and want to show what they can do. They want input. They want feedback. They want to be mentored and coached. They want to have the skills to win and the opportunities to show them off.

We may have seen the tea-making as a route to progression but they don’t.

Gen Z don’t want to do it the way we did, they don’t see the sense in it.

Here’s the thing. Your team and clients will gradually become more populated by Gen Z and less by the generations before…and Gen Alpha are just around the corner. It’s a factor of nature I’m afraid and unstoppable.

As business leaders we can bemoan the fact that people don’t seem to want to do things the way we did it anymore. We can believe that we are right and they are wrong…but where will that get us? Like King Canute, we can stare the tide down all day but there is only one winner.

Unlike King Canute, we must embrace the sea change. We must recognise the ambition, talent, desire, energy, new ideas and new skills of later generations and go with it. It isn’t a matter of right or wrong, it is a matter of working with each new generation to utilise their strengths.

Your Gen Z team don’t need to learn how to make the tea, they can get a delivery over the App, but they do need guidance in how to adapt their thinking to the business world around them, an area where us Baby Boomers have bags of experience.

If you want to remain relevant then unlock your inner Gen Z. Your team and clients will relate to you and respond to you in increasing numbers.

Good luck!

Be the happy accountant

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 12:11:40 GMT

I’ve concluded over my years in this profession that there are two ways that you can be totally happy at work in an accounting firm:

It’s just a job and it has no meaning for you. Your happiness in life comes from outside of work and your position as an accountant simply fits in, doing what you need it to do and not clashing with what makes you happy. You can switch off, go home and enjoy.
It’s much more than just a job, it really matters to you and, crucially, its delivering on your vision and goals. You understand why you come to work and you are fulfilling that core purpose.

Anything in between these two comes with unhealthy doses of stress and frustration.

If you relate to the first scenario then fair play to you, although you’re probably not reading this.

It’s the second route that interests me and certainly the one that I relate to. For the vast majority of the accountants that I’ve met over the years, being an accountant, especially in their own firm, is very much more than just a job and really does matter. The stress and frustration, therefore, comes from not delivering on the vision and goals.

Of course, if you are to deliver on your vision and goals then you first have to be crystal clear on what these are. In this age of ‘advisory’, we hear lots of talk about vision and goals in the context of our clients. If we genuinely believe that our approach to advisory has real value, and will make a real difference to clients (and the answer to both is a very definite YES!) then why are we not totally committed to applying that same thinking and those same tools and strategies to our own firms?

I asked an accountant recently, one who would consider themself and their firm to be ‘leading’, what their vision was. The answer came back “To be the best”.

“What does that mean?” I said.

“To be recognised as the best accountants in the area” came the reply.

That wasn’t a meaningful answer but I pressed on…

“Why?”

You know when you are asked a question by a child that you really can’t elaborate on so you just say “Because, that’s why!”

He couldn’t define his vision or goals to me and presumably had not communicated these to his team or clients either. How can you achieve what you don’t understand?

Here’s a couple of hard questions to face up to:

If you are not clear on your vision and goals, and cannot communicate them, then how can you ever fulfil them and be happy?
If you are not applying the same advisory tools and strategies to your own firm that you are seeking to sell to clients then you are not applying your own best practice…or are you mis-selling to your clients?

Defining your vision and goals is the first step towards happiness for you if your role as an accountant means anything to you at all.

Taking your own advice when it comes to advisory tools and strategies is how you achieve that vision and goals. It’s also the most effective way of convincing your clients to go down the advisory route…. “Let me show you what we do”.

Don’t just ‘talk the talk’. ‘Walk the walk’ and put a smile on your face.

Good luck!

Why you and your clients should be partners

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 20:40:13 GMT

I’m regularly raising the issue of the imbalance in the relationship between an accountant and their clients, highlighting the need to level it up.

It is not uncommon for an accountant to have to work hard to get a client to respond to requests and instructions, stick to timetables and accept charges. Equally, it’s not unusual for a client to expect instant responses, unplanned turnarounds and mind-reading capabilities.

Whilst generalisations, they’re behaviours that can be found in most firms if we’re being honest. We only have ourselves to blame. Historically, accountants have been averse to the thought of losing a client and rather timid in their management of them. This has led to a relationship that, in some cases, is much more akin to Master/Servant than we should be comfortable with. Clients, subconsciously at least, see us as fairly low down their list of priorities until they want something.

We talk a lot about wanting to be seen as partners in our clients’ businesses, sitting alongside them in a supportive and advisory capacity and being valued beyond our compliance role. What if we were to flip things around? What if we were to treat clients as partners in our accounting firms?

Think about the ideal relationship that you would have with a good partner:

You share values and ethos

You understand and respect each other

The financial split is agreed and fair

You work for the joint benefit and to benefit each other

You support each other

You share knowledge and information

You keep each other informed and in the loop

You progress together

That is a different list to seeing the client as a customer and so it gets us thinking differently about how we should be managing our client relationships.

Are we clear enough in the communication of our values and ethos?

Do we show understanding and respect and receive it in return?

Do we ensure the fees charges and the methods of payment work for us as well as the client?

Do we both benefit from the relationship in fair measure?

Does the communication work both ways?

Do we plan to progress together?

Let’s be honest, if a client is a good client and the right client then they will have little issue working with you on such a list. Only clients who do not value the relationship would resist and why should you work with them?

It’s our own behaviour that has created this imbalance and it is only our own behaviour that will now address it. We must be prepared to have the conversations needed to balance up the relationship, confident in the understanding that good clients, the right clients, will comfortably agree.

We must also be prepared to say goodbye to clients who do not recognise this list and so, don’t value the relationship with your firm. It is a brave step as it can impact on both top line and cash flow, I’m not naïve, but, how else are you going to free up your time to grow your business, reduce the frustrations and stress levels for you and your team and focus on the clients who deserve it?

I see firms take this step and benefit from it all the time. You can do too.

Good luck!

Five questions that you really must know the answer to

Thu, 07 Jul 2022 17:27:15 GMT

To quote renowned cellist, Yo-Yo Ma, “Music is powered by ideas. If you don't have clarity of ideas, you're just communicating sheer sound.”

So it is in business, and specifically in our case, in an accounting firm. If you don’t have clarity in the ideas for your business then all you are communicating is noise.

Clarity brings focus. It avoids misunderstanding and brings explanation and context. It helps people to work better. If you are looking to bring clarity to your accounting firm then there are five questions that you simply must have clear answers to.

1. What sort of firm are you?

The obvious answer is an accounting firm but does that really give a clear picture? As the use of tech, the range of potential services and the spectrum of client management styles grows, saying that you’re an accounting firm is too generic….”Yes, but what sort?” Can you clearly and concisely communicate what sort of accounting firm you are?

2. What do you want your firm to be known for?

This matters because being known for the right things is what will bring you the right clients, the right team and your own satisfaction. There could be many different things that you want to be known for depending on your own priorities and values. You may want to be known for a specialism, a niche market, a price point, your customer service, your personality. There is rarely any satisfaction or success in trying to be all things to all people. Can you clearly and concisely communicate what it is that you want your firm to be known for?

3. What is the plan for achieving it?

You know what you want your firm to be known for but is it something you hope for or do you have a plan for achieving and maintaining it? Presumably this isn’t a plan that you intend to deliver in isolation? Can you clearly and concisely communicate the actions that your firm needs to take to achieve what you want to be known for?

4. Do you know when you have got there?

This is not so much a target date as a recognition of what success looks like. In a profession where over-servicing is our Achilles heel, how will you know when you have reached that point where your actions switch from achieving a level to maintaining a level, bearing in mind that the conditions themselves will be ever evolving? Can you clearly and concisely communicate what good looks like and what success looks like to you?

5. What does the world outside think of your firm?

It’s okay you having a clear understanding of who you are and what you want to be known for but is that how those outside of your four walls see you? The only way to find out what clients and the market place think of your firm is to ask them and this just doesn’t happen as often as it should. It may be that we are scared of the answer but we are better knowing. We need to be specific too. Questions such as “How are we doing” won’t necessarily bring you the true picture since the respondent knows that “OK” is the easy and most painless answer. Can your clients and market clearly and concisely communicate their view of your firm back to you?

Five points to be clear on:

This is who we are
This is what we are about
This is the plan
This is the level we set
This is how others see us

A firm that has clarity across these five points understands what to focus on. It knows what its priorities are and what to do next. You would want to be that firm wouldn’t you?

Good luck!

Time to focus on the new skills

Tue, 31 May 2022 17:26:04 GMT

In the middle of a discussion with a room full of accountants on the steps needed to develop an accounting firm today, I asked for a show of hands from those who didn’t feel that they were doing enough to build the relevant skills in their firm.

Every hand went up.

It’s interesting isn’t it. Everyone recognised the need but, equally, everyone recognised that they weren’t addressing it effectively.

Training in our profession has always centred around exams and CPD, Continuing Professional Development. These, in turn, have focused on our technical skills and knowledge. Don’t get me wrong, if we are to promote ourselves as an accountant then we have a professional and legal responsibility to ensure that we are technically competent and to maintain and refresh that competence. However, technical competence only partially meets our clients’ needs and our own commercial requirements.

For centuries, the accountant’s role has primarily been to turn the client’s incomplete records into compliant returns. Much of that time, this was a manual process and so the technical competence was a much greater slice of our overall role. Accounting firms flourished on a recurring income model and clients’ needs were met by the compliance services.

We live in a different world today. Digitalisation, greater competition, more challenging commercial pressures and changing client expectations mean that being a competent technical accountant is now only part of our role and only part of what our own firms need.

In addition to our knowledge as an accountant today, we need:

IT skills
Business management skills
Client service skills
HR skills
Communication skills
Project management skills
Creative development skills
Sales and marketing skills

To be honest, the list could go on for pages.

In a nutshell we need the skills to not just deliver compliance but to run an accounting business successfully and keep the modern SME business owner happy.

Fundamentally this means tech skills and people skills.

This was the point at which the hands went up!

Firms are pretty good at sticking to their technical CPD training but lag behind in developing tech and people skills. The reluctance with tech training can often be put down to cost but what is the price of not investing in using your tech more effectively?

As for people skills, often, to be blunt, this is down to ignorance. Generational change and social change mean that people think and act differently. The client of today and the team member of today are different beasts to when we were training. Firms have to recognise this and invest in training to meet the newer demands of both. On top of that, our role as accountant is changing.

Clients want competent accountants but they also want an accounting firm with empathy, care, support, understanding and input.

Team members want to build their technical competence but they also want responsibility, the skills to better perform and progress, the skills to be better at their interactions, more interesting (to them) work.

Firms need to change client behaviour and perception as the role of the accountant changes and so need people with the skills to deliver and manage that change.

Clocking up the CPD hours will not bring success or change to your firm. Teaching you and your team the tech and people skills to drive change, performance and client behaviour will!

Take a look at your training programme for the next 12 months.

Are you doing enough?

Good luck!

Feel 10 X better about your firm

Wed, 04 May 2022 09:24:04 GMT

It’s very easy to think the worst of our own firms and certainly to have a more jaundiced view of ourselves than our clients and contacts have of us. Maybe that’s better than having it the other way around but it doesn’t necessarily help us.

As business owners we tend to focus on the negatives within our firms. We spend our time addressing problems, looking for the failings and trying to tackle our weaknesses. Successes and strengths can too easily be taken for granted or quickly passed by as we head for the next area that troubles us.

This can leave us with a disproportionate view not only of the health of our firm but also the scale of the problems. We can feel that there is a mountain of problems to climb because that is all we see.

It’s very important to celebrate our successes in order to have a more balanced view of ourselves. An exercise that I strongly recommend is to gather your team together in front of a flipchart, smartboard or whiteboard and list out everything that has been a positive in the last 12 months…and I mean everything, big and small. From great results, new clients, successful projects and exam successes to rooms tidied up, new kettles, clients sacked and better coffee, we’re looking to list out everything that makes you and the team smile. The list will be long, I guarantee it.

As well as feeling better about ourselves, we also need to address this issue of the psychological mountain of challenges. One of the most common hurdles I come across is simply knowing where to start, it feels like there are so many things to fix. The problem here, of course, is that delaying the decision, or being unable to focus on any particular challenges means that we end up making no progress whatsoever.

I have a tip for getting over this hurdle.

First, list out the 10 best things about your firm, your 10 greatest strengths. Don’t overthink it but don’t stop until you have 10 strengths listed either. However poor you think your firm is, you will have 10 strengths.

Let me create a fictitious accounting firm, Typical Accounting Limited (TAL) and use them as an example. For their list of strengths, this is what they came up with:-

We care
We’re nice people
We’re local
We’ve got good systems
Our clients like us
We’re a good team
We’re honest
We’re professional
We know the basics well
We’re really good at payroll

It’s an entirely random list but it shows how easy it is to pull out 10 strengths.

Now, think of one of the big challenges that you face right now. What troubles you most on a daily basis?

What we are then going to do is to apply our strengths in addressing the problem. In the case of TAL, the challenge that came straight to mind for them was workflow, they have a backlog that is getting worse. How can they apply their strengths to address the problem? Let’s go back to their list:-

We care - We should remind ourselves of this. We see it as a problem because we do care. This should give us the desire to fix it
We’re nice people - Therefore we will find a solution that is fair for all
We’re local - What other resources exist locally that could help us here? Are their freelancers, other firms, flexible workers, new recruits that we should be talking to?
We’ve got good systems - What is good about them and can we utilise this more? Are we making the most of them or do we need to be talking to our account managers about further training or upgrades?
Our clients like us - Will improving our communication with our clients help us here? Is there more that the clients could/should be doing to help address the challenge? Can we do more to keep our clients onside and reduce the pressure?
We’re a good team - Are we approaching this issue as a team? Are we making the most of our skills and what we’re best at ?
We’re honest - But are we overpromising in our desire to keep clients onside? Are we being honest where we are underperforming? Are we being honest (realistic) with ourselves and planning accordingly?
We’re professional - Our clients and outsourcers need to reflect this. A one-sided professional relationship is harder than a mutually professional one. Are we standing up for our professionalism?
We know the basics well - Is it time to get back to basics for a while? Also, are we focused on the basics or are we over-servicing? Are we delivering ‘good enough’ in its literal sense?
We’re really good at payroll - What is it about our payroll that works really well and what can we learn from this?

By focusing on our strengths and using them to the maximum, we change the dynamics of our problem solving. Rather than “How do I fix what I’ve so far failed to fix?” our focus is on “How do I get even better at what I do well?”. It’s a positive approach built on positive thinking.

It’s also an approach that enables us to more easily engage the team in our strategies as they become part of the solution rather than waiting around for you to deliver the solution to them.

Of course, once you’ve started to eat into that first challenge, you can then pick another and do it again. You may choose to use the same 10 strengths or you may revisit it and see what others you have added, having progressed with one of your issues.

Give it a try. You may find that you are better than you thought!

Good luck!

Putting your focus on you

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 19:04:29 GMT

When did you last put yourself first in your business?

Being too busy is a common condition for an accountant. Whilst we may feel that it is something driven by deadlines and workloads, human behaviour can be found at the heart of the issue.

The behaviour of clients in not keeping their side of the service agreement, not fulfilling their responsibilities and not taking our advice, requests and instructions seriously enough certainly brings pressure to our workload.

The behaviour of colleagues and bosses in not doing their own jobs properly, not following the systems and not communicating well with us definitely adds to the problem.

Yet, how often do we then allow their failing to become our problem? How often do we still pull all the stops out to retrieve an issue that is not necessarily of our making? We fix the problem and, in doing so, prove to others that we can deliver so they don’t need to.

On top of clients and colleagues, we are also the architects of our own downfall. We’re not great at saying no for a start off. We seem to accept any sort of work challenge that meets the legal and ethical criteria but not necessarily the commercial or practical ones.

We have a nasty habit of over-promising under the guise of client service and then, of course, shooting ourselves in the foot with the inevitable under-delivery. That problem is of our making.

Our behaviour, and our acceptance of the behaviour of others, adds much our ‘to do’ lists and our stress levels.

We don’t have to keep accepting an imbalance in the client relationship. If the client doesn’t respect our time and business then why should we worry about theirs?

We don’t have to keep accepting colleagues and bosses not doing their jobs properly. We can be criticised for not fulfilling our own roles and responsibilities so what about them?

We can apply as many systems, processes and time saving tips as we like but unless we stop accepting the failings of others and take a more realistic and honest approach towards our own capabilities then we will continue to find ourselves under the cosh.

Under-promise and then impress with your over-delivery, not the other way around
Know your capabilities and be honest with yourself and others in what you can achieve
Trust in the fairness of others. Communicate your problem in good time and fair people will work with you for a solution. We’re not bothered about the unfair ones
Focus on doing your own job well. It is your first line of defence and for others to do the same
If you keep bailing others out then they will continue to let you. Learn to say no
Value your time
Value your health
Remember, you are a good person. You will help if you can and you will support if you can, but not so that you become the victim.

Good luck!

2022/23 – The year for transitioning your firm

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 22:11:30 GMT

From an individual and a business perspective, we’ve all been through an awful lot in 2020 and 2021. It is a period of time that has changed our priorities, our plans and our businesses. In some respects we’ve made progress, with changes being implemented to meet the demands of the time. Flexible working and the digitalisation and systemisation of firms represent the sort of changes that were driven by the pandemic but that were on the agenda for many firms in any case before it hit. The demands of working in the pandemic accelerated the need for change.

Conversely, we were forced to change many plans and re-prioritise our actions. Lots of things that maybe should have happened during the last two years didn’t. Yet, the conditions and reasons for those actions didn’t stop. For the accounting profession, the competition and digitalisation juggernauts inexorably rolled on regardless. In some respects we’ve lost two years in the longer term plans that we may have had in 2019.

I believe that the next 12 to 18 months are critical for accounting firms. We have come out of the pandemic and, rather than finding ourselves in the ‘new normal’ that was so much vaunted in the early stages of the 2020 lockdowns, we find ourselves facing a period of transition.

Put the pandemic to one side for a moment. For 500 years, an accounting firm occupied itself and made its money from turning the clients’ incomplete records into compliant returns. Fundamentally, that was the business model.

As we look at role of the accountant today, all the talk is legitimately around how that role has and will change. Compliance remains part of the model, in my view, but not as the single core product it once was. The accountant’s ability to support and advise their clients, to widen and commercialise these service lines and to demonstrate their greater value and expertise is vital to the security and growth of our firms. Competition and digitalisation erodes (but doesn’t remove) our compliance role and we need to replace it by educating the market on our wider expertise.

Now reintroduce the time lost in 2020 and 2021. It almost feels like we entered the pandemic essentially still as more the traditional accountant and now exit it into a world that quickly needs the new style to come to the fore. I’m not saying we weren’t changing or digitalising as a profession before, simply that as a result of two lost years, the need for change is now far more pressing.

2022/23 is, I believe, the transitional peak for accountants. By 2024 we need to be fully embedded in our new ways. We won’t address every challenge in 2022 but, if we accept that transition is now then we need to clarify what our plans are for meeting those challenges.

My advice is this:

Recognise that the next 18 months are critical for the transition of your firm
Ensure that your vision for 2024 and beyond is clear and communicated to your team
Restate your firm’s action plan for 2022/23 in line with your vision
Identify the key challenges and actions for the next 18 months
Embrace change, set your targets and standards of performance and engage your team in the thought of 18 BIG months.

Good luck!

The changing face of accountants’ teams

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 09:35:20 GMT

It doesn’t matter whether I am talking to an accountant in Aberdeen or Adelaide, they share the same problem: “I can’t recruit good people and I’m scared of losing those that I’ve got already.”

There seems to be a very real shortage of accountants and I don’t think that it’s an issue that is going to fix itself anytime soon. Whether it be down to there not being enough people attracted to the profession, too many people leaving the profession, too many of those in the profession not having the right skills or the growth in demand because of so many firms looking to pivot and develop, good people are a prized resource.

In the face of such short supply, three strategies stand out for firms looking to maintain and build their human resource:

We need to be active in engaging and retaining the good people that we have.
We need to find ways to get the best out of everyone that we already have.
We need to stand out as attractive to those who we want to recruit.

The profession is changing and the role of the accountant is changing. No longer should we be driven by the need to churn out endless sets of compliance returns from incomplete records. The modern accountant is driven by client service, support and advice, with compliance an efficient part of the package.

There are reasons why accounting tech solutions and offshoring are flourishing: they are efficient, keep you competitive and free up your team for better things.

We need teams that are no longer built around the traditional accounts preparation skills but around how to deliver client experience. In this digital age, that means everything from tech awareness, management skills and professional knowledge to communication, marketing and client service skills.

These needs are, of course, partly what is driving the demand for team members but the needs and goals of those team members are also changing. Fewer people want to learn traditional accounting skills. More people are tech savvy and want to work in that environment. People want smarter working environments, more interesting roles, greater flexibility, greater input into the business and more opportunities to learn and develop. They want to work with standout businesses, it’s no longer necessarily ‘just a job’ or a ‘career step’.

We must consider these points when we look at our three key strategies above:

Are my current team engaged and happy? What am I offering them when I look at the points above? Am I giving them the sort of roles and work that really interests them and will keep them engaged? The short answer is that you won’t know if your don’t ask. They won’t necessarily know what sort of work they could be doing within your firm, given the opportunity.
How can I get the best out of my current team? What can I do to make the best of their skills and keep them motivated and happy? Again, you won’t know if you don’t ask.
Are we an attractive proposition for good people currently working elsewhere? Do we offer opportunities and an environment that are going to draw interest? Can I create a vision that excites? Remember, you neither want nor need to just employ accountants but people who fit your vision and culture.

The traditional job titles, salary discussions and holiday offerings are not what it is about today. If you are looking to develop your firm and adapt it to suit the modern image of an accounting firm, then you need to adapt how you think about your team and your recruitment. Think less about what job they are doing and think more about what role they could play.

Good luck!

How to get outsourcing to work for you

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 17:34:43 GMT

Few businesses can afford to carry spare or under-utilised resources these days and accounting firms are no different. Running a lean business model is pretty much a requirement for management. Add to that the skills shortages, recruitment headaches and deadline pressures and it is no surprise that outsourcing is very much on the agenda within the profession.

Whilst outsourcing is nothing new, technology has enabled it to flourish by bringing it operationally into the heart of a firm regardless of where the resource sits in the World. As a flexible, scalable human resource, it is an obvious solution to many of today’s practice management challenges.

I profess to being a fan. Not only does it provide the resources to meet demand and fuel growth, it enables the skills of in-house teams to be better focused on client needs. But why is it that some firms make it work so effectively and yet others struggle, often whilst using the same outsource supplier?

Here are my tips for effective outsourcing:

Be clear on where outsourcing sits within the vision and goals for your firm. Is it a short term solution or part of your longer term vision?
Understand the differences between outsourcing and offshoring. Outsourcing is about moving a service outside of your firm. Offshoring is much more about dedicated resources being placed offshore. If you see your ‘outsourced’ operation as being an integral part of your firm and team then offshoring is much more appropriate.
Outsourcing is not just about production, such as accounts, tax and payroll. Think about what services and resources your business as a whole uses and what could be effectively outsourced. You probably do it already with HR, IT, marketing etc but what about admin, client support, property management, specific projects etc?
Communicate your plan clearly to your existing team. Giving them an understanding of your thinking and involving them in the process will help to alleviate any fears or resistance.
Treat any outsourced resource as a part of your business in order for it to be effective. They should be part of your systems, culture and team. Building relationships makes a world of difference to your outcomes.
Set your expectations from the outset and be clear in the communication of the roles and responsibilities. You cannot leave such things down to interpretation when you are dealing with different cultures and suppliers who will be working to other firms systems, standards and requirements as well as yours.
Define the finished product. What is acceptable? What does ‘good’ look like?
Communicate your system. Be clear what works for you and what needs to happen. Equally, ask your supplier to do the same. What do they need of you?
Have a clear system of management, control and review. Who is responsible for overseeing the process and outcomes at your end and what is their system of management?
Establish a timetable of regular review with the supplier to cover workflows, quality issues and other operational matters. Make sure that you have a dedicated senior point of contact

Whilst it is usually the outsourcer who picks up the flak for the operation not working too well, you don’t have to look too far to find contributory failings in the preparation, management and communication at the accounting firms’ end. Follow these 10 steps and you will see just how valuable a resource your outsourcers can be.

Good luck!

How to get a client to take bookkeeping seriously

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 14:00:17 GMT

As I look back on 40 years as an accountant I wonder if one of the profession’s greatest failings is reflected in the state of the accounting records of so many businesses. It has seemingly been deemed acceptable for so long that a client can submit ‘incomplete records’ and the accountant would sort them out and at least share the cost and hassle of doing so.

If there was ever an excuse then it was that bookkeeping was time consuming and cumbersome, that double entry was a dark art understood by the accountant alone.

But, the inefficiencies of bookkeeping and the subsequent lack of meaningful information must have held back the development of both the clients’ and accountant’s businesses.

Digitalisation and technology have made those excuses redundant. Finally, we can fix this, but still the resistance remains. So, how do you get your clients to take their bookkeeping seriously?

