Tag: Technology

Posted on by Vipul Sheth

In our latest FAQ, AdvanceTrack MD Vipul Sheth sets out the firm’s ‘elevator pitch’.

In some ways this question is difficult, because I believe we have numerous outstanding traits that make us a brilliant outsourcer and offshorer.

But, if pushed to provide a three-pronged elevator pitch, this is the response:

Why we do what we do

My parents ran a business that, without the support of their fantastic accountant, wouldn’t have got to where it did. His advice and insight has proved inspirational to me and, as I developed as an accountant, I saw an opportunity to develop a business that would be a critical business partner to the advisers themselves – you.

This forms the start of my elevator pitch because I feel that it sets out the stall, the foundation, for everything we do at AdvanceTrack. We want to make lives better, and we want our practice clients to want the same for their clients. Our relationship is formed on this basis. Read our FAQ on how we begin working with practices.

Technology as a foundation, led by people

We are a technology-driven business. We’ve been paperless from the start, developing and evolving our cloud platform for many years. The tech enables us to keep our promises around the most robust security combined with good workflow and processes. How do we prove that?

Firstly, we have case study material – our most recent case study is here. Secondly, and much more fundamental to our operations is the consistent high-level external audits that we face every year. Our many BSI certifications covered international standards on security, data privacy and business continuity. We recently broke ground by achieving a UK-first security standard – details of which can be viewed here.

Honesty

We’re an ethical business, which includes a company-wide commitment as an ICAEW member firm (and for me as an ICAEW-qualified chartered accountant). Honesty and complying with the law are things we do as a matter of course. Proving this is not so straightforward – again, the quality and long-term nature of our client base is probably the best evidence in providing demonstration.

If you’d like to chat to us about helping you develop your practice, please get in touch by clicking here.

Posted on by Vipul Sheth

This blog is not about technology… no really. OK, I will talk about technology, but more as a scene-setter than anything else.

Instead, this blog is about you and me. Humans. Or to be more precise, humans that undertake accounting and tax work (and the subset that provide broader business advice).

But the tech first.

QuickBooks/TurboTax/Mailchimp group Intuit has filed some 700 patents focused on AI. Its CEO Sasan Goodarzi announced earlier this month that it is embedding AI into a new operating system (GenOS), which will ‘solve tax, accounting, marketing, cashflow and personal finance challenges’.

There is no mention of accountants, tax advisers or business consultants and their role is this new model.

So, is that it for the accountancy profession? Certainly not. Is it the end for it in its current iteration? Perhaps yes.

AI works by aggregating data and making a ‘best fit’ case for a request from us, humans, to provide us with an ‘answer’. This data is quantitative or qualitative. We have seen AI tools produce some very clever ‘scripts’ upon request though, in truth, most of these don’t quite fit the bill – and require us humans to further interpret and edit.

Perhaps the ‘clear-cut’ nature of numbers will be a different story then? Well, we’ve had computational equipment for decades, and the profession is still alive and well.

Technicians and advisers

It could be argued that the profession is evolving – that as tax and accounting becomes more complex, and businesses require more hand-holding and advice, that we will see a greater distinction between ‘technicians’ and advisers’. This is true, but there is a tension – that relationships have often been borne from initial compliance work. In other words, for the technician/adviser distinction to be made, there will have to be changes in practices’ structure and approach.

The other thing to consider is: micro and small businesses are messy. They’re driven by people with skills and ambition, for whom the numbers, marketing and ‘rules’ get in the way of what they really want to do. They also operate in subtly different ways to each. That’s a lot of lifting and transactional automation for AI to comprehend.

Finally, and back to us as humans doing business. It can be very lonely. And accountants are in a wonderful position to not only manage compliance, but to provide insight on all the information that automation and AI has formed on OUR behalf. Business owners want advice and support. Ideally, from a wise head (that has the rest of a human attached to it). That wise human could (and probably should) be you.

Vipul Sheth is founder and MD of AdvanceTrack Outsourcing

If you’d like to talk to us about preparing your practice for the future, please contact us by clicking here.

Posted on by Vipul Sheth

In the second of AdvanceTrack’s FAQs, we ask our MD Vipul on your behalf: ‘How would my practice begin working with AdvanceTrack?’

Initially we have a fact-finding meeting. It’s effectively the first – and one of the most important – tasks. It’s vital for us at AdvanceTrack to know how your accounting practice works, and for whom. We are well-versed at getting down to the important details quickly! There are a whole host of questions but, essentially, we ask about the practice’s structure, processes and technology stack.

The next part of the fact-finding mission is also very important. We ask: “what problem do you think we’re going to solve for you?” This is all about getting to the heart of whatever issues or tactical aims the practice views us as being the solution for. Sometimes we can see a clear path for us to help, but on occasion, we might have to explain why another option may be best for the practice to pursue.

The issues we’re confronted with, though, usually fall into two buckets: your firm is either in the midst of having difficulties in maintaining service for the clients; or the firm has growth plans and require our flexible capacity to help them scale.

It’s ‘nicer’ to be able to methodically plan and support growth, but we understand that things aren’t always that straightforward.

If a firm’s processes and tech are in a sufficient place for us to be able to link well, then we look at the strategic needs and provide advice on whether we think an outsourcing or offshoring solution would work best. The former is structured around us completing a set amount of work on behalf of a firm in a set timeframe, whereas the latter is about the provision of dedicated offshore team members to work with that firm full-time. It is an important decision, and a decision made carefully between us and the firm’s leaders.

Whatever the route, we would always say that the next step is about communication between the firm, our technical team and us at head office. This would certainly be front-loaded to ensure that things are working smoothly.

How we manage and progress our relationship is a story for another day – but keep an eye on our blog for more FAQs. Our first FAQ, on client data and security, can be accessed by clicking here.

If you’d like to talk to us about your accounting firm, and how we could help, please get in touch.

Posted on by Vipul Sheth

Being ‘more valuable’ to clients can mean many different things, but all iterations involve understanding your people’s current skills, and how you work together to adapt and evolve both them and your practice

Technological advances in the accountancy space, whether it’s for your back office or client-facing, have been rapid in recent years. It does feel that anything is possible.

Despite these advances, coupled with the technical nature of accountants’ offering, it is still a ‘people game’. You must get to know and understand your clients’ requirements, and understand your own team members’ personalities and skills.

Therefore, using tech to automate your services and provide a broader and richer offering requires more than IT investment.

 

Where do you start? Is it the client, the tech or your people?

Paul Richmond, managing director of people consultants theGrogroup, says that you must first set out a vision and strategy to deliver future success. “An accountant in 2030 will need to be an adviser, tech-savvy and a change expert,” he explains. “They will need to be widely connected and know people who help clients. Key talents will need to be curiosity, adaptability, emotional intelligence and a growth mindset.”

But these skills and personality traits are
difficult to capture in one person. And from a cultural perspective, practices have focused on compliance services that are defined by collating historic data – which means forward-looking services will require a shift in culture.

“It’s not an overnight switch. You can’t just say your job is going to change now; it’s an impossible thing to do,” says Aynsley Damery, CEO of business advisory platform Clarity. “‘Historic’ is ingrained in accounting, the ethos of preparing things based on the last year, so there requires a shift into the unknown.”

A key skill for all client-facing staff is empathy, he explains, as it puts your people in a position to listen and understand what clients are going through. “Most employees don’t know what it’s like to understand what it’s like running a business… the fears, hopes and challenges – everything a client’s going through,” says Damery. “It’s incumbent on leaders to help staff understand this, so when clients are upset or cross they will turn to you to share with.

“It is about your people becoming sounding boards – not necessarily ‘business gurus’. They need to be open, help understand the issues and challenges, and to avoid asking ‘closed’ questions,” Damery adds.

 

Focus on the process

Beyond strategy and culture comes process, setting out what you will do and how you will bring your practice closer to defining who undertakes which tasks.

“I’d map out the functions of the firm as a whole,” says Accounts & Legal director Stuart Hurst. “Rather than individual job descriptions, I’d look at job processes and ask people how they get from A to B to C to D… then ask the best way of doing it and what the barriers are to it improving.”

Setting out this path encourages your people to change and mould according to your overall direction of travel, rather than a pre-defined job description. “This way you’re changing the day-to-day… otherwise you create resistance,” says Hurst.

Once you understand where your practice is and where it’s heading, alongside a broad definition of how your people need to work and communicate with clients, what is next?

“I’m a big fan of really understanding what type of people you have in your team,” says Hurst. “Those that are more naturally extrovert will likely get more involved with clients and will be an easier conversion towards more proactive support.”

 

Ask the right questions

Clarity’s Damery believes a more nuanced approach is required, suggesting that extroverts aren’t always the best fit with certain clients. “It’s more about those that listen and ask the right questions,” he suggests.

“Remember that you’re not throwing people on stage and asking them to perform, and there isn’t ‘one way’ to train everybody – find methodologies that work for certain individuals. Build a culture of trust where people can fail safely, let them make mistakes in a controlled environment, and build trust and learn from it.”

You are looking to instil into your people that they need to open their mindset, that the firm is on a journey and you want them as part of that – though some things will change.

TheGrogroup’s Richmond poses an example of how the mindset and attitude must move. “One of the key frustrations we have is when accountants say: ‘We did a client survey and scored 8/10’. Well, you would because you asked the question: ‘Are we good accountants and do we give you enough help?’ To which the answer will be ‘yes’,” he says.

“However, what if you were bold and said: ‘To what extent do we help you with your strategy? Have we helped you grow your business this year? Do we enable you to grow your client base and suppliers?’ Ask that, and the response is likely to be 3/10.”

Damery suggests that taking such actions to change your firm’s direction doesn’t mean turning it upside down. Changes can be iterative and not necessarily revolutionary.

“There is still a place for people to do mainly technical work and a need for that,” he says. “Clients aren’t generally looking for anything mindblowing but focus, awareness and accountability – that shouldn’t be scary.

“Empower your team and give them the confidence to ask clients what you can help them with – ask the basic questions and respond in their language. They want help with the numbers, but also planning and the impact of the numbers and what different projections mean for them.”

 

Learn from each other

If you have junior team members that are more comfortable with using new apps, and some senior members very comfortable with having valuable conversations with clients, then there is the opportunity for both to learn from each other.

“Certainly, if you’re looking to upscale people in terms of facing clients, then you have to bring them along to the meetings; there needs to be a mindset of coaching staff,” says Stuart Hurst.

Paul Richmond also extols the virtues of training. “If your firm is becoming more adviser-led then training and recruitment must reflect that. You’re looking at relationship skills, EQ, influencing, persuasion and the ability to lead clients – ensuring your people want to know as much about clients as possible,” Richmond explains.

 

Be adaptable

As suggested earlier, adaptability is a key trait in a firm looking to support clients more proactively. And understanding your people’s ability to adapt may only come through experience. “While it’s trainable it’s much easier to recruit it,” says Richmond.

“You need to be having conversations with your individuals and using tools such as the nine-box grid to evaluate potential, and their appetite to adjust and develop. But people are either motivated by change and challenge or afraid of it.”

Hurst says: “The worst-case scenario is that someone doesn’t fit. Then it’s about reallocating – you need to have the right people in the right seat. That is not necessarily an easy or instant decision, so think carefully about performance management.

“Sometimes you have to nurture where you’re heading. With advisory it can be a bit more of an open conversation and by nature vary – certainly by client-by-client.”

Richmond asks you to consider which KPIs and metrics are being used to measure your firm’s success in operating with a different model.

“What do you want to hear back from a client?” he asks. “‘My accountant is always there for me and interested in how I do’. Then you must measure how often people contact clients or suggest ideas to them – what gets measured gets done. So, forget ‘who has hit budget’ and instead ask questions about client communication or adaptability.”

 

  • Kevin Reed is a freelance journalist and former editor of Accountancy Age.
Posted on by Vipul Sheth

AdvanceTrack has teamed up with business advisory platform Clarity to offer clients a way to understand and improve their business

We have exciting news of a new partnership, bringing together AdvanceTrack’s outsourcing capability with support to build and deliver a top-level advisory service. Clarity has partnered with us to provide an exclusive offer for AdvanceTrack’s clients.

Clarity is a business advisory platform harnessing AI, machine learning and blockchain, which uses the right combination of people, process and tech to transform the business advisory services of accounting firms worldwide.

Clarity’s offering helps practices support clients in understanding their numbers – and how to improve them. Accountants can help them create a step-by-step plan to build a better business and, through a structured online data room, help access the cash and investment to grow or exit. The Clarity platform empowers 100% of accounting teams to help 100% of their small business clients with business advisory.

Its founder and CEO is Aynsley Damery – a qualified accountant and former CEO of a multi-award winning niche advisory accounting firm for entrepreneurs in the UK.

