Successful Accountants’ Blog
Don’t write off AI. Embrace it. And prepare for the future. It’s inevitable
When we go to see a local GP we expect them to fulfil 3 primary roles. We need them to diagnose our problems, to prescribe solutions and to care for us. There is a direct parallel with the role of accountants. There is also a similar prospect of patients/clients
What are you really ‘selling’ as an Accountant?
What are you selling as an accountant? This is a simple enough question, and knowing the right answer could make a profound difference to the success of your practice. Let’s start with what you’re NOT selling. As I explained in a recent blog post, You’re not selling
What’s the best way for an accountant to win new clients?
Many of the accountants I speak with ask me the same question. How can they best attract new clients I will rarely offer advice however until I have found out enough about the accountant, their firm, their services, their likes and dislikes and what they have tried
Debunked: Instead of growing your practice, help it to evolve
There is an old adage that says if your practice fails to grow it will stagnate. Is that true actually? I think, it depends on what one means by ‘grow’. Grow the client base? Turnover? Profits? Range of services? Efficiency? I prefer the word 'evolve' as I'll
Do you have a minimum fee?
This is a good question to ponder. In most cases I think your reply should be ‘yes'. Where you set your minimum fee is up to you of course. I have been asking accountants this question for years. It grew out of the annual fee comparison masterclass
What do you sell? The answer is NOT time
Maybe you still use timesheets. Many accountants have moved on but plenty continue to record the time that they and their staff spend on client matters. Throughout my years in practice I diligently recorded my time. Initially this was on monthly, then weekly and, finally, daily time
How to stop doing extra work for free
One of the most common issues for accountants is how can they stop getting caught out doing extra little bits of work for free? This has become more of an issue since they started quoting fixed fees. The issue comes up less often for those traditional accountants
Non-magical ways to make more profits in your practice
A while back I attempted to relate my advice for accountants to my hobby - magic (conjuring). I had a fanciful idea I would build a talk around the idea. I never did. But the analogies still work if you want to increase your profits. As I
Effective websites – a checklist for accountants
It seems I've not updated my generic advice on this blog about accountants' websites for ten years. This is because I routinely say pretty much the same things to almost every accountant I talk with. And few of my views have changed. If anything I was ahead
Are you a specialist or a generalist accountant?
Most general practitioner accountants I talk with (and I talk with a lot of them) are, obviously, generalists rather than specialists. They started out as general practitioners and stay that way as their client base has always been quite disparate. Many of those who specialise do so
Debunked: 12 misconceptions about networking
I've addressed the subject of Networking many times before on this blog. I make no apology for returning to the topic as it's a key business skill for accountants who want more clients. And also for those seeking their first clients too. Networking is not something covered by our
10 ways to get paid for additional work
Lots of accountants I work with used to struggle to charge what they feel they're worth for the work they do. Sadly I can't just wave a magic wand to change things. Mostly what's required is an increase in confidence and improved communication. It sounds easier than
How many of the 5 types of advisory services can you provide to clients?
Most smaller practitioners are focused on offering a compliance focused service to clients. Lots of people are saying you must start offering advisory services; and plenty of accountants think they already do this to a degree. In my talks I often reference 5 types of non-compliance service
10 reasons accountants struggle to prioritise what really matters
When we discussed how to prioritise key tasks effectively, at a recent meeting of The Inner Circle for Accountants, we started by identifying why prioritisation is a challenge. Here are the top ten reasons we noted: Absence of any real plan as to what key tasks need
Is increased automation a threat or an opportunity for accountants?
Having been asked this question recently I thought I’d share my reply here. Do you see increased automation as a threat or an opportunity for accountants? Let’s start by clarifying what we mean by ‘automation’. For the purpose of this blog post I suggest that automation means
