Can technology actually make us more human? James Byrne, AccountancyManager’s CEO, is a big fan of both tech and humans. He is a former accountant and now heads up a software company, so has insight from both worlds.
Y
ou might be surprised to hear that accountancy and bookkeeping are well ahead of many other industries in terms of technology adoption. So, as a pioneer of the digital age (yes, you), you’re among the first to experience the benefits - and the barriers - of things like automation. One of the biggest concerns, of course, is technology replacing the personal touch. In his late teens, James, AccountancyManager CEO, joined his father’s accounting firm. Once he’d taken on a number of his own clients, James became increasingly frustrated with inefficiencies across the business. James recruited the help of developer, Alex Hawke. “Alex
actually sat inside the practice with me. As problems arose, he’d build a solution. It’s probably why we’ve had the success that we’ve had, because AccountancyManager very much works in the way that an accountant would expect it to.” Out with jargon. In with informality Far from creating AccountancyManager to replace conversations, James is all for having a chat with clients especially if jargon is left at the door. “The accountant/client relationship is very different now in comparison with say, the 60s. Gone are the days when clients would put a suit on to go and see their accountant and we no longer impress clients with our broad understanding of the English language.” “Rather, we adopt a less formal, more conversational type of communication that clients feel comfortable with. I still get calls from old clients asking me to explain something, so that built some really solid relationships.” Automation: Enhancing, not replacing, your personal service
@accountancymgr
James Byrne, CEO, AccountancyManager During his time as a practising accountant, James identified a range of operational inefficiencies - which he knew the right software would solve. Thing was, it didn’t exist yet. Jump forward three years and AccountancyManager helps thousands of practices automate their onboarding, record requests and task lists every day.
recommends minimising your more functional, repetitive interactions - such as asking your clients for their records. He and Alex designed AM to automatically send these record requests and reminders, controlled by your clients Companies House accounting dates. “Being able to do some of the repetitive jobs automatically also means your clients are going to get a better service.” Give your team efficient internal organisation The quality time vs functional time concept applies to your team’s filing systems and communication methods too. Minimise the time they spend on functional actions, like finding documents and keeping track of conversations in different places, so they can spend quality time with clients - or collaborating with colleagues in more productive ways. “It’s all about having a consistent process of saving documents in one place. I cannot tell you the nightmares we had over this at the firm. The way we did it with AccountancyManager is to have a document storage file on every client name.
To maximise this ‘quality’ time with your clients, James
32 / Issue 27
XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users.
