Humanise The Numbers - for ambitious accountants in practice

There’s something very remarkable about the work accountants can do to transform the lives of their business owner clients, transform the results of their business, and feel a sense of pride, satisfaction and passion for the work they do. 

On this podcast discussion with Andrew Botham – accountant, business owner, guide, consultant, whatever label you want to give him – Andrew tells a handful of stories about how, with two or three numbers – not numbers that show up in the balance sheet or the P&L, but a handful of numbers – you can help business owners see sense and make decisions that turn a business that's generating £300k worth of profit per annum into a business that's generating £927k in net profit every month. 

This is because, as accountants, they help the business owner zero in on a handful of KPIs, ask a handful of questions and encourage the business owner to make a handful of key decisions. I've worked with Andrew in the past, and it was a delight to have him on the podcast to unpack his simple, effective ways and means of running client discussions, helping business owners transform their results. 

You can access the full podcast at Spotify, iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, or you can find it at www.humanisethenumbers.online. 

Please scroll down the episode page for this podcast for the contact information for Andrew and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.

When your clients feel at home, they tend to want to stay at home. That's a statement by James Butterworth, a tech and advisory specialist from the VIP team at Croner-i.

In this podcast discussion, I was surprised by how this conversation moved to a place where we discussed how a better understanding of the client and what they want, as well as tax law and the way you manage your clients' tax affairs, is what ultimately humanises the numbers. 

This is a fascinating conversation with James which essentially confirms that the better you are at being curious about what's in the best interests of your clients, you build stronger relationships that ensure that clients are more likely to stay with you. If it's a prospect, they are more likely to join your firm because you take a proactive approach to your clients’ tax affairs using the support of a specialist. 

This is far from a sales pitch from James – it's more a ‘what can you do in general practice to make more of tax when working with your clients?’ It was an unexpected, enjoyable and valuable conversation with James. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

You can get access to the full podcast discussion on your favourite podcast platform or go to www.humanisethenumbers.online.

Please scroll down the podcast’s episode page for the contact information for James and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

When you dive into a deep conversation with a person who has worked in a village accountancy practice, someone who has also been part of a national firm and who has worked within an organisation to establish a new office, improving the fees by £100k per month, you know you're likely to have a decent podcast discussion.

In this conversation with Stuart Hurst of Cloud 10, a business in startup phase, we start unpacking what a startup does to not only build revenue, but also to build capital value by installing good structure and process. Stuart’s got a real eye on scaling the business without putting undue stress on him as a business leader. 

Don't get me wrong – any startup has its own challenges, and significant opportunities as well, and Stuart shares some of those on this podcast. When you've got a podcast called Humanise The Numbers, it's great to have a deep, meaningful, personal conversation to tie the numbers to the humanity of what's going on in an accounting firm. 

I hope you enjoy this podcast and find it as valuable, insightful and practical as both Stuart and I tried to make it. If you want to hear more, please go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform. 

Please scroll down the episode page for this podcast for the contact information for Stuart and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.

It's not every day you get the opportunity to interview the Global Chief Technology Officer of one of the landmark suppliers to the accounting profession. 

 In this podcast discussion with Aaron Harris from Sage, we explored a few issues around using AI in the accounting profession. We, perhaps surprisingly, opened up a very human conversation on this topic, exploring the idea that the success of your firm in using AI to support your clients and work better with your team is founded on trust.  

There is much scepticism around the use of AI in the accountancy profession, but it is important to work out how to build a high-trust environment within which AI can work. 

Bearing in mind that Bill Gates recently said that the use of AI is profoundly more impactful than any other single thing in the history of Microsoft, it’s something we have to take seriously. It’s not something that we need to be fearful of, but it is something that requires a foundation of trust. 

 So why not check out this profoundly valuable podcast discussion with Aaron Harris.  

All you need to do is go to your favourite podcast platform and hunt out Aaron Harris, or go to www.humanisethenumbers.online. 

It's not often you get the chance to chew the fat with someone who's worked with Ford, with Tata, with Levi’s, as well as with numerous other high-end, well-known, well-recognised international brands, and be able to talk to them about what ‘brand’ and accountants have to do with each other. 

And what Philippa does brilliantly on this podcast is to unpack two or three deep, key insights that can help you and your firm connect with the messaging around your firm's brand, to underpin the future success of your marketing, of your client loyalty and, arguably, the loyalty of your team. 

So why not go to www.humanisethenumbers.online and look for the podcast with Philippa Haynes or go to your favourite podcast platform. I hope you take some real value from this podcast, which is principally about marketing, but which also encompasses a discussion around ‘brand promise’. 

Please scroll down the episode page for this podcast for the contact information for Philippa and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.

When you listen in to a conversation with a leader of an accounting business with over 100 people, and you hear how seriously they take investment in their team now so that it delivers a return in 12, 18, 24 or even 36 months, it's well worth considering what’s being said. 