 

“Our world is now so connected – both people and devices, and the ability to reach customers is no longer restricted by borders,” said Aynsley. “The move to the cloud and the ability to analyse big data opens up incredible opportunities for many accounting firms. Harnessing the power of technology effectively has become critical to gain competitive advantage.”

 

 

 

 

AdvanceTrack founder and MD Vipul Sheth said that, by outsourcing, accountants should be freed to drive client value. “We want practices to break free from spending all their time on compliance work that can be managed and processed in a better way,” he said.

“And by freeing them from these bonds, they can make much better use of their time understanding and advising their clients on growth, or their longer-term aims.”

Get in touch with #TeamClarity on in**@cl********.com to find out how you can benefit from our partner programme, plus an advanced implementation plan to get your firm on track.

Posted on by Vipul Sheth

Security is a popular topic in the industry at the moment, and it’s come to be expected that updating your security protocols, implementing new systems and reviewing processes can be a massive time sink-hole for accountants. With everything you’re looking at, it ultimately ties back to the biggest question of all: How secure is your firm?

We’ve already talked about how you can improve security internally, by looking at everything from checking passwords, bringing phones to work, training and more. But what about external security?

This is an even bigger question to be asking when you’re looking at the security of your firm, because it’s become common practice for accountants to offload some of their work and outsource. Doesn’t that beg the question “How secure are they?” because depending on what you’re outsourcing, you might be sharing everything from passwords to your various marketing engines to databases of contact information, and if your outsourcers don’t look after this data properly, it still could be you and your firm at risk!

To conclude our mini blog series on security, let’s look at some of the top things accountants outsource and how that can impact your security.

1. Marketing

This is one of the top functions of an accountancy firm to outsource. Providers like The Profitable Firm have become a staple component in firms promoting themselves through blogs, website pages, social media and more. But with this relationship comes a caveat: sharing information.

It’s often overlooked when thinking about the “greater good” that is marketing, but when you are working with a marketing company, it becomes common practice to share access to everything, from your website, to marketing engines like MailChimp and even social media accounts.

By doing so, you’re effectively giving a third-party access to a hefty amount of data. Your website could store submissions from your various enquiry forms. Your MailChimp account could contain lists of client email addresses. And it all starts with handing over the passwords to those accounts. In a case like this, it’s important to double check what security protocols these third parties have in place so that your sensitive data is protected on their end too.

2. Website maintenance

It’s a well-known fact that your website is one of the biggest marketing components for any business, let alone accountants. It’s your marketing hub, which means it’s important to keep maintaining it on a regular basis.

One of the lesser known facts, however, is the importance of an SSL certificate for your site. These have become more popular in the past couple of years and have become the norm for any website to have. An SSL (or Secure Sockets Layer) certificate, is an extra layer of security that effectively encrypts your website and therefore safeguards any sensitive data that is being sent through the website. This means any data submitted, whether it be through a contact or payment form, isn’t at risk of being stolen by hackers.

You can tell when a site has an SSL certificate installed by looking at their URL; if it starts with “https” as opposed to “http”, the “s” signifies it’s a secure site. This is becoming more and more important as it has recently been announced that any sites that do not have an SSL certificate will automatically be flagged as unsecure by Google and also de-ranked in Google searches!

Think about your user experience: Would you want to visit your site and be met with a screen that says “This site might be trying to steal your information”? That wouldn’t fill you with confidence in your accountant, let alone how they handle the security of any of your data. But the solution isn’t too difficult. All that you have to do is purchase an SSL certificate, which is readily available through domain and hosting companies, and have that installed on your site. Once that’s done, you can rest easy knowing your site is much more secure than those without an SSL certificate in place.

3. Accounts production

One of the final avenues that is popular to outsource is the production of accounts and tax returns. As you know, that’s what we do here at AdvanceTrack, and we like to think we take security pretty seriously with our online system and protocols in place.

If you don’t use AdvanceTrack, but have been considering outsourcing compliance work, it’s an important question to ask any provider. After all, you’ll regularly be sending financial data belonging to your clients and their businesses, so you want to make sure that this is handled well and protected on their end so that the data isn’t at risk of being stolen.

Security is important, act now.

Security is something that shouldn’t be overlooked, whether it’s internal or external. You need to look at everything from your internal systems, to the processes your outsourcers use, to the training needed for your staff.

When all that is done, your firm will undoubtedly be in a much safer position, as you won’t be leaving the security of your clients’ data to chance!

