Many accountants focus on the recurring work that each client requires and the recurring fees that this will earn the practice. This is understandable upto a point. The busier the accountant becomes the more there is a tendency to avoid opportunities to give ad-hoc special advice. And if it is provided there is a
Every now and then I hear about general practice firms of accountants which have determined that they want to provide a higher level of tax service to their existing clients. This is often the case in more forward thinking practices where the partners recognise that they are limited in their own abilities and that they
The increased use of accounting and tax software has had an unexpected impact on at least one accountancy firm. And I suspect there are others in the same position. The firm had assumed that they would reduce staff costs through increased use of junior staff. The partners anticipated that using more sophisticated tax software would
I recently blogged about the 5 things accountants can do to make more profits. Selling tax schemes was not on the list. Why not? Quite simply because the idea is vastly over rated, over hyped and mis-understood. (Typically by non-tax specialists). There are plenty of people who will tell you that you can generate
I'm reminded of the old sex education message: Just say 'no'! As professional advisers we are all used to prospective clients seeking free advice. As I'm no longer in practice and as a frequent blogger I have very different perspective now. So here is some free advice from me. When a stranger/prospect calls you
These are not the only ten things you need to do, but they may be the most productive: 1 - Draft a business plan What do you want to achieve in revenues within a year, 2 years, five years? What will you need to do to achieve those objectives and what will be the consequences
I was in an accountant's office recently and was impressed by the range of promotional leaflets and booklets for all of the firm's different service lines. The only one I picked up though was their 10 page colour 'magazine'. It was on the table in reception and looked as if it would be more interesting
I'm not one for making predictions generally. However, for reasons I'll explain later I've set out below a few 'new' trends that may have an impact on accountants this year. What do you think? 1 – More clients will be texting communications to their accountants. NB: how do you print off any such instructions if
This blog has been a labour of love for well over 3 years now and contains in excess of 300 posts. Many have either come from my talks or have been incorporated into my talks and seminars. As 2009 draws to a close, you may be interested to see this personal choice of my posts
One accountant I know advertises his services using what I think is a pretty good message. He suggests to recipients of his ad that if they do their own tax return it probably costs them far more than they realise. More in terms of the opportunity cost of their time, the hassle, worry and
AccountingWeb recently ran a series of articles about accountants as business advisers. My contribution as Consultant Practice Editor approached the subject from an unusual angle. There is already plenty of material that seeks to persuade accountants that they need to become better business advisers, and how they could do this. My article was titled:
Do you recognise the following quote? "Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping
