Posts by marvin

In today’s dynamic accounting market, brands are so much a part of our day to day lives that we forget how much we depend on them. Look at successful businesses like McDonalds, Qantas and Coca Cola for example. Their brand is well recognised and the market knows what goods and services they offer. Wikipedia defines…

Most leaders in professional service firms have spent years defining themselves by the skills they’ve developed – be they technical skills, decision-making skills, strategic thinking skills, account management skills or negotiation skills. Many have spent insufficient time identifying values and personality preferences so they can “be and work at their best” each day they manage…

Why did I do it? I started with hopes and dreams. I believed I could make a difference. I no longer want to kick the cat. I want to kill it. My evenings have turned from a nice glass of wine to half a bottle of scotch. Why did it come to this? It’s never…

Good profitability, strong, sustainable cash flow, growing return and being client-focused go hand in hand to business advisory success. At accounting firms, most accountants believe this, but they have a hard time identifying specific actions and communicating the benefits to clients in a manner they can understand and value. Here are 10 specific things you…

When you talk to your clients about their business what quickly becomes very clear is that most have a good idea as to what what they need to do to move their business forward. The problem is not the idea, it’s the implementation. Most business owners are time poor, buried in their businesses churning out…

We have all no doubt studiously trawled over the various annual reports available on Accounting Practice performance; earnings per Partner, average spend on IT figures, etc. But what are these figures not showing, what more can be gleaned? Do you compare yourself against your own potential as keenly as you do against your competitor? Accountants…

Business Valuation is always a hot topic of conversation at accounting events, particularly business advisory conferences. However, moving away from the reactive side of valuations (business restructuring, tax reasons, court cases, merges and acquisitions) is critical to developing a powerful advisory service. The value understanding that is what drives the value of the business is…

Every business eventually runs out of gas, including accounting firms. Failure to recognise this can destroy the creative potential in an organisation with the misguided decision to maintain the ‘status-quo’. I believe, recognition of this is the key to growing advisory services in our profession. I came to this conclusion over 40 years ago while…

Ever heard of the term “Aspirational Spelling”? It’s a consequence of the technology age where no-one needs to know how to spell anymore since our friends at Google, Microsoft and elsewhere will pick up those errors and often autocorrect them without you knowing or at least highlight where spelling errors exist and suggesting replacements. After…

Back in early November I travelled over to Canada to run the Canadian Accounting Technology Conference (CATS). This is a Canadian version of Smithink 2020’s popular Australian ATSA event. On the way over via the US, I was very fortunate to attend the Disney Leadership Excellence in Anaheim California. This system of customer service has…