Accounting Voices Podcast

Is the accounting profession facing an existential crisis? Or is it on the brink of unprecedented opportunities?Rob Brown assembles a panel of industry experts to dissect the current state and future prospects of the accounting profession. Jean Caragher, Jeremy Clopton, Rick Telberg, and Tamera Loerzel bring their wealth of experience to the table, offering insights on everything from talent shortages to technological disruption.The conversation delves deep into the challenges facing accountants today, including the struggle to attract new talent, the need for a shift in business models, and the impact of remote work. However, it's not all doom and gloom. The panelists also highlight the immense opportunities available to those willing to embrace change and innovation. They discuss the importance of compassionate leadership, the need for better metrics beyond billable hours, and the potential for accountants to position themselves as true business advisors.Key Takeaways:The accounting profession needs to address the talent shortage by rethinking education requirements and work culture Remote work is here to stay, and firms need to adapt their policies to attract and retain talent The partnership model in accounting firms may be outdated and needs to be reevaluated Technology should be seen as an enabler for better processes, not just a solution to pain points The future of accounting lies in advisory services and helping businesses achieve their goalsQuotes: "Complacency is one of the threats that we often run into." - Tamera Loerzel"Every accountant is an entrepreneur." - Rick Telberg"Let's stop arguing about it and fighting it and just get to work." - Jeremy Clopton on remote work"We need to focus on results-based metrics and what are the deliverables." - Tamera Loerzel"The CPA brand is one of the best in the world." - Rick TelbergYou can watch this episode and more on our YouTube Channelhttps://youtu.be/SUhzVy194H0Join the Accounting Influencers community and get invitations to our international speed networking events to build your personal brand and network in the accounting, finance and tech world: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencers◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢Thanks to our sponsors:ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.comACCOUNTEX. Bringing the accounting world together with UK and international events for the accounting and tech world. https://www.accountex.co.ukIf you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownYou can also check out all shows on the Accounting Influencers YouTube Channel:https://bit.ly/AI-youtube

Is artificial intelligence overhyped, or will it revolutionize the accounting profession? How can accountants prepare for the AI-driven future?Rob Brown interviews Mark Wickersham, a veteran accountant and AI enthusiast, about the impending impact of artificial intelligence on the accounting profession. Wickersham predicts significant changes in the industry by 2030, including the automation of bookkeeping and tax return preparation. He highlights the rapid advancements in AI technology across various sectors and explains how these developments will inevitably transform accounting practices.The discussion covers the current state of AI adoption in accounting firms, the potential of tools like ChatGPT, and the importance of embracing new technologies. Wickersham emphasizes the need for accountants to focus on creating value for clients beyond traditional compliance work and advocates for value-based pricing models. The conversation provides valuable insights into how accountants can prepare for and thrive in an AI-driven future.Key Takeaways:AI will significantly impact the accounting profession by 2030 Bookkeeping and tax return preparation may become automatedAccountants need to embrace AI tools like ChatGPT Firms must find new ways to create value for clients Value-based pricing is crucial in the age of AI Quotes:"Data's where the power is. Data's where the money is." [00:11:50]"Productivity goes through the roof when we use it, when we use it properly." [00:14:30]You can watch this episode and more on our YouTube Channelhttps://youtu.be/MnEXckAjVZUJoin the Accounting Influencers community and get invitations to our international speed networking events to build your personal brand and network in the accounting, finance and tech world: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencers◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢Thanks to our sponsors:ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.comACCOUNTEX. Bringing the accounting world together with UK and international events for the accounting and tech world. https://www.accountex.co.ukIf you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownYou can also check out all shows on the Accounting Influencers YouTube Channel:https://bit.ly/AI-youtube

