From The Trenches

BEST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• Lawyers don’t have the same relationship with clients Accountants do but this new subscription model could change that https://legalvision.com.au/news/legalvision-launches-legal-advice-subscription-for-149-month/ 
• CA Catalyst SOLD OUT Data Analytics Workshop proved to me that just because an app has a lot of xero connections, doesn’t mean it’s right for you. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6593297938557038592/?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A(ugcPost%3A6593297898438529024%2C6593433855431151616) 
• Leadership taken seriously by Hood Sweeney https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hood-sweeney_hoodsweeney-southaustralia-professionalservices-activity-6594443066617266176-oTft 

Paul Meissner

• https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/us/nuclear-weapons-floppy-disks.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
• https://www.9news.com.au/national/tax-return-ato-deadline-lodging-how-do-i-file-when-mygov-excuses-australian-news/0a6b12c5-abcd-4d92-804b-6c3594a686f2?ocid=Social-9News
• https://www.grammarcheck.net/clutter/
• https://twitter.com/mfriedrichark/status/1188869007601881095?s=21
• ATO winning the 2019 AMY Awards for their Online Services for agents Campaign

WORST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• The 30 under 30 recognises young talent, but do they need more entitlement?  How can we manage their expectations?
  https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/30u30/
• Wayne Schmidt's email stuff up: “Hi << Test First Name >>”  
  https://twitter.com/wayne_schmidt/status/1186505290843217920?s=20

Paul Meissner

• ASIC Factsheet re SMSF’s is something a lobbyist would write. Overblown cost to run and return % numbers. Bordering on advice. Great BGL response.  
• Rockpool Underpayment of workers:
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-25/rockpool-dining-group-accused-of-tampering-timesheets-by-union/11638380

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BEST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• The power of Paul Meissner who is a finalist in the Xero awards for Cloud Champion.
  https://twitter.com/storminwalker/status/1179811595570036736?s=20
• Congratulations Paul
  https://www.xero.com/au/events/xero-awards/ 
• Customer Focused Fine Print for Financial products. https://www.smartcompany.com.au/finance/fintech-asic-financial-services/ 

Paul Meissner

• Sage buys Autoentry.
  https://www.sage.com/investors/investor-downloads/press-releases/2019/09/27/sage-announces-acquisition-of-autoentry/
• Hubdoc to Xero, AutoEntry to Sage, what’s next...
• Costco is a fascinating business.
• You know all those groceries you buy? 
• Yeah, they basically sell those at breakeven and then make all of their profit from the $60 annual membership fees.
  https://twitter.com/investing_city/status/1179974257779982336?s=21
• PwC Is Spending A Massive $3 Billion To Upskill Its Employees. Number of employees 250,930 (2018)
  https://pulse2.com/pwc-3-billion-upskill-employees/

WORST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• Paris Financial channels Donald Trump in a post that  tells people “You gotta ditch your current accountant. Seriously!”
  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ugcPost-6575255094957350912-ucvT
• The gig economy is not the future, data proves it 
  https://hbr.org/2018/10/myths-of-the-gig-economy-corrected
  https://oversharing.substack.com/p/everything-we-thought-we-knew-about-the-gig-economy-is-wrong 
• Paris Financial channels Donald Trump in a post that  tells people “You gotta ditch your current accountant.

Paul Meissner

• Brazen attempt to extort money:
  https://www-publicaccountant-com-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.publicaccountant.com.au/news/scammers-posing-as-federal-officers-try-to-extort-money-from-taxpayers/amp

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Meissner

• Unable to switch off. 
• 5 out of offices in 10 years. 
• Being able to work remotely gives a false sense of being able to do it effectively. 
• Remote working is often glorified as beaches, etc. I needs to be the same work intensity just a different location. 
• Family holidays and the challenge. 

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BEST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• RSM adopts Greatsoft, a huge blow to MYOB and a huge win for a new entrant 
  https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/technology/13638-xero-scores-biggest-migration-with-mid-tier-deal 
• FYI DOCS Customer sentiment feature 

Paul Meissner

• If this isn’t a window in to releasing software. Flashy, promises a lot, released prematurely and ultimately the key features needed aren’t connected yet. 
  https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/04/police-robot-told-woman-go-away-tried-report-crime-sang-song-10864648/
  
  https://www.accountingtoday.com/opinion/beyond-the-hype-how-ai-is-being-used-by-accountants-today
• So the record wasn’t actually a record. Good marketing hype though: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/599974/

WORST ON GROUND

David Boyar

• Greed is back, the excuses for Latitude Financials failed IPO don’t make any sense when put up against the market. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/the-crucial-mistake-ahmed-fahour-may-have-made-in-latitude-s-failed-ipo-20191016-p53166.html

Paul Meissner

• https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/careers/i-clearly-caught-you-man-busted-trying-to-cheat-in-bizarre-skype-job-interview/news-story/2abe3da11f64614e22dc703bb60b5223
• Worst job title ever. “At the inflection point of change” https://www.linkedin.com/in/ntamm

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• Summary on intellectual Vices http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/65080/1/7%20Intellectual%20Vice%20and%20Self-awareness.pdf

