Kevin Harris is the highly driven, passionate and visionary Office Managing Partner of top 10 UK accounting firm RSM. He also chairs the local Enterprise Partnership, responsible for generating economic growth in his region. Alongside these roles, he is a Non-Executive Board member of the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce and was President last year. Selected shownotes from this 'leaders special' interview:
A fascinating journey from qualifying accounting to top 10 firm managing partner
The mindset difference between most accountants (technical advisors) and their business owner clients (entrepreneurs)
What failing your accounting qualification by 1% or being made redundant can do to your mental resilience and career control
What accountants need to develop if they want more influence and a voice in an accounting firm
The frustrations and difficulties of working in an accounting firm with traditional partner hierarchies and structures
The futility of thinking you can make everybody happy when you lead any kind of professional firm or organisation
Tips for dealing with opposing views and people who want to challenge your leadership or ideas
How to avoid having to play the political game with multiple stakeholders in a professional firm
Striving for personal and work balance in an accounting firm leadership role, especially in a culture where hard work and long hours are expected
The importance of self-awareness, mental resilience and continued learning when leading a professional firm
An example of a big career risk and what can be learned from being courageous in an accounting leadership role
Where drive, motivation and fulfilment come from in leading a large accounting firm
Insights into how accounting firms grow and how many accountants shy away from the growth and entrepreneurial side of running a firm
Whether everyone in an accounting firm should be involved in business development
Why recruitment and retention of top talent is the biggest challenge in any accounting leadership role
The importance of selling a vision in accountancy to attract the right kind of talent and engagement
Advice to upcoming accounting firm leaders to build resilience, associating with the right people and being true to oneself.

Contact him https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-harris-776a3414/ (here on LinkedIn).

Kevin Harris: Office Managing Partner – RSM UK

The ACCOUNTING INFLUENCERS PODCAST is hosted by Rob Brown, co-founder of the Accounting Influencers Roundtable (AIR). Join hundreds of others on our next virtual speed networking event for influential leaders and professionals in the accounting, finance and tech world: 
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On the show, Rob hits topics like leadership, people, talent, performance and success in the public accounting world. Listen for entertaining short interviews with top accounting leaders on what makes the good firms and professionals great. No fluff, just great bite-size insights from the people who count. 

The show also features multi-person panels on the key trends, reputation and future of the accounting profession. Stay informed and relevant by subscribing to one of the world's top accounting podcasts.

Host Rob Brown is a renowned presenter, facilitator and chair of high-level conferences, panels and events globally for the accounting and fintech profession. He is retained by many professional networks, alliances, associations, practices and vendors to chair their events and provide high-level interview content for their communities. He is a dynamic speaker and accomplished expert on trust, reputation, employer brand, talent, career development, succession, gen z/generations, employee advocacy and executive presence. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrown/

Rob is author of the bestselling book Build Your Reputation (Wiley) and his TEDx talk ‘The Personal Brand of You’ has been viewed over 300,000 times on YouTube. He is a stroke survivor, has epilepsy, is a committed Christian and has a black belt in kickboxing. He is based in Nottingham UK, home of Robin Hood, plays chess and backgammon, loves orange chocolate and is allergic to grapefruit. 

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Jeff Seibert is the co-founder and CEO of Digits, a modern accounting platform. Jeff and Rob delve into the impact of AI on the accounting profession, exploring its potential to revolutionize the industry while also addressing concerns and misconceptions surrounding this emerging technology. Jeff explains the fundamental concepts of machine learning and artificial intelligence in layman's terms, emphasizing that AI is not aimed at replacing accountants but rather augmenting their capabilities and freeing them from tedious tasks. He discusses the two main branches of machine learning – generative models like ChatGPT and predictive models – and how Digits is leveraging the latter to automate bookkeeping with an 87% accuracy rate. The conversation also touches on the importance of data security, collaborative finance, real-time accounting, and the need for accountants to embrace technology to stay relevant and competitive. Jeff's message is one of hope, encouraging accountants to experiment with AI and adopt these tools to enhance their practices and better serve their clients. 5 Key Takeaways:AI is not going to replace accountants; it will elevate the profession by automating tedious tasks and allowing accountants to focus on higher-value activities.Digits is developing AI bookkeeping models that can accurately classify transactions with 87% accuracy, significantly reducing manual labor.Data security is crucial when integrating AI into accounting software, and firms should scrutinize vendors' security measures.Collaborative finance and real-time accounting are the future, enabling accountants and clients to work together seamlessly and access up-to-date financial data.Embracing AI and new technologies is essential for accountants to remain competitive and grow their practices.
"AI is not going to be the death of accounting. Just like the calculator wasn't the death of accounting, the computer wasn't the death of accounting." - Jeff Seibert ◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢ The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events ◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢ Thanks to our sponsors: ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.com ACCOUNTEX. Join us at Accountex London, the pinnacle of fintech innovation, May 15-16, 2024! Discover ground-breaking solutions from 295+ brands and gain invaluable insights at our CPD-accredited sessions. Connect with 10,000+ finance professionals. Elevate your practice – attendance is free, plus earn up to 16 CPD points! https://www.accountex.co.uk/london DEXT. Streamline your accounting practice with Dext! Our cutting-edge tools, Dext Prepare, Commerce, and Precision, revolutionize data handling, saving you precious time and ensuring accuracy. Connect seamlessly with leading software like Xero and QBO. Join 500,000+ customers transforming...

