Take the first step

Richard Brewin • April 16, 2021

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:


  1. Must do – the things that are fundamental to the survival/progress of the firm


  1. Nice to do – more ‘wish list’ than ‘to do’ list


  1. 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.

Being proactive is a culture, not a slogan

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

How tech helps us to rebuild our trusted advisor role

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

Why your accounting firm is unique

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