While the digital age is a time of great opportunity for accountants and bookkeepers it also means that there is increased client expectations around when we are available to assist them, leading to workplace stress.

Professionals today are complaining more about workplace stress, which can cause serious issues if they are ignored.

Without the coping mechanisms to deal with this new age of expectation and entitlement accountants and bookkeepers often feel like they are treading water or drowning in work.

Understanding this new age and putting a few key things in place can ensure that you give yourself the best chance to avoid or deal with the stress of everyday work as an accountant or bookkeeper.

In this extremely important episode we discuss a few of the ways we cope with things.

With so many accounting and bookkeeping software options on the market does it matter if you are software agnostic or not?

We remember going to the supermarket as a kid and there were only really two yoghurt options and now there are literally hundreds of different yoghurt options you can choose from.

Accountants and bookkeepers now find themselves in a similar position today and our clients are privileged in that they are spoilt for choice. This poses as incredible opportunity and risk for both accountants and bookkeepers.

Do you need to be agnostic, or is choosing not to be software agnostic a viable market choice.

We discuss both sides of this in today's episode.

Cloud software conversions are becoming more and more common for bookkeepers and accountants.

In fact migrating data is one of the most difficult things when switching systems for new accounting software buyers. How easily will our data transfer? Should a client even convert? Can we keep the historical data in the old system?

To many clients (and maybe some accountants and bookkeepers) the conversion process can seem daunting.

We discuss some of the dos and do nots of converting your client data.

Diane (The Bookie aka Bookkeeper) of Diane (The Bookie aka Bookkeeper) from https://www.directmanagement.com.au and Kane (The Beano aka Accountant) from www.activeoutsourcing.com.au and www.accountancyonline.com.au are professionals practicing who encounter these issues and many more every day.

Be it pre-conference booze ups, cruises, ridiculously exotic locations for conferences and open bar after open bar the last 5 years have seen accountants and bookkeepers go from hum drum technical training at ancient function centres to being lavished with attention from platform providers.

With that in mind we discuss how we pick the conferences we attend and keep up to date with our respective CPE requirements. We also discuss the software and app market and how they relate to our education and how on earth we keep up with that on top of or everyday work.

Diane (The Bookie aka Bookkeeper) of Diane (The Bookie aka Bookkeeper) from https://www.directmanagement.com.au and Kane (The Beano aka Accountant) from www.activeoutsourcing.com.au and www.accountancyonline.com.au are professionals practicing who encounter these issues and many more every day.

Diane recently attended the QuickBooks Connect conference in San Jose.

We find out a little bit more about the event and we also catch up with a few of the businesses featured in the Business Bazaar at the event. Each of these businesses are doing something pretty unique and have been trialling the new QuickBooks Payment function that should be coming to Australia in the next 12 months. Di asks them about this and other tools they use in their business.

With over 5,000 attendees QuickBooks Connect is a unique event includes energizing sessions, inspiring speakers, networking opportunities and more.

Diane (The Bookie aka Bookkeeper) of Diane (The Bookie aka Bookkeeper) from https://www.directmanagement.com.au and Kane (The Beano aka Accountant) from www.activeoutsourcing.com.au and www.accountancyonline.com.au are professionals practicing who encounter these issues and many more every day.

MUSIC CREDIT

Music: http://www.purple-planet.com

Diane joins us live from the US where she has been attending QuickBooks Connect 2018.

With over 5,000 attendees QuickBooks Connect is a unique event includes energizing sessions, inspiring speakers, networking opportunities and more.

98 percent of accounting professional attendees said that attending QuickBooks Connect would help them serve their clients better.

We find out a little bit more about the event, what Di loves about it and we also catch up with a few vendors to discuss their tools that can help in your firm.

Diane (The Bookie aka Bookkeeper) of Diane (The Bookie aka Bookkeeper) from https://www.directmanagement.com.au and Kane (The Beano aka Accountant) from www.activeoutsourcing.com.au and www.accountancyonline.com.au are professionals practicing who encounter these issues and many more every day.

MUSIC CREDIT

Music: http://www.purple-planet.com

What education do you need to become a bookkeeper or an accountant?

What professional bodies are out there?

Does certification in software matter anymore?

What do we think about the glut of accounting and bookkeeping conferences out there?

We discuss this and more this week.

The issues facing both the accountancy and bookkeeping professions are universal.

Diane (The Bookie aka Bookkeeper) of Diane (The Bookie aka Bookkeeper) from https://www.directmanagement.com.au and Kane (The Beano aka Accountant) from www.activeoutsourcing.com.au and www.accountancyonline.com.au are professionals practicing who encounter these issues and many more every day.

Bookkeeping and accounting are two separate things, but together, they can help your small business achieve financial bliss.

A strong Accountant and Bookkeeper relationship is essential for the financial success of your company. Both their roles should compliment each other and they certainly shouldn't be fighting.

In this episode we discuss how bookkeepers and accountants should interact as well as some of the horror stories when they don't.