• Interview with Quassim Cassam 
  https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL3NlYW4tY2Fycm9sbHMtbWluZHNjYXBl&episode=Z2lkOi8vYXJ0MTktZXBpc29kZS1sb2NhdG9yL1YwL1dXQVowOUFKQ1hmVWhkVjUtV01md1JhWTd0SGxhQXZsbjF0aU1fLVdPREk&hl=en-AU&ep=6&at=1570074349310

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BEST ON GROUND

Paul Meissner

• Apple’s core values are a very interesting read. Do you have core values? https://www.facebook.com/180048600476/posts/10157563033890477?sfns=mo
• Accountkit - amazing software. Actually made me go “Wow”. Haven’t had that reaction for a long time. https://www.account-kit.com/ 

David Boyar

• Hands down the simplest explanation of a balance sheet I have ever heard 
• Income statement
  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marksamowitz_accounting-finance-accountingmadeeasy-activity-6574588862612459520-zRYy 
• Balance Sheet 
  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marksamowitz_accounting-finance-accountingmadeeasy-activity-6577802576362778624-J-sA 
• How do blind people see numbers?
  https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/01/us/uno-braille-trnd/index.html 

WORST ON GROUND

Paul Meissner

• CA and CPA article re crisis of costs for financial advisors. Didn’t listen and pushed all members to get registered:
  https://twitter.com/paulmeissner_/status/1179183332510167040?s=21
• CBA survey with 37 responses should never have been published due to the laughable sample size. Like marketing sending out the report with their pre-determined slant, before the actual results are in. 
• Part 2 was a sales person from a reporting software using it as confirmation bias. Desperate in my book. 
  https://www.9news.com.au/world/tesla-electric-police-car-runs-out-of-power-during-pursuit-us-news/94269854-6526-4972-8aba-e889a31665da?ocid=Social-9NewsP

David Boyar

• What is the #1 reporting app in the Xero ecosystem? https://twitter.com/spotlightrep/status/1174814379805741056?s=19
• WeWork backs out of IPO and slashed valuation. 
  http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/marketing-expert-scott-galloway-on-wework-and-adam-neumann.html

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

BEST ON GROUND

Paul Meissner

• Nagging clients have a point, why not listen to them?
  https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/practice/general-practice/are-nagging-clients-really-that-unreasonable
• Cheaper debt for being sustainable. David sees strait through this.
  https://www.commbank.com.au/business/latest/sustainable-finance.html

David Boyar

• Tax Managers are the most in demand and highest paid jobs in the USA https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-no-1-job-in-america-with-the-best-career-opportunities-pays-112000-a-year-and-its-not-in-tech-2019-08-14
• How does a global tech giant collect cash money?
  https://www.marketwatch.com/story/uber-customers-paid-more-than-6-billion-in-cash-last-year-and-accounting-for-it-isnt-easy-2019-08-16
• How to show the value of a tax break
  https://twitter.com/nick_a_marie/status/1168520374423678982?s=19  
• Gig workers are becoming more like employees in this state.
  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/upshot/gig-economy-limits-labor-market-uber-california.html

WORST ON GROUND

Paul Meissner

• Advisors as sales people..not a good idea.
  https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/developers-offer-advisers-90-000-to-flog-high-rise-apartments-20190813-p52gk1
• The accountants exemption is on its way back. Kind of. 
  https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/13522-return-of-accountants-exemption-hits-a-snag
• Agile has its place in small firms.
  https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/management/agile-working-revolution-or-fad-20180413-h0yqwr

David Boyar

• How does EY not pay super on time?
  https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/ey-faces-fines-after-falling-behind-on-superannuation-payments-20190815-p52hde
• Sales automation looks good but, does it create leads?
  https://www.facebook.com/groups/theentrepreneurialaccountants/permalink/518545622063643/ 
• Congratulations to our friends at Practice Ignition on raising $26m. Bigger celebration when we celebrate profitability though!
  https://www.xero.com/blog/2019/09/xero-app-partner-practice-ignition-lands-a26-million-tech-investment/

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Meissner

1. Recurring invoicing payments
2. Mental Health (was it too much?)
3. Addons - email sharing stories again, no follow up, too soon.

David Boyar

1. Start Up alley - some came to Xerocon too soon
2. Partner story mini stages - ‘Xero’s got it’s soul back’
3. Trenches event - Our best yet.

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul sits with Xero Founder Rod Drury.

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul

• Demo’s not lectures. I don’t want to hear your views on timesheets, how I bill my clients, etc. I want to see the product and what it does. 

• Practice your pitch(s). “It does everything” - NO, “it’s for every client” - NO. What’s the problem it solves, how does it solve it and what do the results look like. Pick 3 

• You don’t need to show everything the system does. People won’t remember the lot, so just impress them with 1-2 big things. Find the problem it solves for the person/people you are addressing. Are they new to cloud, established, etc. 
• Swag - useful not plastic

David

• Ask me about my business first and change your pitch depending on the answer

• If you aren’t experienced, don’t try to close
• Try to start a relationship, accountants are slow buyers

About Us

From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.