• Terms of Use
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Archives
Friday, December 13, 2019
Accountancy Today
ADVERTISE
  • All News
  • Business
    • All
    • Business Recovery
    • Companies
    • Corporate Finance
    • Crime
    • People Moves
    HSJ Accountants appoints two new partners

    ACCA announces new council

    FRC’s Josephine Jackson joins IAASB Board

    FRC’s Josephine Jackson joins IAASB Board

    HSJ Accountants appoints two new partners

    Duff & Phelps appoints Paul Reeves as Managing Director

    Mazars appoints Nigel Layon as new partner

    Mazars appoints Sir Amyas Morse as independent non- executive

    MHA MacIntyre Hudson mergers with Percy Gore & Co

    SASB appoints Paul Druckman to its governing body

    BDO announces two new appointments

    Duff and Phelps expands UK valuations services practice

    Leonard Curtis appoints James Dempster as senior manager

    Leonard Curtis appoints James Dempster as senior manager

    Mazars appoints Nigel Layon as new partner

    BHP appoints Joanne Powell as new tax partner

    Johnston Carmichael makes four additions to its leadership team

    Johnston Carmichael makes four additions to its leadership team

  • Practice
    • All
    • Accounting Firms
    • Audit
    • Big Four
    • Consulting
    Dains acquires Birmingham city centre practice

    Dains acquires Birmingham city centre practice

    M&C Saatchi accounting errors total £11.6m

    M&C Saatchi faces further trouble after PwC investigation

    UK financial services facing ‘talent crisis’, says KPMG

    KPMG partner pay down in 2019

    CIPFA to remain as Charities SORP secretariat

    ETL Global invests in Clement Rabjohns Chartered Accountants

    Mazars appoints Nigel Layon as new partner

    Mazars appoints Sir Amyas Morse as independent non- executive

    UKFIU: Record number of SARs helped to stop £131m of money laundering

    Begbies Traynor reports ‘strong’ results

    Grant Thornton appoints new head of disputes advisory

    FRC fines Grant Thornton £650,000 over ‘inadequate’ audit

    DSG completes transfer of Mazars’ Liverpool audit practice

    DSG completes transfer of Mazars’ Liverpool audit practice

    Toto Energy appoints KPMG as administrator

    Administrators appointed to Clugston group

  • Regulation
    • All
    • Accounting Standards
    • Business Regulation
    • Legal
    • Practice Regulation
    • Regulators
    Biggest cases of fraud this year (so far)

    Accountant who misled Pensions Regulator to appear in court

    HMRC issues ‘defensive’ controls to prevent phone fraudsters

    HMRC entering into fewer plea bargain agreements with taxpayers

    Accountant sentenced for theft of £44,000

    FCA fines ex-insurance firm CEO over tax avoidance

    IASB proposes annual improvements to IFRS Standards

    IAASB seeking comments on ISA amendments

    UKFIU: Record number of SARs helped to stop £131m of money laundering

    UKFIU: Record number of SARs helped to stop £131m of money laundering

    IASB proposes annual improvements to IFRS Standards

    74% of organisations are not ready for new IR35 rules, research finds

    Independent inquiry into London Capital & Finance announced

    Gov pledge to name and shame tax dodgers is failing, says TaxWatch

    SMEs ‘underprepared’ for major tax changes

    Deloitte partner fined £120,000 by FRC over Serco ‘misconduct’

    CIMA announces changes to ‘Code of Ethics’

    CIMA announces changes to ‘Code of Ethics’

  • Tax
    • All
    • Administrations
    • Corporate
    • Personal
    • VAT
    Ascential deploys Thomson Reuters Onesource

    Ascential deploys Thomson Reuters Onesource

    OECD’s Global Forum reports success in fighting offshore tax evasion

    OECD’s Global Forum reports success in fighting offshore tax evasion

    FRP Advisory begins negotiations over Bonmarché

    FRP Advisory begins negotiations over Bonmarché

    ICAEW ‘encouraged’ by gov MTD announcement

    UK’s largest companies generated £85bn in tax, report finds

    UKFIU: Record number of SARs helped to stop £131m of money laundering

    Taxes at highest sustained level since 1940s, says IFS

    IASB proposes annual improvements to IFRS Standards

    Pension tax regime ‘must be simplified’, ACA survey finds

    IASB proposes annual improvements to IFRS Standards

    74% of organisations are not ready for new IR35 rules, research finds

    Renold investigation reveals accounting error adds up to £2.5m

    R&D tax relief claims rise by over 20%

    Facebook paid only £28m tax on record £1.6bn UK revenues in 2018

    Facebook paid only £28m tax on record £1.6bn UK revenues in 2018

  • Tech
    Xero appoints Jamie McDonald to lead accounting services

    Xero UK revenues up 51% as it reaches 536,000 subscribers

    Travel agent On the Beach appoints EY for audit

    EY and Stratio BD form AI alliance

    Travel agent On the Beach appoints EY for audit

    EY announces solution designed to help gauge impact of AI

    Travel agent On the Beach appoints EY for audit

    EY named leader in ‘global digital business transformation’

    AAB joins Float partnership programme

    AAB joins Float partnership programme

  • Features
  • Network
  • Contact
ADVERTISE
No Result
View All Result
Accountancy Today
No Result
View All Result
Home Features Advice & Best Practice

New best practices for accountancy firms in the digital era

John Cheney, CEO of Workbooks gives his tips

26th March 2019 - Updated on 18th April 2019
in Advice & Best Practice, Comment, Features
Scottish accountant named best trainee in Scotland and England
11
SHARES
51
VIEWS
Email PostShareTweet

The modern, cloud-based digital age is changing the way accountancy firms work, and those firms which recognise this and take steps to adapt will be the ones that are most successful in the medium to long term. Here are a few ways for accountancy firms to make the most of the new digital landscape.

