Latest Articles
ASIC Data on Corporate Failures Highlights Opportunities for Accountants
Although not widely publicised, ASIC reports annually on company failures. Their report is based on the reports received from insolvency practitioners when they investigate company failures and report the causes to ASIC. The report for 2015-16 shows that of 9,465...
Simon Sinek on Leadership
On Friday 3 March I attended the Start With Why Leadership Forum headlined by Simon Sinek. I’ve prepared a brief summary of my insights from this. For those who have not heard of Simon, he is one of the thinkers and speakers of the moment, having been made famous by...
Three Technology Issues to Avoid
Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) Practice Note on Cloud Computing The TPB issued a Practice Note called TPB(PN) 01/2017 Cloud computing and the Code of Professional Conduct on 25 January 2017. The note outlines how accounting firms will be liable for how their client's...
Two conferences for accountants you might want to consider
1. Accounting Business Expo This is a new event on the calendar, to be held in Sydney on 21 and 22 March. Attendance for accountants is free and it is a combination of presentations from a wide range of speakers and exhibitors from across the accounting industry. The...
What I learned at MYPCon17
I attended this on 24 February in Sydney. This was very different to the Xero Roadshow in that it was less focused on the MYP software and more on management topics presented by various speakers including Michael Sherlock, one of the founders of Brumbys Bakery. Steven...
Accounting Firm Lessons from the Career of Margaret Court
"Be different, focus, and persevere..." In this video, I discuss the key lessons from the amazing career of Margaret Court, that can be applied to Accounting Firm Management.
Thoughts from the Xero Roadshow
On 15 February I attended the Xero roadshow in Brisbane. Here are a few things I took away from the Xero presentations and talking to many attendees. The Xero team are passionate about their product and believe they have an outstanding range of products for...
The value of leadership and what your team expect
Those of you who attended my 12 Lessons workshop in 2016 will recall that my first lesson from 30 years of working in and with accountants was about leadership. And you will recall I said that it was first for a reason. I believe that how you lead your firm – how you...
Mobile Technology – Are we pushing square pegs through round holes?
I love technology. I own two notebook computers, two tablets, two phones and some other cool stuff, use a range of cloud applications and I am constantly excited by what is possible. I also understand that mobile is one of the huge trends in technology. As a society,...
Lessons for accountants from the career of Margaret Court
Like many of you I suspect, I received a few books for Christmas. One of these was the autobiography of Australian tennis legend Margaret Court. I couldn’t put it down and had finished it less than 24 hours after unwrapping it! As I read about Margaret Court’s...