Turn your focus onto data, because that is what this is about: timely and accurate data by which to meet your legal responsibilities and manage your business. Reduce stress, improve performance…and data is so much part of the value of a business today.
If you want your clients to take bookkeeping seriously then first it has to be taken seriously within your accounting firm. Historically, bookkeeping has been the poor cousin of accounting. How can a client value bookkeeping if we undervalue it ourselves? Data is king!
Decide on the strategy for your firm and clearly message it to clients:
An effective internal bookkeeping team
An effective outsourced bookkeeping service
A clear push back to the client as their responsibility – but trained and supported by you
Decide on your pricing strategy. Bookkeeping is seen as one of the lowest priced services by accountants and yet data is the bedrock of the entire client relationship and the source of advice that will improve businesses and lives. We need to be bolder!
The carrot: Create your strategy for educating your clients on the value and importance of accurate data. In this rapidly changing age, a business without an effective dashboard is a failing business, driving blind, guessing at decisions.
The stick: Create your strategy for educating clients on the necessary requirements of MTD, the cost of failing to do so, the threat of a digitalised HMRC and the practical necessities and requirements of working with a professional accountant for protection and support.
The Key: We call them Advisory Keys, the spectrum of software tools and Apps on the market that enable an accountant to quickly demonstrate to a client how things have changed in the profession and how much value accountants can now deliver off the back of clean data. Whisperclaims, an R&D credit tool, and VFDPro, a financial management & analytics package, are just two great examples of the genre, tools that are easy to apply but quickly demonstrate your professional worth to your clients. Change the conversation!
Draw your lines. For many clients, serious conversations about their bookkeeping have been deferred year after year with both the accountant and the client being aware of the time, cost and other objections. No longer can we allow this to happen. The clock is quickly running down for both sides.
Prepare to say goodbye. Clients who refuse to engage cannot remain as clients. We talk about being the trusted advisor and yet here is a client, despite our best efforts through 1-8 above, still refusing to take our advice. They can no longer be a client, the relationship no longer works.

Nine steps, with enormous value to you and your clients.

Good luck!

Where would you be without compliance?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 22:18:41 GMT

Imagine for one moment that you are listening to the Government’s budget plans and the Chancellor announces that, to minimise Red Tape, there will no longer be a requirement for businesses or individuals to file accounts or tax returns! A new system is being introduced that is fully automated and completely remove any filing via a third party.

Compliance is the number one reason why people use an accountant. There is a fair chance therefore that this scenario would remove the core of your business, most of your fees and the main reason why people buy your services.

What would you do?

Of course, it may be that you have to shut your doors as your income gradually dries up.

But what about all the valuable client relationships that you currently have?

What about the non-compliance advice that you give?

There is an interesting exercise to do around your firm’s dependence on compliance, what else you do (or can do) and how you can build non-compliance-based services in your firm.

To be clear, I don’t believe the ‘compliance is dead’ argument, there is more compliance around than ever, but there are two very sound reasons for exploring this idea of ‘what can we do that isn’t compliance based?’

Competition around compliance will grow and grow, as will the noise for clients to become more self-sufficient. Accountants can counteract this through education and greater efficiencies but it is going to be an increasingly challenging sector.
Compliance is driven by government and so subject to rapid changes of direction and external factors that the accountant can little influence or control. That is a commercial risk. My scenario may be a little extreme but it hardly lies in the realms of impossibility.

Moving our firms onto a wider playing field makes sound commercial sense, and now is a good time to explore it.

Our biggest asset right now is a loyal and trusting client base. That’s a great place to start when looking to grow existing offerings and develop new ones.

As accountants, we already provide business support services to clients. These may be driven by compliance, such as payroll, bookkeeping etc but help fulfil practical as well as legal requirements.

In addition, we advise clients all day long. We may not do it in a structured and commercial manner but it’s still a service we provide.

Accountants tend to have good business networks around them, people and businesses who can help them to meet the wider client needs.

And, of course, there are the client businesses themselves, a wealth of collaborative opportunities open to the accountant.

My question is this: What steps could you take to shield your firm against the risk of your compliance business disappearing?

Which of your existing services could be restructured into a more commercial form?
What new services could you offer?
What steps could you take to commercialise relationships within your business network?
What collaborative opportunities exist within your client base?

There seems to be an assumption that accounting firms cannot exist without compliance. Without preparation I tend to agree but, with some thought and planning, building on your existing services and your available assets can take your firm in a different direction, offering a much wider spectrum of services to the market and more income streams for your firm.

Compliance work provides accountants with a great base for building trust with their clients. With that trust in place, the opportunities are limitless if we change our existing pricing strategies (stop giving it away for free!) and think more creatively about the relationships around us.

Good luck!

Data driven client relationships

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 20:47:35 GMT

I don’t believe that I’m being particularly contentious in saying that bookkeeping has historically been a troublesome area for accounting firms. Getting the majority of clients to take their bookkeeping responsibilities seriously has always been an issue. It ranks low in their list of priorities and, as accountants, we’ve often struggled to change that.

In the past, bookkeeping was a much more laborious process than it is today and the time and cost involved in educating clients to change their behaviour and opinion has always been a barrier. Such a barrier, in fact, that it has been easier for the accountant to live with the pain of trying to sort out incomplete, error-strewn, late records.

This weakness with bookkeeping is one of the main reasons why we have stayed a reactive profession. By the time we’ve turned poor records into meaningful accounts, there has always been little budget, time or appetite for anything more constructive. Consequently, the client relationship has revolve around historical compliance.

Digitalisation should have changed this. With a simplification and automation of the bookkeeping process, the old reasons for failure should have been left behind. The fact that, for some, they haven’t, is now more a case of the accountant failing to drive the change. Few of us like change, and will avoid it if we can when there are other matters still pressing. The onus is on the accountant to now make this happen.

And happen it must…for two reasons.

The first, hopefully obviously, is the digitalisation of the tax system. With tax authorities around the globe moving towards more automated tax processes and real time taxation, accountants will no longer have the time to sort out continuing client record disruption. Here in the UK, the rollout of MTD should be a clear alert to accountants to address any remaining clients reluctant to not just go digital but to do it in an organised, efficient and accurate way.

The accountant’s choice is simple: either educate/train the client or charge to outsource but the ongoing failings cannot continue.

The second reason is arguably even more powerful. Whilst the first may be about lowering stress levels and avoiding costly chaos, the second is almost existential.

As accountants, our role is changing, or should be. I don’t buy into the ‘compliance is dead’ argument, I believe it remains a core product, but it will come under increasing pressure from competition and alternative client solutions. As accountants, we need to maintain our relevance to clients and having access to real-time information on their businesses gives us the opportunity to do just that.

Whether or not you see yourself as ‘advisory’, having access to accurate client data in real time allows you to use your core financial management and financial analysis skills to pinpoint areas for improvement in your clients’ businesses like never before. No longer do we have a two week wait for management accounts, we have the business performance and issues laid out in front of us for every client meeting and conversation.

Our relevance is reaffirmed.

In amongst all the talk of advisory, it’s important to recognise that the biggest single change to potentially drive our profession, and our firms, forward, lies at the other end of the scale and is far more basic. The future is about bookkeeping. Get that right (and there are no longer any excuses) and we have a firm foundation to build a very proactive client relationship upon without the need for learning new ‘advisory’ skills. Just be a good accountant!

Would I sack a client who still refused to ‘upgrade’ their bookkeeping?....Without a second thought!

Your firm cannot grow with dinosaurs onboard.

Good luck.

Is your firm short on confidence?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 17:45:48 GMT

The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.

It’s not you, it’s me

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 07:00:03 GMT

In a recent poll that we ran, 37% of responding accountants cited client education & mindset as the challenge that they find most stressful or worrying.

With digitalisation transforming how businesses are run, how compliance is delivered and how people communicate, it shouldn’t be surprising that accountants are having to focus more on getting their clients to adapt, evolve and view the role of the accountant in different ways, but frustration levels can rise quickly when the client response isn’t as you would want it to be.

But what’s the root cause here?

Do we really have a client base that is resistant to change, not looking to improve their lot, or are we not getting our advice across through our own failings?

The starting point has to be to return to a vital strategy within your practice management, your client segmentation.

You probably have a number of clients right now who already recognise the value and wisdom of your advice and act accordingly. There’s also a fair chance that you have another group of clients who aren’t really running a business at all, at least not in their minds. They are doing a job and happen to be in a self-employed or business format for circumstantial reasons. They don’t see themselves as business managers in any way and so just do the bare minimum required of them to enable them to keep on working.

My interest is with all those clients in between these two groups. Owner-managers who aren’t running their businesses effectively enough and aren’t adapting to change. Don’t they care, aren’t they listening or aren’t you telling them clearly and often enough?

I doubt that they don’t care, this is their family and livelihood at stake. So are you loud enough, clear enough, persistent enough?

To take control of the situation, we must ask ourselves, “Are we doing enough?”

As professional advisors who, hopefully, want the best for our clients, are we allowing some of them to walk away from the hard truths and avoid the steps necessary to run a better business? Are we allowing them to make excuses because it’s easier for them and, sometimes, if we’re being honest, maybe easier for us too?

Only you will know the answer to this but, in my experience, we have to be prepared to be more open and honest with our clients and recognise that we have a professional responsibility to be so. We have to commit to push harder to create momentum in our client relationships. A client who consistently fails to take our advice shouldn’t really be a client should they?

Poll: The greatest challenges

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 11:52:45 GMT

I recently ran a poll on LinkedIn for accountants in practice. My question was this:

What's the No 1. challenge that you find most stressful or worrying as an accountant in practice?

Let’s skip to the results:

Competition/differentiation 12%

Digitalisation/technology 16%

Recruitment/Retention 35%

Client education/mindset 37%

I’ll be returning to these in blogs and articles over the next month or so but let’s reflect briefly on these findings.

1. Competition/differentiation 12%

The lowest scorer in relative terms despite competition being a growing threat for all small accounting firms. Are we not concerned about the global, online and multi-sector nature of the opposition or are we happy that we’re on top of it with improved client services, more value added offerings and the ‘human face’ factor? Maybe we’ve fully differentiated ourselves to great effect.

2. Digitalisation/technology 16%

Again, a relatively low scorer despite tech topics dominating the webinars, online discussions and conversations with firms. There is no denying that progress has been made and there are plenty of options and off the shelf solutions out there. Are we feeling on top of this now? Maybe we’re finally get to grips with our tech.

3. Recruitment/Retention 35%

This topic is clearly an area of stress and concern. Why is this, with off-shoring finally coming of age, digitalisation reducing the size of teams and the economic situation releasing personnel and highlighting the risk of changing jobs? We know that the profession has failed to attract in necessary numbers over the last decade and training budgets have been cut but who are we actually short of and what skill sets are we missing? Maybe the chickens are coming home to roost or, possibly, we’re not being adventurous enough with our skills thinking?

4. Client education/mindset 37%

The number one challenge causing sleepless nights. It’s interesting because, as a number of the replies in the poll pointed out, this is the one area that, as accountants, we can most directly impact upon. Are we unable to influence the mindset of our clients, unable to get them to listen? Do we lack the skills and/or content to educate them in the ways of running a business effectively? Are we the wrong people to try? Client education and mindset starts with team education and mindset and that becomes a factor of leadership. Is this the problem?

I’d love to learn your thoughts.

Is yesterday the right place to start?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Thu, 03 Jun 2021 09:26:36 GMT

Revolution or evolution in your firm

Accounting firms, in general, take an evolutionary route to progression. We look at what we did yesterday, learn from it and look to see what we can change to improve our performance tomorrow.

It’s a step by step route that allows us to build on what we know. It can be a slow route to change but its progressive and sound.

It’s certainly better than staying in yesterday’s world.

But what if things have changed so quickly or so fundamentally that yesterday is no longer relevant. Are we starting from the wrong place?

The role of the accountant hadn’t changed significantly in 500 years. Our core product was turning the incomplete records of clients into legally compliant records and filings. We could get better at it every day, and we could add to our client service, by learning from our yesterdays but our role and purpose remained the same. Clients needed accountants to fulfil their obligations.

Digital transformation has disrupted that.

Our competition is no longer the other accountants on the High Street but global and from multiple sources.

Clients have multiple options for meeting their needs.

People and lifestyles have changed. The needs and goals of our clients and teams are not the same.

Our own needs and goals have changed.

As we look to the future of our firms, should we still be starting from yesterday or do we need to break the existing evolutionary line and start afresh?

Ask yourself: If you were starting an accounting firm today:-

* What would it look like?

* What would it do?

* How would it do it?

* Who would it’s clients be?

* What would it need?

Rather than changing today by looking at yesterday, our aim here is to start our changes by looking at tomorrow.

Once you know what you want tomorrow to look like, then you can start planning change from where you are today. It may look very different to a plan previously built on yesterday.

Whether this results or revolution or more rapid evolution will depend on how differently your view of tomorrow is but this simple change of thinking can make a huge difference to the steps that you take and the rate at which you take them.

Worth a thought?

Sorry I'm too busy

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 08:30:15 GMT

Sorry, I'm too busy

Ok, I admit that sometimes, as a mentor and coach to accountants, I will deliberately talk about a complicated issue in black and white. I’m not trying to dismiss the grey, but looking to temporarily take it out of the picture to avoid it masking actions that can be taken.

Being too busy is one such case. This is a complex topic and one with many factors, but sometimes, being too busy is a mask for weaknesses that should be focused upon and not hidden. Too busy can be a genuine excuse or it can be simply an excuse, an outcome for not having tackled other things better.

So let’s go black and white on the issue…

When you say, “sorry, I’m too busy”, you could be saying:

sorry, I’m too busy for you

sorry, I’m really disorganised

sorry, I’ve got my priorities all wrong again

sorry, I’ve under-resourced my business

sorry, I’ve planned my day wrong

sorry, I forgot

sorry, I’m rubbish at saying no

sorry, I’ve over-promised again

sorry, I’ve taken too long over this

sorry, I’ve messed up again

sorry, I should have revised my plans earlier

sorry, I’m rubbish at communicating

sorry, I’m not really interested

There are genuine times when we are the victims of circumstance. Deadlines change, resources change, needs change and the requirement for us to respond can leave us ‘too busy’ as an outcome.

How many more times though do those words leave our mouths as a result of the above failings. These are things that we can do something about, weaknesses that we can address.

I know it’s annoying to see this as such a black and white issue but that doesn’t make it any less true. If you faced up to these failings and did something about them, then how much more time would you have? How much less often would you being using those four words?

Or are you too busy?

Simple actions to show your clients you care

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 08:30:12 GMT

Simple actions to show your clients that you care

A client expects you to do your job well. That’s the basics, the entry level when it comes to looking after your clients. When you book a plumber then you are entitled to expect them to turn up on time, be polite, fix the dripping tap and leave the workspace neat and tidy. Again, it’s basic, anything less is reason to grumble.

When it comes to customer service then doing the job that’s been asked and doing it in a friendly and professional manner may set you aside from a poor competitor but it terms of impressing your clients then you are merely on the starting line.

As customers we want to know that we matter, that the supplier is interested in looking after us, even caring about us. Merely doing our job well won’t do that on its own.

However, we are easily pleased as customers. Go to a restaurant and you expect a good meal and decent surroundings but a friendly welcome, seemingly remembering your name, a surprise drink or course, a small gift, these are the things that lift your view of the evening and they are so simple.

As accountants, what can we do to impress our clients and show we care without breaking the bank. Here’s my top tips:

• A Birthday card, a real one, not digital, and hand signed by you and the team.,.

• An anniversary card, celebrating another year of their custom and thanking them for their business.

• An unexpected post card with an appropriate quotation or image, hand signed “saw this and thought of you”. Maybe a link to a relevant TED talk or video.

• Visitors always welcomed by name ( you know they’re coming) and ideally an offer of their usual drink (make a note).

• A bit more effort to the usual coffee and biscuits – cake, fruit, sweets, better choice, better quality. How about a mug with their name or logo on?

• A gift of an appropriate book, signed by you, again that made you think of them.

• An invitation to an annual event, a tea party, quiz or such like. No agenda, just a thank you.

• Smarten up. People notice when you make an effort. It doesn’t have to be power dressing and waterfalls in reception these days but appearances matter and reflect how much you care.

Small things, easy things, but don’t dismiss them. As an accountant and coach I’ve used them all. They matter. They get noticed. They are appreciated.

Take the first step

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 07:54:23 GMT

Take the first step

We live in a time of change and, as accountants, the need to change is constantly on our agendas.

Change our systems.

Change our services.

Change our client engagements.

Change our focus.

Change our image.

Working with accountants, sometimes it is the sheer enormity of change that is the barrier to progress. Sit down with a firm’s directors and it doesn’t take long to come up with a long list of the things that ‘need’ to change within the firm, either because the directors say so, or the team, or the clients or, often, because they’ve been told that it is a change that all accounting firms need to make.

“You need to be more systemised”

“You need to be more client-focused”

“You need to be more efficient”

“You need to be doing more advisory”

The length of the list inevitably brings the question of “where to start”. There’s your barrier.

My tip is this:

Step 1

Go back to that list and mark up each entry as one of three categories:

Must do – the things that are fundamental to the survival/progress of the firm

Nice to do – more ‘wish list’ than ‘to do’ list

Just do it – the simple fixes that have just sat around for ever.

Step 2

Take all those in 3, your JDI list, and distribute them out around the firm. Just get them done. If there’s only you then work your way down, what at a time, daily or weekly, until you’re at the bottom.

Step 3

Take all those in 2, your wish list, and park them, for now. We can return to these once progress has been made with those in list 1.

Step 4

Step 4 is done in conjunction with Step 2. This is the hard one because these are the things you are losing sleep over, so take a breath and….

Pick one!

Any one…and just do it.

It really doesn’t matter which because trying to decide this is almost certainly where your barrier has been built up. Taking one step in the right direction in any of these is better than procrastinating over which you should choose.

One step forward is progress and will lead to a second, and a third…..

Good luck.

The future is in their hands, let them shape it

Mon, 12 Apr 2021 16:24:52 GMT

The future is in their hands, let them shape it

For many accountants, a successful succession plan involves the development of their senior team and much of my mentoring and coaching role revolves around this.

It’s great to see firm leaders supporting and encouraging their team, looking to build the next generation of leaders for their firm, but I worry at times about such development consciously or sub-consciously limiting the firm’s future by shaping it too much around the thinking of the existing leadership. Do we create mini me’s?

I hear phrases such as “I see something of me in them”, “I have a gut feel about this one”, “I’m passing on my own experiences”. We all must recognise as business leaders that our skills and thinking brought the firm to where it is today, often in our mould. Succession is about tomorrow, about the next generation of leadership.

From recruitment, through training and development, mentoring, and coaching, we have to be aware of striking the right balance. We want continuity of culture and values and it’s a strength to be able to use our experience to mentor others, but we have to allow them to shape the future and not try and shape it for them. Promoting someone because we relate to them or telling someone how we would do the job is not necessarily the best preparation for your firm’s continued success.

Think about how you can maintain your firm’s culture and development without forcing its future down your pre-determined path:

Recruitment: Don’t go on gut feel but take a more structured and systemised approach, involving external expertise. Recruits have to be a great fit for your firm’s culture and values but, beyond that, it’s skills and individual characteristics that matter, not simply whether they make you feel comfortable

Training: Don’t limit external training to technical knowledge. Management and personal skills training should be delivered externally as well to introduce new ideas

Development: Encourage your team to experience different work and group environments through secondment, volunteering, involvement in organisations, etc. Let them see how others do it.

Learning: Encourage your team to expand their minds. Whether watching TED talks, joining peer groups, or seeking further and wider business qualifications, let your team develop their ideas.

Coaching: By all means, coach your team and share your experience and expertise, but ensure that it is in an open manner, fully encouraging their input. Also, use external coaches, help your team to have a wider perspective.

Mentoring: Again, you being a mentor can have huge benefits to your firm, but remember that mentoring is about bringing the best out of others, not reshaping them into someone else.

If you get your leadership right then your team will reflect your values, ethics, and principles. They will share your vision. Creating that should be your prime goal when it comes to your succession. As long as your team shares your vision then the pathways they choose to get there in the future should be down to them.

Focus on vision, give your team space, support, and opportunity to shape the future.

Is it wrong to sell to a client?

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 08:32:11 GMT

Is it wrong to sell to a client?

I see part of my role as a mentor and coach to accountants as prompting thought and conversation, and nothing prompts more vigorous conversation than introducing the ‘S’ word!

I’m told that sales is a dirty word.

That clients don’t want to be sold to.

That accountants don’t/can’t sell.

Even, that it’s unprofessional to sell.

I think that we are confusing two issues here.

Owning and running an accounting firm means owning and running a business, and that means thinking and behaving like a business owner.

A business that doesn’t focus on sales and have effective sales strategies is a business with a fundamental flaw. As an accounting business we must have a focus on sales and sales strategies in place.

We cannot run a business that shies away from the word ‘sales’ or sees it as a negative in any way. What sort of commercial culture is that?

Now, I’ve been an accountant for 40 years. I totally get that a client doesn’t want us to walk into the room with a “John, have I got a deal for you” swagger. I understand that clients don’t want to be sold to.

Actually, if you think about it, most of us don’t want to be sold to. What we want is advice and support to help us with our purchase.

And it is a purchase. The client has to have a need that we can address, that we can support and advise on…otherwise, what are they going to pay us for?

So, we need to have sales strategies that:

allow us to identify the needs of clients (by our own expertise, asking the right questions and listening to the answers)
demonstrate clearly the needs and benefits to the client
highlight the value and power of our solutions
make it affordable for the client

That is selling.

It’s selling in a way that understands the nature of the relationship and the characteristics of the customer, but it is selling!

And, if a client ever says “are you selling to me” then the answer is a confident “YES”.

If I’m being genuine, in offering my client something that is right for them, at a fair price and fully explained, then what is there to shy away from?

Surely, as a business client, you want a commercially aware accountant?

Let’s stop this nonsense about sales being a dirty word and be more open and positive in our thinking towards what we are actually doing.

Using the numbers to reshape your strategies

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 16:33:42 GMT

Using the numbers to reshape your strategies

As plans are drawn and re-drawn by accounting firms around the globe, a quick analysis of your existing clients and fee income can provide some real clarity as to what your next steps should be.

Coaching accounting firms gives me the privilege of detailed insight into their numbers, and this allows me to research trends and patterns. One thing that is becoming more and more clear as firms systemise their approaches is the way that time and fees are spread across the client base. Understanding your spread and building your strategies based upon your existing performance enables a firm to move forward in possibly a more practical and confident manner than a completely blank piece of paper’ relaunch.

Take an accounting firm with a fee income of £1M and 490 clients. Most firms' software will allow them to quickly categorise clients by annual fee income to the firm. In a broad-brush approach designed to spark strategic thinking, I’ve been researching the fees of firms when splitting the clients into 3 groups – the ‘A’ list top clients, the ‘B’ list average clients, and the low spenders.

By using annual fees as my parameters, I look at the fees generated by each group compared to the population. Typically, I’ll set the bands at >£5K, £1K - £5K and <£1K. The findings have come out intriguingly similar to date.

For the fictitious example above, what I might expect to see is something along these lines:

The >£5K group has relatively few clients (40 – 8%) but a high average fee (£12K) and high contribution to the firm’s fees (£480K – 48%)

The £1k-£5K group has the bulk of the clients (250 – 51%), a moderate average fee (£1.8K), and a reasonable contribution to the firm’s fees (£450K – 45%)

The <£1K group has a relatively high number of clients (200 – 41%) but a low average fee (£350) and low contribution to the firm’s overall fees (£70K – 7%)

The actual figures will vary for your firm, but I see the same headlines repeated often:

A very small number of clients, typically 6-10%, producing 45%-50% of the firm’s overall fees

The bulk producing around an average fee mark of £150 pm

A large number, typically 25%-30%, of low-end clients returning less than 10% of the firm’s overall fees

The immediate question to ask, of course, is this: Where does the firm, and in particular its more senior people, spend its time and, hence, its key resource?

Invariably, it’s disproportionate to the fee income being generated by that group.

From a strategic point of view, what you do next will depend on the vision for your firm but, I would suggest, that for a ‘regular’ accounting firm looking to provide the full range of compliance and advisory services but equally looking to build the client experience and the advisory element, a plan of action stands out:

Directors and key personnel focus 1:1 in retaining and developing the top tier.
The team and systems focus on servicing and developing the mid-tier.
A minimum fee equivalent to the mid-tier is introduced.
The lower tier is largely removed, in bulk or selectively.
the marketing and pricing are aligned to the new client groups.

Take the example of the £1m firms above. They could release 41% of their client base by numbers if they removed the entire lower tier, freeing up significant time to focus on the higher-performing groups with, at worse, only a 7% hit to the GRF which, in reality, they would recover several times over by better engagement with the top tier. A new minimum fee of around £200 pm that new business comes in on and existing business transitions to would boost the performance of the mid-tier. Better engagement with top-tier and rising mid-tier clients would positively impact firm performance across the board.

We end up with aligned systems, team, and marketing, much better focusing of resources and clarity throughout the firm.

However your figures pan out, I would highly recommend carrying out the exercise. Because it’s a broad brush, it’s very quick to do but it prompts a fascinating conversation on strategy and how to better serve and market your client groups.

Are you the best person to be coaching your clients?

Tue, 02 Mar 2021 16:54:23 GMT

Coaching clients is an ambition for many accountants. It’s rewarding work, financially and emotionally, it differentiates the accounting firm and positions it as more proactive and advisory based and it is often in-line with the values and vision of the accountant.

Few can turn the ambition into reality though. Yes, there may be the odd client but the impact across the client base and the wider market is much less than hoped.

There are many reasons for this but I would suggest that the top 3 are:

• A failure by the accounting firm to systemise the marketing, delivery, and ongoing support of a coaching service in a sustainable form.

• A lack of resources in the accounting firm, both for delivery and management of the service. There aren’t sufficient people with the right skills to develop the service.

• An absence of strategy. The accounting firm has treated coaching as an add-on rather than a defined, value-added service.

In many accounting firms therefore there is a will but not a way.

I n other areas, such as legal, financial planning, specialist tax, etc, we would bring in the expert to work with our client, with the accountant being the lynchpin in the relationship. Yet we shy away from this when it comes to coaching.

Andy Page, co-owner of MPH Accountants in Kent, UK has always been an accountant who thinks ahead of the pack and his firm uses business coaches to give them a much wider reach and impact on their client base and the wider business community:

“For a progressive practice, you have to be offering coaching to your clients. We found that our reputation increased and we were the ‘go to’ firm to use. This has not only increased our turnover in compliance itself but created a much more significant consultancy income. Selling consultancy is also easier as we are already clients Trusted Advisers.

There are many people out there that say they are business coaches and, I would say, most are poor. The key to success in this area is to find the right coach.”

Andy’s comments here touch on the two critical points: the provision of specialist coaching can have a huge positive impact on your firm BUT you’ve got to bring in the right coach!

