Contrary to many predictions I've seen, you are not at risk of being replaced by a robot. Equally I do believe that the rise of Robo-Accountants is going to have a big impact on what you do in your firm - but not overnight. My newest talk is titled 'The Rise of
Most sole practitioners are justly proud of their technical skills. It is also common to find that some sole practitioners undervalue the importance of ensuring that they have all the business skills they require to be profitable in the short-term and successful in the longer-term. At best only lip-service is paid to the development of non-technical
The top ranked personal skill or expertise on my Linkedin profile is currently 'strategy'. It has been moving up the list over the last year. I am flattered that hundreds of people have endorsed me for ANY skills and expertise on Linkedin. Until recently 'Accounting' was top - presumably by reference to my background in
Some people assume that all of the important non-technical skills evidenced by successful accountants and partners can be developed merely by working alongside experienced colleagues or learning 'on the job' , through experience. Another common view is that some people are naturally ‘good’ at things as though their experiences, background and training were irrelevant.
Some years ago I routinely highlighted the need to build and develop personal and business skills in addition to technical skills. It's all very well to understand accounting and tax rules and how to produce a set of accounts and tax returns, but ambitious accountants need a wider skills set if they want to be
Recently I was approached in the following terms: "I have been authorised to sign up for up to three soft skills courses this year. I know that you are an expert in these things and was wondering if you could suggest three you think most appropriate and the right order." Here's an extract from my
I've just been reading in Accountancy Age about how a senior official at HSBC considers that Accountants are better at advising distressed businesses than are banks. Piyali Williams, head of professional proposition at HSBC is reported to have also said that: "Accountants are in a better position than banks... We've always viewed them [accountants] and
The term 'rainmaker' means different things to different people. In professional service firms it tends to be used to refer to a partner who brings in lots of fees. In some firms the rainmaker has no other repsonsibilities. This is increasingly unusual however. In my role as the Accountants' Business Coach I have often used
Taxation 2 Magazine often includes useful tips for ambitious (tax) professionals. Most of the time these are relevant to a wider audience too. The current issue (7/9/07) contains an excellent piece by Sheila Mandel of BLT in which she notes that "The emphasis on marketing and relationship building has resulted in the existence of (and
'Finders' generate leads for new business from new sources.They go out and create opportunities to talk with prospective clients about problems they can solve.They don't wait for the phone to ring; they go out and find business. If their firm is of a certain size they may be required to generate work not just for
Mentoring seems to be flavour of the month all of a sudden. I was approached today by a journalist who wanted a quote from someone with experience of the traditional internal style of mentoring that some larger firms provide. Here's what I said: ” As a junior partner many years ago I was allocated
Whilst exam training focuses on developing technical skills most firms need managers and partners who also have a broad mix of business skills. As promotion is likely to depend upon such skills there are essentially only four options available to your firm. They will either: pray, hope or make a wish that you magically develop
In a previous blog I referred to the classical categorisation of professionals: Finders - who go out and find the new work Minders - who look after the relationship with the clients Grinders - who do the work Binders - who keep the team working well together It seems to me that most CPD is
