Latest Articles
Some observations from my attendance at AICPA Engage in Las Vegas
Following a suggestion from my friend Thea Foster I attended the AICPA Engage conference in Las Vegas from Monday 10 June to Thursday 13 June. The conference offered hundreds of sessions across technical and non-technical topics and was attended by about 4,000...
What next for accountants post 15 May?
We are now just one month out from the end of the Australian financial year. A great time to check on your goals for between now and then. My view is you will have goals both in respect of your clients and your own business. In short, I’d like to see accounting and...
Three different models for helping your clients with apps. (software selection)
I was speaking with a group of accounting firm owners recently and we were debating the merits or otherwise of helping clients with apps. When I say apps what I’m talking about is software applications that those clients might use to run their business and typically...
The value of a 5 minute brief before a job is started
One of the training sessions I run for accountants is Effective Delegation . At a recent session we talked about the process for briefing an accountant on a typical compliance job. In some firms I see a well structured, standardised process that requires the director...
Some learnings on leadership from Patrick Lencioni’s Sydney seminar
Patrick Lencioni is a pretty big name on the business speaking circuit having published some very popular business and leadership books. Three of his better known books are: The Advantage – Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business The Five...
Observations from the Accounting Business Expo
The Accounting Business Expo was held in Sydney on 20 and 21 March. It is self described as “the big free expo and conference for business and money”. I was there for most of the two days and enjoyed it. On offer were 160 + short information sessions, typically of...
Accountants – 8 steps to be ready for 15 May 2019
For Australian accountants 15 May is a significant date. As Tax Agents you are subject to the ATO’s lodgment program framework which at its core requires you to lodge 85% or more of your clients’ current year returns on time. 15 May 2019 is effectively the last date...
What are you doing to develop your managers?
My experience as an accounting firm coach and mentor in working with multiple firms is that the manager role is critical for firm success. I also observe that quite often people in these roles have not receive much in the way of training to equip them for success as a...
Some pros and cons of having all or part of your workforce away from your office
All the accounting firms I work with or visit have an office of some sort. Increasingly they have workers who are not based in that office. They work either part or full time away from the office. For example a Sydney firm has a senior accountant on the Gold Coast and...
Are you aware of all the (free) tools Microsoft is providing you?
Recently I have become more aware of a collection of tools that Microsoft makes available as part of the Office 365 Business subscription packages probably many of you are using. Everyone I’m sure would be familiar with Outlook, Excel, Word and PowerPoint. These are...
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