A point I’ve stressed many times is that you can train skills but you can’t train culture. The right coach is someone who:

you are happy to work alongside – they have the right skills and, as importantly, you see them as a good fit with your own ethos

aligns themself with your values and ethics

aligns themself with your vision and goals

understands and appreciates your target market and client base

understands and appreciates the accountant/client relationship

understands the wider provisions and values of a great accounting firm

It’s a big list but one that is easily ticked off by the right coach. Lindsay, King, a business coach working with accountants in and around Sydney, Australia, certainly does that:

“Working collaboratively with accountants creates a significant win-win-win opportunity. First and foremost the client feels more valued by receiving pro-active assistance in brainstorming some practical strategies and some key actions they can implement immediately. Nothing too overwhelming for them but the objective is to ensure they walk out of the first meeting with 2 or 3 simple practical tasks to commit to. This could be such things as a pricing and margins review, staff productivity and function review, or a lead conversion process review, etc. The client gets to decide what they feel comfortable actioning first. From there it’s about creating an environment of accountability to ensure continual improvement through regular focus and action plans.

The key here is the collaborative team approach, the confidential environment, and the shared ethics. It doesn’t work without it. The involvement of the accountant or their staff in these meetings is entirely up to them. Clients crave the “care factor” so I always recommend it for at least the first 2 meetings with the client.

The big win for the accountant is a more “premium” position in the market, with increased client satisfaction, reduced churn, positioning for increased referrals, and a higher level of fees to new clients going forward, as the word spreads. It also positions the firm to attract a higher quality of graduates and younger accountants.”

A firm’s coaching strategy must consider its system for marketing, delivery, and support. This ensures consistency and sustainability of the service and also means that there is sufficient drive to not only generate and convert interest in the first place but to maintain it.

Introducing coaching services to your existing clients and marketplace inevitably means changing mindsets, habits, and perceptions. That requires commitment and constant focus so systemising your communications and approach makes this far more achievable than relying on pure human endeavor.

A joined-up approach from accountant and coach adds energy, skills and resources to an area previously underdeveloped by the accounting profession. Worth exploring don’t you think?

I Believe I Can Fly

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:24:21 GMT

You’re probably familiar with Dumbo and the tale of his feather in Walt Disney’s classic movie of the same name.

Dumbo’s best friend, Timothy, believes that Dumbo’s huge ears enable him to fly, but, to give the doubting elephant the confidence to take the plunge, he uses a ‘magic’ feather in which Dumbo places his faith. Of course, at the most inopportune moment, Dumbo loses his grasp of the feather, only to find out that he really could fly all along (sorry if that is a spoiler for you!).

So why is someone who coaches and mentors accountants babbling on about flying elephants and magic feathers?

Because it is a guide for accountants who either wish for or are being told that they should have more advisory-based firms.

For many accountants, this is a matter of confidence and understandably so:

Advisory is a term freely banded around but what does it mean in practice?

My clients have shown little appetite for it in the past, why is now any different?

Do I have the skillset and the time to go down this path?

Is my team capable of following me down this route?

Is this what people expect of me?

I can’t sell to my clients?

I’ve been here before, what’s new?

Let’s start with what’s new. In short, everything!

Manual accounting systems and then misused and clunky computerised accounting systems made the path to advisory slow, cumbersome and expensive. Add to that a lack of systemisation in accounting firms and there was little to power more value-based conversations.

Now we have access to real-time information so data is no longer the block. Instead, it is a mindset. How does the accountant change the client conversation from compliance-based to advisory when the accountant doesn’t believe they can fly and the client doesn’t expect to see them fly either?

This is where Dumbo’s feather comes into play.

I talk about advisory keys. These are apps or software tools that enable the accountant to quickly demonstrate in front of the client that they can fly.

The accountant needs only believe in the app.

There is an increasing number of such tools coming onto the market that enable the accountant to do this. Products such as VFDPro, Whisperclaims, My Firms App, Life number, CAS, I’m merely scratching the surface.

I talk often to tech providers about the role that their product has in changing the conversations within an accounting firm and make the point that it’s not just about having a great piece of tech (that’s a basic requirement) but thinking about how the accountant can use it to efficiently and effectively engage the client and, as a double boost, their team.

Most accountants can fly, they’ve done it randomly for years without knowing it, but they need a feather, an advisory key, that they can place their faith in and use as tangible proof to the client, before their belief in their ability kicks in.

Then the sky is the limit.

Finding your advisory switch

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 10:50:07 GMT

Advisory is not a new invention, accountants have been trying to provide advisory services for years. The challenge is not finding the service but finding a way of consistently delivering structured advice to enough clients who then happily pay you its true value.

We can hide behind the belief that clients don’t want an advisory-based relationship but, as an accountant and accountants’ coach of many years standing, I know that there are two genuine barriers that exist.

You see, whilst the majority of owner-managed business clients traditionally have been reluctant to spend money on advisory services, I simply don’t accept that most of them don’t want to improve their businesses and the lives of their own family, friends, employees, and customers. No, the reasons why relationships with the accountant have stayed compliance-based, I believe, are twofold:

The accountant has lacked the confidence and belief to deliver the advice with the drive and commitment needed to change the client’s mindset.
The presentation and delivery of the advisory services have not been systemised, it has been ad-hoc and dependent upon time and people for its continuation.

I’m not laying blame at anyone’s feet here, it’s very hard to change the behaviour of clients and to have the time to invest in systematic change within your firm. It’s also very hard to sell a service with belief when you’re not confident in the ability of your firm to deliver.

Most of your clients want a better business because they want a better life, they just haven’t seen enough from your firm yet to understand that you are the people to help make that change happen. To change their thinking, you must change your own first.

But we’re in luck….ironically because of digital innovation, the very thing that is forcing accountants to re-think their compliance reliance.

Historically, to move a client along a more advisory-based route has required a high degree of client commitment and faith at the outset. Getting to a point where there is meaningful information or tangible benefits has taken the time and used up the client’s money. Assessing the impact of tax planning, creating effective financial management reports, putting effective systems into the client’s business has taken significant time and that tests budgets and patience.

The accountant has to work harder and over a longer period to keep the client engaged and deliver obvious results and that, of course, tests the accountant’s resources and belief in their firm. So, if the client is impatient for results and the accountant is struggling for capacity, it’s no surprise that confidence and belief are in short supply.

But, digital innovation now allows us to deliver that at the touch of a button. Assessing the opportunity and the impact, delivering the results, implementing the applications and systems is no longer cumbersome. The client’s money is now spent on analysis and progression, not data collection and manufacture.

And this is where the opportunity lies to overcome those two barriers I talked about above. Let’s use R & D tax credits as an example. This has become a huge growth area for the profession, but many accountants are reluctant to dive in due to the time and cost involved in assessing the likely success and value of a claim. Do we have the resources and knowledge? Will the client pay for it, especially if I can’t tell them at the outset what it is worth?

Along comes whisperclaims.co.uk as an example with their R & D Tax software and the accountant not only has a process to follow for the claim itself, but they have an easy assessment tool to run by the client. The barriers to the client meeting itself have been removed. We have a quick route to support the advice and a process for the presentation and delivery.

Across the full spectrum of advisory work, from strategic planning and financial management to specific tax planning and operational systems, as accountants, we have push-button solutions to deliver the process and the outcomes effectively in front of the client. No more doubt about our ability as a firm to deliver.

The firm still needs the commitment by its leaders to get behind the software, but client meetings are far more engaging when they are looking at real-time solutions and information.

So you see, change your way of thinking and the client will follow.

Article Summary:

Accountants are regularly messaged about the need for them to move to a more advisory-based client relationship but that’s more easily said than done. Most firms have been advising their clients for years, the challenge is sustaining it and getting paid for it. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a switch that you could flick in front of the client to change this? Well, in this digitally driven world there are, lots of them.

Author summary

Richard Brewin FCA has been an accountant at the sharp end for almost 40 years, the last 10 of which as a mentor and coach for accountants running their firms. Today, as joint Managing Director of ProgressBB, he is at the forefront of development in this area with the launch of their self-help online mentoring program for accountants, Progress Foundations.

Don’t say I’m just an accountant!

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 18:12:03 GMT

I’ll be honest, it really bugs me when I hear the phrase ‘just an accountant’ or ‘just a bookkeeper’, especially when I hear it being uttered by accountants and bookkeepers!

Next September, I’ll have been an accountant for 40 years and I can’t remember a more exciting time to be in the profession. Yes, like most people and most businesses right now we face some huge challenges but the direction of our role has never looked better.

I’ve said it many times before but accountants have the opportunity to change lives for the better by using their knowledge and expertise to help hard-pressed business owners run better businesses. A switched on, passionate, driven accountant can influence 10, 50, 100 plus client businesses. That’s many families, teams and customers better rewarded, less stressed and happier. In turn that’s 100, 500, 1,000 of their clients and customers benefitting. How cool is that!

For much of my 40 years the problem has been that it’s been a time-consuming process to generate the information to enable that expertise to be proactively and effectively used. Manual records, poorly maintained computerised records and unwieldy management information systems have made it an expensive and relatively slow process and so client budgets, interest and patience have run out before the good stuff could be delivered to the masses.

Not surprisingly, accountancy was widely regarded as a reactive process. Even so, it’s the profession’s fault that we allowed the bean-counter image to propagate by too often staying within our pre-formed, pre-tagged boxes.

Today it is very different. Today we can work with real-time information. We can automate our analysis and reports. We can actually play our role in real time. The handcuffs are off…for those brave enough and committed enough to release the shackles.

I see accountants with amazing dreams these days:

Accountants committed to helping macro businesses grow.
Accountants committed to their communities.
Accountants committed to driving positive change in their SME client bases.
Accountants who emotionally invest in their clients’ visions.
Accountants who openly show passion and love for their role.
Accountants building teams driven by their values and goals.

So what’s this about being ‘just an accountant’?

We all have a choice. Whether we are an owner, a director, a partner, a manager, a senior or a junior, we have a choice to be passionate and driven by our role or to live down to its traditional perspective.

Whether we are in a technical role, a support role or an administrator, we can show our ambition for doing something amazing for our clients and colleagues or we can just show up for work and do our 9-5.

Nobody makes us choose the lower bar. We can blame management, colleagues, clients (and don’t get me wrong, there’s usually room for improvement there!) but we choose our own mood, our energy levels, where we set the bar.

I used to think it was okay to have some team members and colleagues with drive and purpose whilst others just came in and did their job, nothing wrong with that, I thought.

I’m of a different mindset today. For a driven, passionate firm, it needs to be a driven, passionate team. If you want a 9-5 existence then that’s absolutely fine, that will rightly suit many, but maybe a better matched office environment needs to be found.

Don’t think of yourself as ‘just an anything’. If you work in the accounting environment then you can be part of something amazing.

It’s all down to you.

Where would you place your firm right now?

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 16:42:55 GMT

Clients relationships matter.

They always have but now more than ever they are the measure by which clients engage, stay or go elsewhere.

Why now more than ever? I think that there are three critical influences:

Clients are under pressure and so the level of support is being both tested and judged

Competition is greater than it has ever been. Clients can now go to multiple sources for their accounting, tax and advisory needs

Client expectations have changed, commercially and socially. They expect different and they expect more

How your firm responds to these circumstances and manages its clients expectations and needs will go a long way to determining your own success.

To this end, we have created the 5 levels of client management and service. Let’s go in reverse levels of glory:

Bottom of the pile is ‘Failing Reactive’. Firms in this category are entirely reactive and slow to respond to go with it. They only do the work and respond to the demands that clients put in front of them and they are slow to turnaround both. Consequently there is little to no advisory or support and compliance takes for ever. There are far too many accounting firms in this category but their numbers dwindle as they themselves disappear.

One step up and we have ‘Competent Reactive’. Firms in this category are, again, entirely reactive but at least they get on with it. The relationship is still driven by client delivery and request but service is recognised and turnarounds are reasonable. If we’re being honest then many accounting firms live here, albeit with frustrated principals.

Next up is ‘Moments of Proactivity’. Firms in this category remain fundamentally reactive but occasionally have bursts of more proactive service. The problem is that it is neither cultural nor systemised and so it is rarely maintained. Bad habits drag behaviour backwards. These are firms who brand as proactive but know in their heart of hearts that it is by wish rather than record. This is probably the other most populated group with Step 2.

Step 4 sees us close to the peak, truly ‘Proactive’ firms. Firms here have systemised their processes and behaviours to ensure that they consistently remain ahead of the game and are proactive at all times. They have proactivity embedded in their people and their culture. To be honest, Step 4 is the peak for most of us and an amazing one to reach. For most, it is certainly good enough, an aspiration in its own right.

But, their remains a Step 5, only for the select few. Step 5 is for the ‘Aspirational’ firms, those that aspire to go beyond even complete proactivity. Firms who want to be cutting edge today and every tomorrow. Firms who want to be the absolute, undisputed best. It is a goal for some.

So I have two questions:

Hand on heart, where would you place your firm right now?

Having determined that, do you need and are you prepared to go to the next step?

If so, now would be a really good time to do something different to get yourself there!

Keep calm but maybe don’t just carry on?

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 20:44:20 GMT

From the global economy to the desk of the small business owner, we are hearing a lot of talk now about the need for change as we all move forward from lockdown and the immediate impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

From an accounting perspective there is plenty of discussion about whether you need an office or not, flexible working for your team, online services for your clients, shifting meetings onto Zoom.

Pivoting your firm seems to be the buzz phrase. I’m usually the first one who’s up for change but we need to be a little careful.

When you plan a wedding you choose your venue, your theme, your style and, of course, your partner very carefully. Some of these things have been years in the making, your partner is a lifetime goal.

So, if you saw a horrendous weather forecast for the next few months, rain every day ( I write this from England, remember!) would you just bin the idea? Would you dump the venue, throw out your theme and style, decide to drop your partner and go for a different one? A little facetious maybe but whilst there may be things that you have to change, like at an outside venue for instance, most of your changes would be to adapt to the situation. An umbrella here and there, a change of location for the photos. You certainly wouldn’t change your goal of getting married.

Pivoting your business can mean going for a different market. Why would we change our target market as a result of the pandemic, unless you’re niched in a heavily impacted sector. Changing strategies for the sake of change, or because it’s seen as the ‘in thing’ to do makes no sense. If you liked meeting clients face to face why do you need to drop that option now?

There are many valuable lessons to learn, from both the period in lockdown and from society’s reaction to the virus itself. It’s sensible to look at how your business, your team and your systems have performed, online and offline, during the lockdown and to build on the positives from that experience.

Its’ sensible to look at what our teams and our clients want as we move forwards. How much direct social contact? How much travelling? How much flexibility?

But, remember what your goals are. When you are considering changes, ask yourself why you are making them. Do they take you closer to your goals or is it merely a fashionable response, one pushed upon you by a tide of change?

Addressing the #1 challenge for accountants as economic woes hit

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 20:35:11 GMT

With the impact of a global pandemic followed swiftly by significant recession, an accounting firm’s skills, expertise and resources should be in high demand with their clients.

I’ve said on many occasions that most accountants are in the profession to help, to make a positive difference, and so they will be all too willing to step into the breach.

All well and good up until this point but what about billing for the work and getting paid? This is where traditionally accountants have failed to grab the commercial opportunity, have even suffered financially themselves as a result.

Of course, we are here to help. That’s a fundamental value embedded in most of our firms’ cultures. We’re not going to turn our backs on clients in need. But, often we do compromise on our fees far too readily. Here’s some points to consider as the pressures on clients mount:

Not every client is in dire straits. Some will be flourishing and others will have some in reserve. A client being cautious is not a reason on its own to expect you to cut your fee.
You shouldn’t be the automatic soft option. Clients have different ways to turn for funding. Have they used them? Have they tried hard enough to pay for your valuable service?
You are fully entitled to have a conversation at the outset about how you are going to get paid. The later you leave it, the more your chances diminish.
You don’t have to offer everyone credit. Payment upfront is perfectly legitimate in troubled times.
The more flexible you can be, in your terms and methods of payment, the more likely you are to be able to maintain your fee level. You can trade-off between fee and credit terms, it’s a normal commercial conversation.
Check where they are spending their money. Are other suppliers etc being asked to cut their prices? Are they still taking their full remuneration? Don’t be the only victim here.
If you do decide to discount or give it away then let them know the reason and the value. Build up your credits.
It’s your firm and your client relationship. You can be as flexible or as firm as you want to be. There is nothing wrong with supporting a good client in genuine hardship, its why you do what you do, but there is a big difference between that and avoiding a tricky conversation. Be commercial, plan your strategy, be prepared to stand up for yourself. Every pound you give away costs you and your family….does the client sitting opposite you deserve that sacrifice?

We’re in for a bumpy ride over the coming months, give yourself a fighting chance.

How working from home has boosted team support

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 22 May 2020 12:17:33 GMT

Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been conducting surveys of accounting teams to gauge how they are experiencing working from home and what lessons can be learned.

An interesting fact to come out is that a very high proportion of the teams, over 85%, are finding that the support and training they are getting from line managers and colleagues is at least as good as, and, in many cases, better than they get when they’re all together in the office.

If you think about it, when you’re in the office, a lot of the interactions for support, guidance and help are unplanned. Someone wanders into the room and says “Have you got a minute?”, “What are you working on right now?” “Can you help me”?

Neither party is ready for the conversation that is required. Often they end up rushed, ill thought through, short of data, even rebuffed.

Compare that to a similar situation when both parties are working remotely. An email comes in: “Can you help me with xyz problem?”.

“Sure. Let’s book a video call in 30 mins and we’ll go through it. Summarise what you’ve done so far, ready for the call”.

30 minutes later and the call takes place with both parties focussed on the problem, uninterrupted, prepared and with time allocated. By sharing their screen the ‘teacher’ can better demonstrate what they are talking about, take the ‘pupil’ properly through the steps.

Okay, so the help wasn’t immediate as it would have been, possibly, within the office, but it is of a far higher quality and much more effective and efficient as a result.

Through the forced nature of lockdown we are learning what we already knew…that a bit of planning and preparation goes a long way. Working from home means that we can’t take the short cut habits that we’ve all got into. We have to plan and prepare for things better, communicate arrangements more effectively, think about what our next step is rather than just react.

Lockdown has made us focus on how we communicate with each other, how we share information, how we track progress.

Of course, you don’t need to be working from home to work like this. You just need to take the discipline you apply when working at home and apply it wherever you work.

A Bit Of Breakfast Thinking

richard@progressbb.co.uk (Richard Brewin) — Fri, 22 May 2020 12:11:25 GMT

Funny where your mind goes first thing in the morning, especially when the sun is out.

Here I am, making my toast, when the thought hits me that creating your own perfect round of toast is a great analogy for building your accounting firm. Bear with me…

Choosing the right bread is key. Get this wrong or select a bread that isn’t quite right for you, and no matter how hard you try or how creative you get with all the later processes, you will never end up with that perfect piece of toast that you imagined at the outset. The texture, the taste, the smell just won’t be quite right. The bread of your firm is its culture. This has to be spot on, your exact choice and without compromise.

Once we’ve chosen our bread then we have the time it takes to toast it. You can’t rush this. Fetch the toast out too early and it will be underdone, not yet at its full potential. Leave it too long, get distracted and you’ve missed your chance, it's overdone with no going back. You’re scraping the burnt bits off to make the best of it. Important therefore that you keep an eye on it at all times to spot that optimum moment. Rush your firm and you’ll not see its true potential, but be too cautious, too slow and you’ll miss your chance. Don’t take your eyes off your own development if you want to avoid scraping the failed bits off.

Now we’re onto the spread, the basic element of the toast. This is fundamental, you have to have it, it's expected on toast. But you have a choice. You can go for a no-frills margarine, a creamy butter, a healthy option. You can make it slightly more or less expensive and you want to choose a spread that gets the most out of your bread, no point in quality bread and cheap margarine, but it will always just be the foundation. This is like your compliance work. It’s expected, it's basic, but that doesn’t mean that it unavoidably comes across the same as everyone else. You can tweak it, upgrade it, add some more quality, to build on that culture that you’ve chosen.

Then we come to the real differentiator, the topping. Here your choice is unlimited. You can go standard with jam or marmalade, cheap or quality, a safe all-rounder. You can go deliberately provocative with Marmite, love it or hate it. You can tailor to your own tastes, personally I love cheese on my toast. If you’re making toast for yourself then the choice can reflect just you but if you are making it for more people, do you play safe or challenge them? This is where your decisions on your added services really come to the fore. Here, you have an opportunity to really differentiate your firm but how brave are you? Are you prepared to really back your own views and accept that some won’t like it or do you want to please the masses? What’s important is that you decide, don’t end up with a confused mess. How Marmite are you?

That’s not quite the end because we can go further. How you cut your toast can make it more or less attractive. I certainly prefer triangular over square. The plate you use, the setting you go for, (kitchen, lounge, conservatory, garden) all will add something different to the perception of the breakfast. What you serve with it, coffee, English breakfast, Earl Grey, orange juice, all are decisions that will add or detract. Served with a smile or in silence? How you dress and present your firm is so important.

Food for thought maybe?

Moving Forward Out Of Crisis

Fri, 22 May 2020 10:03:48 GMT

When crisis hits a firm, whether it be a pandemic, flood, critical IT failure or a myriad of other catastrophic, unplanned events, the ability of the business to survive and thrive will depend on its ability to manage itself through 4 key stages:

Stage 1 is the most immediate and we call this the Assess stage. What just hit us? What is going on? Where can I find out more information? Your most pressing need, having called on any existing emergency service, is knowledge. Find out as much as you can as quickly as you can so that you can move onto Stage 2...

Stabilise. This is where you take the action necessary to stabilise your business for the short term, survival mode if you like. It’s the steps you take to buy yourself time for a more considered solution. For many businesses, this stage is about protecting your remaining resources, especially cash, and your ability to function, at least in some form. This gives you some breathing space to move onto Stage 3…

Progress. You’ve stabilised the business in the short term. This is where you now start looking at how you can move forwards again. The mistake too many firms make is in staying in Stage 2, survival mode, for too long. Stage 3 is where you look for the things that you can control, the steps you can take, however small. What can we produce? What can we change to allow us to move forward? Look for the ways that you can take back control.

Stage 4 is the final stage, Evolve. Once you have taken control of your business and your destiny again, Stage 4 is where you look at the lessons you’ve learned from the experience and consider what these mean for the longer term plans and strategies of your firm. We had a plan but what does it now look like, post crisis?

These stages are not mutually exclusive. In reality, rather than doing one after another, it’s more like learning to juggle, adding one ball at a time as you become more confident of your progress. Even once you are considering your future in Stage 4, you are still keeping a weather eye on Stages 1, 2 and 3 to ensure you continue to build on a firm base. You can’t afford to drop any ball.

So, get into survival mode as quickly as possible but don’t stay there. Decide where you want to be as you come out of the storm and take charge of your own direction, don’t let the storm just spit you out.

Pride Can Prevent a Fall

Fri, 24 Apr 2020 16:19:02 GMT

We’re told that pride comes before a fall.

Looking into the origin of this, what the King James version of the Bible actually says is that “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18), a warning that arrogance and complacency will lead to failure.

So what’s the flipside for pride? Surely, creating or doing something that you are proud of is a good thing?

I talk a lot about creating your five star firm. It’s a deliberately subjective term that allows you to measure your success by your own benchmarks rather than those set by others. And one of those benchmarks for achieving your five star firm is in creating something that you are proud of.

If you are going to build a ‘pride’ benchmark into your strategies then you’re going to have to get a bit more specific in order to ensure that the plans you are following will achieve what will make you proud.

What are the things that would make you proud of your firm? Have you ever really thought about this, even listed them down?

It’s likely that there will be short term, medium term and long term objectives.

In the short term it could be things such as making a positive difference to a client, giving a team member an opportunity, getting a great testimonial.

In the medium term it could be consistently delivering on all of the short term goals plus hitting your growth targets, refurbishing your offices, seeing your team qualify.

In the long term it could be consistently delivering on all your short and medium term goals plus hitting your ultimate vision (you’ll need to know what this is of course but that’s another story).

These are just examples but you need to know your version so that you can then say, “Right, how am I going to do this? What’s my plan for making sure that I’m proud of my firm?”.

Business leaders rightly will have plans for the growth of their firms but surely the ultimate plan has to be the one that makes you most proud of your achievements?

Go make yourself proud!

The OARBED model for business behaviour

Tue, 14 Apr 2020 23:00:00 GMT

I should admit from the outset that I don’t know the actual derivation of this model, and Google doesn’t offer much help either, so I can’t rightfully credit anyone, but it is a model often used by business coaches.

I like it because of its simplicity and unarguable logic.

OAR stands for Ownership, Accountability and Responsibility. Each of these is categorised as ‘above the line’ behaviour in the model.

BED stands for Blame, Excuses and Denial, each categorised as ‘below the line’ behaviour by the model.

So many of the challenges that face an accountant as an advisor and an employer fall into grey areas, subjects where there are multiple factors at play and no one single solution. Quite often, this ‘greyness’ becomes an excuse for inaction.

As a mentor and coach I find that deliberately ignoring the grey and, instead, focusing on the black and white, can help to trigger the actions required to fix the ‘grey’.

What do I mean by that?

Well, by focusing on what you know you should and shouldn’t do (the black and the white) we can then create the momentum to fix the challenge (the grey).

This is why I like the OARBED model. We all think below the line at times: blaming elsewhere, making excuses, denying responsibility, and sometimes that can be quite valid. The fact of the matter is though that we don’t actually start fixing things until we move our thinking above the line: Take ownership, make ourselves accountable, and take responsibility.

The test therefore is not whether you think below the line, that’s often the natural place to start, but how quickly you switch your thinking to above the line.

I recommend that you place graphics of OARBED in the working and meeting areas of your office. It can be a very annoying image to have stuck there but try arguing against it.

It’s a great reminder that we can all have a moan or make excuses but that fixes nothing…what really matters is ‘what are you going to do about it!’

Good luck.

