The Revolutionary Firm - The Voice of the Revolution

John Knight of the businessDEPOT kindly joined Mel Power and Matt Wilkinson on the Accounting Business Expo podcast.

businessDEPOT aims to be the full depot for small businesses. They realised that businesses were having a whole lot of other problems that they could help them with (e.g. HR, branding etc).

They talk about the story behind BusinessDEPOT was built from an accounting firm, now accounting is just one of the services they provided.

John, Mel and Matt also talk about marketing for accountants and bookkeepers as well as BusinessDEPOT's marketing. Their DEPOTnext events are designed to help small businesses take their businesses to the next level: http://businessdepot.com.au/insights/events/depot-next

John speaks about how they invest a lot in emotional intelligence at BusinessDEPOT.

The amazing and unique thing about businessDEPOT is that they allow their staff the opportunity to work closely with real small businesses, having real conversations with them in a working environment.

John's advice: spend your time on influencer marketing, getting the brand right, brand strategy. Then consider emotional intelligence, bring your team on the journey.

BusinessDEPOT

http://businessdepot.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/businessDEPOTau/ 

https://twitter.com/business_DEPOT 

https://twitter.com/jak_knight

16 Personalities - emotional intelligence

Chris Ridd of myprosperity joined Mel Power and Matt Wilkinson at the official podcast at the Accounting Business Expo. 

Show notes

We speak about Chris' journey, the myprosperity difference, the future of myprosperity.

Cloud accounting has been focused around business for too long. We need to know more about the actual business owner.

Chris and Matt chat about how too many accountants and bookkeepers are leaving too much money on the table with their existing client base. Need to learn how to get more money from your existing clients. Do all your clients know about all your services? Probably not.

Use technology in a clever way, at scale, across your whole client base is incredibly powerful. Then you know what to talk to each client about.

myprosperity puts everything in one place but puts the advisor at the centre. 

myprosperity

To find out more about myprosperity, book a free online demo.

http://www.myprosperity.com.au

https://www.facebook.com/myprosperity.com.au/ 

http://twitter.com/myprosperity 

https://twitter.com/chris_ridd

Nick Sinclair of The Outsourced Accountant and Jamie Johns of Sky Accountants joined Mel Power and Matt Wilkinson on the podcast at the Accounting Business Expo.

The boys talk to Mel and Matt about outsourcing for accountants and bookkeepers. We ask them the hard questions that advisors often have when considering outsourcing.

Show Notes

Firstly we asked Nick about the difference between outsourcing and offshoring.

Outsourcing is a dedicated task where you send to another country to be completed (e.g. tax returns and SMSF returns).

Offshoring probably describes it better. Offshoring refers to building a dedicated workforce in a global environment, a global workforce.

Jamie talks about his experiences with outsourcing in his own business, Sky Accountants.

They say it's not about tax or compliance anymore, it's about building efficiencies in your business. Finding the right people to do the right tasks, wherever they are in the world. 

And the big question..."Jamie, do you let your clients know you outsource?"

Jamie recommends being upfront and honest with all your clients, not hiding the fact they have a global workflorce.

They let them know upfront that they have a global team. Jamie says if the client wants their work completed in Australia, then they can do that for them from their two Australian offices.

The first step is building a global team so you can build a local team.

Clients will only complain if the quality of work is poor, and that's not an offshoring problem, that's a firm or training problem. 

People overseas have the skills, software and technology.

It's just about delivering exceptional service, all around the world.

Their tips for accountants and bookkeepers:

Get your house in order as much as you can, but not 100%. Start making the changes now. 

Go for the low hanging fruit. Too many firms try to put the most complex work over to their global team. 

Build a long term people strategy (which people, what capacity etc).

The Outsourced Accountant

http://theoutsourcedaccountant.com/

https://twitter.com/TheOAccountant

https://www.facebook.com/TOAccountant/

Sky Accounting Solutions

http://www.skyaccountants.com.au

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiejohns/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/sky-accounting-solutions/

https://www.facebook.com/skyaccountants

Matthew Prouse and Trent Innes of Xero join Mel Power and Matt Wilkinson on the podcast at The Accounting Business Expo.

We chat about where Xero was last year, the future for Xero, open banking & open data and insights from their latest reports. 

Show Notes

Xero Partner Benchmarking Report - run globally. Discovered that the average firm grew 11% last year.

Online accounting is the key to unlocking efficiencies and scaling.

They are starting to see more and more connected business advisory services. 

They talk about how they are working with government and banks to remove friction for small businesses.

Xero Partner Benchmarking Report (AUS)

Xero Small Business Insights

Xero Tax (AU and NZ) is an online engine that allows an advisors to submit tax returns for their clients, using data from Xero. To find out more, firstly join the Partner Program with Xero.

Thanks so much to Xero for sponsoring our podcast at The Accounting Business Expo.

Xero

https://www.xero.com/au/

https://twitter.com/Xero

https://www.facebook.com/Xero.Accounting/

Matthew Prouse

https://twitter.com/MatthewProuse

Trent Innes 

https://twitter.com/trentinnes

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Listen to Meryl Johnston's podcast - an inspiring Xero partner who runs an online bookkeeping firm for online businesses.

