It’s quite exciting that a conference brand running in multiple overseas countries, UK, Spain and Canada has brought a conference to Australia. I hope one day to attend Spain’s Accountex conference - we all know accounting is an International language, an accounting conference in a foreign language sounds like it would really push me out of my comfort zone!

I delivered three sessions at Accountex. Ethan Cooney of Ignition said the most popular session at the conference was the panel discussion on Explore Atomic Habits I led at the GoCardless Buzz Labs. Thank you very much Emily Shurey from the Marketing team at GoCardless who made that possible, and everyone who attended the session.

In this podcast I speak with:

Alex Cumberland Agency Partner Manager at Oncord Digital Marketing Software

Jeremy Rowe General Manager Innovation of the CACatalyst team at CAANZ

Rob Cameron CEO at FYI the Document management and process automation solution,

purpose-built for accountants.

Guy Pearson CEO at Ignition online proposals, automated billing and payment collection solution for professional services businesses.

Melissa Lewis Business Development Manager SwiftFox CRM a CRM for accountants and financial service firms

Dyean Moodley Digital Account Executive at a little firm called Microsoft.

And from the bookkeeping world

Nicole RED Lynch Co-founder Streamline Management

Myreeann Tchopourian Managing Director Chisholm Business Services Pty Limited

Tamara-Lee Beveridge BAS & ASIC Agent Bizcore 360 

Julianna Nagy Founder of Horizon Accounts

Can I encourage you to stay informed by subscribing to the Cloud Stories podcast and the Accounting Apps newsletter.

Hi, I hope you found the interviews from Accountex informative and edutaining! 

The two day Sydney Accountex conference was a great opportunity to catch up and spend time with members of the Accounting and Bookkeeping community and with familiar and a few new Accounting App vendors.

Initially I was asked to be a media partner, but I’m an accountant, and I felt a bit uncomfortable with that. The organisers established a content crew, which I instead asked to join and actively participated in. I was listed on the website as being part of the content crew, but am no longer listed there - I am not sure why.  During the early stages, the content crew were extensively involved with encouraging new speakers to pitch their ideas, reviewing speaker submissions, and highlighting which sessions we thought would resonate with the accounting and bookkeeping community. I’m focused on improving and nurturing the Accounting and Bookkeeping profession and community, and it was good to be part of the initial content development.

I was gratefully allocated a podcasting slot for the last session on the last day, in a cute podcast caravan, but my bad, I got confused with the calendar timings, and missed it completely.

I’m normally quite busy at conferences, and I hustled up a few more opportunities, as well as the interviews you just listened to, I delivered three fun and engaging sessions. 

With the Fathom team I coordinated a brilliant panel discussion “How being purpose-driven and customer centric can help attract clients and retain top talent” on the main stage.

I delivered a panel discussion on Explore Atomic Habits at the GoCardless Buzz Labs with Michele Grisdale, Amar Latif and Dan Osbourne. 

Also at the GoCardless Buzz Labs Nick Sinclair Founder - Humanverse Group (TOA Global & AB² Institute) and I discussed “Current Industry Trends and How Accountants and Bookkeepers can Optimise them.” 

I plan to release the sessions recorded at the GoCardless Buzz Labs on the Cloud Stories podcast soon.

I’d also like to mention that Emily Shurey from the GoCardless team has a sparkly side gig. She supplies me with my Biodegradable & Eco Friendly Glitter follow her on insta at glitterazzi.me. If you need extra glitter in your life, and let's face it, who doesn’t? You should source Biodegradable & Eco Friendly Glitter. Generally available glitter is a plastic core and polyester PET film and when it breaks down, releases chemicals that are harmful to humans and animals and it contributes to the growth of microplastic in the marine environment. Unexpected environmental message in an accounting technology podcast!!

I had a full access ticket, which conveniently gave me access to an ample variety of food & beverages, a really fun dance party overlooking the Sydney Harbour on the last evening.

The CACatalyst team from Chartered Accountants ran a pitch night, on the first night. One of the contestants was Empiraa, a gamified yet simplified business planning software, that helps you set business goals and an actionable plan on how to achieve them. I’ve met with the founder Ash Brown and he and the team at Empiraa have joined me as a strategic partner, supporting me to support the community.

I also had the opportunity to meet up and reconnect with a lot of brilliant people in the Accounting Industry, including Caroline Hobden, Portfolio Director at Accountex in the UK and Europe and she invited me to come and speak in the UK. Well maybe not this year, cause I shall be attending Amanda Aguillard’s Accounting Salon in Florida, but I've pencilled it in 2024. How exciting.

More could be said about Sydney Accountex, but for me I used my positive energy to make the most of the event. 

I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Can I encourage you to stay informed by subscribing to the Cloud Stories podcast and the Accounting Apps newsletter which you can find at HeatherSmith AU dot com.