The hidden threat to every accounting firm

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 16:14:59 GMT

Ask an accountant what the biggest threat is to their firm and the answers come pouring out:

Digital disruption
Tech companies
Changing client needs
Online competition
Pressure on profits/cash flow
Skills shortage
Red tape/legislation
Not enough resources
No succession plan

I could go on. All are relevant and all are challenges across our profession. We deal with them all on a daily basis when working with professional firms.

However, the greatest threat is rarely mentioned until I take the conversation to a deeper level, even though it may be obvious to someone on the outside.

Motivation, or rather the lack of it, for the principal.

We all understand that a business without direction, drive, focus and energy is going to struggle. Knowing it is one thing but maintaining your motivation in the face of all of the challenges above, and the many more that directors and partners face on a daily basis, can be a seemingly insurmountable challenge. The motivation just seeps away over time.

If you are to be happy, and your firm to be successful, then you have to find ways to recover and maintain your motivation. Here’s my quick guide:

Remind yourself of why you are doing this. What are the deep seated drivers at the heart of your ‘need’ for success. Family? Legacy? Community? Making a difference?
Have your business reflect your ‘why’. Tangibly, with photos, wall-mounted statements, desk models etc and intangibly by embedding it into your culture.
Engage your team and your clients into your drivers, your ‘why’. The more your team and clients reflect what’s really important to you then the better you will understand each other and work closer together.
Set goals that motivate you, not that just financial targets. “I’m going to make a positive difference to 1 person every day”
Take time out to refresh (no.1). Book your main break early in your diary so that you can plan for it and make it happen. Don’t wait for a quiet period to take your time off, it rarely happens.
Take time out to refresh (no.2). Don’t underestimate the value of a weekend away. You may still think about work but the context and perception is entirely different in a fresh setting.
Take time out to refresh (no.3). If you hit a wall during the day then stop banging your head against it. Take a break. Go for a walk. Listen to some music. Have a chat. Press the reset button in your mind.
Focus on your successes. We focus on issues and problems all the time so step back and recognise your wins: what’s gone well, where the progress has been, what’s made everyone smile.
Freshen things up. Do things that people don’t expect to break up the pattern and get a different response. Something positive, something that will motivate those around you and reflect positively back on you. From a home-made cake to a team day, your options are unlimited.
Last, but definitely not least, get yourself someone who understands your world to talk to. A mentor will help to sense-check your thinking, keep you positive, keep you grounded. I’m always happy to talk.

I hope that some things here resonate with you.

Good luck and keep smiling!

Stepping Up is the New Norm

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 16:10:38 GMT

Have you noticed how everyone’s demands seem to grow every year?

Whilst our hopes and personal expectations may fluctuate, there is a sense that, no matter how good the last year was, the world around us wants more in the next.

Clients expect more value and service. We expect more of our team – they are 12 months more experienced, possibly promoted and better rewarded. Both clients and team probably expect more of themselves, wanting to be better. We expect more of our business performance, looking for growth and greater profitability. And like our clients and team, we expect more of ourselves, wanting to see that self-improvement.

The problem, of course, is that we all feel like we gave everything last year, so how can we give more? Is it even right to expect more?

With increasing demand comes stress. If we’ve worked our socks off last year then we want to know that this year will be easier, not harder.

I think it important, not to resist the rising expectations but to recognise it as the norm, accept it and look at how we can embrace it. Rather than say that last year was tough, press the reset button and recognise that last year has merely set a higher benchmark, how do we deal with it?

In an Age of finally recognising the value of good health and personal time, the answer must not simply be to work harder and work more, we have to be smarter.

I use the example of a firm moving to a four day working week. Hopefully, many of you will agree that the principle of a shorter working week is a good thing. However, there are good reasons why the firm and its employees currently work five days per week. The employees need five days’ worth of salary and the firm needs a full week to meet its own commitments and financial goals. To be successful, the firm and its team will need to either lower expectations (not going to happen!) or find a way of meeting them in four days, not five…and the answer can’t be to just slog harder for those four days or what’s the point?

Therefore, how does the firm and its team work smarter to achieve the same goal? The answer lies in better client, production and time management, better communication, better use of technology, better decision making, better individual performances. In other words, exploring your internal workings for ways of being more efficient and effective, an exercise that requires input from both you and your team.

I’m not offering the answers to what will be very individual challenges, but what I am saying is, that be recognising higher levels of performance as the new norm, resetting the high bar and committing to not simply working harder, it does force your firm to find more creative solutions whilst everyone in your team recognises that the need to step up is something to accept and embrace, rather than resist.

Worth a thought?

Do you give your team enough attention

Wed, 12 Feb 2020 16:04:03 GMT

How many of us really know what we are doing when it comes to building the right team and getting the best out of them?

When you run your own firm, or you are promoted to a more senior position, then the skills that got you there are generally driven by either being a good accountant or being entrepreneurial. For many of us, responsibility for human resources is something that goes with the job, rather than something that we are trained and skilled for.

Good employers and good managers will try their best but it is often a hotch pot of personal experience, network guidance and tips picked up along the way. And, of course, people are not the easiest of subject matter to read up on and apply your ideas and knowledge to. Unlike software, they are all unique. They all react and respond in different ways, follow different pathways and have varied triggers and influences.

Our teams are big investments for our firms and critical to our success. We wouldn’t try and fix our cars or homes if we didn’t know what we were doing so why try so much DIY with our firms’ most valuable assets?

In my experience, the firms that take their team management and development as seriously as any other aspect of the business perform significant better than they did before. Bringing in an HR specialist to advise on all aspects of recruitment, development, compliance and best practice has made a significant difference every time I’ve seen it done. I’m not talking quick fix here but bringing in someone with the intention of them being part of your long term plans.

Generally, for smaller firms, it’s an outsourced role but one that can still have senior management or even board room capabilities. I’ve worked alongside some fantastic external HR advisors who, over a period of time, have made a massive difference to the engagement, retention and performance of the team. The reason?...They are expert in the role!

Plenty of firms use external providers for their HR compliance these days. It makes sense given the levels of risk to the employer. I would urge a much more rounded approach though. Giving both management and the team access to an external HR perspective that understands the culture and vision of the firm drives performance every time.

If I told you that I had a strategy that would increase your profits, boost team performance, reduce employment risk, enhance the value of your business, raise client service levels, improve quality and generally add more happiness to your working day then you’d take the advice wouldn’t you?

If it’s not a strategy you currently employ then I would strongly recommend you build it into your plans.

Try describing your firm without words

Mon, 20 Jan 2020 11:07:46 GMT

You don’t have to look at too many websites for accountancy firms to spot a fair degree of repetition.

“We are different”. “Proactive”. “Help you grow your business”. “Leading firm”. Photographs of smiling accountants.

All commendable and the right messages to have but, given their commonality, do they really give a true message of what your firm is all about? Do they resonate strongly enough with your clients and target market to make you stand out?

To attract the right clients and the right responses you want a firm that reflects the right personality, a firm that creates strong and relevant impressions and messages. Limiting that to just words weakens your voice.

You want to be the leading local firm for ambitious business owners in your locality, supporting and advising them as they grow their businesses; standing side by side with them through the challenges; improving the lives for them and their family.

Do you just say that or do the imagery, colours, structure, tone, sounds, smells of your website, office, material, team reinforce it?

I see firms that talk about being local but with images on their website of capital skylines that are hundreds of miles away.

I see firms that talk about exciting ambition and success but with magnolia walls and calendars for decoration.

I see firms that promote growth and personal service but have nothing but dying plants in reception.

Your firm is more than words. We spend a long time proof reading copy but don’t give the same attention to all the other messages we give out, or fail to promote.

Try describing your firm without words.

Is it a warm colour or a cold one? Is it a soft material or a strong one? Does it smell of lavender or tar? Does it sound like Mozart, Jay-Z or Iron Maiden? Is it a painting by Monet or Miro? Is it old or new? Exciting or sensible?

It can be whatever you want it to be, but the message will only be clear if you think about your delivery in a wider sense.

Make you firm much more than words.

Let’s Talk Time Recording

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 15:56:01 GMT

Timesheets! The bane of the accountant’s life. When a swell of opinion grew in the 1990’s towards binning timesheets in favour of fixed price or value-based billing then it’s no surprise that many jumped at the opportunity and continue to exclude them today from their firms.

My challenge to firms who’ve followed this path is to question whether they’ve ceased using timesheets for the right reason and whether they’ve lost a valuable practice management tool as a result.

In 1993, when my partner and I set up our first firm, we took two actions from the outset:

We retained timesheets but stopped recording non-chargeable time

We put all clients onto fixed price agreements

The thinking was straightforward: Fixed price agreements brought clarity and certainty to the client whilst recording our client related work enabled us to track the effectiveness of our own processes and the profitability of those agreements.

To use timesheets in this way required us to view them differently to how they were most commonly being used at the time. For many firms they were the basis for billing the client and for assessing the team. Neither of these approaches were fair or right but the drive should have been to move away from the misuse, not the tool itself.

A timesheet is a tracking tool, not a billing tool. It enables a firm to track the work it does for a client, the resources it uses on that client and the accuracy of the service and pricing model in respect of that client.

A timesheet is a resource management tool, not something to beat the team or yourself around the head with. Like it or not, we are a time based business. We have to track it in order to understand where our resources are being applied, our profits being made and our inefficiencies and losses occurring. Just because we don’t use timesheets for billing doesn’t mean that they don’t have huge practice management and client analysis benefits.

As we’ve proved form 1993 onwards, you can run both value based pricing and fixed service arrangements as the external model for your clients whilst using timesheets internally as your tracking tool to better understands the dynamics in your firm.

Now the painful bit. Yes, timesheets do bring accountability. If someone can explain to me why that is wrong in a commercial business then I’m willing to learn. The pain comes not from the timesheet process but how business leaders allow it to be applied. If your team are scared to accurately record their time then that is a cultural issue, not a timesheet one.

Of course, time recording has moved on. It has never been easier to efficiently record how the time resource within your firm is being used. What you learn avoids missed billing, under-pricing, client abuse of your services, production inefficiencies, training failures, communication failings…the list goes on.

I find it ironic that professional football has dramatically improved its performance through the use of player stats, quite literally recording every breathe that they take, and yet our profession has ripped up the very same approach.

Something to think about maybe?

What three words

Thu, 12 Dec 2019 11:36:29 GMT

Hopefully, you’ve heard of What3words (what3words.com). What3words is a brilliant locator tool. The inventors divided the whole World up into 3 metre squares and gave each a unique three word tag that will never change. Whether you are looking for friends or calling the emergency services to your aid, you simply go onto the App, let GPS pin point the spot and share the three words. Simple, yet lifesaving! If you don’t have it on your phone yet then I recommend that you add it.

It set me thinking about the power of using three words in a much wider sense within our firms. We use three words quite often in training and team exercises to get people to focus their thoughts. “Use three words to describe how you feel right now”. “What three words would you use to describe your firm”. That sort of thing. It’s a technique that can help to clear the fog and lead to more constructive conversations. In the context of what we are talking about here, it helps to pinpoint their thoughts.

So, if three words can help to focus the mind and pinpoint where the firm is, then maybe we should be using this technique in a more organised way.

Imagine a board or graphic in your team room or your client meeting room. Each week you put up the three words that you want to focus minds on for that week. For example:-

in the team room you may put ‘Smile. Communicate. Invoicing.’

in the meeting room you may put ‘Tax. Holiday. Change’.

Whatever it may be that you want the recipients to be focused on for that week, you can use this approach to instigate the conversation in the first instance and to act as a reminder thereafter.

You need to be creative, of course, and you need to make sure that it does change regularly and doesn’t become staid, but you can always involve both your team and clients in the selection process if you want to create greater engagement.

Let me know how you get on.

On a deadline?

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 17:01:00 GMT

We’ve all experienced it. I’m experiencing it right now! Loads of things to do, distractions a plenty and a pressing deadline to hit. What to do???

Generally the stress around a deadline is added to by the promises you make and the interruptions you’ve not addressed in advance. A little forethought and preparation can allow you to better focus and better deliver. You may still be interrupted by shouts of “Fire! Fire!” but you’ve got everything else covered.

Making a difference

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 17:30:00 GMT

For many in our profession, a fundamental driving force is the desire to make a difference. We want to help our clients improve their businesses and achieve their goals. We want to create job opportunities for people in our firms. We want to help in our community. We want to do good further afield. We want to make a positive difference to our own lives and those of our family.

“I want to make a difference” is a statement I hear a lot…and yet we are known as unemotional numbers people. Why is that?

Whilst many accounts wish to make a difference, it is often not a focused goal. It’s something that we want to happen rather than something that we are focused on making happen. We need a more strategic approach.

Look around your firm. How visible is your desire to make a difference?

Look at your KPI’s. How clearly do they reflect your desire to make a difference.

Look at your team. How engaged are they in making a difference?

How do you know how much of a difference you make?

Like everything else in our businesses, if we are to achieve our goal of making a difference then we must have clear strategies for making it happen; our brand should reflect our goal; our actions and KPI’s should make it measurable and accountable.

If we see our firms as tools for making a difference then we should to look at the areas where we want to have an impact and ties these to specific aspects of our own operations to achieve a double whammy – improved business performance and targeted positive impacts. Use KPI’s to create focus and accountability and you’re away.

For example, one firm I know well in the North West are passionate supporters of the B1G1 initiative. ( www.b1g1.com if you’ve not come across it before). In their board room, one complete wall is taken up with a perspex display showing the initiatives that they support. A similar display is on their website.

Their donations are driven by referral opportunities, the value of benefits and advice delivered to clients, the levels of team and client engagement and so on. All are made accountable through their KPI’s. Every time they do good for others, they do good for themselves.

Making a difference is such a great reason for being an accountant in practice. Don’t let it just be a wish though, make it a core business strategy.

How well do your team understand your clients?

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 16:30:00 GMT

I heard the view expressed recently by a third party team member that “it’s easy to start a business”. At the same meeting, some dissatisfaction was expressed because a director had taken more holiday recently than the normal team entitlement.

Clearly, there are some team and management rumblings here to be addressed but, when I spoke to the board afterwards I was concerned that there was a far greater issue than a little discontent.

For most firms of accountants, the client base and target market consists of business owner-managers, people who have dragged their lives and family through the mill in order to build a business that can give them a better life in the future. Many risk their health, home and relationships as they toil all hours for little reward or respite until they, hopefully, start to see some success.

Running your own business can be a huge challenge and a thankless task. For those who cross the threshold of success therefore and start to see the rewards both financially and in lifestyle, they are invariably rewards that have been hard earned.

As accountants, we need our teams to know this, understand it and respect it. Empathy is a huge element of trust and, without it, we can’t hope to build effective client relationships.

It’s important therefore that team members understand the narrative that underpins the lives of the owner-manager clients. I strongly recommend two course of action.

First, start with your own story. Tell your team of your journey. Understanding how you got to where you are today, how it felt, what it meant, will help the team to better understand the culture you are trying to build and the values you seek to express.

Then, invite a couple of clients in to talk to your team about their own journeys, the challenges they’ve faced and continue to face, and what it means to them and their family. Our team can see clients as a set of records and deadlines so understanding the fears and passions that lie behind is a huge step towards them seeing the people themselves.

Just because your team are surrounded by clients every day, don’t assume that they actually understand them….and understanding will go a long way to a great client experience.

Demonstrate empathy to engage your clients

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 14:36:00 GMT

Do your clients describe your firm as empathetic? Is empathy a key component in how you build trust into your client relationships? Let’s explore…

Empathy: The ability to understand and share the thoughts and feelings of another person from their perspective. Is that important in our client relationships?

Well, let’s flip it around. If you don’t demonstrate empathy in your firm then, by definition, you are unable to understand the feelings and thoughts of your clients, unable to view things from their perspective. I’d say that was pretty harmful to your chances of success, wouldn’t you?

Empathy is a key component of trust, and without trust you are going to face a constant struggle to not only retain clients but to evolve them into the more advisory based relationship that many of us seek in this digital age.

I work on a simple formula:

Authenticity + Knowledge + empathy = Trust.

In other words:

Be genuine, know your stuff, understand the world from your client’s perspective AND they will trust you.

We come from a profession that historically has been production driven. Our service to clients has been based upon outcomes. Yet, view the world from our clients’ perspective – their needs, their goals, their challenges, their fears and you realise that a whole different set of advice, support an development conversations need to be had, a whole new approach to the services that we provide.

Show that you understand that and you have a very powerful driver for clients to stay and ask for more.

And you do understand it. You run a business, just like them. You have family, just like them. You employ people, manage your cash-flow, handle suppliers and customers, just like them. You just don’t necessarily show this understanding by talking about it and reflecting it in your actions.

If you want to build more trust, to move further along the advisory line, then it’s time to now show your understanding.

It’s time to demonstrate empathy.

Sidestep your recruitment issues

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 12:58:00 GMT

It seems that everyone is looking for experienced professional staff right now; quality seniors and managers who can help them to manage their firm better, deliver on client experience and provide the opportunity to delegate, freeing up their own time to grow the firm. As a profession we’ve failed to develop and attract the necessary skills and personalities over the last decade to meet this demand and its leaving many partners with a headache: “How am I supposed to move my firm forwards if I don’t have the time and people to do it?”

In the medium term, I’m a big fan of recruiting people with the right personalities and characteristics, people who are a great fit for the firm’s culture, values and ethos, and then training them into the roles. However, that doesn’t solve the short term issue.

Whilst partners search for a ready-made solution, there can be a tendency to put the development and ambition of the firm on hold until they are found. In the current recruitment market place this can be many months, even years. Rather than put the firm on ice, or make the error of recruiting a ‘nearest fit’ because time is passing, my advice is to take a different look at what you are trying to achieve to see if what you already possess, or is more readily recruitable, can provide a different, more effective, solution.

Client management and process management, including the management of outsourced services, doesn’t necessarily require a technical person to fulfil the role since the key skill is the ability to manage. Partners and professional staff often spend a lot of time not managing quality but managing process. Whilst they may be trained in quality control, process management is an entirely different skill set and one which many non-accountants can do.

A non-technical manager, with people and organisational skills, armed with a checklist that meets the needs of professional quality control, can manage work flows, information flows and people often far more effectively than a good ‘accountant’ who can deliver expertise and quality but not necessarily efficiency.

The old model that has the accountant central to pretty much every production task doesn’t work if you can’t access the accountant or make them efficient enough within the process.

Team members with operational and people skills are just as valuable and can free up significant time by releasing technical professional staff from organisational tasks.

Just because your products and services are accounting related, not every internal task has to be accountant allocated. Use the best people with the best skills to deliver the best, and most profitable, outcomes.

Worth a rethink maybe?

Time for a blank sheet

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 12:55:00 GMT

In our profession, the more progressive accounting firms have always looked at how they do things today and asked themselves “How do we improve on this for tomorrow?” It’s an approach that has stood them in good stead in delivering great profits, a positive team culture and excellent client service. It differentiates the great from the good and has delivered success to this point.

I say to this point because I’m wondering if it’s time for the question to change.

I’ve said on many occasions that we have fundamentally been a production based profession. Our meat and drink has been accounts production, tax return production, payroll production and bookkeeping production. The end game has been a product. Improvement therefore has come from better production – more efficient, less errors, quicker turnaround.

Today, all the talk is about us moving towards an advisory based model. I don’t buy into the ‘compliance is dead’ movement but certainly we need to change perceptions to raise the profile and commercial value of our advice, expertise and support if we are to be truly competitive in the Digital Age.

This change is happening, too slowly at present but gathering pace.

One reason, I believe, for us still being off the pace as a profession is because that question, “How do we improve on what we do today?” isn’t radical enough. What we are doing today isn’t as powerful as it once was. Strategically, what we should be planning for is not improving on yesterday’s production model but on being competitive and effective in a whole new set of circumstances and needs for tomorrow. The change in markets, technology, client needs, competition and skills is so big that firms need to think in terms of radical shifts, not daily evolution.

I believe that the question is no longer “How do we improve on this for tomorrow?” but “If we were to start again tomorrow, how would we do it?”.

Our thinking on progression cannot be limited to our starting point, i.e. where we find ourselves today. Where we are today is an outcome of the current production model. Much better to set progressive, even visionary strategies and then plan how to get there rather than immediately limit yourself by yesterday’s thinking.

Try it. Grab a blank pad, a day away from your desk, a good supply of coffee and ask yourself:

“If we were to start again tomorrow, how would we do it?”.

Take a different look at your firm

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 16:28:00 GMT

Traditionally, accounting has been a profession built around production. We talk about being a service industry, about delivering professional services, about client service, but much of the strategic and management dialogue is about getting stuff done. The talk is of deadlines, the number of returns still to be processed, recoverable hours.

We plan our resources based largely upon the amount of work we have to do, and that work largely composes of products: accounts, tax returns and so on.

I talk a lot about client service and client experience, about putting the client at the heart of your firm, but how far can we take that thinking?

Each one of your clients has a lifetime value for your firm, the total amount of fees that they will be charged during their time with you as a client plus any additional value they bring in such as referrals.

It’s a simple equation:

No. of years as a client x (Annual fees + referral fees) = client lifetime value

We can increase the lifetime value by increasing any or all of these three elements. There is a perceived challenge though in that increasing annual fees can (and occasionally does) have a negative impact on the other two.

Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not advocating that you don’t put up your prices, most firms still undervalue themselves. However, to avoid any risk, it highlights the fact that we should be looking for opportunities where we can increase our annual fee to a client whilst also increasing their satisfaction, hence boosting both their loyalty and their referrals.

As you review your client relationship each year with a view to planning how you will manage them the following year (you do that, don’t you?), what you should be thinking about is not simply the price of the accounts and tax return but what service or advice can you bring to that client that they will perceive as of real value and how can you deliver it so that the value stands out.

This doesn’t have to be clever stuff. The client struggling with their time management and financial control will value you taking over their bookkeeping in 21 ^st century fashion ( I hopefully don’t need to explain!).

Linking what you plan to charge to the perceived value of the relationship not only personalises your service better (because it gets you thinking proactively about each client) but it has a multiple effect beyond the one year by extending the client life and referral capacity.

Worth thinking about?

Answer your questions to yourself

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 16:08:00 GMT

“Why did I do that?”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“How did I miss that?”

“When will I learn?”

“Who’s in charge here?”

We all do it. At least I hope we all do, or is it just me!

We all question ourselves from time to time. Usually, it’s an expression of frustration, a response to something going wrong. But how often do we then actively seek the answer to our own question?

Because the expression often arises out of an immediate situation, we quickly move onto fixing the issue and our question to ourselves remains hanging in the air, but wouldn’t we benefit from giving it more attention.

Let’s take “Why did I do that” as our example. Chances are we’ve done something stupid so we fix it and move on, but, why did we do it? Is there an issue with time management, concentration, focus, workload, stress, knowledge, communication? Can we identify it, fix the underlying issue and stop a recurrence of the surface ripples?

There is always something that we can learn from understanding our own actions better, a way that we can improve our own performance and the performance of our firm. If we don’t take the time to understand our actions, and therefore ourselves better, then we run the risk of simply repeating our failings, or the failures within our firm, something which we often won’t tolerate in others.

Kavitha Chahel, in her excellent book on leadership and engagement, ‘Compassionism’ (Panoma Press), talks about the need to be self-aware and the importance of understanding ourselves if we are to better understand others. Her book demonstrates clearly the links between our own performance and the expectations and performance of our teams. We have to start with a better understanding of ourselves. Analysing why we do (or don’t do!) what we do is a great way to build this in a practical, work-based sense.

So, the next time you question yourself out of frustration, fear or fury, take a breath and recognise that you’ve been asked a question. Don’t just fix the problem, show yourself some respect in answering it.

It’s okay to do things your way

Thu, 20 Jun 2019 15:55:00 GMT

Let me tell you how I tidy our kitchen after the evening meal (weird, but bear with me!).

I have the kitchen to myself. We have quite a large kitchen and most surfaces at this point will be covered with the detritus of preparing and eating a family meal. Pots and pans, glasses, used plates and cutlery, chopping boards, vegetable peelings, food wrappers and containers, condiments etc. You’ll be familiar with the scene no doubt.

I start with some basic preparation; hot water and washing up liquid in the sink, dishwasher door open and a small pile of waste. Then I commence my long-time developed approach to the clean.

Starting on my far left (by the oven, as it happens), I work from left to right around the kitchen surfaces, washing up, wiping, drying, filling the dishwasher and taking out the waste and recycling as a go. I completely clear and clean each area in turn. Oven to hob. Hob to sink. Sink to work tops. Work tops to table. Gradually the kitchen clears from left to right.

Doing it this way means multiple trips to the utility room to take out ‘stuff’. It means returning to the sink and dishwasher countless times. There are far more efficient and effective ways of cleaning the kitchen that would no doubt save me time, lots of time if I added it all up over the years.

But, you know what, I don’t care. I’m happy doing it this way. I find it strangely restful at the end of a working day and I enjoy seeing the transformation of the kitchen and the visible line of progress that I’m making. It doesn’t impact on anyone else, the only person affected by my inefficiency is me, so why not!

Work isn’t always about efficiency and time-saving. It isn’t always about doing things in the most effective way. Doing things your way, in a manner that you find most enjoyable, most satisfying, most fun, a manner that gives you greatest satisfaction, can be just as important if it gets the job done, and arguable more so.

Sometimes, It’s okay to do things your way!

Don’t overlook the simple improvements in your search for the big fixes

Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:54:00 GMT

Great works of art are not photographs. They are not the result of a single action but many, many thousands of individual brush strokes and steps, improved upon every day until the final result, the outstanding near perfection, is achieved.

As an accountant in practice, you can spend a lot of time and mind space researching, sourcing and trying to integrate the resources and developments that you need to invest in to keep pace with the rapid rate of change happening around us and within our profession.

Decisions on software and recruitment in particular are big decisions, necessary for meeting the ‘grand plan’ but time consuming and often not immediately achievable.

There is a common danger that the progression of a firm can be put on hold as thinking is focused on finding the solution for the firm’s improvement.

Amongst these big changes, it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that smaller improvements in your firm can be made every single day that can lead to amazing, and just as grand, outcomes.