So, when Rebecca Mihalic of the Australian firm businessDEPOT talks about taking team members along to client meetings, not as a piece of furniture (to use her language), but as active participants in the meeting, using the tools of the meeting to enable them to contribute in a valuable, meaningful way, you can see how Rebecca is growing her team to deliver a result for her personally. She can cascade client relationship work to others, work that otherwise might not happen. 

It's a valuable discussion. There's a phrase towards the end of the discussion where Rebecca talks about creating a safe space to fail and a safe space to win as being one of the fundamental concepts that she uses when leading and managing her team. 

You’ll find many helpful insights in this discussion with Rebecca. I hope you'll go to your favourite podcast platform, whether it be iTunes or Spotify or another platform, or join us at humanisethenumbers.online and look for this podcast discussion with Rebecca Milahic. 

Please scroll down the episode page for this podcast for the contact information for Rebecca and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.

It's simply brilliant when you can spend some time with a chartered accountant, one who spent 17 years with EY down in Australia before becoming an owner-managed business buying accountancy services. 

Craig believes that an accountant does a brilliant job, a better job, if they're 80% human and 20% accountant when working with their owner-managed business clients. 

This podcast discussion is with Craig McKell, from our very good friend AdvanceTrack. Craig is working in the profession again and is now the General Manager of Asia Pacific for AdvanceTrack. 

He's amazed at the challenges the profession faces from a talent-shortage perspective. He shares a brilliant insight around the fact that you don't have to fall far from the corporate world of accountancy to make a real difference with real people – owner-managed businesses. 

It's worth going to this podcast to understand what you do, for example, with three names. What could you do with three names so that you're more human than you are an accountant (80% human, 20% accountant)? 

You’ll find great value in this podcast as we discuss the 80/20 rule according to Craig McKell. 

I hope you enjoy this practical, passionate podcast with Craig McKell of AdvanceTrack. 

All you need to do is go to your favourite podcast platform or join us at humanisethenumbers.online and seek out the podcast with Craig McKell.

Please scroll down the podcast’s episode page for the contact information for Craig and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

It's not every day you get to interview an accountant who's also a retailer and a podcaster, and in this discussion with Andrew Van De Beek from Australia – Andrew runs a twenty-person accountancy business in Victoria – the discussion turns almost into a philosophical debate, but with real, practical outcomes.

Andrew is committed to the concept of the business of relationships, with a core focus, a core purpose, around building businesses and helping owner-managed business leaders build organisations that stand the test of time. 

We spent time talking about process and people. We spent a bit of time talking about purpose and profitability as well. But it was the depth of the conversation, the detail of the insight, that stood out for me. 

I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to Andrew. I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I did. 

Go to your favourite podcast platform or go to humanisethenumbers.online and seek out the podcast with Andrew Van de Beek.

Please scroll down the podcast’s episode page for the contact information for Andrew and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.

When someone says to me that the numbers are the outputs, and it's the team, it's the humans, that are the inputs, you can imagine I'm all ears. 

In this podcast discussion with Nicky Clough of Insight Training, you'll hear Nicky unpack and expand on those thoughts. Yes, accountants are obsessed with the numbers, quite rightly so, because that's their area of expertise, but maybe we should also be obsessed with the humans in our firms, the people, and what we do to build their knowledge and skills. 

Nicky talks about the importance of building self-awareness as, when there's a higher degree of self-awareness, there's the willingness, the motivation, the ability, even, to build knowledge and skill.

I hope you get something of real value from this discussion with Nicky Clough – I certainly did. And you can get the full podcast at humanisethenumbers.online or you can go to your favourite podcast platform and seek out Humanise The Numbers and Nicky Clough.

Please scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Nicky and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

If your firm is making good use of technology, and embracing new technology as well, if you are building the knowledge and skill of your team and building deeper relationships with your clients, you'll know that you’re on track for the ambitious future you have in mind for your firm, your team and your clients. 

In this podcast with Nicki Savill of Moore Kingston Smith, Nicki spends a good deal of time talking about how to build deeper relationships with clients and how to build a stronger sense of human connection across the team as, ultimately, it is the team's knowledge and skills that deliver for your clients. 

It's a powerful discussion. Nicki's very open and candid about what they do and how they do it, as well as about the metrics they use around face-to-face meetings, face-to-face interactions with the team – these are far more human than when using Teams or Zoom.

You'll hear Nicki describe how important, how impactful, those handshake, face-to-face discussions are with both team and clients. I hope you enjoy this discussion with Nicki as much as I did. The time absolutely flew by and I think you'll get something of significant value from the insights that Nicki shares. 

You can get the full podcast at humanisethenumbers.online, or you can go to your favourite podcast platform and seek out Humanise The Numbers and Nicki Savill.

Please scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Nicki and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.