Posted on by Vipul Sheth

When accountants come to us, one of the first questions we ask “is outsourcing the answer to your problems?”

Admittedly, it’s a rhetorical question, but it makes you pause and think. We’re always preaching that outsourcing isn’t just about handing over compliance work. It’s about changing the nature of the relationships with your clients, but you can’t do that if you don’t overcome the underlying problems your firm is facing.

On the surface, outsourcing might seem like the answer, but we wanted to take the opportunity to address those issues and how to overcome them, and also how outsourcing might play a part in that.

1. Delivering to deadlines without overworking

Your accountancy firm should be 100% focused around client service delivery, otherwise chances are you won’t be in business for very long. So, what’s changed?

Well, for one, there used to be some downtime between the different projects. This allowed an opportunity to reflect on the project, evaluate the time put in, regroup and plan for the next project. But instead, you’re finishing one project and immediately diving into another!

It’s in large part due to technology. With the advent of Xero and QuickBooks, coupled with receipt scanning apps and reporting tools, your clients have more data than they know what to do with, and it’s your job to handle that.

Because of these increasing changes in the industry, the volume of work is naturally growing, meaning there’s no longer any downtime. You’re doing the work yourself because you don’t have a choice. Sure, you could outsource the day-to-day bookkeeping to free up your time, but deep down that’s not the solution. It’s time management. You need the right tools and people in place to handle projects better, which leads us nicely to problem #2.

2. Implementing new tech

Xero published a report in 2017 that revealed that more than three-quarters of firms still use spreadsheets with their clients. Even more alarmingly, 18% of firms are still working on paper ledgers.

We couldn’t agree more with Xero’s comment that “old methods continue to strangle practice efficiency”. Technology has evolved massively over the past couple of years, but the challenge for accountants is the implementation.

Which software do you choose? Which apps do you offer alongside it? What systems do we need internally? Is this going to improve our speed? What if our clients don’t go along with it?

Those are some of the questions that you’re most likely pondering and rightly so. It’s no small feat implementing new systems, and that’s often the reason most firms hold back. They’re scared of things going wrong, of systems not working, of clients disengaging.

For you to overcome these problems, you’ve got to go beyond your comfort zone and be willing to embrace the change and try new systems. You’ve got to be ready to test and learn and ultimately fail. If you’re not willing to do that yourself, what chance do you have of your clients being willing to try new tech?

It’s about that long-term goal of development and building a better, scalable firm, and it starts with taking that first step of trying something new.

3. Finding the right team

All of the issues mentioned so far come back to your team. A lack of downtime or a lack of systems affects them too, or they’re part of the problem.

If you’re the director of a firm, you could be doing a lot of the work yourself, because you haven’t got the right team members in place to support you. Likewise, you might be hesitant to implement new systems because you’re not sure if your team would be on board as well.

A lot of it comes down to how you recruit. You’re not just recruiting for another person, you’re recruiting for someone who’ll embrace the changing environment. It’s about skill set, engagement, motivation, meaning you’re ultimately looking for someone who is resilient and willing to adapt. That’s the kind of team member that will stick by you, rather than hopping from one firm to the next and leaving you to pick up the pieces.

What’s wrong with this picture?

 It’s a vicious cycle: You’re not delivering to deadlines and/or you have no downtime. That’s caused by not having the right systems in place. This can be the case if you don’t have a willing team or the right team to support you, or even if you’re not delegating enough to them.

So, to go back to our opening question “is outsourcing the answer to your problems”, the answer would be “it depends!”

Outsourcing only truly works when you have addressed the problems we’ve talked about, or you’ve at least started addressing them. As we said at the start, outsourcing is really about changing how you work and interact with your clients, and you can only really do that when you’ve begun to work on the problems with time, technology and your team.

But when you’ve mastered that, and once you go on to building incredible relationships, you’ve got the key to success, and you’re no doubt on track to build a firm poised for amazing things.

Posted on by Vipul Sheth

 

With such complexities that come with running an accountancy practice, the option is always there to outsource some elements. But as Kevin Reed finds, what works for one practitioner might not for another.

The running of an accountancy practice, like any type of business, can be frustrating. Trying to offer your core, valuable, services to a client at an optimal level feels impossible as administration, production work and of course red tape, bog you down.

Having all that ‘just dealt with’, leaving practice owners to get on with the job, is the ideal scenario for many. What, then, can be outsourced… handed to someone else to deal with? Are there any limits? If so, how are they defined?