Everybody in your firm can make improvements every single day. Small actions that on their own may seem inconsequential but cumulatively, and over time, can achieve the sort of performance and success that you have been searching for.

Creating a culture of improvement in your firm, where every day you and your team look to improve personal performance, client experience, systems and processes, teamwork is hugely beneficial on every level.

We’re not talking about seismic changes here. Trying that bit harder, smiling more often, sticking to the system, thinking about a client or colleague a little more, making slight upgrades and changes…it’s not hard.

Like everything else that has the greatest impact, it’s something to grow into your culture. Lead by example, encourage support and remain consistent in your attitude towards growing this.

Small brush strokes and tiny corrections lead to amazing artwork.

Why not start by painting “Individually and together, we can do better!” on your office wall.

Your vision for your firm matters

Thu, 30 May 2019 16:08:00 GMT

I love facilitating the Mastermind days that we run with our member firms. The energy and creativity that grows throughout the day is fantastic.

At our most recent event I was struck by just how many times the strategies boiled down to the importance of understanding one’s vision. Vision is one of those things that burns brightly in the formative years but can become blurred and lost in the pressures and challenges of running a firm today. Vision is also one of those words that has become lost in the corporate blah blah blah so let’s be clear what I’m talking about.

Your vision for your firm is what you aspire it to be and to achieve. As such, it is a deeply personal thing. It’s more than targets or goals, it’s linked very closely to why you do what you do….or at least it should be for it to be at its most powerful as an effective driver.

This is why it’s so important to reaffirm your vision and put it at the heart of your firm.

A clear vision gives you a reason for getting up in the mornings, an indicator of the right decisions to make and a persuasive belief in your discussions with clients and colleagues.

A clear vision, properly articulated to your team, provides them with direction, understanding and a sense of what is the right thing to do in your firm on a daily basis.

A clear vision, properly demonstrated to your clients, provides them with a tangible demonstration of the need for such thinking within their own business as well as a positive and passionate experience in their dealings with you and your firm.

A clear vision differentiates you from the rest, gives your firm true identity and resonates with the right people for you to do business with.

Vision comes not from a book or from a programme but from you sitting down and examining:

Alone, or in conversation, understanding what lies behind these questions will shape your vision and re-ignite a direction, passion and drive in your firm.

Get away from the noise, grab a coffee and make time to think.

The loneliness of the practicing accountant

Sat, 18 May 2019 16:05:00 GMT

Running your own business can be a lonely place. Sharing the frustrations, challenges, fears and pressures isn’t easy when everyone is looking to you for the answers to their own problems. Family, team and colleagues can try but all have their limitations around understanding, confidentiality and what you are willing to share.

Now add the digital world. Remote working, less people around you, a more consuming 24/7 market place and less face to face contact can all add to a sense of isolation.

Feeling lonely, isolated, detached is not a good place to be. How can you avoid it? How can you get out of it?

If you are in that place already then there is only one answer. Talk to someone and do it now! Don’t avoid it by the excuse of “what can they do?”. Just talk. It is the start of your way out. If a face doesn’t leap to mind then there are plenty of organisations from The Samaritans, MIND, Anxiety UK to your professional body, local church, Royal Voluntary Service and community café. Just talk to someone and start the process.

Do it now!

If you’re not there yet then lets avoid the path. Act now before things start to close in on you. Here are some tips:

Most importantly, remind yourself of what makes you happy and what matters to you most. Don’t let workload or perceived ambition stand in the way of these.

I hope that this helps you.

If outsourcing is the answer, then what is the question?

Fri, 10 May 2019 16:04:00 GMT

Outsourcing has been around for a long time. I remember looking at it as an option back in the late 90’s but the technology was not around to make it work smoothly enough back then. Now, of course, that’s different and I’m seeing more and more firms engaging outsourcing services. I positively welcome the move in the right circumstances.

And that is the key. Outsourcing can work brilliantly providing:

a) It’s answering the right question

and

b) It’s properly managed in the same way you should manage a team member

What is the right question? I would suggest that the most relevant for consideration are:

Outsourcing, whether it be payroll, bookkeeping, accounts, tax, even advisory, should be a strategic decision and not simply a response to a work flow peak.

The second aspect, and just as critical, is the management of the process. If you have a team member who you fail to brief, give the wrong jobs, don’t explain your requirements, don’t teach them your systems and fail to give them feedback, then you won’t be surprised when it goes wrong. Outsourcing is no different.

Have a dedicated person responsible for communicating and managing the outsourcers. The quality of work and dedication from the good outsources these days is outstanding but they can’t deliver in the dark. You must actively manage them and let them work with you.

I love the way that outsourcing is freeing up firms to focus on the client experience and develop a more advisory based framework underpinned by cost effective and efficient compliance and support. I believe it to be the way forward for many small firms, but, like every other aspect of your business, you must understand your strategy and manage it effectively.

Go find the right outsourcers for you.

Don’t get lost in your own business

Tue, 30 Apr 2019 12:38:00 GMT

It’s sad just how many caring, hard-working accountants (and their clients) end up lost within the frustrations of their own firms. The vision and energy of start-up have been replaced by the stress and compromise of “too much to do and not enough time to do it”. A common thread through many of these is […]

A common thread through many of these is a blurring of the firm’s true identity brought about by a dimming, or even loss of the owner’s vision, values and beliefs.

Without clarity of vision and values, an entrepreneurial business becomes just a job, and few people set up their own firm simply because they want to do a job. Instead of being driven by purpose, the business becomes a reaction to workload.

Failing to share your vision, your values, what matters to you, with your team, client and network, only feeds a lack of understanding about your business and makes it harder to work with and attract the right people and clients.

Such things are, of course, personal to each and every one of us. The only vision that is right to you is the one that you believe in.

So, purely in a spirit of collaboration, and in the hope that it may encourage some of you to give more thought to your own approach, here is our vision and the 5 rules that we live by and share at ProgressBB:-

Our vision is to help caring, hard-working accountants in practice to re-discover their mojo and, through that, to help their clients re-discover theirs. We want accountants to be seen, respected and valued in their true light. The rules that drive us are then these:

These are shared with every client, at every Mastermind Day and with all those who work with us. Those who ‘get it’ are great people to work with. Those who don’t, well it’s not meant to be, and that’s fine.

Time to wise up

Mon, 15 Apr 2019 12:38:00 GMT

Sir Francis Bacon expressed the view that ‘knowledge is power’. It certainly can create the power to drive your firm forwards in these challenging times.

It’s very easy to fall into the trap of being too busy to learn, too busy to train, too busy to explore new ideas and developments. I’m sure there are times when we’ve all done it.

Unfortunately, it comes at a cost, often not immediately obvious. Individuals and firms that starve themselves of learning limit their future growth. It may be that commercial and client needs can still be met in the short term but what feeds the development of new ideas, solutions, approaches and techniques? What fuels future performance?

When an accountant becomes guiltily aware of a lack of CPD then it is invariably the risk that comes to mind first. What about the professional bodies? What if I wrongly advise a client or fail to assist them properly? Whilst these risks are very real, there is an ongoing commercial risk as the firm gradually slips away from the cutting edge expected and required of a great professional service business.

The compliance and advisory world is rapidly changing. The needs of clients are changing as quickly, if not more so. How can you run a successful business if you are not aware of what is happening out there?

Failure to continue learning increases risk and negatively impacts profits. Those alone should be reasons enough to get online, listen to an expert, implement a development plan or research a new development. Beyond that though is the sheer satisfaction of your role and why you come to work. An up to date, outward looking, well researched business person runs a confident, trusted, highly performing business. An expert advisor has settled, trusting and well-paying clients, great client relationships. A team member who is confident and knowledgeable in their role is happy in their work and delivers great performance.

Don’t take the short term option and cut the learning corner. Create a culture of knowledge, development and training. There is no down side.

Why you can’t rest on your laurels

Wed, 27 Mar 2019 16:42:00 GMT

It’s great to see increasing numbers of accountants seeking to deliver much more to their clients than just the standard compliance services. Websites and social media today reflect a profession looking to actively engage with business leaders and entrepreneurs in more value added ways.

Unfortunately this makes it even more frustrating when I come across well-intentioned firms who end up shooting themselves in the foot by not living up to their ambitions.

Take a wander through accountants websites and you will see many examples of firms promising a new level of client service, seeking to inspire their clients, actively helping them grow their businesses….and yet the website itself is painfully and obviously out of date.

It takes only minutes to find sites that were once trailblazing but now show no new posts in months, even years, outdated team pics, old budget downloads, no fresh advice or information.

I understand all too well the pressures of running a firm, especially one that has quite possibly grown quickly off the back of the partners’ earlier ambitions and drive, but to fail to properly manage and systemise your own business so that it goes stale in the eyes of the outside world leads to a situation where you would’ve been better off not trying in the first place. Visibly failing to deliver on your own promises is worse than setting lower expectations from day 1.

Are you one of these firms?

Take a look at your online presence, your offices, your behaviour today. Are you living up to the expectations that you’ve set?

With the outsourcing opportunities and software resources available to all firms, there is very little excuse for not keeping up with the pace you set yourself. Lack of focus brought on by the time pressures of growth is the most common cause, in which case, have a dedicated member of your team take responsibility for overseeing activity. Keep your eyes, and your firm, on the ball.

Don’t let yourself down for lack of attention. You are right to set high expectations but you must also set the discipline, and systems, to maintain them.

What’s in a title?

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 16:41:00 GMT

You will have read that Xero have started on online petition to change the dictionary definition of an accountant to “ a person whose job is to keep or inspect and advise on financial accounts .”

Putting Xero’s possible motivations to one side, they’ve raised an interesting debate and one that I’m not sure has an answer. Accountancy is such a wide profession now with so many branches, specialisms and niches that I’m not sure there is such a thing as ‘an accountant’ these days. Most job titles require a more specific word putting in front of the accountant tag. I guess that, whatever that additional wording is, most accountant roles involve at least an element of financial maintenance or inspection so maybe that’s not a bad generic answer that Xero have.

The problem is that a generic wording like this does nothing to enlighten the outside world as to the true role, value or potential of an accountant.

When I moved onto working with accountants rather than SME’s I spent a lot of time trying to work out how to define my role. Was I a mentor, a coach, a consultant, an advisor, an accountant? What’s the difference between them?

It took me a while but I finally worked it out….it didn’t matter!

What matters far more is ensuring that my brand, both personal and business, shouts out in very clear terms what I’m about, why I do what I do and who I am looking to work with. It needs to demonstrate that I understand the challenges faced by my target market and highlight the meaningful benefits that I can bring to those in that market place.

By giving myself a generic tag, let’s say ‘mentor’, I am open to those in my target market applying their own interpretation to what that role brings and it may not be the same as mine.

By spelling out who I am, why I do what I do and making it relevant to the right people, I remove any confusion.

So, if you need a title then call yourself whatever you want, but make sure that your message is clear. Define yourself, don’t leave it up to the dictionary writers or Xero to define you.

What to do when they ignore your advice

Mon, 18 Feb 2019 10:34:00 GMT

Ever had the feeling that you’re talking to yourself in a client meeting?

Here’s a thing. If you’re any good as an accountant and business advisor then pretty much everything you say and do in a professional context has value for your client. Yet, two of the biggest frustrations, and two of the biggest hits on your own profitability, come from clients not responding positively to what you say:

Frustration number 1 comes from clients not doing what you’ve asked them to do. The cost of chasing clients up and sorting out their messy records takes countless hours away from your performance.

Frustration number 2 arises from clients not taking your advice. You have the expertise and resources to address their business issues yet they won’t either pay for or implement the solutions on offer. Clients use lack of cash/time/profit as an excuse despite you offering the route out of their position year after year.

What to do? Do you continue to harm your own profits, waste your time and clog up your diary with reluctant clients or do you act to change their behaviour?

Maybe, in the past, accountancy firms could absorb this sort of inefficient, and, arguably, disrespectful behaviour but in the digitalised, challenging world we all trade in today, you have to be far more effective in your use of resources. More importantly in my book, with the client relationship being so valuable, how can it be right to have clients continually ignore your professional instruction, guidance and knowledge? Quite frankly, what is the point? Most accountants came into the profession because they wanted to create change, they wanted to help people. You can’t help those who refuse help.

Take a look at other professionals such as doctors, dentists and lawyers. Their response to generally non-responsive clients is to end the relationship. It’s a waste of their time, time that could be spent far more effectively elsewhere.

I believe it’s a three stage process:

First, we have to be clear in our advice and instructions, clear with the benefits and the consequences.

Second, we have to be committed in our beliefs. We should be respectful that it’s the client’s business and affairs but, equally, we are the professional, we know what we are talking about (or we shouldn’t be talking about it!).

Finally, we have to be prepared to end the relationship. If the client isn’t taking our advice and isn’t following our instruction then it is a waste of their money and our time. Neither party benefits.

MTD offers us an opportunity and an excuse for getting tough with clients. It can be tough with a smile but it’s time to change the nature of the relationship.

Are you a ‘trusted advisor’?

Sun, 17 Feb 2019 16:25:00 GMT

How much do your clients trust you and is it enough for them to always take your advice? We hear the phrase ‘trusted advisor’ banded around a lot but is it representative of client-accountant relationships?

Trust is a sliding scale.

For a start, just because a client asks you to do their tax return, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they trust you, simply that you are the most convenient solution for them.

They may trust you as an accountant to do your job and look after the compliance work but not necessarily trust your opinion, your advice or even your motives.

Clients will trust you up to a point. The challenge experienced by accountants is that this point is far too often set to low. Clients will act on your advice up to a point but not far enough for you to achieve the ‘trusted advisor’ status that you strive to be. We want clients to trust us more so that they become more willing to accept our advice and recommendations, good for their business and for ours.

Trust builds over time if we consistently demonstrate that we can be trusted, but frustration builds if there are results we want to achieve in the meantime that take the client beyond their trust point.

Can we accelerate the process?

Trust is built on three things:

We can therefore accelerate the process of building trust by consistently demonstrating these three traits. Our behaviour and environment need to reflect these. Our points of client contact need to promote these. Our conversations need to be planned to demonstrate these.

Our marketing too needs to be built with these values at its heart. Take a look at your website, your newsletters and your marketing tools. Do these reflect the trust-building assets?

Don’t leave trust to Father Time. Demonstrate to clients your ‘trusted advisor’ status.

Could clients pick out your firm in a blind tasting?

Tue, 12 Feb 2019 16:23:00 GMT

I wouldn’t profess to be any sort of wine expert. I reckon I can tell a Pinot Grigio from a Chardonnay, a Rioja from a Beaujolais, but that’s about my limit. As a result, I’m not particularly choosy about where I shop or what I pay, with the local supermarket much more likely to get my custom then the town’s specialist wine merchant.

If I had a yearning for a particular standard, grape, vineyard or vintage then it would change both my buying habits and perception of value.

So it is with business clients and their accountants. Some will simply look for the cheapest possible. As with wine, that’s not a choice most sensible people will make but it’s an option.

The majority, rather like me with my wine, will have a non-expert perception of the market. They understand that the cheapest accountant they can find is probably not the best approach but equally they don’t want to spend a fortune when they don’t really appreciate the differences. So, they go for something middle of the road, something generic, something recommended to them.

That’s not great for the accountant who sees themselves as different and worth more than those around them.

Consistency of brand, and therefore consistency of client experience is key. If you are seeking a particular type of client, be it by sector, mindset, size or whatever, then everything about your firm needs to be attractive to the desires of that particular market place. Then they recognise the difference. Then they’re prepared to pay more.

If your firm was a wine then the taste, aroma, colour, consistency, bottle and packaging needs to hit the mark and the expectations of your followers every single time, and you need to be capable of growing to that consistency.

In accountant’s speak, your offices, your team, your delivery, your services, your client relationships, your professional approach need to consistently hit the same mark and expectation. Clients and the market place should be able to recognise what they like about your firm without seeing the name or logo, just because it’s what they expect from you, the way they know you do things.

We all have good and bad days, change our ways of doing things, but the market place needs consistency if it is to recognise you as a stand out option. Your external behaviour and brand must deliver that.

Making a fresh start

Sat, 09 Feb 2019 16:22:00 GMT

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. How easy would running a business be if we could look forward with the same clarity that we have when we review the past.

Hindsight can be used in two ways. We can use it to beat ourselves up about mistakes that we’ve made, mistakes that we didn’t necessarily spot at the time, maybe didn’t even have the opportunity to avoid.

We can also use it to grow our wisdom, experience and expertise. The real power of learning from the past comes when we bring it into the present and use it to shape our future. Nothing is wasted.

Knowing what you know now, if you were to start your firm again today then what would you do differently? The old joke, of course is, “well, I wouldn’t start from here, I can tell you that!” but, given that ‘here’ is reality, let’s park that for a moment and think of what you would do if you were starting your firm again today.

Chances are that you start from a strong place compared to first time around. You’re wiser, more experienced, better connected and probably better resourced. Yes, you’ve got a load of baggage now but let’s look past that.

List out what you would do if you were starting your firm today. What would you do differently? How would you better prepare for the future as it now looks compared to back when you started? What have you learned?

Now, what’s to stop you building your list into your goals and actions? Okay, we now have practicalities to address but isn’t that what goals and actions are all about anyway.

We talk about getting stuck in a rut, in other words being trapped in your current passageway. It’s easy to make the mistake of seeing your firm in the context of a single journey that you set out on back in the past and must continue to follow. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can change your route today, and tomorrow, and the day after. If you’re driving your business then you can change the direction of your firm whenever you wish.

Your list of what you would do in starting a new firm today could just be another turn of the page in your journey if you want it to be.

Take a fresh look at where you are and where you want to go next.

Change the question to get a different answer

Wed, 06 Feb 2019 12:37:00 GMT

It’s frustrating when you want to help a client improve their business but they just won’t take your advice. The explanations I hear range from “they don’t want to pay for it” to “they’re just not interested” but, whilst I accept that some clients aren’t really business people at all but simply workers doing a job, I don’t accept that the majority of a typical client base fall into this category.

We see business as important and so we see the advice that we give clients to improve their businesses as very important. However, clients don’t necessarily see it the same way.

To many, their business is not a priority in itself but more a means to an end. They work hard at their businesses in order to fulfil other dreams. Typically these will be related to their family and to creating a better world for them but could equally be for a collectable car, a sick relative, a change of lifestyle.

Giving the client things to do within their business has little impact if their goals lie elsewhere. Indeed, they can be seen counter-productive to the client, taking up more time and money that they want to spend instead on other personal things.

To get a more positive response, you need to link your advise to what really matters to them so that they can see where the true benefits end up.

For example, rather than asking a client about their business goals, ask instead what matters to them more than anything else in the world. Get them talking about their lives and sharing their personal goals. Then, by understanding those, you can introduce their business into the conversation but within the context of their personal world.

Advice to improve their cash flow becomes more about the money they can spend on the family holiday. The strategies for effective management become more about spending time with the kids.

The most effective strategy we ever used for ‘converting’ clients to a more business advisory mindset was to show them how to manage their resources in order to get a family holiday the following year. When advice equals tangible, meaningful benefits then clients will pay and come back for more.

Get to know their personal world, not just the business one.

Are these to blame for our frustrations?

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 12:33:00 GMT

Two fundamental issues for our profession:

The two most common explanations?

I think that there is a different take on this that, at best, doesn’t help our cause and possibly is the core reason for the failure to get client buy-in into these services.

Take financial accounts. I see many views expressed within the profession that actually endorse the clients’ perception. If we criticise our own core product, say it has little use or low value, then we shouldn’t be surprised that clients aren’t interested in paying too much for the service.

Financial accounts are criticised for being out of date, not clearly understood, not providing useful information or lessons. Is that the fault of the product or how the accountant is using them?

The need for a set of accounts and a tax return remains the number one reason (rightly or wrongly) why people seek out an accountant. We should be embracing, embellishing and raising up the benefits of the product, not diminishing it further. A set of accounts can and should be so much more than a set of accounts. There are so many tools out there to effectively achieve this but the accountant has to want to make them more valuable by putting more benefit in and raising the value and quality of the service.

The second point is this issue of promoting value added services. I see so many articles about how accountants can raise the services that they provide by adding value and they are all right. Presenting clients with up to date, meaningful, understandable and valuable information that benefits their business is how the modern accountancy should and must run.

But’s here’s my issue.

Okay, digital technology has moved us on but I was hearing the same message about providing clients with value added services back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. People like Chris Frederiksen and Steve Pipe have been rightly banging this drum for decades. So why are they, and others, still having to do it? Why have we not consistently embraced this approach as a profession so that it is now part of the common perception of the accountant’s role?

Either the experts in our profession have got it wrong, and clients really don’t want to improve their businesses, or we’ve failed to deliver as a profession.

I’m sad to say that I firmly believe it’s the latter. There are accountants out there successfully delivering this sort of work to their clients and have been doing so for years. In our firm, this was our style, every day. There is nothing different about the clients, the local market place, or the core products but, the attitude of the accountant is very different and they’ve driven the change.

It’s a change that has been far too slow to be adopted in our profession with far too many making excuses.

Time is running out for them to wake up.

Value your compliance.

Drive your advisory.

When will the talking stop?

Fri, 25 Jan 2019 11:56:00 GMT

How much difference do you think we accountants make? I know that there are people out there doing amazing things but, generally speaking, are we better at saying than doing?

Look at the evidence on two levels. As a profession there are many people (myself included!) who make a living out of telling accountants how to run better firms. Some make a real difference but, as a whole, has the modus operandi of our profession really changed as much as other sectors? Look at how education has moved on from when we were kids. Now look at how we advise clients…

As advisors, we service our clients, often for many years. In some cases, we change lives but a common frustration I come across with accountants is that they ‘don’t have the ‘right sort’ of client, or clients who are profitable enough or cash-rich enough to afford their wider services. “What have you been doing with them for all these years then” is my question.

The excuse that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink is, frankly, nonsense! The horse will drink when it’s thirsty. You just haven’t tried for long enough.

As advisors to accountants I believe we have a responsibility, to them and our profession, to not just spout theories and plans but to actually make things happen. We profess to want to help so let’s make sure we do.

As accountants to SME clients we have a responsibility, again to them and our profession, to not just tell them what they should be doing but to stick at them until they do. Again, let’s make sure we help instead of giving up at the first hesitation.

We need to be more passionate, more persuasive, more persistent about what we believe in….if, of course, we genuinely believe in it.

Do your actions at work benefit what matters most to you?

Tue, 22 Jan 2019 11:56:00 GMT

I’ve said many times before that, in my experience, the majority of accountants who work with clients, and especially those that have set up their own firms, do so because they want to help people. They want to make a positive difference to their clients and the business owners in their market place.

It’s a powerful driver and a worthy cause, one I entirely subscribe to. However, it is one that can have an unforeseen negative impact on the accountant if it isn’t balanced with their wider life goals. Many accountants, in their drive to help others, harm themselves with their work load, stress adoption and failure to charge appropriately.

It’s important to keep focus on what matters to you even more than your ability to help your clients. This helps you to balance your goals.

What matters to you more than anything else?

It’s a key question.

Understanding the answer doesn’t detract from your goal of helping your clients but it will help balance your decisions and your strategies.

For example, if seeing your children grow up is the most important thing to you right now then working until 10pm on poor client records isn’t the way to help you or your client. You plan in the time with your family and dedicate yourself to your clients around that.

Clients will take as much as they can from you. It’s not malicious, it merely reflects their needs and thinking. You must manage that to reflect what matters more to you. It’s no good talking to them about their goals and ignoring your own.

Build a better balance.

2019 is the year to make yourself proud

Tue, 01 Jan 2019 11:20:00 GMT

We lost some fine people in 2018: Aretha Franklyn, John McCain, Billy Graham, Hubert De Givenchy, Paul Allen to name but a few across the spectrum.

Those of you who know me or have followed us for a while will know me as a lifelong Leicester city fan. October saw the tragic death of our owner, Vichai Srivadhanaprabha, along with two of his staff and two air crew, in a helicopter crash at the King Power stadium.

Vichai was a successful businessman, head of the global King Power business empire. Most press reports at the time prefixed his name with the word ‘billionaire’ but reading the thousands of tributes made to him from people around the world, it was different words that dominated the descriptions:

“A great man”

“A man who delivered dreams with the biggest smile”

“A man of kindness, of generosity”

“A man whose life was defined by the love he devoted to his family and those he so successfully led”

“Dignity”

“Respect”

“Generosity”

At a time of year when resolutions are at the forefront of our minds, remember that you are the most influential person in your life and in your world.

Be noted for who you are.

Achieve by what you do.

You can make the difference.

As Barrack Obama far more eloquently said in what is my favourite quote:

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

Have an amazing year.

Are you doing enough?

Thu, 27 Dec 2018 11:54:00 GMT

A patient goes to see their doctor, feeling unwell. The doctor checks them over. “It’s nothing big, I can quickly sort you out” says Doctor, and gives Patient a prescription. “However, you are overweight and that’s not helping you. Here’s a diet sheet and some exercises you can do, come back and see me in a month”.

A month later Patient returns. “Those tablets worked, thank you Doctor, but now I’ve got a pain in my back”. “Have you done your exercises” says Doctor. “No, sorry, I’ve been busy”. “OK”, says Doctor “well you must make time because it’s important to exercise. I see you’ve put more weight on. What happened to the diet?”.

“Well, you know what it’s like when your busy, doctor, and I do like my chocolate.” “Here’s some cream for your back, but you must stick to the exercise and diet plan. Your health will only deteriorate if you don’t so make sure you do”.

This goes on for several months. Patient comes in with varying ailments, pains and excuses. Doctor fixes what can be fixed, reiterates the message and makes another appointment.

After six months Doctor calls Patient in. “I need to be clear with you” says Doctor. “You keep coming in with problems and I fix what I can but you are ignoring my advice when it comes to the root causes. I understand you are busy and dieting is hard but this is important. If you continue to ignore my advice then your health will deteriorate further, your standard of living will fall and you may well die sooner. I’m not prepared to sit back and watch that happen and I’m not prepared to continue wasting valuable appointment time when I have other patients to work with. Have a serious think about your life. Talk to your partner and family. Come back and see me next month. If your weight has fallen and I’m convinced that you are serious about working with me to get you fixed then I’ll keep on acting. If not, you’ll have to find yourself another GP.”