Don’t fight new technology – embrace it

Many accounting firms still consider the vision demonstrated by successful tech firms as disruptive, rather than transformative, but it’s a false equation. The successful firms of the future won’t be afraid to think further ahead and will accept new technology as a compliance enabler for their business.

These firms will be able to expand their offering into high-end consultancy at one end and ‘real time’ reporting and financial analysis at the other. The former will dominate narrow niches of commercial advice, as artificial intelligence and automation come to dominate the more general legislative and compliance areas of the business. The latter will leverage tech and automation to deliver insight for strategy monitoring and adjustment to help deliver client objectives.

Identifying new opportunities within the business will also be key to future survival and CRM deployment is an essential part of this in the changing landscape. Communicating such opportunities to those with the advisory skills to add client value and earn revenue in the process will also be key. A properly deployed CRM will empower the advisory arm of the accountancy practice to embrace continual service delivery where it’s most needed.

Demonstrate quick wins to overcome resistance to change

Resistance to change is inevitable, and can often provide a perfectly legitimate framework of checks and balances to make sure that any proposed changes are the right ones. You need to be able to clearly outline the benefits of change – and if you can’t, the changes may not actually be worth the trouble. But on the other hand, an influential partner or board member could also have the effect of preventing necessary improvements, purely based on their own prejudices and force of will.

So demonstrating quick and easy wins, with benefits for staff and partners, should be a part of the change process. Process automation such as quick and efficient client engagement and billing should be easily demonstrable benefits of embracing CRM. As is the winning of new business through cross selling or improved lead generation. Demonstrating successes such as these is a key change accelerator and CRM can make it even easier with the use of clear dashboards to convey KPIs.

Use a background plan to persuade partners to change

The problem isn’t that board members and partners are actively opposed to change – the issue tends to be that they don’t yet see the need. It’s very difficult to spell out a clear benefit of any given change or progression to every partner, who may have different levels of understanding regarding the transformation that is already underway in the industry. This apathy is also an obstacle to getting staff on-board, as they don’t necessarily get any direct credit from their work or input into the process.

So for real change, you should agree a background plan at board level. This doesn’t have to be spelt out in full, but broken down into small, easily understood steps, which can each be quickly and easily achieved. There should of course be a clear and detailed plan, with a senior board member assigned to make it happen, who can keep focused and disciplined during implementation, whatever the resistance from stakeholders.

Redefine the partnership model by creating a commercially-focused board

Partnerships aren’t the ideal model for any forward-thinking commercial organisation. The modern accountancy practice must create a commercial board which can focus on the long-term strategic objectives of the firm as a commercial concern, whether or not that affects the short-term impact on any specific individual’s earnings.
Partners’ access to the firm’s resources to affect earnings potential from traditional compliance-based activity shouldn’t be allowed to inhibit any plans to modernise the business. The firm should have the confidence to curtail or even cut off existing revenue streams in favour of longer term earning plans for the business.

Change is inevitable, and those firms which appropriate it first and best will be the ones with an advantage in the new CRM-based landscape which is already underway for accountancy practices. Embracing change – speculatively, and at a sensible pace, will benefit those firms which have the courage and vision to accept it.

Tags: Accounting News

TRENDING COMMENT

Self-employed individuals owe HMRC over £1bn in tax payments
Features

R&D tax relief claims: Qualifying costs, dividends and expenses

by Jasdip Sensi
12th December 2019
Dealing with xenophobia in the workplace
Features

Dealing with xenophobia in the workplace

by Jasdip Sensi
11th December 2019

The SME Files

The election is over – time for the Tories to deliver for small businesses

The election is over – time for the Tories to deliver for small businesses

13th December 2019

Businesses are sitting on £115bn and waiting to splurge

12th December 2019

Small business owners dip into personal wealth to survive? Of course they do

11th December 2019

Want to know who will win the election? Watch the pound

10th December 2019

LATEST NEWS

The election is over – time for the Tories to deliver for small businesses

The election is over – time for the Tories to deliver for small businesses

13th December 2019
Biggest cases of fraud this year (so far)

Accountant who misled Pensions Regulator to appear in court

13th December 2019
HSJ Accountants appoints two new partners

ACCA announces new council

13th December 2019
FRC’s Josephine Jackson joins IAASB Board

FRC’s Josephine Jackson joins IAASB Board

13th December 2019
HMRC issues ‘defensive’ controls to prevent phone fraudsters

HMRC entering into fewer plea bargain agreements with taxpayers

12th December 2019
Accountancy Today

Mulberry Media is an independent media company creating and engaging high-value B2B audiences across print, online, apps and events.

SEARCH ACCOUNTANCY TODAY

No Result
View All Result

CATEGORIES

Accounting Firms Accounting Standards Administrations Advice & Best Practice Audit Big Four Brexit Business Business Recovery Business Regulation Comment Companies Consulting Corporate Corporate Finance Crime Economy Features HMRC Latest News Legal People Moves Personal Practice Practice Regulation Regulation Regulators Tax Tech The SME Files Tips Uncategorised VAT

Our Media Brands

  • Hotel Owner
  • Jewellery Focus
  • Retail Sector
  • Pet Gazette
  • Catering Today
  • Funeral Service Times
  • Estate Agency Now

Copyright © 1997 - 2019 Mulberry Publications Ltd. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Practice
  • Regulation
  • Tax
  • Tech

Copyright © 1997 - 2019 Mulberry Publications Ltd. All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies to measure our traffic, manage email subscriptions and operate our paywall. You cannot switch off these cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy for more information.