Review of the blog 2009

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 over the last 12 months.  This has been an interesting review for me as it’s revealed a different way of categorising the subjects I have enjoyed writing about.

Summary

My output here dropped significantly as I only managed 60 posts in 2009.  I don’t feel bad about that though as I’ve also written well over 100 pieces for the TaxBuzz blog and posted almost 150 items to the Accountant jokes and fun blog.

Commenting on news items

The year started with me questioning whether it was true that “One in four firms expects to lose clients” and that there would be “A flood of mergers in 2009” I also suggested that Clients WANT more support in these trying times.

Other such posts in 2009 have addressed:

• The future of compliance services for accountants
• The future of auditing and assurance services
• Two new accountancy consolidators by 2011? I don’t think so

Conventional wisdom

Another theme on the blog this year was to challenge conventional wisdom:

• Why bigger isn’t always best;
• Are your fees high enough?
• What do accountants sell? The answer is NOT ‘time’;
• Do you offer a service guarantee? I bet you do;
• Limited Liability Partnerships – additional protection?
• Do your timesheet procedures reduce new fees?
• Accountants’ adverts are not working any more
• “Added value” – what do you mean?
• Not all Accountants are business advisers

Professional negligence

One of the most popular and frequent talks I’ve presented to groups of accountants over the last few years has been on the risks accountants run and how they can reduce these without tying themselves in knots. Among the related items I’ve posted to the  blog this year have been posts titled:

• Do you treat clients like lab rats?
• What is it that can go wrong?

Face to face networking

The importance of effective networking skills is generally recognised but how do we improve our skills in this area? Here’s a selection of my posts offering tips and advice on this subject in 2009:

• Networking strategies for accountants
• Networking strategy – plan your follow up beforehand
• What does Networking have in common with inheritance tax planning?

Social networking

A year ago I wrote a piece explaining why, in my view, Accountants do not NEED to both with twitter. What I was saying was that accountants need not bother with twitter especially if they think of it as a route to securing new clients. Since then twitter’s popularity has increased and I’ve noted more and more accountants are experimenting with it. As a result I then wrote a number of more positive and helpful pieces which are summarised on the twitter page of this site.

Other related posts this year included:

• “Social” vs anti-social networking
• Is it worth the time it takes to learn how to use social media?

Top tips

I’ll complete this review of blog posts in 2009 with these reminders of key tips for accountants who are keen to be more productive and more successful:

• Expect more clients to seek advice on Tax Credits
• Why your clients are indifferent and don’t recommend you
• 7 ways to ensure your pitch is not a waste of time
• Why aren’t more accountants talking about LLPs with clients?
• Advising your most important client
• 3 time management tips
• Two top interview tips
• Bookkeeping services and options
• Do as you would be done by….

With all best wishes for the New Year.