It’s up to Patient now.

When you have a client who has been on your books for a while but who has not made any real progress with their business, are you just putting up with their excuses or are you challenging their ways?

Are you doing enough?

Take a leaf out of the Three Wise Men’s gift guide

Tue, 25 Dec 2018 11:17:00 GMT

Christmas, as we all know, is a time for bearing gifts, and many accountants take the opportunity to thank their clients for their business with traditional gifts of alcohol, chocolates, hampers, calendars and the like.

Proactive accountants are very aware of being seen to be different to their competitors. We also know that all of us in business have a few big years coming up, what with Brexit, digitalisation, MTD and so on. So, here’s a chance to be different and to take another step towards tackling the challenges ahead.

The Three Wise Men ignored the usual gifts for a new born baby. Instead, they went for gifts with meaning. On a tangible level Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh were expensive gifts, suitable for a present from one king to another, but this was a working class family in a stable. On a spiritual level however, they represent kingship, a priestly role and death. Another conversation entirely.

We talk often of changing the conversation with clients to move the relationship towards a more advisory, more beneficial one. How about changing your gift selection this year to prompt a different conversation? Here’s some ideas:

Corny? Maybe, but the point is to start a different conversation with your client that you can then build on during the year. Does a 2019 diary or a bottle of Red do that?

Thank you for reading our blogs this year.

Merry Christmas and a successful New Year to you.

Keep clients happy the easy way

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 09:05:00 GMT

Keeping clients happy doesn’t have to be time consuming, complicated or expensive.

Ultimately, a client will judge you on your ability to get the job done well but to focus on this is to assume we have a task-based relationship (like most legal work) as opposed to a service based one.

Your life is easier if your clients are happy, so keeping them happy all the time, as opposed to only when they see the outcome of your work, should be a goal for your firm.

Here’s a tip. The starting point to this should be to only work with clients who you like and respect and who like and respect you. These are the right clients for you. Any other relationship is heading for trouble and failure.

Keeping the right clients happy isn’t complicated but does require effort and commitment. No matter how busy you are, how bad a day you are having, how rubbish you feel:-

Total cost to your business – NIL

Total time wasted – NIL

Amount of goodwill generated – HUGE

It’s a habit.

It’s why hairdressers are great.

It’s why a local corner shop is still there.

It’s why firms don’t have to be the best accountant in town to be the best firm in town.

It’s why your clients will stay with you and happily pay more despite cheap fees on offer down the road.

And this is a reminder for you to keep the habit!

Making good practice a habit

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:59:00 GMT

We don’t practice enough in our profession.

We are critical of ourselves, our people, our systems and our clients for not doing things the way that we want them done and for not achieving the outcomes we are looking for but the failing will often come down to simply not having enough practice.

Let me explain what I mean.

We want good practice to be repetitive. We want it to happen every time. For that to happen, good practice needs to become more than just an awareness or an instruction, it needs to become habitual; it needs to be something that just happens.

For something to become habitual we must do it more, and we must keep on doing it until we get better at it and until we reach a point where we do it automatically, as if we weren’t thinking about it.

Take driving a car. How hard did you find it on your first lesson to do the basics of steering, breaking, changing gear? How tired was your mind at the end of that hour? Today, you just sit behind the wheel and go. Do you still concentrate on your steering or do you just do it, apparently without thinking?

If we want to be able to juggle then we must practice, and not just practice but keep on practicing. When we start it’s very hard, we’re not very good at it. We make mistakes. However, the more we do it, the better we eventually get. Without going into the science, the more we repeat something, the easier our brain finds it to do it the next time…until we reach a point where we are apparently doing it without thinking.

Accountants read a book or attend a course and come away with great ideas. They give the instruction for these ideas to be taken up within their firms, but, until they become habitual, until they can happen apparently without thinking, the easier path is always to slip back to how things were done before.

Therefore, if you want to achieve a change of behaviour or of thinking then you need more than just an instruction. You need to put in place a programme for practice that will ensure your change is worked at, time and time again, until it becomes habitual; until it happens apparently without thinking.

Practice makes perfect, surely you were told that in your youth. Google the science, it’s not just a saying dreamt up to annoy those fed up of trying.

Stick to what you’re good at

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:58:00 GMT

When you run your own firm then you expect to wear multiple hats. In a typical week you can be boss, cleaner, trainer, confidante, IT fixer, coffee maker, maintenance wiz. When you first start then you don’t have much choice since you don’t have the money to pay others to do it.

How come it still happens in a mature firm though? Maybe you’re not the coffee maker and maintenance wiz any more but there’s a fair chance that you’re still finding yourself involved in areas that, quite frankly, you’re simply not qualified to be doing.

The most common, and arguably the most damaging of these, is human resources, HR. In virtually every small accounting firm that I go into, responsibility for recruitment, training, development and progression seems to fall on the partner and, to be perfectly honest, few of us have any real idea how to do it effectively. We try to develop outstanding teams based on our own experiences rather than using professionals skilled in the field…and then we wonder why our recruitment and staff performance is so hit and miss!

I have seen first-hand, firms dramatically boost their profits and cultures by those in charge finally making the smart decision to bring in the right HR advisor.

I would define the ‘right’ advisor as one who:

And I would be looking for someone who:

Tick all the above and you have someone who will drive engagement, profitability and satisfaction through the business.

And you free up your own time for even greater profits!

No brainer!

What to do when there’s too much to do

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:53:00 GMT

Accountants generally know what is the right thing to do.

We know we need to spend time properly instructing that team member and providing guidance for another.

We know what is required to do a dozen different client related tasks professionally and properly.

We know what we need to be doing to manage our own firm effectively.

We know what CPD we need to be taking on board.

And we know that we need to get the car over to the garage to get the wearing tyre sorted.

The trouble is that they all need doing now…and that’s the problem. Here’s what to do next:

First, don’t complain about not having enough time. You have as many minutes in a day as everyone else on this planet.

Second, take a breath. Panicking gets you nowhere.

Third, recognise that you are only human. Whatever is being demanded of you, you can do one thing at once, or rather, you can only do one thing properly at once.

Fourth, prioritise. No matter how difficult, create your list, identify what matters most and what you can deal with properly.

For the rest:

I don’t say it’s easy but its professional, it keeps you in control and it gets the job done.

Don’t be driven by he who shouts loudest.

Don’t defer managing your team just because it’s easier than saying no to a client.

And don’t ignore your family or your firm just because they don’t seem to matter there and then.

Take charge.

Don’t let bad clients detract you from doing good things

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:51:00 GMT

We’ve all suffered the frustration of dealing with a large business where you must jump through 101 different hoops to get a particular service or offering. Even as an existing customer, you can be made to feel like a criminal as you wade through the questions and proof required before you get what you want.

In this age of frequent fraud, I think we all understand the need for security but it often goes beyond that as you get a sense of the company seeking to convince themselves that you are not ‘trying it on’.

We come across reluctance from accountants to put attractive new services and offers in place for fear that “some clients might abuse it”. Suggest offering unlimited support within a service package for instance and you will regularly hear this.

It’s important to recognise that the clear majority of your clients are decent, honest, fair people who have neither the time nor the inclination to abuse your great gestures and goodwill. Indeed, they will value them.

By choosing not to make such gestures because of the negative tiny minority, you lose the opportunity to spread that goodwill amongst the great swell of your client base.

Focus on the good people and what is great service for them. By all means, minimise your risk to the abusers with fair usage policies and restricted terms and conditions but let’s not lose the value of the gesture in the small print.

For every 1 client who abuses your goodwill (and almost certainly will eventually leave or be sacked), you have 99 loyal and referral-willing clients who appreciate and value it.

Do the maths, it works in your favour.

Should we try harder to smash the wall?

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:50:00 GMT

Trying to get some clients to act on your advice can be like talking to a brick wall.

Do these sound familiar?

“I’m too busy”.
“I can’t afford it right now”.
“I don’t have the staff available”.
“Can we do it later?”. “
“We’re not big enough”

Your advice just keeps bouncing back to you. Too often, what the client is really saying is “this isn’t important enough for me right now”.

Do we leave it there? After all, we’ve done our job, we’ve passed on our advice.

I hear accountants complain about the quality of their client base, about not being able to sell value added services because they don’t have profitable clients, but do we have a chicken versus egg situation here?

What comes first: the client having a profitable, cash-rich business or the client taking your advice?

If you believe that your advice is important enough then I would argue that you have a professional responsibility to try everything in your power to get your client to act upon it. If you can’t demonstrate its value and importance over the client’s objections then why should they divert attention or resources?

Cloud accounting is a case in point. Quite simply, this is how businesses manage their finances in 2018. It’s effective, efficient, MTD compliant and a fundamental strategy for improving profits and cash-flow. It frees up their time, provides valuable management information and opens advice and support channels with the accountant. And it’s very cost effective.

So, if you don’t currently have all your clients using cloud accounting, properly trained and supported, or at least a plan for doing so, why not? It’s a no-brainer!

When we can see how to improve a client’s business, and therefore their life, we must be prepared to fight harder for our view. After all, if poor clients are the excuse for poor returns in our own firms then profitable clients is the answer. Are you telling me you don’t know how to make your clients more profitable?

Fight to get your point across. Be persistent. Be strong.

Professional as a culture

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:47:00 GMT

I was at a presentation recently by the Army engagement team. The Army recognised that society’s understanding of the role and service of the modern British Army was not what it should be and they’ve set about putting that right.

It was a hugely impressive presentation, covering everything from their military and defence roles to their status as employers and in the community. It was slick, clear and, certainly from my perspective, achieved its goal.

Much was made of the ethics of the army and of taking a professional approach to everything that they do. Tangible evidence of this was the speakers themselves. Made up of serving soldiers of all ages, ranks and backgrounds, each one was confident, well trained, clearly spoken, and fully engaging with their audience.

The abiding message throughout, for every topic and every strategy was “We do things professionally. We do things right”.

And it showed.

It made me think. Whenever I ask the partners and team of an accountancy firm to describe their firm I can guarantee that the word professional will come out, and I’m sure that they are…most of the time.

How many times have you been on a course and seen practitioners slipping out once they’ve clocked their CPD points?

How many times have you known your own management to slip because your ‘too busy’?

How many times have you allowed a client to get away with their responsibilities for running a business because they’re ‘too busy’ or can’t afford it?

How often do you allow a failing in your business to continue because ‘you’ll get round to it?

From polishing their boots to public speaking, the Army has a culture of professionalism that it doesn’t allow to slip, because it knows that, when tested, that culture of professionalism makes the difference. They provide a global and cyber defence force and community service role in a very complex world with less personnel than you can fit into Twickenham stadium and remain the envy of their peers.

Hand on heart, can you honestly say that your standards of professionalism never slip?

Maybe it’s time to pay more attention to something that we can take for granted.

Highlight the heartfelt benefits over the business gains

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:41:00 GMT

Let’s dispel the view that “my clients won’t pay for value added advice”.

As accountants, we get understandably frustrated when we present to our client ways to grow their business, improve their cash flow, increase their profits and so on but find them reluctant to act or pay, even though we know it is clearly good for them.

This leads to an impression of a client base that isn’t interested in paying for this sort of advice. “They just want their accounts and tax doing”.

I’ve yet to meet a business owner-manager who didn’t want a better life or at least to improve some aspect of it. So why the disparity?

To an under-pressure business owner, advice to take steps in their business, however positive, can sound like more cost; more demands on their time; more things to think about; more decisions to make; more challenges to their ability; one more thing to worry about. Logic finds itself up against stiff competition. Easier to say, “Can we look at it again later?” and get back to doing some work.

There needs to be a stronger driver for change.

To many clients, their business is a means to an end. They do what they do with a dream of creating a better life for themselves and their family: a better house, holidays, more time with their family, better things for their partner and children.

Tell a client you can work with them to increase their business profits and you may trigger the negative worries. Tell them you can show them how to get that two-week holiday next year, or the extension for the extra bedroom they’ve talked about and the cost and efforts are put in a much more personal, positive and meaningful light.

Your advice will be the same, but linking actions to personal benefits rather than business improvements can be so much more powerful.

And, of course, it helps differentiate you as a firm.

Customer or client?

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:40:00 GMT

We had an interesting discussion recently at one of our workshops about whether accountants have clients or customers; whether there’s a difference; whether it matters.

When I got back, I opened my laptop to see what the rest of the world had to say on the matter. The internet is full of articles highlighting the ‘differences’ and trying to ignore the common ground.

I don’t buy it, especially in the world today. The two are almost interchangeable. Where there is a difference then it lies in the mind of the seller.

We are businesses and, like any other, if people don’t buy our ‘stuff’ then we fail. I understand that the nature of our sales, wrapping them up in advice and benefits, is the right way to ‘sell’ to our type of ‘customer’ but we are not here primarily to ‘serve’.

A shopkeeper serves but it is not their reason for being. A shop is successful because it sells what its customers want or need for a price that works for both. They serve, but only as a marketing strategy.

And so it must be for accountants. We must serve our clients, but in a balanced relationship that works for both client and us, providing goods and services that they want or need for a price that works for both.

Shopkeepers give away very little for free and yet keep their customers happy and returning for more. We must learn from that.

What music do you want to play?

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:35:00 GMT

If your firm was a music genre then what music would you be playing right now?

You’re going to need to bear with me on this one!

It’s a serious question. If you were to describe your firm in terms of a genre of music then what genre would it be?

Is you firm a classical symphony: all structure, unified sections and a professional, quality sound? Or is it free jazz: a bunch of individuals producing discordant sounds with no obvious structure.

Maybe you see your firm as more rock and roll, punk, soul, swing, blues, heavy metal?

Ask your team: “What sort of music do you think best describes our firm?”

It’s a different way of prompting a conversation about what you are and how you come across.

Now, think about what music genre you really want to be. This is where the conversation moves towards actions.

For example, you may decide that right now your firm is best represented by popular music – safe, solid, nothing particularly wrong with it but not exciting or different. What you may want to be is much more swing – you want to be smart, cool, chilled out, relaxed.

So, what are you going to do about it?

Look at your offices, your team, yourself. Look at how you write your emails and your letters. Look at your website and your marketing material.

Look at the sights and sounds of your firm. Look at the actions and tones of your people and systems. What can you do to make them more swing and less pop? What changes you from safe to cool, solid to smart, dull to different?

Make your firm dance to the sound of your music.

The frustrations of being so close

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 08:24:00 GMT

I regularly find myself explaining that we only work with good firms of accountants.

It isn’t a targeted marketing approach that has lead us there but much more to do with the fact that it tends to be accountants who already have shown enough enterprise to become good firms who then recognise the role that we can then play.

Good firms already have good systems, good people, good client relationships. The frustration is that good isn’t great, particularly when it comes to personal rewards and satisfaction.

In this digital age it’s not difficult to have great systems. Clear focus and decisive buying decisions can quickly lead a firm to great systems. Having great people and great client relationships with the right services to the right sort of clients is something that many find a much greater and more time consuming challenge, to the extent that it gets in the way of the systems progression.

Good accountants in good firms then find themselves in the frustrating position of being nearly there…but not quite. A jigsaw almost done but not yet finished.

The role of a mentor is not to be the missing piece in the jigsaw but to help the accountant find that missing piece themselves.

As is often the case with a frustrating jigsaw, the missing piece is usually already there, it’s just fallen out of sight. It’s either lying somewhere waiting to be found or put away somewhere safe and waiting to be remembered. A mentor is there to help bring that piece back into play.

Just once in a while, the piece was never there in the first place. We need to make a bigger decision. Do we go back to the manufacturer? Do we bin the jigsaw and start a different one? Do we just accept a picture that is 95% done? Do we compromise with a different piece, wedged in?

The mentor is there to talk it though, add their experience of many other jigsaws, help you find the best solution.

We do what we do because we love helping accountants to finish their jigsaws.

Head for what makes you happy

Mon, 17 Sep 2018 16:36:00 GMT

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.

Avoid being a drifting firm

Mon, 17 Sep 2018 16:35:00 GMT

There are times when simply drifting along can seem very tempting. Going with the flow. Taking the path of least resistance. Seeing where the winds takes you. When the pressure is on and stress levels are rising then they all have an appeal.

In fact, if you’re happy with the direction along which you’re being taken and the pace you’re moving at suits you then why not? Let’s not go looking for obstacles just for the sake of it.

Hot air balloon pilots earn the right to drift along. They don’t just role up, inflate and go. Hours, days even, of preparation go into giving them the best possible chance of drifting in the right direction and at the right speed. The prevailing wind, temperatures, metrological conditions, loads and so on are all carefully monitored and assessed before a route can be planned and a take-off point selected. They may be drifting but its drifting to a plan.

Accountancy firms can end up drifting for less considered reasons with frustration becoming the final destination. The absence of a current a plan. A failure to actively manage the plan. Complacency. Avoiding the difficult decisions. Evading challenges. Any of these can leave those at the helm with the frustration of not knowing where they are going or the sense of feeling not fully in control.

There are simple steps to check whether you are drifting:

For a focussed firm this is all information readily to hand. If it’s a struggle, and I fully understand why this may be the case amongst the realities of running a practice, then it’s time to stop the drift and get yourself back in control of your journey.

Sometimes you need help to stay on course

Mon, 06 Aug 2018 16:13:00 GMT

A friend of mine is a keen open water swimming competitor. The most intimidating part to me, as a spectator, is the cavalry charge into the water and the weight of bodies all thrashing around for position, swimming over, under and around each other in the race for an advantage.

I’m told that the best position, if you’re not in the clear water at the front, is to be in the slipstream of the competitor just ahead of you, swimming so that your fingers just brush their feet as they push ahead, forging a calmer path of less resistance through the water for you as you swim inside their wake.

The problem with this technique is that you can’t see where you are going. You are dependent on them to be following the racing line. Of course, if they can’t see either, or they are swimming to a different strategy, then you have a problem.

Kayakers can be seen circling around the swimming pack and looking for competitors heading off in the wrong direction. Once identified, they’ll direct them back on track with their paddle in the water ahead of them.

It’s very easy to lose your direction amongst the multiple daily challenges of running your own accountancy firm. Whilst you’re still making decisions all day, every day, those decisions can start to become less effective over time if you’ve lost sight of your original or planned objectives.

You hope for some breathing space, some clear water, to arrive so that you can take stock but the danger is that either that never happens or, by the time it does, you’re so far off the pace or your chosen route that you become disillusioned.

Having a mentor alongside you as you swim through your business life is like having the swimmer’s Kayaking friend. Someone who doesn’t interfere, who isn’t there to tell you what to do, but someone who is there to help you keep on track, maintain your performance and offer encouragement and support when you need it.

Worth a thought?

Always aim for the bright side of your firm

Mon, 06 Aug 2018 16:06:00 GMT

What’s the best thing about running your own accountancy firm?

Forget your hassles and frustrations for one moment and think about the reasons why you wanted to be your own boss. A ‘Top 5’ list based on the accountants that we work with looks like this:

Any of these could form the basis of your answer to the question above. Running your own firm should be about spending your time doing the things you want to do, in the way you want to do them and with the people you want to do them with.

Now let’s bring those hassles and frustrations back into the frame. The chances are that these are the things that you feel are keeping your firm and your happiness in the shade. These tend to be the things that occupy the thinking time of those trying to run the show.

How much do you focus on the light as opposed to the shade? Are your strategies geared towards achieving the best things about running your own firm or minimising the worst?

Do you challenge yourself to proactively strive for the light in your firm, aiming for the best things about running your own firm, or are you consumed by the shadows that lurk in your frustrations.

You can change this.

Rather like the visual tricks that show two different images in the same picture depending on how you look, by focussing on light not dark in your firm you can get a very different perspective from the same picture. Focus on strength not weakness. Focus on the good, not the bad. The picture remains the same but by creating strategies to build on your strengths you can address your weaknesses in a very different light.

Try it.

The 100% digital firm: utopia or nightmare?

Fri, 29 Jun 2018 17:23:00 GMT

I have many interesting conversations these days with accountants about where their firm sits on the line between 100% online client operations and 100% personal service.

In truth, most sit somewhere in the middle, recognising the need to digitalise their processes and meet the needs of compliance driven clients whilst also providing a valuable face to face and personalised service for those clients who value it.

Strategically, it’s important to know where you want to place your firm. Digitalisation offers great benefits for enhanced efficiencies, more effective communication and better client services and meets the ways that many clients seek to manage their affairs these days via their mobile and digital devices. Every firm should be on the digital bandwagon. The question is ‘by how much?’.

The only right answer is the one that suits you.

I spoke to an accountant client recently who is working towards his dream of servicing 1,000 clients to a higher degree than they do today but with virtually no staff. Everything is digital. It’s an ambitious but achievable goal, one that is already proving highly profitable and is a testament to the accountant’s vision and determination.

He’s very happy. Personally, I’d be bored to tears (although happy to look at my bank account!)

I’m a people person. I love seeing clients. I want the interaction, the energy, the creativity and the challenge that comes from such meetings. It’s when I’m at my best. My friend sees most client meetings as a frustration.

I talk a lot about having a firm that reflects your personality, the things that drive you and matter to you. Digitalisation is a great tool for helping you to build this but, like all tools, you need to be clear with its use.

In the push to go digital, there is a danger that you lose things that really matter to you. Three steps, therefore, to consider before you implement:

Pause before you press the button.

Focus on your strengths and get the best out of your firm

Fri, 29 Jun 2018 17:22:00 GMT

We spend a lot of time worrying about what is wrong with our firms. We know back to front what it is that we don’t do well, where our faults lie and what we can’t do. We are keenly aware of where we are exposed.

Don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing. We should know our weaknesses and be taking steps to counteract them. The Titanic was a beautiful ship with much to be proud of but it was, quite literally, sunk for ignoring its weakness.

It’s a matter of balance. Focus heavily on our weaknesses and we maybe build a secure, ‘ok’ firm but that can leave us guilty of not building on our strengths and missing out on creating an amazing firm as a consequence.

Ferraris don’t have large amounts of boot space. They’re not great handling the speed bumps around town, fitting the kids in for rugby practice or driving in the rain around the M25.

Ferrari know this. They also know that their designers and engineers are great at creating beautiful, fast cars that handle like a dream.

So, do Ferrari throw their resources into finding an answer to their Saturday afternoon shopping trip weaknesses or do they focus even more on building beautiful, fast cars that handle like a dream?

What are the strengths of your firm?

If you and your team are good at client relationships then do you make the most of these? Are they at the heart of your strategies?

If tax planning is your bag then do you focus enough on this in your client and marketing strategies?

If business growth is what you do best that do you highlight this fact to the point that you become known as the firm for it?

Analyse your strengths and focus on them. Don’t water them down by trying to be all things to all men. Ferrari don’t do sensible cars…It’s a sensible strategy.

Keep your composure and set a better example

Fri, 29 Jun 2018 17:21:00 GMT

Let’s be honest, most resolutions (new year or otherwise) are simply our guilty consciences rising to the fore. We know the aspects of our lives where we fail ourselves. We all want to be better.

As business leaders being composed ticks all the boxes. We lead by example. We come across as far more in control, more professional, more focussed, more aware. We plan better. We communicate better. We lead our team, our clients and our firms far more effectively.

Yes, we would all love to be more composed. But how do we translate it from a wishful resolution into a sustainable change of behaviour?

Composure is the state or feeling of being calm and in control of oneself. Therefore, if you wish to be more composed then you must instil calming and controlling actions and force yourself to engage until they become habitual.

Step 1: Compose yourself

Before every day, every meeting, every action starts, take a moment to compose yourself. Relax. Count slowly to 10. Take deep breaths, focus specifically on relaxing your mind and body. Prepare yourself.

Step 2: Compose your actions

Again, before every day, every meeting, every action starts, take a moment to clear your thoughts on your plan. What am I looking to achieve? What steps do I need to take? What really matters? Prepare your agenda.

Step 3: Compose your support

Once more, before every day, every meeting, every action starts, take a moment to look around. Who and what do I have available? What role can they play? What do they need from me? Prepare your people.

Don’t stress about what you can’t do, what you don’t have available or what you don’t have time for. Focus on what you can achieve. Build on that.

Now you’re ready.

Let’s do this!

Bird spikes on trees…and why focussing on the problem can harm your perspective

Fri, 29 Jun 2018 17:18:00 GMT

The good folk of Barlett Court flats in Bristol have resorted to putting anti-bird spikes in the trees overhanging their car park to protect vehicles at their ‘prestigious development’ from the damage caused by bird poo. (“Pigeon spikes on Bristol trees branded ‘idiotic’” bbb.co.uk/news 19 ^th January 2018).

According to one resident, “It’s quite hard to wash cars out here because there’s no washing facility so it’s quite a problem for residents.”

Car owners amongst us will be aware of the mess you can return to when you’ve parked under a tree and it can be very corrosive if not cleaned off. Understandably therefore, action was called for by the tenants and the building’s management company have been trying to address the ‘pigeon problem’ since 2014, including installing fake birds and noise deterrents.

But here’s the thing.

In becoming fixated on the pigeon, surely the managers have missed a far simpler, much less controversial and arguably less apparently idiotic solution to banning birds from trees….install an outside tap!

This can happen so easily in business. We can become so frustrated by the client who won’t respond, by the employee who’s always late, by the service that isn’t quite working, that we end up taking actions that inconvenience the silent majority rather than fix the problem minority…and we damage ourselves as a result.

Don’t get sucked into planning for the negative. Keep the bigger picture in mind, plan for the good, not the bad, and accept that you can’t please everyone all the time.

The 5 questions to ask yourself about change in your firm

Wed, 25 Apr 2018 15:13:00 GMT

We should all know by now that accountancy firms have a pressing need to change. Digital disruption, and specifically Making Tax digital and cloud accounting, is changing the face of our profession, the needs and expectations of our clients and the demands being placed on our systems. Firms that want to develop as advisory practices […]

Firms that want to develop as advisory practices but keep their compliance arms face the dual challenge of changing the perceptions of ‘paid for’ advice and making the compliance product both cost effective and profitable.

