Smart business insights
The changing role of an accountant: Part 2
The skills needed One of the most talked about drivers of potential change to the role of an accountant is Making Tax Digital (“MTD”). There is an abundance of information available aimed at ensuring accountants guide their clients to choose the correct software and systems to cope with MTD. There is also a lot of […]
The changing role of an accountant: Part 1
For nearly a decade I’ve worked with accountants. That period began at ICAEW where I worked with mainly SME practices supporting them as they trained ACA students. During that period I saw the ACA undergo one of its regular updates to ensure the syllabus kept pace with the way the role of an accountant was […]
Why you need to call time on the ‘shoebox’ client
How you can start improving your small client profit margins “If I had the guts, I would get rid of all my sole trader clients. They are a real pain. But they still bring in significant revenue…” an accountant recently groaned to me. Sound familiar? Each year the 31st January Self Assessment deadline sees practices […]
MTD: When is the right time to prepare your ‘once a year’ clients?
Accountants may only have three chances to introduce clients to MTD On 21 July 2020, HMRC announced the next stages of the Making Tax Digital (MTD) project. The most significant news was the expansion of MTD rules to Income Tax: Self-employed businesses and landlords with annual business or property income above £10,000 will need to […]
Xero misses key point on accountants
I read this week in City AM that Xero is campaigning to amend the definition of an accountant but their proposal is terrible. It sounds like it’s been made up by someone who is not an accountant. Here’s the proposal, “Accountant: a person whose job is to keep or inspect and advise on financial accounts”. Don’t get […]
No more chasing clients for missing data: An accountant’s guide
As this time of year is all about getting your disorganised or last-minute clients to get their data to you, we thought we would ask Heather Townsend, author and founder of The Accountants Millionaires’ Club on her top tips to reduce the amount of data chasing you need to do with your client base. Tip […]
The accountant guide to making small clients profitable
With many accountancy practices believing that they have problems with profitability for their small clients, Countingup asked Heather Townsend, author and founder of The Accountants Millionaires’ Club® to comment on where most practices are losing money on their small clients. Many small accountancy firms often wrongly blame their profitability holes on their small clients. However, […]
Finding new clients: an accountants guide
Think of the key skills you need to acquire to run a successful business — networking, content marketing know-how, delivering an amazing elevator pitch — they all revolve around the same basic thing: the need to find new clients. When you’re starting out you can’t think of much else and every new client feels like […]
Are small businesses being let down by those they trust on Making Tax Digital?
As I’m sure is the case for many people involved in the accounting software industry the British Chamber of Commerce survey on Making Tax Digital (MTD) appeared in my LinkedIn feed earlier this week. The article that accompanied the survey made the argument that because 24% of the 1,100 firms surveyed were unaware of MTD, […]