Host Rob Brown is joined by Sue Coffey, CEO of Public Accounting at the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), and Lexy Kessler, Partner at Aprio and Chair of the AICPA's National Pipeline Advisory Group (NPAG). They look into the alarming talent shortage facing the accounting profession and the potential solutions proposed by the NPAG.Lexy and Sue discuss the overwhelming evidence pointing to a significant talent pipeline issue in accounting, including declining enrolment in accounting programs, fewer students pursuing the CPA credential, and challenges in retaining young professionals in their first five years of employment. But can the profession overcome this challenge? Rob, Sue, and Lexy explore the root causes, such as the profession's perceived image, the cost and time commitment of education, and the need for evolving business models at accounting firms.The NPAG's findings underscore the urgency of addressing the talent pipeline issue collaboratively, involving stakeholders from academia, regulators, state societies, and the profession itself. Sue and Lexy share their optimism that by implementing the recommended solutions, the accounting profession can overcome this challenge and attract the talent required to thrive in an ever-evolving business landscape."We are a profession that communities, businesses, and economies need, and we just need to address our talent shortages and adapt." - Sue Coffey"It's not just Debits and credits to that point. It's really about the business person piece of it and the different scenarios and the strategy behind the numbers as well. So there's much more to it than, than processing or, or producing a product and that's it. It's much, much more than that." - Lexy KesslerKey Takeaways: The accounting profession is struggling with a talent pipeline shortage, but it's not "withering on the vine" as some suggest. - Sue CoffeyImproving storytelling and celebrating the profession's impact is crucial to attract younger generations. - Lexy KesslerThe cost and time commitment of education, especially for socioeconomically disadvantaged students, is a significant barrier to entry. - Sue CoffeyFirms need to evolve their business models to provide a better experience for young professionals in their first five years, addressing issues like excessive hours and meaningful work assignments. - Sue CoffeyModernizing the CPA licensure process is a long-term goal to ensure the profession remains sustainable and relevant in the future. - Lexy KesslerYou can watch this episode and more on our YouTube Channelhttps://youtu.be/JaLe1nq9lk4Join the Accounting Influencers community and get invitations to our international speed networking events to build your personal brand and network in the accounting, finance and tech world: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencers◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢Thanks to our sponsors:ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.comACCOUNTEX. Bringing the accounting world together with UK and international events for the accounting and tech world. https://www.accountex.co.ukIf you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownYou can also check out all shows on the Accounting Influencers YouTube Channel:https://bit.ly/AI-youtube

Ever wondered how top accountants stay ahead in a fast-evolving industry?  Rob Brown hosts a panel of influential voices in the accounting world to discuss the current state and future of the profession. The conversation delves into the threats and challenges faced by accountants, the need for rebranding and attracting new talent, the role of technology, and the opportunities that lie ahead.The panelists, including Paul Surtees, Leslie Shiner, Denise Froemming, and Adam Lean, share their candid perspectives on the commoditization of accounting services, the importance of shifting from compliance-focused to advisory-focused roles, and the need for accountants to speak the language of business rather than accounting jargon.They emphasize the necessity of embracing technological advancements like AI and automation to free up time for more meaningful work and the imperative of fostering financial literacy in society.Key Takeaways:Accountants must move beyond compliance and embrace advisory roles to stay relevant. The profession faces a talent shortage and needs to rebrand itself to attract and retain the next generation. Firms should focus on helping clients be profitable and speak a language they understand.Financial literacy should be prioritized from a young age to foster a deeper understanding of numbers. Embracing AI and technology can free up accountants to provide more purposeful and impactful work. Quotes:"They should be listening to their clients. They should be asking for and being proactive in helping their clients instead of retroactive." - Leslie Shiner "You cannot talk like an accountant. You got to talk like to a human, because your customer is a human, not an accountant." - Adam Lean "I would love to see financial literacy, like, in every high school, community college, so we could start from a, and it's in about 25 different states, but we're working on it." - Denise Froemming "You can't go and speak to accountants to tell them how to do their day job because we're not accountants." - Paul Surtees "Accounting is the language of business. And I think this is a great time for accountants to remember that and realize that their job is to be an interpreter of accounting in a way that makes sense." - Adam Lean View this episode in video on YouTube here:https://youtu.be/aS_eaA5zVtg◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢Thanks to our sponsors:ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.comACCOUNTEX. Bringing the accounting world together with UK and international events for the accounting and tech world. https://www.accountex.co.ukIf you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownYou can also check out all shows on the Accounting Influencers YouTube Channel:https://bit.ly/AI-youtube

This international panel discussion explores the current state and future trajectory of the accounting profession. The distinguished panel includes influential leaders and innovators in the field such as Arun Mehra, Chase Birky, Eric Gregg, and Jody Padar to share their diverse perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.The conversation kicks off with an assessment of the profession's current shape. While the panelists acknowledge the existence of challenges, such as talent shortages and outdated business models, they also recognize the immense opportunities arising from technological advancements, changing client expectations, and the influx of capital from private equity and venture capital firms.The discussion highlights the importance of embracing change, prioritizing culture and purpose, upskilling in areas like technology and advisory services, and positioning accountants as trusted business advisors rather than mere compliance providers.As the dialogue progresses, the guests underscore the immense potential for accountants to thrive in the evolving business landscape by embracing innovation, redefining their value proposition, and becoming trusted advisors to their clients.Key Takeaways:The accounting profession is at a crossroads, with firms facing an existential crisis due to outdated business models and a talent shortage. Money pouring into the industry from private equity and venture capital firms is forcing change and disrupting traditional firm structures. The ability to work with technology, including AI, will be more important than accounting experience or subject matter knowledge in the near future. Firms must prioritize culture, purpose, and agency for their employees to attract and retain top talent in the face of better career alternatives. Referrals alone will no longer be sufficient for acquiring new business; firms must embrace transparency and deliver remarkable client experiences. Quotes:"There are some real pioneers in this space who are doing things differently, who are trying things differently, sometimes not always working, but I think we should support them and encourage them because if we have those pioneers, other people will follow and ultimately do things differently and innovate." - Arun Mehra "The best accountants are going to be more technologists than classic accountants." - Chase Birky "We're going to self-serve a lot more of this relationship with a lot more visibility into the steps that are happening behind the scenes." - Eric Gregg "The technology that's here today, and the technology that's coming in the future, is going to allow us to be more human and help our clients better and faster, and still get to go home on time." - Jody Padar View this episode in video on YouTube here:https://youtu.be/PF0h65LzTAY◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢Thanks to our sponsors:ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.comACCOUNTEX. Bringing the accounting world together with UK and international events for the accounting and tech world. https://www.accountex.co.ukIf you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownYou can also check out all shows on the Accounting Influencers YouTube Channel:https://bit.ly/AI-youtube

Brannon Poe is the author of "The Unplugged Vacation," and founder of Poe Group Advisors and Accounting Practice Academy. Rob Brown and Brannon Poe delve into the often-overlooked challenges accountants face in managing their time and achieving work-life balance. Brannon, sheds light on the realities of the accounting profession, where the relentless demands of clients and the struggle to maintain boundaries can lead to burnout and dissatisfaction.Brannon's book, "The Unplugged Vacation," serves as a guide for accountants to reclaim control over their time and learn the art of truly disconnecting from work during vacations. Through personal anecdotes and insights, he underscores the importance of setting boundaries, purging underperforming clients, and implementing value-based pricing to create a sustainable and fulfilling practice.The conversation explores the challenges accountants face in saying "no" to clients, leading to unfocused and overextended practices. Brannon emphasizes the importance of firm culture, work-life balance, and the need for accountants to break free from the billable hour mindset, which can perpetuate the cycle of overwork and undervaluation.Key Takeaways:Accountants often struggle with time management, staff shortages, and an inability to let go of work, leading to burnout and dissatisfaction.Setting boundaries, purging underperforming clients, and implementing value-based pricing are crucial steps to creating a sustainable and fulfilling practice.Taking a truly unplugged vacation requires advance preparation, team readiness, and acceptance that some balls may drop during the absence.Firm culture, work-life balance, and moving away from the billable hour mindset are essential for attracting and retaining top talent in the accounting profession.Booking a vacation and committing to being unplugged is an actionable step accountants can take to recalibrate their priorities and improve their overall well-being.Quotes: "You don't like your practice, keep raising your prices until you do." - Brannon Poe"If you're equating your time to money, well, there's probably one of the first problems you got to solve." - Brannon PoeView this episode in video on YouTube here:https://youtu.be/LIP3OXh_yEk◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢Thanks to our sponsors:ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.comACCOUNTEX. Bringing the accounting world together with UK and international events for the accounting and tech world. https://www.accountex.co.ukIf you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownYou can also check out all shows on the Accounting Influencers YouTube Channel:https://bit.ly/AI-youtube

This international panel discussion explores the current state and future trajectory of the accounting profession. The distinguished panel includes influential leaders and innovators on the field such as Dianne Yetter, Sarah Dobek, Tom Barry and Jeff Seibert to share their diverse perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.The conversation goes through with an assessment of the profession's current shape. While the panelists acknowledge the existence of challenges, such as talent shortages and outdated perceptions, they also recognize the immense opportunities arising from technological advancements and evolving client needs. The discussion highlights the importance of embracing change, upskilling in areas like communication and strategic thinking, and positioning accountants as trusted business advisors.As the dialogue progresses, the guests share their visions for the future of accounting. Predictions range from the rise of accounting for virtual economies and cross-disciplinary education to the potential demise of the traditional partnership model and the globalization of services delivery. The panelists also emphasize the need to address persistent myths and raise financial literacy to foster a better understanding of the profession's true value.Key Takeaways:The accounting profession is in a state of flux, with a divide between those embracing change and those resistant to it. Firms unwilling to adapt risk becoming irrelevant.Accountants must go beyond traditional number-crunching roles and develop skills in communication, strategic thinking, and entrepreneurship.Technology, such as AI and automation, will eliminate tedious tasks, allowing accountants to focus on delivering value-added advisory services.Attracting and retaining talent is a significant challenge, and firms must invest in training and development, particularly in soft skills.Branding and storytelling are crucial for changing the perception of accounting as a boring profession and showcasing its dynamic nature.Quotes:"We have to tell a better story. What made Anderson great is the way that they onboarded people, the way that they ingrained them into what was great about the profession." - Sarah Dobek"It's the best of times and the worst of times for accounting." - Tom Barry (paraphrasing Charles Dickens)Watch in video format on youtube here: https://youtu.be/SuOqR21SLB4◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢Thanks to our sponsors:ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.comACCOUNTEX. Bringing the accounting world together with UK and international events for the accounting and tech world. https://www.accountex.co.ukIf you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownYou can also check out all shows on the Accounting Influencers YouTube Channel:https://bit.ly/AI-youtube

This international panel discussion explores where the accounting profession is headed and what it needs to do to remain relevant. The all-star panel includes influencers Daniel Dronsfield, Amy Vetter, Jasen Stine and Andrew Harding.The experts agree the profession is at an inflection point, with a divide between those embracing change and those resistant to it. Firms unwilling to adapt face potential irrelevance as the workforce ages and talent becomes scarce. Persistent myths like accountants being stuck in the past need debunking. Successful future accountants will need skills beyond number-crunching, such as communication, strategic thinking, and an entrepreneurial mindset. The panelists urge learning from other industries' client-centric and innovative approaches.Bold predictions include the rise of accounting for virtual economies, more cross-disciplinary education, the demise of the partnership model, and globalized services delivery.If granted a magic wand, the panelists wish for raising financial literacy, closing the public's expectation gap on audit failures, and fostering a culture of technology integration.While tumultuous times loom, the profession's future brims with opportunities for the adaptive. As Stein states: "It's the best and worst time" for accounting.Key Takeaways:The accounting profession is at an inflection point, with significant changes happening due to technology, changing workforce dynamics, and evolving client needs.Firms and individuals who embrace change and upskill in areas like communication, strategic thinking, and advisory services will thrive, while those resistant to change may struggle.The traditional partnership model and accounting qualifications may undergo significant transformations to adapt to the changing landscape.Increasing financial literacy and understanding the true value of accountants beyond compliance work is crucial for the profession's future."If your business model is serving people in volume and you want the 100, 1040 or the 50 a month bookkeeping client, I mean, you're in for a rude awakening because frankly, nobody really does want that." - Jason Stine"We'll see the emergence of cross-disciplinary accounting degrees, certifications that lend finance and technology with traditional accounting education. The accountants of tomorrow, they'll need to have a very broad knowledge base to navigate the complexities of modern business." - Daniel DronsfieldWatch in video format on youtube here: https://youtu.be/NsYHJu8dRTo◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢Thanks to our sponsors:ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.comACCOUNTEX. Join us at Accountex London, the pinnacle of fintech innovation, May 15-16, 2024! Discover ground-breaking solutions from 295+ brands and gain invaluable insights at our CPD-accredited sessions. Connect with 10,000+ finance professionals. Elevate your practice – attendance is free, plus earn up to 16 CPD points! https://www.accountex.co.uk/londonIf you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownYou can also check out all shows on the Accounting Influencers YouTube Channelhttps://bit.ly/AI-youtube

Jeremy Clopton is a governance and leadership expert who works extensively with accounting firms. Jeremy and Rob delve into the critical topic of governance best practices for successful accounting firms. Jeremy emphasizes the importance of separating governance (strategic decision-making) from operations (day-to-day management). He shares insights on streamlining decision-making processes, delegating authority, and fostering effective communication within partner groups.Clopton's insights shed light on the common challenges firms face as they grow, including the need for partners to relinquish autonomy and embrace a more structured, business-like approach to governance. He stresses the importance of clearly defining decision-making authority at different levels within the firm and ensuring that partners understand and buy into the governance model.Key Takeaways:Differentiate between governance (strategic decisions) and operations (day-to-day management)Clearly define decision-making authority at partner, management committee, and managing partner levelsFoster effective communication to keep partners informed and engagedEmbrace a business-like approach to governance while maintaining a people-focused cultureAlign partner compensation with desired behaviors and contributions to firm success"You can either be running your firm like a business, or you can be running it as nine different firms that all sit under the same roof."View this episode in video on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/QYUCukwNwQs◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢Thanks to our sponsors:ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.comACCOUNTEX. Join us at Accountex London, the pinnacle of fintech innovation, May 15-16, 2024! Discover ground-breaking solutions from 295+ brands and gain invaluable insights at our CPD-accredited sessions. Connect with 10,000+ finance professionals. Elevate your practice – attendance is free, plus earn up to 16 CPD points! https://www.accountex.co.uk/londonIf you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownYou can also check out all shows on the Accounting Influencers YouTube Channelhttps://bit.ly/AI-youtube

This episode features a panel discussion on the challenges and future of the accounting profession. Panelists include Ed Kless, Michael Turner (Validis), Steve Cox (IRIS), and Dan McMahon (Integrated Growth Advisors). They delve into issues like the billable hour model, talent shortages, resistance to change, the role of technology like AI, client advisory services, private equity's impact, and more. The conversation offers insightful perspectives on where accounting is stuck and what kind of transformation is needed.Panelists:- Ed Kless, Former Senior Director of Partner Development and Strategy at Sage- Michael Turner, CEO of Validis- Steve Cox, Business Intelligence Director at IRIS - Dan McMahon, Management Consultant at Integrated Growth AdvisorsKey Topics:- The billable hour as the "cancer" holding back accounting- Need to transition to selling knowledge/value instead of time- Talent shortage and struggles to attract newcomers - Importance of purpose, values, and accountability for great firms- Role of change management to drive transformation- Predictions on multidisciplinary teams, data-driven audits, advisory services"Stuck. In a word, stuck...The cancer of the accounting profession is the billable hour and the timesheet." - Ed Kless"Let's eliminate the annual performance review and instead institute after action reviews...that is the replacement for the timesheet." - Ed Kless◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢Thanks to our sponsors:ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.comACCOUNTEX. Join us at Accountex London, the pinnacle of fintech innovation, May 15-16, 2024! Discover ground-breaking solutions from 295+ brands and gain invaluable insights at our CPD-accredited sessions. Connect with 10,000+ finance professionals. Elevate your practice – attendance is free, plus earn up to 16 CPD points! https://www.accountex.co.uk/londonIf you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrownYou can also check out all shows on the Accounting Influencers YouTube Channelhttps://bit.ly/AI-youtube