AdvanceTrack’s webinar on value, earlier this year, was one of its most thought-provoking and interesting.

On the topic of ‘value’, three experts joined AdvanceTrack MD Vipul Sheth to discuss what value means in the context of an accounting practice, its people and clients.

Andrew Van De Beek, founder of Australian accountancy firm Illumin8, kicked off proceedings with an intensely personal and heartfelt presentation. This tone supported his message: work with clients you like, and understand the purpose of their business, before you can deliver value.

Clients are usually sold an expectation of what it will be like to work with another party, and are then disappointed with the reality.

“When I started my firm eight years ago, I’d already worked in a smaller firm and a Big Four firm. I hadn’t really enjoyed what I was doing – ticking boxes. That changed when I realised there were businesses behind my work – it changed my thinking,” he explained.

Van De Beek and his firm undertook soul-searching of who they were as personalities, and who they wanted to work with. “It was a transition from ‘pretending to be an accountant’ to ‘here’s Andrew… who is good at accounting’,” he said.

His official ‘work photo’ was him in a suit and tie. “I asked myself ‘why am I putting this shirt on?’ The branding was this picture while I was really [a guy in a t-shirt drinking whisky],” he said.

“In other words, the branding was the guy in the suit, but when clients interacted with us they got something different.”

“If we’re pretending to be someone else, act a certain way, do things a certain way… it won’t hit the mark,” Van De Beek added. Accountants often present themselves in a similar way, providing similar services in the same style – “it just won’t hit the mark”.

 

 

Karen Reyburn, founder of accountancy marketing agency PF, carried on the thread. She said accountants feared being themselves, but making such a move towards fully representing yourself in your work normally required “small changes over time”.

However, such a move was important in terms of winning and working with clients. “Your brand is not for you, it’s for clients,” she said. “They will ask, ‘is this real? Are these people for real?’.”

When there’s a mismatch “they will hesitate to work for you”, Reyburn added.

The step towards online communication precipitated by the coronavirus pandemic has seen accountants behave more as they are, particularly where they talk to clients from their home environment.

“I hope that those moving through this see one of the big lessons that ‘me and my firm need to be who we are and show it’,” said Reyburn.

 

Building that authenticity is an aspect of setting out how to understand what value is in terms of clients, said James Ashford.

“Accountants do amazing [technical] things: balance sheets and P&Ls, but I only care about what’s going on in my life. I want to be able to pick my kids up from school and my wife be safe, along with a storm-proof business. That’s where accountants can have an impact,” said Ashford.

On pricing, Ashford said you should be “consistent and profitable in what you need
to deliver”.

“And compliance isn’t dead,” he added. “It’s our most profitable work [at the accountancy practice where he is a director] because of how we charge it, manage our efficiencies and deliver.”

View the webinar by clicking here.

 

A webinar featuring AdvanceTrack MD Vipul Sheth delves deeper into outsourcing: future technological developments; its impact on accountants’ skillset; and his approach to working with clients

A joint webinar between AdvanceTrack and Practice Ignition looked to deal with the important topic we’re covering in our main feature: What should you be outsourcing?

AdvanceTrack MD Vipul Sheth and Practice Ignition’s Trent Mclaren explored the future of outsourcing, while highlighting how practices are currently driving their business forward by using tools to help implement their strategy of growth through high-value services. Here’s a taster from the session. Make sure to listen to the whole webinar, which really delves into some of the most relevant details behind outsourcing strategy.

Trent Mclaren: How has outsourcing changed since AdvanceTrack was established in 2003?

Vipul Sheth: A big change is that outsourcing is much larger as an industry, and more professional. But the biggest game-changer is technology – whether built by us, or by [software providers] in the market. There’s a massive difference in how we put together accounts even from just five years ago. The way we access data and information from the cloud is very different to receiving an Excel sheet or backup file… we still get those sometimes. We’ll continue to change – we have our own developers because we want to be an efficient and reliable services provider.

TM: People say that technology makes jobs redundant, but it also helps to create more jobs as well…

VS: Outsourcing [and automation] creates an opportunity for firms. We see within these organisations a bunch of skilled people who have client relationships, and [tech] allows us to have deeper relationships. That’s where we come in – they can use the data from an outsourced provider to have those conversations. The challenge is that clients see a set of accounts as a transaction, something they have to pay for. In that sense they’ll look for the cheapest option. But what you do with that information will be the reason they keep coming back.

TM: Who is the ideal customer for AdvanceTrack?

VS: It’s not about size of firm, it’s about leadership of the firm – how invested are they in growing their business? Because then we’ll be talking about outsourcing for the right reasons. The work’s undertaken in a lower cost economy, which will help to save money, but is outsourcing a strategic part of your delivery? The leadership have to want to deliver more to clients. Then you ask: Do those below leadership level have the skills to not be the introverted accountant… can they talk to clients and advise them?

You can visit our Webinars page to view the recording of our webinar with Practice Ignition.