Wayne Findlay of Findlay & Co and The Back Room joined Matt Wilkinson and Mel Power on The Revolutionary Firm podcast at The Accounting Business Expo.

Wayne flew from Wanaka, a country town in New Zealand, to Sydney to attend the expo today. 

Findlay & Co won the Xero Marketing Innovation award a few years ago. We asked Wayne what they did that was so innovative. Wayne answered by explaining that they simply run events for their target market. They run interactive events, workshops, breakfasts that allow for one-on-one chats with their clients and prospects.

Wayne starting dabbling in outsourcing because he found it hard to find staff in Wanaka. They found that outsourcing work to the Philippines to be quite beneficial, they have a manager on the ground in the Philippines, visit there and bring the staff to NZ regularly.

All their overseas staff are Xero certified and know XPM.

They stick by the motto to "always hire someone smarter than them".

They have a lot of well documented procedures and tasks that allows it all to run smoothly.

They use Slack to stay connected with their overseas team, always communicate over video calls, so they really do feel part of the team.

All their clients know about their international team but Findlay & Co haven't had a client leave because of it. They understand that it's about the relationship they have with their client-facing team.

If you have a good relationship with the client and you do good work, they won't really care where the team is based.

The Back Room

https://thebackroomop.com/

Read Wayne's whitepapers about Outsourcing and Prepping accounting files here: https://thebackroomop.com/resources/

Findlay & Co 

http://www.findco.co.nz/

https://www.facebook.com/FindlayandCo/

https://twitter.com/Findlayandco

Meryl Johnston of Bean Ninjas joined Mel Power and Matt Wilkinson on the podcast

She shared about her story and experiences, her tips for managing teams including which metrics to focus on when running a bookkeeping firm. 

Meryl also shares her experiences with outsourcing work to India and the Philippines.

We got so many great tips from Meryl and we've noted some down here:

Hire someone more skilled than you think you need

Meryl's top tip: have an exit strategy in place!

Drap a map, list procedures, prioritise what is most important to your customers

For procedures, create a roadmap and assign who is going to do what

Bean Ninjas recommends Sweet Process to make documenting processes easier.

Bean Ninjas

https://beanninjas.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BeanNinjas/

https://twitter.com/beanninjas

Sholto Macpherson of Digital First and The Accounting Business Expo joins us on the podcast at the Accounting Business Expo.

We spoke to Sholto about content and how to put a content plan together for such a big event like the Accounting Business Expo.

Sholto shares his stories and experiences as well his tips for creating great content.

They talk about having a client-first focus and  how the conversation has to move away from retrospective looking at financials to future planning, to how can accountants and bookkeepers can read the signs of a business and provide extra insights.

Bookkeepers need to specialise in order to survive.

We also rack Sholto's brain to find out what's on the agenda for the Accounting Business Expo in 2019.

Accounting Business Expo

https://twitter.com/AccountingBExpo

https://www.facebook.com/accountingbusinessexpo/

http://www.accountingbusiness.com.au

Digital First & Sholto

https://digitalfirst.com/

https://twitter.com/digital_1st

https://www.facebook.com/Digital1st

Laura Venables

https://twitter.com/TheLauraVee

Amreeta Abbott of Now Infinity and Kylie Parker and Lotus Accountants join Mel Power and Matt Wilkinson on the official podcast at the Accounting Business Expo. 

Technology is only just a small piece of the equation. It facilitates better conversations. Technology only does so much, it's just one piece. The conversations are the important part.

We loved talking to Amreeta and Kylie about their inspirational stories and experiences.

Their tips for accountants and bookkeepers:

A lot of them are told or know they are not proactive, but if you do something that's not asked for, there is sometimes a question about payment. Fixed fee arrangement will take away some of that angst. Be flexible.

The key is to listen. 

You can't choose what happens to you but you can choose your reaction.

We appreciate the ladies sharing their stores so openly with us today.

#PressForProgress

Sarah Stein, Brooke Arnott and Jen Pryor joined Mel Power and Matt Wilkinson on the podcast at the Accounting Business Expo. 

All these ladies are members of the Rev Firm Program and they spoke to us about their experiences. 

We asked them what it was that led them to join the program.

Brooke felt she needed to change and needed some guidance as to how to do it.

Within 6 weeks of the Rev Firm program Brooke gained her biggest client ever, turned her business around and changed her business mindset.

Jen has run her business for 7 years and has many coaches in the past without much progress. 

She says Mel and Steve know how her business ticks, and it's been a massive change for her even in such a short time. The intensive 6 week program was valuable for Jen as it really got her business moving quickly and the results came in quickly as well. 

Sarah has been in business for 16 years and has done just about everything - sole trader, franchising, employing staff...

She says the industry is so loud, noisy and busy and there is just so much information out there. She didn't know where to turn or who to listen to. Sarah says the accountability of the Rev Firm program has really helped her stay on track.

Steve and Mel have really highlighted for them how they can utilise what they are learning in the program with their own clients.

Their advice to all listeners is to embrace change and encourage your clients to do so as well.. Ride the wave or end up being drowned by it.

Steve Major and Mel Power of The Revolutionary Firm on this episode of the Voice of the Revolution look back at 2017 and look forward to 2018. 2017 has been a huge year for The Revolutionary Firm. It has seen us working with incredible Bookkeepers...