What can be outsourced – and how – requires practitioners to step back and think about the way their business operates.

For instance, there are administrative responsibilities for a practice to consider. These can include HR, health & safety, technology – and their own Companies House filing requirements. As with any deep back-office responsibilities, they will not bring fee income into the practice. Practitioners would be strongly advised to use outside help on these matters.

Making the right choice, or choices, as to who helps you manage the back office is important, but doesn’t need a grand strategy. Other outsourcing decisions, however, require practitioners to really think deeply about how their practice makes money, and how it wants to achieve that in the longer term.

There are two other key areas in which outsourcing can be leveraged. The first is in the production and management of compliance and accounting information on behalf of their clients. This could include calculating and filing of tax returns, formulating annual accounts, or other types of reporting.

Second, there is an option to outsource front-line services and management to other providers (see blue box). For example, this could include wealth management services or complex tax advice such as R&D claims.

For Della Hudson, a business consultant who recently sold her eight-staff accounting firm, her efforts at outsourcing met with mixed results. She envisaged a practice, aimed at corporate services, where customer service would be retained in-house, while everything else was outsourced.

“The idea was around having a one-man band, but with hundreds of clients,” says Hudson.

In reality, she was already down the track with her practice, but that didn’t mean maintaining the status quo. First, Hudson tried out a virtual PA, but found the role was too complex for it to be managed out-of-house. “That process gave me a good understanding of what could, and couldn’t, be outsourced,” says Hudson. “Standard, repetitive things can, but anything that requires deeper thinking cannot.”

She then outsourced some accounting work to another practice. It “wasn’t a money-saving exercise” in itself, but enabled her and her staff to concentrate on higher-value advisory work for clients.

Going deeper

Other practices have moved much more deeply into the outsourcing of compliance work. And as previously stated, such a move requires careful thinking.

For Brendon Howlett, operations director at practice Wood & Disney, the last 18 months have seen outsourcing become key to its business – while also witnessing it impacting other practices, “and we see that trend continuing”.

From a strategic point of view, the practice is aligning towards high-value advisory services. The outsourcing of compliance work has enabled team members to take a more consultative approach with clients.

“As well as an improvement in our own numbers, outsourcing has had a positive impact in freeing up capacity in the team, allowing them to provide advice and assistance our clients really value,” says Howlett.

Outsourcing doesn’t abdicate a practitioners’ responsibility for the work undertaken, or how it is managed. Another practitioner we spoke to said that it is vital that your own processes and approach to work is systemised. “This gives you a platform to work with an outsourcing provider – but at this point it’s crucial that a good workflow will be set up between the two parties, or any value from the project will be eroded,” says the practitioner.

Again, how the re-engineered processes will work is crucial. For Wood & Disney, the practice is exploring outsourcing more tax compliance work in light of the extra strain it will face with Making Tax Digital’s (MTD) requirements for more client information. But a lack of clarity in MTD’s workings means Howlett is circumspect: “Until the government provides more clarity about the mechanics of MTD, where the devil will inevitably be in the detail, we remain unsure of exactly how any outsourcing will work.” A key concern voiced about the direction of the accounting profession is that automation and artificial intelligence will render accountants useless.

This doesn’t mean the end of the accounting practice. It actually aligns with shifting process-oriented tasks away from the key advisers, and enabling them to provide the more valuable service.

The problem comes when the makeup of these ‘key advisers’ is considered. Do they need to have the technical accounting and finance skills to back up their communication and analysis abilities? And if so, how will they attain them if the work is dealt with by outsourcers?

This is a concern for Della Hudson. In her former practice she considered the impact of outsourcing all the ‘straightforward’ accounts work, keeping more problematic client returns in-house. This model would have made it difficult for apprentices to see a cross-section of work, she feels. “I hadn’t got my head around that,” Hudson admits.

Wood & Disney’s Howlett says: “Technical skills will still be relevant, and you will need to be good with the numbers as we will be acting as a conduit for the financial information.” The next generation of accountants will need to develop that broad skillset from the get-go, he believes.

“In the past it may have been enough for an accountant to be a technical guru but AI has this side of things sewn up. Accountants will need to be much more ‘agile’ in terms of business advice and focused on people.”

Posted on by Vipul Sheth

This year is going to be a very busy, but very exciting, time for AdvanceTrack – and we’d like you to join us

While companies that provide technology-driven solutions have a reputation for not always engaging with their customers, we put customer service and understanding your requirements as top priority.