Navigating the Shift: Deep Dive on 'Accounting Meets AI'

This engaging panel discussion explored the rapidly evolving landscape of the accounting profession, addressing the challenges, opportunities, and pivotal factors shaping its future. The panelists delved into topics such as technological disruption, changing workforce dynamics, the erosion of public trust, and the critical skills and mindsets required for accountants to stay relevant and indispensable in an era of unprecedented change. The conversation highlighted the shared responsibility among various stakeholders, including individuals, firms, professional bodies, and technology providers, to drive the profession forward and maintain its ethical integrity. The panelists emphasized the importance of continuous learning, specialization, problem-solving, agility, and client-centricity as key competencies for accountants to cultivate in this transformative period. Important Takeaways:Continuous learning, specialization, and the ability to adapt to rapid change are essential for accounting professionals to stay relevant and competitive.Fostering a culture of generosity, humility, and curiosity within firms is crucial for driving innovation and empowering the next generation of accountants.Technology, particularly AI and automation, will profoundly impact the accounting profession, necessitating a mindset shift and a willingness to embrace these advancements.Accountants and professional bodies must collaborate to uphold the ethical standards and financial integrity of the profession, regaining public trust through transparency and accountability.Remote work and globalized teams present both opportunities and challenges, requiring a balanced approach that prioritizes talent development, mentorship, and fostering a sense of connection and belonging.
"Innovate or perish. Because honestly, at the end of the day, the reality is we're all consultants, and what's our mindset? How do we adapt to this changing world? We either innovate or we retire." - David Cieslak "Time is going to become so much less relevant. The minute they offshored and outsourced and didn't put people's time into their time system for that work, pricing on time is ridiculous." - Jennifer Wilson ◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢ The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events ◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢ Thanks to our sponsors: ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.com ACCOUNTEX. Join us at Accountex London, the pinnacle of fintech innovation, May 15-16, 2024! Discover ground-breaking solutions from 295+ brands and gain invaluable insights at our CPD-accredited sessions. Connect with 10,000+ finance professionals. Elevate your practice – attendance is free, plus earn up to 16 CPD points! https://www.accountex.co.uk/london DEXT. Streamline your accounting practice with Dext! Our cutting-edge

Global Panel: Discussing the Future for Accounting

This is an insightful discussion on the future of the accounting profession, featuring an esteemed panel of accounting industry leaders and experts - Gary Boomer, Val Steed, Sarah Beale, and Bob Lewis.  They delve into the current state of accounting, the need for change, potential threats like AI and automation, the importance of rebranding and improving the profession's perception, the relevance of accounting qualifications, predictions for the profession's future, and more.  The panel acknowledges that while accounting has historically been stable, it's currently facing the most profound changes from all angles - economic shifts, regulatory uncertainties, technological disruptions like AI, and a severe talent shortage.  They emphasize that to remain relevant, the profession must adapt, innovate, improve processes, diversify talent, focus on advisory services, leverage technology intelligently, and most importantly, change its perception among the youth to attract the required talent. Key Takeaways: - The accounting profession is amid a transformative period driven by the accelerated pace of change, AI/automation, increased private equity investments, and changing workforce dynamics. Firms that fail to adapt will struggle to survive. - The biggest threat is from entrepreneurs and firms that don't change their mindset from just providing compliance services to becoming strategic advisors understanding and solving clients' core business challenges. - Rebranding the profession is crucial to attract diverse, younger talent by changing the perception that it's just number-crunching to showcasing it as an exciting, entrepreneurial career with varied opportunities. - Accounting qualifications must continuously evolve with changing business needs, emphasizing skills like communication, ethics, sustainability, and digital proficiency along with technical expertise. - Key predictions include greater advisory services adoption, private equity/consolidation, AI-driven automation of routine tasks, and the rise of accounting "big-box" firms offering integrated professional services. - It's an opportune time in accounting, presenting transformative prospects for those willing to develop required skills, embrace technology, focus on advisory/consulting services, and be part of steering the profession's narrative. "There is so much change out there, which means so much opportunity. And I think we've got the opportunity to carve out our profession in a really different way that adds massive value to business, economy, and society, if we get it right." - Sarah Beale  ◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢ The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events ◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢ Thanks to our sponsors: ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.com ACCOUNTEX. Join us at Accountex London, the pinnacle of fintech innovation, May 15-16, 2024! Discover ground-breaking solutions...

