Ep: 95 Top experts answer: "What could the tech/software vendors do better to serve accountants?"
The Accounting Answers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, asks critical questions of the experts, leaders and influencers who shape the decision-making of accountants, CPAs and finance professionals. Today we ask:
What could the tech/software vendors do better to serve accountants?
You'll hear insightful and passionate answers from these 5 experts and influencers:
John Glasgow | The CEO at Campfire who is building modern accounting software
John Thompson | Radical advocate for Primary Advisory and the value of accountants
Jon Jenkins | CEO & Founder Hindsight, starting client conversations for accountants
Jonathan Mifsud | Co-Founder at Buddy, Changing Payroll Tech for Accounting Practices
Julie Wilkinson | Specialist M&A Advisor helping businesses successfully buy and sell businesses
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The future of accounting isn't just about numbers and financial statements, it's about empowering businesses to make informed decisions, navigate complex challenges, achieve their financial goals. And everyone recognizes that accounts are at the heart of this and must become trusted partners, with business acumen, expertise in data analytics, storytelling, strategic guidance, taking the clients towards success. And whatever your role is in this ecosystem, you need to stay ahead of the curve to stay relevant. And this accounting answers podcast was conceived to keep you informed and competitive. I'm your host Rob Brown, and I've interviewed 111 accounting experts, leaders, advisors, vendors and influencers in the last few months, and collected for you the very best and latest thinking on what works and what is coming up. In this weekday show, 10 to 15 minutes gets you the lowdown on what matters today in the rapidly involving accounting landscape. And the professionally shed in its traditional image of number crunching, embracing a bold new future, data, technology, strategic guidance, rain Supreme, have asked the same five questions throughout covering the next generation of accountants, the proactive advice they need to be given, the drivers have changed the role of tech and software vendors, post the best predictions for the next few years. Let's get started and hear what our experts have to say. We've been focusing all this week on the question, what could the tech software vendors do better to serve accountants? The answers you hear cover the vendor-accountant relationship and the needs of accountants that are not being addressed by current accounting software. How could this software be more user-friendly and intuitive for accountants and their clients? How is AI playing its part in the evolution of the accounting role? All these aspects and more come out as we check out the answers of our resident experts. And now here is John Glasgow, the CEO at Campfire who is at the helm of building modern accounting software designed to meet the dynamic needs of today's accountants and their clients with efficiency and ease. Yeah, and this is as a software vendor for accounting myself. This is an advice that I'll probably be giving myself in addition to others, which part of it is meet folks where they are, right? Really understanding with what their needs are. A lot of times we'll say, "Hey, you're doing everything in Excel. Let's get you into software," or, "Let's find a way to automate that task." But there's often a reason for that. There is a version, there is maybe risk of job loss. Maybe this is their primary and strongest skill set. And so just really unpacking and helping folks understand the value is something that we think about a lot at Campfire and we recommend to you all of our peers. And here we get the thoughts of John Thompson, a radical advocate for primary advisory and the value of accountants, emphasizing the critical role accountants play in guided businesses through strategic financial decisions. They probably say they already do this, but they should really consult more deeply with accountants and they need to be maybe a little bit braver and consult with the good and the bad and ugly of the profession. There's a temptation which I completely understand for the software vendors to align themselves with the most progressive firms, but often those progressive firms are like years ahead of the bulk of the accountancy profession. And I've had this conversation with a couple of tech people who I won't name and I've said, you know, you constantly at your events, you put a particular person or people on stage which is great and they share their experiences. Those experiences are nothing like the experiences of the fast majority of the audience. And I'm set, I think sometimes you lose the audience because they look at this wonderful person on stage and think, I can't do that, that's not me. So think somehow lowering the bars are on term, but casting their net a bit wider and bringing people who are still can bring the vast majority of accountants forward, but who the vast majority of accounts can identify with. Because there is a danger of saying the person on this stage is fantastic and amazing and I never be able to be as good as that. The next voice is John Jenkins, CEO and founder of hindsight, studying meaningful conversations for accountants, enhancing client relationships and practice value through innovative engagement tools. It's a bit of a loaded question that will make society, you know, as, as of the end of last year, I was a, I was a software vendor unsuccessfully, probably just I didn't do the things that most other people were doing that there's, there's a few things for me, you know, the obvious things are stop telling accountants what to do and how to do it. I think a lot of vendors employ X accountants because then there's a, you know, we can talk to them, we can resonate with them, but it just feels largely patronizing a lot of the time to be told how you should do something when you don't know that other persons actually walk in your shoes because being an accountant is really difficult, it's a really challenging job if you're going to do it, you know, if you're going to do it well. So when someone says, oh, we're going to save you time, we're going to save you money, we're going to save you this than the other, I, for me personally, I just feel a bit, you know, a bit patronizing. One of the other things is build product that solves a real problem. There are literally thousands of solutions out there that for me on a day to day basis, when I look at them, I just think I'm not sure what that is actually solving. And there are lots of, you know, there's lots of products out there, I want to meet like that, but it just keeps happening. And I think one of the major reasons for that is that software vendors are talking to the wrong people. So they go to shows, they talk to practice owners, I think, oh, I've just heard about a problem, I'll build a solution for that. But those aren't the people that are in the trenches day to day doing the work. So if you want to actually understand what the real problems are to solve an accountancy, I would suggest they go and spend some time in an account, see practice, talking to people at the very lowest level, because I think that's where you're going to actually get the biggest impact and make the biggest difference. Coming up now is Jonathan Smith said, co-founder of Buddy, changing payroll tech for accounting practices by introducing innovative solutions that streamline payroll processes and enhance service delivery. I think vendors need to do three things, really. So the first is to listen. The second is to support and the third is to innovate. And that is because if we don't listen, we don't understand the challenges which account is faced. As a vendor, I am not doing accounting all the time. So if you are finding a challenge, I don't find that same challenge. So if I don't listen, I will not know about it. Secondly, we need to support. So we need to support someone when they find a problem, when they find a new challenge, something that wasn't there before. If we're not there to support, then accountants will not be able to level up. Finally, we need to take what we've listened and what we've supported and changed into innovation, things that will help bring the accountant closer to their clients so that we can really impact the lives of businesses out there. The next four-year here will be Julie Wilkinson, specialist M&A advisor helping businesses successfully navigate the complexities of buying and selling, ensuring smooth transitions and optimal outcomes for all parties involved. One thing that I think is missing in tech, I still have never found it to this day, is a really good actual and forecasting tool. So even though a lot of these systems have cashflow for casting it, I don't always find that the reporting is that good in the system because there's still a lot of things you have to add on that, you know, if it's not in the day to end, I never really found an actual forecasting tool that I think is full proof of it. So there you have five great answers to the question, what could the tech and software vendors do better to serve accountants? Each work in debt of the week, Monday through Friday, we give you the insights of five top influencers in the accounting world on this critical area of the tech provider's software vendors and how they serve accountants. That's 25 valuable perspectives, viewpoints and best thinking every week. And with each fresh week comes a fresh question and more thoughts from the best accounting leaders and influencers we can find. Thanks for listening to this brand new accounting answers podcast and sharing the show with your friends. If you want to join the conversation, you can plug into our community of influencers at accountinginfluencers.com and check out our virtual speed networking events. These happen every few months for the North America region and the UK-Europe region. The great opportunities to raise your profile, build valuable connections and share your thoughts with influential peers. Until next time, this is your host Rob Brown saying stay informed, stay relevant and stay connected. (upbeat music) [MUSIC PLAYING]
