Every now and then someone who has known me for a long time tells me about their tax problems and asks my advice. I have to remind then that I haven't been a tax adviser for well over 12 years now. I had already stopped giving tax advice before I created the Tax
I have long noticed a tension between the desire to stop acting for difficult clients and a conflicting desire to avoid losing a chunk of fees. The higher the fees paid by the difficult client, the more difficult it is to end things with them. This leads to much muddled thinking -
Many accountants who seek my input or advice want to know how to get more clients. Implicit in their question is the idea of identifying, attracting and securing the right type of strangers as clients. By which I mean people who did not know of them previously. Often these accountants want quick
Back in the days when I was a professional speaker (BC -Before COVID-19) I often asked audiences of accountants to look around the room. And then to indicate whether they felt that they were in any way special and different from most of the other accountants in the room. Typically only a
What's more important to you? To spend time on promotional activities that don't seem to cost anything or to get cost-effective results from promoting your services to people who you know are looking for someone like you? Many accountants, bookkeepers and tax advisers spend time on various social media platforms, on Linkedin
Almost every accountant I know will admit to having at least one client they wish they didn't have to deal with any more. Go on. Try it for yourself. If you knew there would be no repercussions and no financial loss, which of your clients would you prefer never to have to
With over 700 blog posts here I have revisited many topics and may well have repeated myself at times over the years. Today however I am revisiting a post that I shared just 2 months ago close to the start of the lockdown. At the time I had already seen a number
Did you attend networking events before the lockdown? I know loads of accountants don't like the concept. Others do it reluctantly and some actually enjoy it. The same is true for those online networking events that have replaced face to face events during the lockdown. In my experience you probably have one
Long ago I realised that "Hope is not a strategy". Even if it worked in the past it would be foolish to assume that we can simply 'hope' our way out of the current situation. That goes for me as regards my business activities, for you and your own practice and also
Over recent weeks I have been noting the challenges that I have heard about from accountants and others who have been forced to work from home for the first time. In the enforced rush to do this and with the extra pressure of helping clients struggling with the impact of the lockdown,
"When can I stop supporting clients that aren't going to make it?" This was the tough question I was asked last week by an accountant who has many clients whose businesses may not survive the COVID-19 crisis. Like many other accountants she has always been supportive in the past when the odd
I was asked this question by an accountant who runs their own practice: "Is it ok to try to win new clients at this time?" They had seen other people being criticised online for pitching for work. We've probably all seen the messages containing overt sales pitches. And others that include 'special
A number of accountants are asking similar questions: "How much work do I need to do for free during the virus crisis?" "Is it ok to charge clients for giving them advice at this difficult time?" "I want to help those clients that need advice, but I don't want my practice to
I think this is a question with which many of us will need to grapple in the near future. The alternative is to be selfish or to put others above ourselves for longer than our own businesses can sustain. By demonstrating your support in times of distress your relationships will no doubt be
I was shocked to realise that it's over two years since I last wrote about Linkedin on this blog. Given its value to accountants I thought I'd offer a quick update. What follows is taken from the start of my talks about using Linkedin to stand out and win more business. I
There has to be a special reason for me to include an interview on my blog. On this occasion I wanted to follow up on a conversation I had with Phil Dewar Durie after I spoke at a recent conference for an international association of accountants. Something he said quite excited me
Classic. Talking with a partner in a top 50 firm of accountants, I asked how they get most of their new clients. It was no surprise he answered 'referrals'. Many accountants and lawyers, claim that they secure most of their new work through word of mouth referrals. This suggests that clients are
For as long as I have been writing and speaking about the future I have been stressing that finance professionals need to develop their business skills. Being technically competent and up to date is not enough. That's like having a basic cake mix - without any flavouring, decoration or colour. It's rarely
'Many commentators seem almost contemptuous when talking about accountants who focus on the provision of compliance services'. That is the first line of a post I wrote on this blog OVER TEN YEARS AGO in June 2009. Back then I, quite justifiably as it transpires, predicted that those commentators were being unduly
Thinking of expanding your service offerings? It doesn't matter whether you want to start providing 'advisory' services, tax advice or any other services. The same rules apply. And if you fail to take these into account you will struggle to make a success of your new 'offering'. If you are going to
Depending upon how pedantic you are, we are at the start of a new decade (the taxing twenties?). In any event, when you consider your plans for the immediate future, it's worth considering how different things will be by 2030. Given the pace of change all around us, we can reasonably expect
Attitudes to work life balance are changing. So are the needs of firms when it comes to offering long-term career prospects. How will this affect your firm and your prospects? Last year I wrote a piece in which I suggested that 'Generation X' accountants (born in the 60s and 70s) are those
With all the annual fuss about new year's resolutions, why does no one suggest checking backwards? It's all very well making promises about what you want to do differently, but how strong is your resolve? I've never been one for doing the same as everyone else, so I've rarely made new year
I have long advised audiences and clients that claiming to have a Unique Sales Proposition (USP) is typically a mistake - as the word 'unique' means 'unlike any other'. Rarely do I ever encounter accountants with genuinely 'unique' offerings for clients. And it will be counter-productive to assert that something about your
Instead of a final post of the year, I offer you instead a reminder of ten of my most popular blog posts (out of the 50 posted, one each Tuesday) in 2019. I;ve included the links in case you missed them originally or want to take another look. In January I explained