Panel: Future Forecast - The Outlook for Accounting

Rob Brown and Jeremy Clopton discuss work-life balance and productivity in the accounting profession.  Jeremy, a thought leader in the industry, shares his candid views on why traditional work-life balance is a flawed concept and offers a fresh perspective on prioritizing life over work. He emphasizes the importance of defining personal success, setting boundaries, and identifying the right work to focus on rather than falling into the hustle culture trap of merely doing more. Jeremy's wisdom challenges the notion that more hours equate to greater productivity and encourages professionals to shift their mindset towards quality over quantity. He provides practical tips for leaders and individuals alike to recalibrate their priorities, acknowledge their contributions to the current situation, and make meaningful changes to improve their work-life harmony. Key Takeaways:Traditional "work-life balance" is a broken concept; it should be viewed as an action verb, "balancing life and work," not a destination.Prioritize life over work; we are replaceable in our vocations but irreplaceable in our individual lives.Define personal success and near-non-negotiables rather than letting others dictate your priorities.Strive for excellence, not perfection, as perfection is unattainable in professional services.Leverage technology to increase efficiency, not just speed, and redefine success beyond merely doing more.
"If you model a life that nobody else wants, then you can't figure out why people don't want to be a partner." Jeremy Clopton ◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢ The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events ◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢ Thanks to our sponsors: ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.com ACCOUNTEX. Join us at Accountex London, the pinnacle of fintech innovation, May 15-16, 2024! Discover ground-breaking solutions from 295+ brands and gain invaluable insights at our CPD-accredited sessions. Connect with 10,000+ finance professionals. Elevate your practice – attendance is free, plus earn up to 16 CPD points! https://www.accountex.co.uk/london DEXT. Streamline your accounting practice with Dext! Our cutting-edge tools, Dext Prepare, Commerce, and Precision, revolutionize data handling, saving you precious time and ensuring accuracy. Connect seamlessly with leading software like Xero and QBO. Join 500,000+ customers transforming their practices. Start your free trial and embrace efficiency today! https://dext.com If you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore.  <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrown" rel="noopener noreferrer"

Work Life Balance vs Productivity Hacks for Accountants

Global leaders and influencers map accounting's bold future! Success strategies for accountants in the global marketplace from leading voices. In this panel discussion, host Rob Brown brings together five knowledgeable guests from the accounting industry to discuss the current state of the profession, the challenges and threats it faces, and make bold predictions about the future of accounting. The panelists include Jeff Gramlich (Managing Director, Validus), Pat Morrell (Co-Founder, iWin), Hitender Patil (Director, Datamatics Business Solutions), Doug Lewis (Director, The Visionary Group), and the host Rob Brown. The conversation covers various topics, such as the impact of technology, artificial intelligence (AI), outsourcing, private equity investments, talent acquisition, and the evolving role of accountants. The panelists share their insights and expertise, offering diverse perspectives on the industry's transformation and the changes firms must embrace to remain competitive and future-ready. Key Takeaways:Accounting firms are currently in good financial shape, with many experiencing strong growth and profitability.However, firms face significant challenges in adapting to rapid technological changes, attracting and retaining talent, and transitioning from traditional compliance work to advisory services.AI and automation are poised to revolutionize the industry, enabling firms to increase productivity, reduce burnout, and focus on higher-value services.Private equity investments and consolidation among top firms are expected to accelerate, bringing in professional management teams and driving diversification of service offerings.Successful firms will prioritize client satisfaction, embrace change, leverage global teams and outsourcing, and adopt a mindset of continuous improvement and innovation.
"Accountants are so very needed, but they just can't reach all the masses that they need to reach, right? So I think it's a great flux to be in." - Hitender Patil ◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢ The Accounting Influencers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, is one of the world's leading shows for accounting leaders, professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events ◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢ Thanks to our sponsors: ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.com ACCOUNTEX. Join us at Accountex London, the pinnacle of fintech innovation, May 15-16, 2024! Discover ground-breaking solutions from 295+ brands and gain invaluable insights at our CPD-accredited sessions. Connect with 10,000+ finance professionals. Elevate your practice – attendance is free, plus earn up to 16 CPD points! https://www.accountex.co.uk/london DEXT. Streamline your accounting practice with Dext! Our cutting-edge tools, Dext Prepare, Commerce, and Precision, revolutionize data handling, saving you precious time and ensuring accuracy. Connect seamlessly with leading software like Xero and QBO. Join 500,000+ customers transforming their practices. Start your...

Kevin Harris: Office Managing Partner – RSM UK

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