Firms that want to focus on an online product face the challenge of maintaining value and creating differentiation in that market place.

Are you doing enough right now? Ask yourself these 5 questions:

MTD for business is now mandatory from April 2019, that’s 5 typical VAT returns away for many of your clients. How much have your systems, your clients’ systems and your client relationships changed over the last 5 submitted VAT returns? How much progress have you made in that time?

Get my point?

Change must be driven through your firm’s processes, client management strategies and support systems now if you are to be moving forwards proactively as opposed to reacting to HMRC and client pressures.

If your answers to 1-4 above aren’t all YES but your answer to 5 is then you are still in a good place. You at least recognise the need for change. Many of your competitors still don’t.

I’m very happy to talk to you now if you want guidance or support to create more YES answers for you.

Equip. Engage. Empower. E’s your way to an effective team

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 10:34:00 GMT

Q1: How does a team perform without leadership, the right tools, an understanding of the plan and the confidence to use their skills and expertise?

Q2: How does a firm succeed if it’s team isn’t performing?

The answer to both, of course, is the same… It doesn’t!

Obvious isn’t it, but often I meet accountants hoping for, or even expecting a different answer. A firm needs its team to perform but frustration can lead to the blame for under-performing being put at their door before they’ve been given a fair opportunity to do so.

I regularly throw out a challenge at our group mastermind sessions:

“Give me an example of a perceived failing in your team and I will show you how it is your fault”

People do stupid things but the point I make is that failings can more often be traced back to failings in leadership, management, communication, systems and processes, recruitment, training, development, roles and responsibilities…and guess who is ultimately responsible for that lot?

Only once those aspects are running clearly can we then engage and empower the team. That is then three very clear steps:

Team days are the vehicle for both launching and sustaining this more strategic, holistic approach. Not the adrenaline fuelled ‘stag do’ style favoured by some male driven corporates but a day where we get everyone together, treat them a bit special and begin the process of engagement that will evolve them into becoming a core component of your success rather than a perceived barrier to it.

We facilitate such days but only once the plan is clear, the culture is understood and the leadership performance is right.

Like I said, everything starts with you!

Even when you know where you want to go, the way ahead can still seem just too big a challenge

Mon, 12 Mar 2018 17:45:00 GMT

Accountants like plans. We ought to be pretty good at them. We prepare them all the time for our clients. We probably prepared one in the past for our own firm. We may even have one in place right now.

If there isn’t a plan then the fix tends to be obvious…let’s create one.

No, having a plan isn’t the challenge.

Maintaining the plan is!

We know what the map says but we keep coming across obstacles in our path…and the clock is ticking….and they keep coming…and it’s getting frustrating and tiring.

Some help would be nice!

Our clients are all accountants. We can work with them on one-off projects, such as creating the plan, but, because we know that life gets in the way, we look to deliver our mentoring, facilitating and coaching support through agreed annual plans, designed to support you until the good habits are embedded into your firm: into you, your systems, your team and your clients.

Our plans can be flexed to suit your budget and to mirror the pace of change that you want but, crucially, we drive them. Once we’re on board we become that little figure on your shoulder who ensures that the job gets done.

Depending on the plan you choose, we mix One 2 One mentoring, Mastermind group days, team days, systems reviews, coaching and ongoing support to help you clear the path ahead and keep clearing it until your momentum makes you unstoppable.

Why don’t we have a chat, see what chemistry there is and explore what we can achieve together.

Coaching: Finding the changes that turn good into world class

Mon, 12 Mar 2018 15:21:00 GMT

Years before Dave Brailsford came up with his ‘marginal gains’ philosophy for British cycling, John Wooden, the legendary head coach of UCLA basketball was winning titles and smashing records of his own:

“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen”

It’s a great approach. So many look for the magic button, the big fix and end up frustrated by their lack of success. Little things are easier to fix, easier to progress.

Coaching is about identifying those little things and finding ways to implement them in, or eradicate them from, the individual, the team or the firm.

It’s not about having a checklist for what firms should and shouldn’t do but about having the skills and understanding to recognise what little changes will achieve the most relevant improvements and how to get the recipient to embrace such change. Coaching fails if you alienate the subject.

No matter how skilled or experienced we are in our own roles, the perspective and independence of the coach brings an ability to enhance performance that we simply can’t achieve on our own.

The best coaches don’t seek change for change sake however. Those who fail are those who try to impose. Coaching is about getting the best out of the recipient, working together to achieve their goals, not the coach’s own. That way you guarantee engagement.

In our coaching, we work alongside the client to meet their challenges, raise the levels of their performance and hit the targets they’ve set. We seek to get the best out of their managers, their teams and their systems, We look to make the most of their client relationships and raise the profile of their brand to deliver better rewards.

We can do this with you.

Peer to peer groups: providing inspiration to those who share

Mon, 12 Mar 2018 15:09:00 GMT

There are two types of practicing accountant.

There are those who build walls around their firms. These accountants take an insular approach. They see all other accountants as competitors, the world as something to defend themselves against. Their ideas, successes, challenges and problems are things to be hidden away in their office for their eyes and ears only. They go it alone.

Then we have those who look to the horizons and see a wider profession, greater opportunities and new routes to be explored and learned. They see the differences in other accountants and what that may mean for themselves. They see accountants as part of a community and not simply a foe.

Now, in any community we have likeminded people and we have people who simply don’t get us. We have people we like and those we are less keen on. We have people who make us feel comfortable in their company and those who don’t.

For those accountants who are like-minded, who understand us, who we like and who we are comfortable with, why would we not seek them out and spent time with them. They ‘get’ our world and we get there’s. That’s a good thing. It gives us a different perspective. It gives us an opportunity to be independent but not alone, a chance to belong to a community.

Peer group learning is widely recognised as an effective way of taking your firm forwards.

It’s creative, motivating, reassuring.

It’s also a lot of fun.

And fun matters. To quote one of our regulars, John Elstub, owner of Crimson Harvest in St Ives, Cambs:-

“ Like me (and my peers in the mastermind group) you can find that practice life can be so much better”

We facilitate and guide regular Mastermind group sessions in a positive, energetic and fun environment with groups of like-minded accountants all focussed on the common goal of improving their firms in the modern digital age.

‘Going it alone’ doesn’t have to mean working in isolation.

Open your horizons.

Get the head right and the body will follow

Wed, 31 Jan 2018 17:41:00 GMT

We all started with a dream, with a vision of how we wanted things to be.

For me it came in two parts. I was lured into the profession in 1981 by brochures showing accountants in hard hats on building sites, in wellies talking to farmers, in white coats talking to engineers, in suits talking to industrialists. I wanted to be that man engaging with his clients.

Part two came 12 years later. By then I was that partner in the photographs but I wasn’t happy and neither were my clients. The relationship wasn’t right. The profession had lost client focus.

So, I and my partner went alone with a clear vision, with the drive and motivation to create the firm of our dreams.

25 year later and we’ve ran our own firms ever since. We’ve learned many things through trial and error, luck and judgement. But the one thing we learned that made the difference, was that the phrase ‘going it alone’ was the ever-lurking weakness.

Being successful as your own boss means being an effective leader – of your business, of your team, of your clients.

Being an effective leader means being at the top of your game all day, every day. It means driving forwards with vision, confidence, clear communication, decisive decision making and clarity of purpose.

It means never losing sight of that dream.

And you can’t do that by ‘going it alone’.

There are times of self-doubt and indecision. Times when your confidence, energy and motivation slip. Times when the tiredness blurs your thoughts. Times when the pressure gets to you. Times when the dream seems out of reach or the path ahead looks foggy or just too damn hard.

Your leadership dips. Your performance dips. Your firm dips. Your relationships dip.

At those times, having a mentor to talk to, to put you back on track, is the difference between ‘good’ and ‘great’, the difference between ‘okay’ and ‘happy’, the difference between ‘it’s just how it is’ and ‘success’.

We know. We’ve been there.

Get you back on track and we get your firm back on track.

Our one 2 one mentoring sessions do just that.

Together.

What will differentiate your accountancy firm when we’re all pushing the same buttons?

Tue, 05 Dec 2017 12:15:00 GMT

Back in June this year, at one of our energising Mastermind group sessions, I put up the following statement:

“The more we embrace the digital revolution (and we must), the greater the danger that we end up looking even more like each other. We will all be pushing the same buttons”

It prompted a terrific discussion and highlighted two key points for firms to consider as they move forwards:

Point 1 is important because, by understanding where you want to sit on the line you will make better decisions about the digital systems that you bring into your firm. To some, the catalogue of apps coming into our profession is a little like entering a sweet shop. Don’t just buy all the pretty ones!

Point 2 is essential. Clients value two things ahead of everything else; the quality of the relationship and your ability to deliver. These are easy for a client to measure and are fundamental to build trust. Clients therefore judge you primarily on non-technical factors and the more they judge something that is true to you, the more likely that the relationship will work for both you and them.

So, if you happen to be a fan of art, sport, Star Trek or The Stone Roses, don’t hide it away in your garage, reflect it in your office and website. The ‘right’ clients will love it.

Is it really best to ‘keep calm and carry on’?

Tue, 05 Dec 2017 12:08:00 GMT

It’s a phrase firmly embedded in British popular culture these days; ‘Keep calm and carry on…’ I’m all for the ‘keep calm’ element. As professional advisors and business managers our ability to demonstrate a calm approach when those around are us are flapping is a strength, almost a core responsibility. I’m not so sure about […]

It’s a phrase firmly embedded in British popular culture these days; ‘Keep calm and carry on…’

I’m all for the ‘keep calm’ element. As professional advisors and business managers our ability to demonstrate a calm approach when those around are us are flapping is a strength, almost a core responsibility.

I’m not so sure about the ‘carry on’ bit. Business in the UK is built on a history of working hard. If it’s failing to succeed then we just work harder. We’ve all heard the saying along the lines of “If you keep doing what you’ve always done then you’ll keep on getting the same results” but accountants I meet often assume that change means fundamental change and that has all sorts of fears and challenges.

Picture a good footballer lining up a free kick on the edge of the box. He curls the ball over the wall, beats the keeper but just hits it the wrong side of the post. No goal. No matter how many times he repeats his action, no matter how good it is, if he does it the same way, time and time again, then he fails to score his goal by his own efforts. Only luck, like a change of wind, or a mistake by others, will change the outcome.

Yet he doesn’t need to change much. He’s nearly there with his current approach and a totally new style of free kick would unnecessarily take him back to the drawing board.

A small change in his run up, a slight adjustment to his placement, a tweak to where he strikes the ball and he turns ‘good effort’ into Goal!

I see accountants turning in good efforts all the time. The difference between a good effort and striking your goal doesn’t have to mean going back to basics. Identifying the small but significant adjustments is what can turn good into great.

It’s time to stop talking our core products down

Tue, 05 Dec 2017 12:05:00 GMT

Accountants have always suffered from the bean counter perception of our role. Many of us have lived with it, comfortable in the fact that our clients know better. However, two views expressed by accounting firms this year have made me re-think this passive response.

Back at the start of the year, in the middle of a fascinating conversation with a director of one of the rapidly growing UK online accounting firms about digital accounting, AI development and the threat to traditional accountants, he raised this question:

“Let’s face it, apart from preparing the accounts and tax return, what else do most accountants do for their clients?”

I argued back armed with our trusted advisor and business consultant roles and we moved on.

That lay at the back of my mind until I read feedback to an article by Richard Hattersley (AccountingWEB 14 ^/ 11/2017) on client centric service. The first two replies both came from an angle of ‘I do a professional job for my clients with their accounts and tax returns, this ‘touchy feely’ stuff has no place in smaller firms’.

Now, that annoys me because a professional job with their compliance is the minimum that any client is entitle to expect from their accountant but that’s for another time. It took me back to that earlier conversation though.

What I should have done, rather than accept his point devaluing our core work, was emphasise its true worth. The fact is that every correct set of accounts and tax return is the result of our profession’s expert knowledge of the highly complex tax and accounting legislation and standards in this country and internationally. Every online derived set is only as the good as the accountant who has built the knowledge into the software in the first place. It needs accountants to create the digital solutions, to analyse their outputs for both correctness and opportunity and to maintain their validity in our rapidly changing legal and political environment.

Even those of us looking to expand our trusted advisor and business consultant roles would do well to remember that it’s not just a set of accounts and a tax return.

Why Widening Your Recruitment Scope Is Good For Business

Mon, 04 Dec 2017 11:57:00 GMT

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?

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:

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

Balancing The Client Relationship

Mon, 04 Dec 2017 11:54:00 GMT

Focussing fully on the needs and expectations of your clients is a crucial ingredient in the recipe for the success of your firm. The old adage that ‘the customer is always right’ may be a little literal but its message has always been clear…you must keep your customers happy if you want your business to be a success.

Most accountants want to keep their clients happy. Why would you not? Life is a whole lot easier if you have a happy client base. Unfortunately, this desire for client satisfaction has brought with it over the years a significant downside for the accountant:

The result is that our profit levels suffer because clients don’t value the service, our workflow suffers through poor client collaboration and our risk levels increase through blurred lines of responsibility.

The client is happy. They don’t have to work too hard at the relationship, fees are okay and you take their hassle away from them. We don’t want to change that feeling but, in reality, the client is happy at their accountant’s expense.

For a relationship to be sustainable and successful it needs to be balanced. Both parties need to be happy, benefitting and contributing in equitable measures. Many firms need to achieve a much greater buy-in from clients in this respect.

Here are seven steps to establishing greater equilibrium without destabilising the relationship you’ve built to date:

Step 1. Share the plan

Emergencies apart, your client doesn’t drop their car off at the garage and expect to get it serviced there and then. Neither do they drop in at their dentist and walk in to a check-up on the spot. They agree an appointment, turn up on time and expect to re-arrange if they can’t make it.

Agreeing a work plan with your client, with all key dates and obligations highlighted, is good planning for you both. It formalises the service, shows that you both have busy lives and introduces a degree of accountability and responsibility for the client. This is a joint plan, agreed and signed up to by both parties. Compare that to the one-sided way that many firms currently plan their compliance and then chase up the client. It’s all one way. There’s no sense of ownership or involvement for the client in this, just the hassle of being chased by you.

Step 2. Establish the rules

There’s no point in having a plan if there isn’t then a discipline to applying it. Incentivise those who play by the rules they’ve signed up to and penalise those that don’t. Fair?

Having agreed a plan for an assignment or time period, wouldn’t it be great to then reward the clients who stick to the agreement. Those who deliver on time, provide the right content and take ownership for their agreed responsibilities. Discount, gift, letter of thank, whatever works for you and them, but recognising and rewarding their role is a great way of maintaining it.

Now, how about the clients who don’t play ball. Those who miss delivery dates, keep incomplete records, don’t respond to your requests and generally have to be chased on a regular basis. Well, let’s revisit that dentist appointment. Miss an appointment and there is every chance that their terms and conditions explicitly allow them to charge you for it. And when it comes to rebooking a new appointment, now you’re going to have to fit in with them. Do you change dentist? No, because you know the deal and you know its your fault.

Why should less diligent clients get the same level of service at the same price as those who are trying to work with you? Interest, penalties, pushed to the back of the queue…clients need to know that there is a price to be paid for not playing the part they’ve signed up to. If a client knows that the price goes up after a deadline has passed, or that a quote increases if they’ve not met their responsibilities then they are more likely to play ball with you. Most clients don’t intend to abuse the relationship, you simply don’t make yourself enough of a priority in their busy world. Apply fair pressure and change that.

Step 3. Bring clarity to the deal

If we want our clients to actively involve themselves in the relationship, take their responsibilities and value the service that we deliver for them then we need to make it as clear as possible exactly what is expected of them and what we are going to deliver.

The average engagement letter may well be legally compliant but it does little to enhance the client’s understanding of who does what and why.

Plans should be written in simple English. The value of what we do should be spelt out. Actions required of the client need to be laid out so that they understand not just what they have to do but why it is important and the cost of failing to do so. All along, you can couch it in supportive tones that show we understand their challenges and are here to help but we should be confident that we’ve made the client’s role and actions perfectly clear to them.

Remember, just because accountants love checklists doesn’t mean to say that everyone else does. How about training videos, workshops, written guides etc to help clients play their part.

Step 4. Don’t let other people’s failings become your problems

The classic “the customer is always right” conundrum. We want to help our clients and make life as easy as possible for them but, if your answer to every last minute notice, deadline squeezed delivery, botched record keeping and client silence is “no problem, we’ll sort it” then you will continue to dig a deeper and deeper hole for you and your firm.

We are all busy. If someone is happy to sweep up after us then, generally, we’re happy to let them do so, even if we feel guilty about it.

Clients need to understand that you will always go the extra mile for those who help themselves but you are not an excuse for them not to shy away from their own responsibilities.

If a client has left something to the last minute, despite your best efforts to support them, then you should not let that become your problem….at least not without making it worth your while. Those words, “No problem” should be banned in your firm. “It is a problem…but we can help. Let’s me explain what that will cost”.

Step 5. Demonstrate your true worth

Clients don’t appreciate our true worth because we don’t tell them what we do and we don’t make the value clear to them. It’s as simple as that. It’s also very easily fixed:

The truth is that every time you deal with a client you deliver value. Make sure they know it and don’t take the relationship for granted.

Step 6. Engage with your client

If a client doesn’t know what you are doing for them then they can neither appreciate nor value it. Keep them informed on activities and progress, on challenges and outcomes. Help them to appreciate just how hard you work for them.

Step 7. Don’t suffer in silence

When you have a client relationship that isn’t working well for you then do something about it. Talk to the client. Stress the positives and why you are happy to have them as a client but explain your challenges and frustrations and the impact they are having on you. Explain how this then has a knock on effect with the service that you offer.

Be prepared for criticism to come back the other way, this could well be a two-way problem, but only by discussing it can you satisfactorily resolve it. Compromise may well be required, as in mot relationships, but if you are going to build a successful relationship with this client then it is a conversation that you need to have.

Building Success From The Top Down

Sun, 03 Dec 2017 11:52:00 GMT

Running a successful firm requires many elements to be brought harmoniously into line. Your senior management team, your operational teams, your training and development, your professional standards, your delivery systems and processes, your client relationships, your marketing strategies, your financial management and your resources management to name just some of the areas demanding your attention. There’s a lot there to keep your focus on.

Each of the above can bring their frustrations and their headaches. There will most likely be aspects in each that you want to change. As you focus on trying to improve your firm, these are the areas where you will have identified issues and be looking to implement strategies for the better.

How’s that working out for you?

In general, accountants know what they should be doing to improve their firms. There may be one or two core issues lurking underneath to be discovered but most practitioners can run off a list of things that they would like to implement if only they had the time or support to do so. Valid actions that would, without doubt, result in improved performance but which the accountant has failed to successfully embed into the firm.

I believe that there are two fundamental points that anyone seeking to change their firm has to unconditionally accept if they are to be successful:

The great thing about this is that changing your own performance isn’t dependant on anyone else. If you want to be different tomorrow then that is entirely down to you.

Let’s be clear, I’m not advocating that you head off to Tibet to find yourself or invest in an expensive coach to cleanse the energy in your soul. However, when you took the decision to create your firm then you signed up to the responsibilities of leadership. The onus is on you to make sure your firm has a good day.

Look at your own performance before you start being critical of what you see in your firm. Are you playing by your own rules? Are you leading by example? Can you do better?

I’m a firm believer that if its your own firm then you can pretty much do what you like within legal, moral and ethical boundaries. However, its all about expectations.

For example, if you want a smart looking, tidy professional office then you are perfectly within your own rights as the boss to have your own room messy and chaotic. However, it is less likely that you will be happy with the take up of the strategy around the firm, and you will have to work harder to implement and sustain it if you don’t set the standard.

If you want a bright, positive, happy working environment then coming in negative and moaning is your prerogative but works against your own ideal.

If you want an efficient, organised firm that calmly delivers amazing client service and communicates in a clear and concise manner then you can rush out the door late for each appointment, shouting half-instructions as you go but it doesn’t help your plan.

I’ve ran my own firms for long enough to understand completely why partners and directors have untidy offices, are stressed and frustrated and run around like headless chickens chased by staff and clients but my point is this….You’re not helping yourself and only you can change that.

Here’s a question: Would you have a better firm if you were positive, calm, clear, organised, effective and efficient yourself? This is what your clients, your colleagues and your team need to see if you are going to influence them to be the same.

It’s not easy. We all have bad days, weeks and months. We all get stressed and are put under pressure. However, I think that you are more likely to address the issues effectively if you accept that you have a duty to yourself and your firm not to show it.

Here are some quick tips that may help you but no doubt you’ll find more of your own:

Yes its hard. You don’t have to do it. But, don’t expect change in others if you’re not prepared to address it in yourself.

Non-Productive Partner Time

Sun, 03 Dec 2017 11:50:00 GMT

“The time partners spend doing stuff that they don’t want to do”.

A Matter Of Choice

Our definition of non-productive partner time is deliberately vague. It’s anything that you, as the Boss, would prefer not to do. We live in a real world and there are two reasons why having zero non-productive time is simply not achievable. Firstly, you run a business and that responsibility comes with a multitude of tasks that aren’t necessarily productive, at least as far as you are concerned. Secondly, you operate in a compliant profession, some things just have to be done.

That being said, there is still a large gap between the non-productive tasks that partners carry out and those they alone must carry out and this is where we start.

The Three Piles

It’s your time that we’re talking about so let’s start with you. Create three lists:

Think about every task and responsibility that you currently have and enter it onto one of the three lists. If you haven’t got to do it and you don’t want to do it then put it into the third pile. Don’t think practicalities at this stage.

What goes into each pile? Here’s a guide but its personal choice.

Some tasks just have to be you. Professional standards, commercial requirements or the bounds of experience stipulate that absolutely nobody else, inside or outside of your firm could possible carry out this task. If the task meets this criteria, and only if, then it goes onto this pile.

This is the fun bit. This is where you cherry pick from everything that you do at the moment in order to pull out those precious things that you really want to do. The tasks that you enjoy and those that stimulate you go into here. The logic? Well, put simply, it’s your firm!

If it hasn’t got to go into No.1 and you don’t want it in No.2, then it goes here.

Its pile No. 3 that we are really interest in. Now you have a list of the tasks that don’t need you to do them and you don’t want to do. So now we need to set about divesting these tasks elsewhere. This is where it gets practical.

Seven Ways To Divesting The Rest

Getting rid of non-productive partner time should really matter to you. Therefore, make sure that it is embedded into the strategies and goals that you have for your firm. It should be right up there. If you don’t plan to divest then it won’t happen. Why? Because as the partner and business owner, you are always going to be the backstop for things that nobody else does. You must be serious about eradicating this.

With the proper management, supervision and training, there is no reason not to fully utilise the skills, ideas and resources of your staff.

Almost every partner we meet fails to properly delegate tasks and responsibilities to their staff. Too many times they take the view that “it is easier and quicker to do it myself” or they fail to show real trust in their staff, the very same people who clients are placing complete trust in. It is short term thinking in the extreme and holds back many firms.

Employ good people, train and trust them and use them to the maximum.

If you want to test the theory, ask your staff to run two workshops. Start with “Things we do that waste time” and follow that up with “How to free up partner time so that they can better run the business”. They will have bucket loads of ideas and suggestions as solutions to the problem.

It’s amazing how many partners make excuses for their staff. I remember talking to one overworked partner who explained that his £35K a year manager didn’t do any marketing because he wasn’t ‘comfortable’. Whilst most staff are hardworking and diligent there still tends to be a gap between the work they could do and the work they actually do. People tend to stay in their comfort zones, both in terms of the way they work and the tasks they actually do. As I said earlier, everyone is aware that the partner is at back stop.

Staff work to a contract. You pay them a salary and, in return, they have duties and responsibilities to carry out. You are entitled to get your monies worth. It’s not about working harder in most cases but about working smarter and doing what you want them to do and not what they feel comfortable doing. Clearly, ensure that you have round pegs in round holes and that your roles are designed to maximise the strengths of those in them but don’t allow the tail to wag the dog for a quiet life.

A quick an easy fix that has multiple benefits throughout the firm but saves you huge amounts of time. Get rid of those clients who you don’t enjoy working with, who don’t help themselves, who don’t co-operate with your systems and who waste every ones time with their unhelpful approach to your firm. Go to our White Paper “Creating Your Ideal Client Base” for details on how to do this

Bring more flexibility into your firm. If you have a need then it can be far more effective and efficient in the long run to outsource it to specialists rather than try and resource it yourself. And it isn’t just production. IT, HR, marketing and financial services are all benefit from specialist attention.

How much time is lost and stress generated by the piles of paper around your desk and how much of it is ultimately shredded because it has been there too long? Work to simple ‘to do’ lists, invest in a decent document management system and keep your desk (and head!) clear.

This should be the default setting for your firm and, I repeat, Your Firm. You take ultimate responsibility and ultimate risk so what is wrong with taking a very simple view: “It’s my firm so things will be done my way”. It is neither confrontational nor dictatorial, merely a fact. You should establish your rules. Who does what and when. Simple.

Keeping The Client Happy IS The Point

Sat, 02 Dec 2017 11:47:00 GMT

An accountancy practice is no different to any other business in a competitive marketplace. Its success depends on how well it delivers the right services to the right customers. Client satisfaction therefore is not created at the point of delivery to the client. It starts right at the beginning of the process and continues through the whole chain of production to the point of delivery and beyond. Actually, it starts even before that, since it is your sales and marketing process that creates client expectation and keeping clients happy is all about delivering beyond their expectations time and time again.

How soon in the process do you start thinking about matters from the client’s perspective? Taking our view, it should start within your sales and marketing strategy and into the client engagement process. It should then be applied through the planning for each and every assignment, through the assignment itself, into the actual delivery and then through the post-delivery. In other words, all your processes and systems, from start to finish, should be client focused.

What I will now concentrate on here is how you set about measuring client satisfaction.

