What's it like to start an accounting firm with £200, to grow it quickly over a period of five years, and then to decide to exit? And from the start of that exit conversation to completion, for it to take only 25 days? 

We'll cover all of that and a lot more in this podcast with Laura Taylor from Bright Flamingo. Laura shares how that journey affected her, and she also reveals some secrets along the way that could help you in your own accounting firm. 

If you want to hear more, join Laura and me wherever you get your podcasts, or join us on humanisethenumbers.online. And if you enjoy it, please hit the subscribe button. 

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

A pressing question that every firm, every leader, every manager, should ask themselves is:  how do you build long-standing trust with your clients and with your team? 

In this podcast with Elinor Perry of Pentlands, you'll hear Elinor unpack 20 years of experience of running her firm – from when she bought in to the business to the garden party with 130 customers on a lawn wishing her every success for the next stage of Pentlands. How do you build that level of trust? 

Elinor shares her thoughts around establishing clear expectations and setting the standard early – how do you get going early with new prospects, so that it creates a foundation of trust that results in recommendations and results in clients paying fees of £6,000 a year or £20,000 a year or more, without any audit involved? 

This is one of those rare podcasts where you get someone's life experience of running a practice in an hour. Clearly, we've not unpacked everything, but it's well worth diving in to see what it takes to establish a business where the team trusts you, where the clients trust you, where the community trusts you, and where you enjoy life as a practice leader. 

I hope you enjoy this podcast with Elinor as much as I did. Head to your favourite podcast platform or go to humanisethenumbers.online.

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

How must it feel to found and to grow, over a period of almost 40 years, a busy, vibrant firm, from humble beginnings to over a hundred people?

In this podcast with Alan Farrelly of UHY Farrelly Dawe White, based in Ireland, you'll find out how it felt to contend with all of the advances in technology and the other changes that we've seen over the generations, to the point where Alan is thinking of planning for exit.  How does that all feel, that journey? 

You'll find the answers to these questions and more in this podcast, where Alan talks about what it's like to be a people-led firm. He shares what it's like to trust people and get out of their way to allow them to do their jobs properly. 

Go to humanisethenumbers.online or wherever you get your podcasts from to have a listen to this very absorbing podcast with Alan.

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

There is a thing that’s been talked about in the profession for decades, something which has never really got traction in every firm in a leveraged way. It works in some firms in a small way and in a very few firms in a big way. It’s that thing called 'Advisory'. 

How you move your firm from compliance services to advisory services is an ongoing, almost endless question.

And yet, it's normal, it's natural, to have conversations – human being to human being, individual to individual – and you're doing it all the time. It's just that you may not necessarily be seeing it as a natural part of who you are as an accountant working with your clients. 

But in this podcast discussion with John Thompson, we discuss the simple, elegant, obvious, natural merits of a normal, human skill that everyone can develop – the skill of conversation. 

We can all improve our conversational skills, but we have a level of skill now. We just need to use these skills and recognise that we're using them in different settings, in different ways, and make it a natural, systemic, cultural way of doing things in our firm. And we might just achieve what John, in one of his firms, achieved, which was trebling fees within two years. Sounds like an outlandish headline, but the reality is it's feasible. 

Average fees can be £10k per annum, £20k per annum, £30k per annum, and more. We know this because we see it in firms that have embraced having human conversations more often with more clients. And that's what this podcast is about. 

So go to humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform and hunt out the Humanise the Numbers podcast with John Thompson. 

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

When you're trying to unlock the potential that you know exists within your team, within your client bank, within your firm as a whole, it can feel frustrating that you just can't seem to get to it, you can't unlock it. 

In this podcast discussion with Russell Watkins, who's spent 30 years in the lean, process improvement space working with manufacturing and other businesses, we tap into a potential key for you, your team, your firm, to truly get to the levels of performance you believe exist within your firm. 

So why not go to humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform and hunt out the Humanise the Numbers podcast with Russell Watkins. I look forward to seeing you there. 

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

We know that recruiting great people and keeping them is a huge challenge for your accounting firm, so how do you stand out from the crowd? 

In this podcast with Sherelyn Cowles, Chief Business Development Officer at Gooding Accounts, we discuss how to build a great culture by identifying and articulating your core purpose and values, and by being very clear about how everyone is expected to behave. 

We also talk about the importance of ensuring your values, vision, and core purpose are available on your website so that, when people come for interview, they've had a chance to review these and are ready to sit down and work for you because they've already made their decision. 

They know that a clear purpose will give them meaningful work, and they can get behind the values and the vision. They know where it’s going to take them and how they can fit into that. 

To find out more, join us at HumaniseTheNumbers.online or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe so you'll never miss an episode. 

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

What does a succession plan look and feel like from the perspective of those that are buying in? 

And once you’ve got that buy-in, how do you actually manage the expectations of your team and your clients, all while finding out yourself what it's like to be a leader? 

And when you're up and running, how do you rise above the sea of sameness? 

You’ll find out the answer to these questions and more in this podcast with Stuart Clark of Russell & Russell Business Advisors in Glasgow. 

Stuart and I had a great chat. We covered a lot of ground, and we invite you to listen to it on HumaniseTheNumbers.online or wherever you get your podcasts. It would be great to hear your comments. 

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

If there's a phrase that encapsulates the content of this podcast discussion with Mark Allen, it would be 'applied wisdom'. 

We tap into Mark's several decades of working within the profession, first as a board director of PLCs, then transitioning into a practice leader, starting up and successfully selling a three-office firm, and finally moving into working with networks for accountants across the UK. 

Mark is a bit of a hero of mine, overcoming serious health challenges to continue to pursue his passion for what you and your firm do – helping your clients succeed, helping your team succeed, helping yourself succeed. 

I hope you take time out to dive into the handful of profoundly powerful insights that Mark shares. It was a real pleasure and privilege to invite Mark onto the podcast.

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

In the second part of this 2-part podcast discussion with Stephan Meier, world-renowned author of The Employee Advantage, you'll be able to hear Stephan unpack a large number of insights, ideas and strategies that could ultimately deliver a competitive advantage to you and your firm. 

So please join Douglas, my colleague, Stephan and I on the second part of this podcast at humanisethenumbers.online.

You'd probably like to get your hands on a competitive advantage that would lead to the future financial success of your firm, one that would enhance, or even transform, the results you're currently achieving.

Where do you go looking for that advantage?

Once upon a time in the world of work, it was all about a product advantage or, in the accountancy space, a service level advantage. But at the end of the day, an audit service from one firm is not dissimilar to an audit service from another. The same goes for payroll, for management accounts, and so on.

There is therefore not much of a competitive edge arising from products and services. So, instead of going product-centric, go client-centric. Become really focused on client care, on delivering a client experience that provides an advantage and, don't get me wrong, I think in the accounting space there's huge potential for an edge there.

But what about the employee advantage? What if your team's ability to deliver work on time to a high standard and with a high degree of client care – ticking the client-centric box – is where a true advantage, a sustainable advantage, could be found?

In the first part of this 2-part podcast discussion with Stephan Meier, world-renowned author of The Employee Advantage, you'll be able to unpack – because Stephan does it for us – a large number of insights, ideas and strategies that could ultimately deliver a competitive advantage to you and your firm.

So please join Douglas, my colleague, Stephan and I on the first part of this podcast at humanisethenumbers.online and please scroll down the podcast’s episode page for the contact information for Stephan and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.