What’s new at Accounting Business Expo
@AccountingBExpo
Sholto Macpherson is head of content for the Accounting Business Expo and editor of accounting technology blog DigitalFirst.com
Can I be any better at what I do? As an individual, as a business owner, or in relation to the business itself? The answer should always be yes. I only recently understood why...
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hese past summer holidays I took my two daughters and myself to a rollerblading lesson at the local skate shop. The shop had told us our instructor was a world champion at freestyle rollerblading. At the beginning of the lesson I had to ask – was it true? “Three times,” he said. Watching him skate transformed a silly recreational activity into art, a display of beautiful possibilities and flawless execution. When someone demonstrates mastery it is literally mesmerising.
Above: Alan FitzGerald Above right: Fleur Telford
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How could we ever be taught by anyone else? It is unthinkable. How much would we be prepared to pay for another lesson? Happily twice as much. How would we treat any advice given by this instructor? With devoted commitment. The world of business isn’t like the world of competitive sports. There’s no Olympics where one accountant is ruled the best in compliance. We can create and dominate our own niches. Add a slightly different spin to your services or your marketing and you can be world class too, with a list of loyal clients who wouldn’t think of going anywhere else.
So what should you do differently? You will find a very long list of ideas at this year’s Accounting Business Expo on March 21 and 22, which returns to Sydney’s ICC Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour. The rapidly developing area of business advisory is throwing up some fantastic new ideas. Former accountant turned investment banker Lance Rubin, ModelCitzn, will share his experiences on building financial models. Most accountants selling business advisory will mock up a cashflow forecast in a dashboard or spreadsheet. Rubin builds “holistic” models that simultaneously forecast the balance sheet, P&L and cashflow. Right up to the Monte Carlo simulation which forecasts thousands of scenarios. In his interview with Brad Eisenhuth from the Outperformer, Rubin will talk about the skills required to build these models and how accountants can learn them or hire them into their practice. One of the bigger challenges in the accounting profession is innovation in mid-size and larger firms. Compliance divisions struggle to keep up with the latest breakthroughs in efficiency because of the cost of swapping out practice
management tools. How do you motivate staff to try something new? A growing trend, especially among the Big 4, is to create a separate cloud accounting division. Is this feasible for mid-size firms too? The expert panel includes Fleur Telford, director of technology enterprise at KPMG, accounting firm coach Rob Pillans from Planet Consulting, and veteran accounting software consultant Alan FitzGerald of Practice Connections. Continuing the theme, do you ever wonder if there are common elements to innovative companies? One woman who knows the answer is Amantha Imber, CEO of Inventium. Inventium designs innovation programs and runs an “innovation maturity index” to measure the creative energy in a business. The index is the methodology used in the Australian Financial Review’s Most Innovative Companies List. Imber will be sharing tips for driving innovation in companies with 30 or more staff. There is also a fresh angle on the
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