We’re delighted, therefore, to be able to announce two opportunities for you to meet with us and discuss where you’re heading, and hopefully how we can help you on that journey.

First off, we have the Quickbooks Connect show, held across 27 and 28 February in London’s Printworks.

This year’s agenda covers the most relevant issues facing practices: from marketing (harnessing social media and building a digital brand) through to moving your practice and clients to the cloud.

“We’re taking part to meet with forward-thinking practices, many of whom will already be clients of ours and hopefully some new faces as well,” says Vipul Sheth, founder and MD of AdvanceTrack. Sheth expects conversations to revolve around Making Tax Digital (see this month’s feature spread for more). He foresees many practices wanting a ‘solution’ to MTD, and a big part of that will involve the use of efficient cloud-based bookkeeping among other things.

More importantly, making this transition will put client information into practices’ hands that they can leverage to provide a better service. “The truth is that we speak about this a lot,” says Sheth. “If practices see this as ‘stopping clients getting tax penalties’ then it’s a client/adviser conversation about price. But good conversations with clients is about helping them run their business. Then clients look at the price and say ‘this is what I pay my accountant for’.”

Next we have AdvanceTrack’s own conference, following on from last year’s successful inaugural event at America Square with 70 people in attendance. The invitation-only event will see respected consultant Paul Shrimpling set out the process by which you deliver higher-value services to clients. The conference will then follow workshop-style sessions that provide more detail and insight into making that transition.

The conference will take place a few days after GDPR comes into effect – and AdvanceTrack will outline what we’ve done to make sure we are a compliant organisation.

Posted on by Vipul Sheth

Paul Barnes is the managing director of My Accountancy Place, which provides accounting and finance services to digital agencies. The practice, which operates with two directors and 15 staff, uses AdvanceTrack® to free up its team to provide deeper and more valuable services to clients. He explains the practice’s strategy, and development beyond compliance work.

Paul, tell us about your practice

We are a niche firm based in Manchester. We only service one industry: digital agencies providing marketing, creative and digital services, predominantly in the North West. We turn away those that don’t fit that. Our practice works using Xero technology.We have moved from being a ‘good, proactive firm of accountants’ to a full finance outsourced function. Rather than clients building their own finance team, we provide the full finance function. This encompasses strategy, financial control, making sure their systems run smoothly, and bookkeeping. My team works across clients (from our office), but spend a lot of their time with those clients in their offices.We can do just compliance, but we can do the whole lot. We bring industry expertise and systems expertise to the table as well.

When did you start using AdvanceTrack®, and why?

We started My Accountancy Place in 2014, and began using AdvanceTrack® in mid-2015. For the compliance function and historical accounting services that we provide, these are becoming more and more commoditised. It was an opportunity for us – we have real skills to grow and improve our clients’ businesses but were restricted by the amount of compliance and bookkeeping work.So, we streamlined that offering and outsourced, allowing our team to spend more time on the more rewarding and challenging work that truly makes a difference to our client’s businesses. For the value provided by AdvanceTrack® in terms of cost and service level, it was a complete no-brainer. It has removed the headache of managing that service, and we can use highly-qualified accountants from the start with our clients.

What impact has AdvanceTrack® had on the running of your practice?

Everyone in the practice has moved up a gear or two in terms of what they can give clients. When you sign up new customers, the on-boarding process can be challenging and you’re under pressure to provide value straight away. Now we can map out clients’ processes straight away – then that becomes an ongoing task run through AdvanceTrack® and it just repeats.We then get on with our job of advising clients. Anything non-client-facing goes to AdvanceTrack®; some of that is complex work but AdvanceTrack® can do it. Straight away we can start improving the clients’ business.

What is the future for your practice? What are you looking to achieve, and how?

There is still a lot of confusion in the accountancy market around what ‘advisory’ is all about. For us it’s about simplifying the journey the business goes on. We want to illustrate that journey through our own IP, delivered through workbooks, guides and workshops… moving the client away from the office and allowing them to focus on strategy and growth and to help them short-cut the mistakes and bad investments. We’re seeing small businesses now starting to expect what big businesses expect from their professional advisers, and they have every right to. Speak to AdvanceTrack® about helping you create a modern and pro table practice. Call us on +44(0)24 7601 6308 or email ad****@ad**********.com.

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