Measuring Clients Satisfaction

The simplest way to find out how a client feel is to ask them. Yet, how many times do we do this? Part of making your firm more effective is to ensure that all meetings have an agenda. Simply include on your agenda a couple of questions linked to performance, such as “Are you happy with the service that you have received from us on this assignment?” and “Is there anything that we can do to improve the service you receive form us?” Document and act upon the responses.

Every assignment is an opportunity to improve your firm’s relationship with the client. You know how it’s gone at your end but what about the client’s perspective? A simple, single sheet of four to five questions will give you the answer and, importantly show that you care. Again, questions along the lines of “what did we do well?” and “What can we improve on?” A feedback form gives the client the opportunity for a more considered response than in 1. above and can be less confrontational for some. As with all client comments, it is essential that you demonstrate follow-up actions.

Questionnaires offer you the opportunity to ask wider questions of the client base and are not just focused on one particular assignment. Whilst you can cover a wider range of service topics they should still be quick and simple to fill in. Their greatest strength is that they are not assignment related and so can be filled in anonymously. This can bring greater honesty. They should use a scoring system for the answers so that the results are easier to analyse but also have space for further comment should the client so wish. Don’t expect a massive response to these, 15% is typical, but incentives to respond, reply paid envelopes, quick response emails etc will all help.

It’s a good idea to provide feedback to respondents and even the wider client base.

The idea of getting a group of clients in a room to talk about your firm may sound intimidating but its can be a great way to get feedback. If you’re not prepared to take criticism then don’t do it but the open nature of the forum will allow you to explore in more detail the feedback that you receive. Numbers in the forum are a matter of choice but it wants to be large enough to be representative but small enough to be manageable. Certainly no more than a dozen I’d suggest. The members should be invited on the basis that they are representative and not simply the ones most likely to say nice things about you. Minute the meetings and a summary feedback for all clients should be considered. Think also whether the forum should be chaired by an independent facilitator.

How do you staff come across on the phone? What are first impressions of your firm like? Are you easily understood in a meeting? Using mystery shoppers is a great way to get first hand experience of your firm. A mystery shopper is someone who pretends to be a customer but has a reporting agenda back to management. Depending on the scale of the exercise you want to run therefore you can use anyone from friend to a professional provider. Clearly the friend doesn’t work particularly well if you want to assess your own performance. You do need to use a provider who is going to give you knowledgeable and meaningful feedback and not simply a personal opinion.

Avoiding Injury (or “Don’t Shoot Yourself in the Foot!”)

Asking clients for their opinion can be challenging in terms of their response but that’s surely the whole point. There are two golden rules:

You don’t have to change things every time a client makes an observation. The purpose is to ensure that you fully understand your clients’ needs and expectations and understand how well you are meeting those. It’s about listening and communicating. Ultimately, how well you do both will determine how successful you are as a practice.

A-D Based Client Development

Sat, 02 Dec 2017 11:29:00 GMT

Analysing Your Clients

Not all clients are the same. Look at the table below:

Profit

We are going to use this to analysis the client base. The x-axis represents the financial value that the client has to your firm, the further along the axis the more profitable they are. The y-axis measures the intangible, how much you enjoy having them as a client. The further up the scale, the more they are nice people with an interesting business and a respect for your firm.

Now categorise your clients.

Those in Box A are your best clients, very profitable for you and enjoyable to work with.

Those in Box B are the bread and butter clients. They are perfectly pleasant to work with but don’t make as much profit for you as you would wish. These tend to be compliance focused clients. Within this group are the B+’s. These are businesses that you earmark as having potential. They don’t spend enough with you yet but, given the right handling, they could become A clients. They maybe start-ups or businesses going through a period of change.

Box C holds an odd breed. Profitable as a client but unpleasant to deal with. These are the people who everyone dreads picking up the phone to. The one’s who make your heart sink when you send the bill out because you know what’s coming next – the complaint. In some cases they may be polite and friendly with you but bully your team.

Box D is even worse. Not only are they nasty to deal with but you don’t make enough money on them either!

In most firms, Box B is the most heavily populated with an, hopefully, reasonable number in Box A. Box C may have the odd one with any number lurking in Box D.

The problem with this set-up, is that those in boxes C & D, whilst numerically in the minority, demand an unwarranted amount of your resources. Their demands, lack of support and cooperation, complaints and general negativity drain your time and profit. As a result, the ‘nice’ people in B and A, who don’t jump up and down and pester you, are in danger of getting neglected. The focus of the firm ends up too much on those below the line.

The solution is to treat each box differently. Let me show you what I mean.

Managing Your Clients

Let’s start with Box D. You don’t like them, they don’t like you and you’re not happy with the fees they eventually pay. Why are they still in your business? Having identified them we can now remove them. But, like any cull, this should be a controlled process that works to your advantage. Decide who goes when to minimise the impact on your cash-flow. If you have a batch then consider selling them to a firm more suitable for their needs. Ensure that any ‘firing’ letters are inoffensive and diplomatic to avoid the wrong message getting out in the market place.

Crucially though, commit to removing all D clients.

Remember that the only difference between C and D clients is the profit that you make. That, at least, earns C clients the chance of a reprieve. Meet with them, explain why the relationship isn’t working for you and try to get to the root of the problem. Satisfactory resolution could mean another A client. No resolution means another D client to be handled out of the firm. No one stays in the C box.

How different does the firm look now that we only have A and B clients to look after. We’ve raised morale and freed up a significant amount of time. Now we can look after our clients properly.

Partners can now focus their time on their best, A, clients, ensuring their retention, increasing referrals and maximising the client value. In addition they can work with the B+’s, nurturing their growth.

Let’s not forget that the B clients are in the majority and, whilst nice people and easy clients to manage, they are not as profitable as we would wish. The answer therefore is to ensure that they are predominantly looked after by a systemised process that meets their compliance needs and is more effective at the fee level they’re budget allows. The partners and managers control the system rather than trying to ad-hoc service the client. Much more profitable but, of course, with partners still in the background for support and handholding as required. It remains personal but much more effective.

Recoverability

Fri, 01 Dec 2017 11:24:00 GMT

The area to be addressed if you want to start improving the efficiency and profitability of your practice is Recoverability:

“A measurement of staff and process efficiency and billing suitability.”

Many accountants see recoverability merely as a measure of staff performance, a stick with which to beat them around the head. We disagree. How profitable you are on each assignment is a result of three factors:

Being able to charge the right fee is a major topic in its own right and we talk about it elsewhere but it should be at the heart of your marketing and client management strategies. Here we will concentrate on your processes and staff.

Seven Steps To Better Manage The Process

1 – Managed Workflow Process

Every assignment should be visibly tracked through the firm, with simple planning, deadlines for each stage of the process and defined responsibilities. Essential for quality assurance and efficiency.

2 – Proper Planning

Planning should be seen as a commercial necessity and not merely a compliance duty. Every assignment should have bespoke planning that guides the employee to the areas to focus on, presents the information they need and provides proper instruction. Jobs fail because information isn’t shared, time isn’t used effectively and staff and clients are inadequately managed.

3 – Deadlines

Every task should have a deadline. Work backwards. Set the date for whatever the last stage may be (sign off, client meeting, filing deadline etc) and set a date for every key stage before that point. Incorporate into the planning.

4 – Client Incentives

Incentivise the client to have the right records available at the right time. Client education and a managed system is required to support the client in doing this but your price structure should reflect the amount of support the client gives you in doing your job as well as the other way around. Cut off deadlines, and ‘call to action’ points should always be used when information is required from the client.

5 – Smart Use Of Technology

This doesn’t have to mean investing large sums in the latest innovations and software. You should be aware of developments and assess what your firm could invest in to its benefit but it can be as simple as making good use of what is already in front of you. Too many firms fail to adequately use basic software such as Outlook, Word and Excel. Standard documentation and tracking on these is easy, saves time and reduces risk.

6 – Document Management System

Having all of your documents stored digitally in one place, secure, quickly accessible to all and easily traceable is, to be perfectly frank, a ‘no-brainer’. No more lost records, no more wandering around the office chasing files and no longer any excuse for not being up to date and informed. Emails, meeting and telephone notes are captured and risk is again reduced. Just do it!

7 – Dual Screens (as a minimum)

Firms that provide their people with multiple screens see instant efficiencies, especially when coupled with a document management system. We’ve seen savings of over 30%. Everything that an employee needs is there on screen in front of them. Staff love it, client service is enhanced and risk reduced.

Seven Steps To Better Manage Staff

1 – Weekly Full Staff Meeting

The Monday morning Prayer meeting as some firms call it. Everyone together for 15-30 minutes to plan the week, share information, coordinate tasks and cover any issues in the office. Sit everyone in a circle and work your way around. Have a manager in the chair updating the control sheet for the firm’s workflow (the managed workflow process above). Don’t forget the non-fee earners included in the production process.

2- Daily Individual 5 Minute Checks

A partner or manager should touch base with every employee at least once every day to ensure that they are keeping on track. Unmonitored staff have a habit of spending their time where they are most comfortable as opposed to where it is most effectively spent and you need to spot this early. Start and end of day ‘walkabouts’ should really be the minimum. It may sound a hassle but it saves considerable time and money in the medium term.

3 – Bottom up Reporting

With every assignment planned (see above) you have the opportunity to ensure that staff take ownership of, and responsibility for, the work they do. On accepting the planning document, they accept responsibility for delivering. It is in their interest therefore to report problems and difficulties as soon as they arise, rather than ignoring them or sitting on them. An early alert/warning system evolves.

4 – A-D Based Development

Financial Contribution

Create the above chart and enter each member of your team onto it. Box A for your current ‘cream of the crop’. Box B for your core staff, the steady and developing performers. Earmark as B+ those with genuine potential. Box C for those who perform financially but are problem employees in other respects. Box D for the ‘dross’. Create an action/development plan for each box. Before each review, ask each member of staff to point out where they think they lie. Now you have a basis for discussion and clear plan for progression.

5 – Deadlines

Covered above but relevant again here. Deadlines bring clarity and responsibility as well as a basis for monitoring performance.

6 – Clear Desk Policy

It’s an old adage but a clear desk breeds a tidy mind. Reduce risk and stress and improve performance simply by getting people to put their stuff away every time.

7 – Staff Incentives

If staff receive the same deal whether or not they achieve budget, then where’s the incentive? Staff are motivated by different factors to the partners. They have no ownership in the business and work to a contract so the system of remuneration, time off and wider benefits should reflect this.

Lock-Up

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 17:14:00 GMT

If you need to free up cash in your practice then the area to address is Lock-up:

“ The amount of practice cash tied up in debtors and work-in-progress.”

Lock-up is effectively the period of time that passes between starting work on a client assignment and getting paid for that assignment. It has two main components:- work in progress (wip), being the costs incurred on a job before it is invoiced, and debtors, the value of unpaid invoice. Too often these get looked at in isolation.

The secret to minimising your firm’s lock-up is to have, firstly, a targeted approach, and, secondly, systems that reduce wip and debtors that are effective from the point that a client joins the firm.

Let’s propose a target of 45 days for lock-up. For most firms the actual figure is significantly in excess of 100 days but lock-up of 30 days and less is feasible and can even be negative with annual service plans (see later).

Having set the target, a firm should have multiple tools in place for reducing the two elements. Let’s start with work in progress.

Seven Steps To Reducing WIP

1. Managed Workflow Process

2. Agreed Timetables

From before the outset of every assignment, partner, manager, team member, administrator and client should all be working to the same timetable, start to finish. Managing the client is as important as managing the staff.

3. Deadlines

4. Client Incentives

5. Staff Incentives

6. Assignment Billing

Don’t wait until the end of the month (or worse!). As soon as the job is done for the client, bill them. You’ve already incurred the costs so why wait.

7. Regular Billing

Where work is ongoing, continuous or protracted, have a procedure for interim or period-based billings (in conjunction with assignment billing). Your main overheads are monthly so billing should at least match this.

Seven Steps To Reducing Debtors

1. Accurate And Relevant Engagement Letters

Not the same standard every time. The engagement letter should reflect that actual terms of engagement and payment in each case. This brings client awareness of your terms, reduces the delays caused by dispute and give you powers in your collection procedures.

2. Annual Service Plans

Give the client an “all in” fee for the year ahead, encompassing all known compliance, support and advisory work and allowing for an appropriate level of contact. Then set up a regular standing order for the same period. You get paid, often in advance, and the client gets clarity and managed cash flow.

3. Quotes And Fixed Fees

Where possible, assignments should always be quoted in advance to a fixed fee approved by the client. Excellent client service but just as importantly it removes a large potential area of dispute. In the case of unavoidably open ended work, such as a difficult tax enquiry, all rates at least should be agreed in advance but it is possible sometimes to fix prices for each stage of the assignment.

4. Multiple Payment Options

Have a choice of options and ensure that the client has agreed which to use before the assignment begins. Annual billing, stage payment, standard invoice terms, Premium Credit etc. The more choice the better but it has to be appropriate for both sides and agreed in advance. Price structure can vary from option to option.

5. Reward The Good

Incentivise clients by discount or a reward system for keeping to their chosen scheme. Clients who keep to the terms shouldn’t be subsidising those who don’t.

6. Penalise The Bad

Those clients who abuse the system or fail to keep to agreed terms should meet the added cost of their inaction. In its simplest form they pay the undiscounted price having not met the terms, but interest, penalties and loss of credit terms are all steps available to you. A client who leaves because you are not prepared to fund their behaviour is not a client you want in a successful practice.

7. Credit Control Process

Credit control is made much easier by all the above steps but underpinning it all should be a clear and effective procedure for collecting debt. A system comprising scripted phone calls, letters, emails and SMS texts, done to timetable, is essential. Regular contact is always the most effective approach. Conversations should always be polite, clear and with a call to action. Regular contributions to a debt for clients who you are supporting should always be sought. Legal action is a last resort but essential for those who abuse your support.

Objectives

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 17:11:00 GMT

Need somewhere to start the process of change in your firm? There really is only one start line….

“The fundamental aims and ambitions of the partners”

You wouldn’t set out on a long journey without knowing where you were heading for and the route you planned to take. Neither would you head off without a map or SatNav to enable you to keep on track despite crossroads and diversions along the way. Yet too few accountancy firms have any clear plan of where the partners intend to take the firm and how they intend to get there. Consequently, decision making lacks focus and consistency. Growth, and the achieving of goals becomes something of a lottery.

Set your objectives, in a structured manner that allows you to identify the most efficient route, if you are serious about running your firm as a business rather than as a practice led by the whims of the market.

The key is to put structure to your thinking. As always, apply a process to the project.

Step 1: Assess

Establish clearly, with all partners and key players (we’ll call them stakeholders) involved, exactly where the firm is today and where it wants to be tomorrow. This should be a composite of personal views about the firm.

Step 2: Identify Key Objectives

Find out what is it that each stakeholder wants to achieve, within the context of the firm, in the short-term (< one year), medium term (one-two years) and their ultimate personal (but firm-related) goal.

Step 3: Rationalise

Review the objectives in the light of each other and the assessments of where the firm is now and where the stakeholders want it to be. Look for consistencies and conflicts. Resolve conflicts before proceeding further.

Step 4: Prioritise

Identify those tasks that are critical to the overall plan and fundamental to resolving multiple issues. Also, identify the early, ‘easy pickings’.

Step 5: Action Plan

Create the actions, allocate the responsibilities and set the timetable for progression.

Step 6: Review

Establish a procedure for acceleration, monitoring and review.

Don’t Try This At Home!

However experienced you are, you will not be able to carry out this process effectively without outside facilitation. It requires the objectivity, perspective, experience and knowledge of an expert detached from the firm. There will always be issues that have been shied away from because of their perceived difficulty, potential for conflict or sheer ignorance. Their resolution has to be facilitated as does the progression of the plan.

Get yourself an experienced and impartial facilitator.

The Seven Pillars To Your Firm

Wed, 29 Nov 2017 17:06:00 GMT

We talk about the Seven Pillars that are fundamental to the performance of your firm. Here’s a reminder of what they are:

The fundamental aims and ambitions of the partners.

The amount of practice cash tied up in debtors and work-in-progress.

A measurement of staff and process efficiency and billing suitability.

Analysing the client base and how it is serviced.

Understanding the needs and views of clients.

The financial return to the owners of the practice.

The time partners spend doing stuff that they don’t want to do.

How To Measure Your PTI’s

To be effective as indicators of progress in the practice, we need to find ways of determining the Seven Pillars so that they are readily measurable. This is what we recommend:

Clearly some of these are standard industry measures. Lock-up, recoverability, P&L and non-chargeable time should need to further explanation to any accountant in practice. The action plan, client analysis and survey scores ‘do exactly what it says on the tin’ more we look at all these in more detail in White Papers 20-26.

Having identified Pillars that can be measured, the next challenge for the practice is to set its targets. We’ve looked at this and have created a set of targets for your ’average’ practice that we consider to be realistic and achievable with the correct approach.

Depending on where your practice currently is in its development, some of these may appear overly ambitious. Remember that you set your own timetable. If 30 days lock up is going to take you two years to achieve then set a higher target for year one (60 days maybe).

The Pillars are specifically chosen because they cover all areas of the firm and link to each other. Success in one will bring improvement in others. A small improvement in each will bring a multiplied benefit to the firm.

Why Accountancy Firms Stop Growing

Tue, 28 Nov 2017 17:03:00 GMT

An accountancy firm has three core components:

The mechanics by which an accountancy practice ‘produces’ its saleable services – compliance, support and advisory.

The generation of new clients, the retention of existing clients and the maximisation of client value.

The running of the business – its performance management, strategies and goals.

No single component is more important than the other two. Have the three functioning harmoniously and you have your perfect practice. Create an imbalance however, with too much focus in one area and neglect in another, then you have under-performance, increased risk and frustration.

For most practices, the focus, inevitably, falls on process. To create a more balanced and effective approach across the firm, strengthening marketing and sales and management without negatively impacting on process (in fact, improving efficiency in this component as well) it is necessary to create strategies that proactively improve the firm across the seven key areas that maintain balance within the three core components. This way, resources and growth are better spread.

These seven key areas of the practice we’ll call the Seven Pillars to your Firm.

The Seven Pillars

The fundamental aims and ambitions of the partners. Determines the coordinated actions and priorities of the practice in the short, medium and long-term. Active, targeted management of objectives will lead to greater goal achievement.

The amount of practice cash tied up in debtors and work-in-progress. Active, targeted management of lock-up will lead to improved cash-flow and more profit.

A measurement of staff and process efficiency and billing suitability. Active, targeted management of recoverability levels will lead to more profit and higher client satisfaction.

Analysing the client base and how it is serviced. Active, targeted management of the client base will lead to improvement in every area of the practice.

Understanding the needs and views of clients. Active, targeted management of the firm ‘through the eyes’ of the client will change the culture of the business and lead to greater client and staff gains and retention.

The financial return to the owners of the practice. In most cases, usually the amount of money that drops out after everything else is settled. Creating targets and coordinating these with points 1-5 above will lead to more money and benefits for the owners.

The time partners spend doing stuff that they don’t want to do. Some is unavoidable but most ends up on the partner’s desk through failure. Active, targeted management of partner time will raise performance and satisfaction levels.

The Multiplier Effect

The Seven Pillars are chosen deliberately because they each interlink across the three core components of the firm. Improvement in each doesn’t just impact on one component and so a better balance is maintained. Consequently, a small improvement in each Pillar has a multiplier effect when it comes to the impact on the practice as a whole. Look again at the Seven Pillars and imagine the impact on your practice of just a moderate 10% improvement in each.

In the beginning…

Mon, 27 Nov 2017 16:47:00 GMT

Let’s look at why accountancy firms grow and why the frustration starts to mount as this growth slows.

The Growth Roller-Coaster – take a look at the illustration below.

The starting point is the beginning of an accountancy practice, usually created by a sole practitioner or a small partnership. Typically, the partners are very hands-on at this stage with few, if any, staff and modest resources. In the early months and years the firm grows very well. Clients receive a high degree of partner attention with high levels of expertise and client-care as a result. Costs in the modest operation are relatively low and the firm can respond quickly to client and market needs. Word is spread by clients and referrers about the great, cost-effective service and new business is easily gained. The Practice quickly expands to a peak at point A , driven by the personalities and skills of its owning partners.

In an ideal world, two conditions will now be met. Firstly, the partners will recognise that they have reached the pinnacle for a personality driven business and, secondly, the business and financial performance will be at a level that completely satisfies them. In reality, neither is the case.

What happens in the real world is that the partners continue to drive forward. However, with the growth there now comes problems. Staff and resource levels have been increased to serve the growing client base, increasing costs and tying up partner time. Partners themselves become under increasing time pressure, being torn between client, staff and practice needs. Falling service levels and rising costs see the growth constricted and dissatisfaction around the firm grow in its place.

Ever heard yourself or a colleague say “Do you know, this was so much easier in the early days!”

Now the partners find themselves at point C . Reality has dawned and the firm is at a crossroads. Do they remain a personality driven practice and attempt to claw their way back to point A by downsizing, culling clients and using the lessons learned to try and raise point A to a higher pinnacle. Or, do they undertake the investment required to move forward to become a systems-based firm at point C . A higher pinnacle but riskier road.

Both types of firm can be successful with the right planning and management. However, too many firms find themselves falling into the trough in between simply because they’ve not considered early enough what their fundamental strategies and goals will be. So much emphasis is placed upon the process functions, delivering compliance, support and advisory services to clients that the essential management of the business itself is overlooked. Growth is flawed.

All is not lost but some fundamental questions have to be answered:

Answering a) and b) is fundamentally linked to your exit strategy and availability of resources. The business cannot move forward successfully without these being answered. Only then is your current position relevant.

From here, strategies can be devised that minimise the short term benefits lost whilst tackling the issues (area D ) and also minimise the pain to be addressed (area E ) if driving forward to a more systems based business that runs on auto-pilot.

For Accountants Running Their Own Practices & Client Portfolios – What to do when it’s all getting a bit too much…

Sun, 26 Nov 2017 16:17:00 GMT

However good an accountant you are, and however great your firm is, there are times when the frustrations, stresses and worries of your role can feel like they are closing in on you. It can be a temporary challenge and you are able to drive your way through. On other occasions though, they appear insurmountable and you can’t see your way past. How am I going to get all this done? How do I put this right? How do I solve this? How do I get back on track? Sometimes the sheer weight of the challenges, the apparently unsolvable nature of the issues or the constant pressure of the demands stands in front of you like dense black forest. How do I get through this?

Well, take it from someone who has been there on many occasions, it can be done. Here are my top tips for shining a torch into the trees in order to light up the pathways.

Run around in a panic or charge on regardless and you’ll end up running into a tree or getting hopelessly lost. No matter how pressurised you are by time or deadlines you need to stop what you’re doing, right now! We’ll get back to the pressing matters of the day shortly but, for now, its time to recognise that you need to take back control. It’s time to start doing things differently.

Okay, now breathe. Frustration often arises out of a sense of losing control or influence. As the frustration rises, so your clarity of thought and decision making are impeded and you’re not going to resolve your current challenges if you’re not thinking smartly. You need to break away, think of something different and give your mind a rest. Ideally, take some time away from the situation. How much depends on you and practicalities but somewhere between a walk and a coffee and two weeks in the sun. You don’t necessarily need to get away from the business, just the issues that are getting inside your head. Do something else for a while.

Having calmed down and cleared your head, its time to remind yourself about what you are actually trying to achieve here. As you lose control you lose focus so we need to get that back. If your troubles are firm-wide then its time to think about the core goals and values in your business. What really matters? What are my true objectives? If the problems are of a more task-based nature then how do they fit into the grand scale of things? You’re looking to introduce a better sense of perspective, a more focussed view. You’re not looking to fix anything at this point, just to put your challenges into context.

Now look again at your challenges but this time with a clear head and a better perspective. Put to one side the outcomes that you would wish for and instead look at those that you can realistically achieve or influence. If there are challenges that you simply cannot fix then it is better to recognise the fact and turn your attentions to how you deal with that, rather than waste time and emotional energy worrying about something that you cannot address. For example, your preferred outcome maybe to achieve a certain task to standard and to deadline. However, if that is impossible to achieve then it is better to accept that and turn your thoughts to how you manage that situation rather than keep on banging your head against a brick wall that isn’t going to give. You may not want to face the truth but it’s the only thing you can fix in this scenario. You should be focussed on what you can do, not what you can’t.

Now you’re being realistic and, more importantly, looking at things we can address rather than things we wish we could fix. Now to prioritise these, identify those that you can address and those that you need help in addressing.

Once you’ve done both, go back to your revisited plan from point 3. above and drop these actions in.

What’s the best way to eat an elephant?….One bite at a time! It’s a well worn phrase but so relevant when the challenges that you face seem insurmountable. Rarely is there one grand solution, a magic button if you like, to fix a situation. Instead, its carrying out lots of tiny actions, one at a time, that will move you forward and eventually demolish the elephant. Rather than sitting staring at the elephant on your plate, pick up your knife and take your first slice. There is still a great big elephant left but its not quite as big as it was. Now take your next slice….

The most important I’ve deliberately left until last. Running your own firm or portfolio can be a lonely place. Everything stops at you. Everyone turns to you. Who do you have?

Talk to someone but, crucially, talk to someone who is at least one step removed from you and your business so that the emotion or the self interest doesn’t cloud their view. The greatest value that an accountant has to their clients is the ability to see their businesses and their challenges from a different perspective. Every business leader needs this and you are no exception. Regardless of how well you work on your firm rather than in it (and only you will know the honest answer to that) there are times when you are too close to see the right call. Certainly there are times when you need someone else to be honest with you about you own judgement and performance.

A true mentor is a facilitator, sounding board and critical friend. Someone to support you, challenge you and get the best out of you. Without someone in that role you face your challenges alone by choice and miss out on key asset. Don’t do that.

Get yourself a mentor!

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Historically, the challenge of our profession has been the time it has taken to produce meaningful data, either on a client’s business or on the accounting firm itself. Incomplete records and the difficulty of extracting information has always held back our decision-making and actions.

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“I’m just an accountant”

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Wonder which W word works wonders

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So why question it?

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What have accountants ever done for us?

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Here are the five signs that I look for: