Ep: 84 Top experts answer: "Are business owners any closer to receiving proactive advice from 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:
Are business owners any closer to receiving proactive advice from accountants?
You'll hear insightful and passionate answers from these 5 experts and influencers:
Amy Horner | Change Enthusiast, Business Strategy Consultant, Keynote Speaker, and Podcast Host
Amy Vetter | CPA, speaker, yogi and CEO of the B3 Method Institute
Andrew Argue | Founder of Instead.com and Corvee.com for smarter tax decisions
Anne-Kathrin Steinröder | Head of the ETL GLOBAL Network of accounting firms
Apoorv Dwivedi | Founder of Fixyr Marketing, strategic marketing advisor for accounting firms
Tune into more on this daily show for short, sharp episodes that keep you informed of what's happening in the accounting world and the whole ecosystem of consultants, organizations, vendors and advisors who serve them.
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How do you stay informed about what's happening in the accounting world? Not so much the news and the day today, but the trends, the patterns, the drivers of change. What if you had an advisory board of experts help you gauge what the world is thinking about vital trends and patterns in the accounting world, about what's working and what isn't. You could put some prompts into chat GPT and get an idea, but what if you could go to the real people themselves who are on the front line working with and in accounting firms. I'm talking about real people, real opinions, real insights. I'm Rob Brown, and for this brand new accounting answers podcast, I've interviewed 111 people in the know from tons of different countries, roles, viewpoints, all to keep you ahead of what the world is thinking in accounting finance and tech. And I've asked them all the same five questions about change, talent, people, tech, and the future of accounting. That's over 500 brilliant passionate and articulate perceptions, insights, viewpoints from professionals with a say in this game. And in the show, coming out every working day for the next few weeks, you're going to hear every single answer. Each episode will focus on one of the five questions and give you answers from five of our experts. So that's deep dive into today's episode. We're focusing on the role for accountants in a post pandemic world where compliance is required, but not always valued. Our business owners any closer to receiving the proactive advice they perhaps need from accountants and CPAs. What has been proactive really mean with that advice? Is it actually necessary? Listen in as five of our 111 influencers share their wisdom and insights on today's episode. Let's hear from Amy Horner, a change enthusiast, business strategy consultant keynote speaker and podcast host who brings innovative ideas and strategies to businesses looking to thrive in changing markets. That's a broad question. And the answer like many answers is it depends. I think it depends on not only that confident humility that the business leader has to look to someone else for answers and admit they might not have all the right answers, but also the style, the confidence and the broader business sense that the CFO or the accounting team brings upward to the table and not just to the owner, right? Not just to the CEO, but to the entire leadership team. If you're working with the board of directors, to the board of directors or board of advisors, those people need to trust in the information that they're getting and the person that they're getting it from in order to listen. And unfortunately, what happens so often is the accountants are the bearers of bad news, right? We're often the villain in the excitement play where the leaders or the owners are looking to expand or looking to do something new. And unfortunately, the CFO is often put in the role of kind of the wet blanket. And so I think that we in the profession need to turn the tide a little bit so that that changes. And we are looked at differently, instead of the bearer of bad news is how can we make this happen? And it is a little bit of a mindset shift that those of us who bear the profession a long time need to take on. Up next is Amy Vetta, CPA speaker Yogi and CEO of the B3 Method Institute, blending her expertise and accounting with mindfulness practices to promote balance leadership and well-being in a professional world. I think with the elevation of client and bias resurfaces and just as a preface to that, I have started in cat what's called cast in the early 2000s when it wasn't called a thing for the reason of I wanted to be more involved in the small business and be able to see the results of the work that I was doing with them. However, what I have seen over time with cast and I consult with a number of accounting firms in this area is that we are still staying work cast, but we aren't necessarily doing advisory work. And advisory work is different than the accounting work. So the accounting work is the table states that have to be done in order to be able to provide the advice. But if your calls with your clients are still about how many accounts payable bills are or bills are open and our customer invoices are open, that is not advisory services. Advisory services, rolling your sleeves up, getting dirty, learning about the business, talking into operations and really trying to find the things that are going to impact the financial statement that those business owners wouldn't otherwise find. Joining the conversation now is Andrew Argu, the founder of instead.com and copy.com dedicated to helping businesses and individuals make smarter tax decisions through innovative software solutions. I think that on the whole, no, if you look at the majority out there, that's the majority no, 90 plus percent. But individual people are doing a great job and there are small pockets. I'd say less than 5% of businesses are out there. But I do think that is it happening today? No, but are they closer? I do think that we are very, very close to a big change in that regard because going back to the thing I mentioned in the last one, a lot of these tools, particular artificial intelligence is going to allow so much more analysis to come in that is done where these accounts are effectively going to come into work in the morning and their entire job as they know it today will be done and they'll just have to kind of review it and look over it and they're going to have the time to provide that kind of advice in a way that they haven't in the past. So I don't think that anybody is actually like feeling that they're closer, but it is right around the corner. I mean, literally quarters, you know, just maybe a year or two away from a massive, massive change. And so I think there we are closer, but I don't think anybody feels that today. And now insights from Ann Catherine Steinroder, head of the ETL Global Network of Accounting Affairs, where she spearheads initiatives to foster collaboration and innovation across the global accounting landscape. In a way, yes, looking at what I said in question number one, with the changing role of the accountants, but as always, it's a matter of, well, personality on the one hand and pricing on the other hand, it always depends on what the client is looking for. I think if the client is looking for real advice and real proactive advice, he will turn to somebody who is proactive already from his personality or her personality, and is not the great little man, crunching numbers in the bed courses. But in that sense, I think those business clients are also looking for a different service than just accounting in the sense of number crunching. And in that sense, well, they required to pay a different price. And in that sense, also looking at the lack of talent that we have in the markets, I think, well, if you are looking for proactive advice as a business owner, you will have to pay the price for it. And that's probably rather going up than down in the current situation that we have in the market. We now turn to our poor Dui Vadi, founder of Fixer Market in a Strategic Market in Abaza for Accounting Films, bringing cutting edge strategies to the forefront of accounting firm growth. So that's a great question. I'd say, yes, but qualifying, is it the proactive advice that they're actually looking for? Or is it just what accounts are pushing out based on the tools and plug-ins that they have available for real their software platforms? So, you know, let me kind of expand on that and say, you know, what is the proactive advice that the customers actually need, right? It could be a whole range of things. It could be cash tool management stuff, profit optimization, tax strategy, risk management, wealth planning, wealth management. It's not a one-size-fits-all, right? So, do business owners need proactive advice? Absolutely. But the accountant needs to understand those business owners and what it actually makes sense for them, right? So, he can't just push out proactive advice to everyone and hope that it's going to fit. It's not one-size-fits-all. So there you have five great answers to the question. Are business owners any closer to receiving proactive advice from accountants? Every work in day of the week, Monday through Friday, we give you the insights of five top influencers in the accounting world on this critical area for proactive advice from accountants. That's 25 valuable perspectives, viewpoints and best thinking every week. And with each fresh week comes a fresh question with more thoughts from the best accounting influencers and leaders we can find. Thanks for listening to the Accounting Answers podcast and sharing this brand you 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. 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]
