From The Oscars to Graduate Recruitment Videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zlEFTgk1tg

Within days of each other accountants have been in the ‘spotlight’ for getting laughs….. but not for the right reasons. First, the mix-up with an Oscars envelope for ‘Best Picture’ now termed envelopegate. Second, an ‘excruciating’ recruitment video from the Australian Department of Finance to attract graduates. So how are accountants viewed?

Trust is key

While we do have our moments, generally accountants are viewed as one of the most trusted professions. In fact we have been consistently ranked 11th in the Roy Morgan’s Annual Image of Professions Survey. Deloittes was ranked number one to work by graduates by GradConnections. But the accounting profession has been undergoing significant change.

Meeting client growing needs

Accounting firms are now calling themselves ‘consulting’ firms and their accountants now referred to as consultants. Why? Because the profession is now becoming a more broad service provider to business. No longer are we just ‘number crunchers’ and ‘bean counters’ preparing tax returns and financial statements. Our services have gone further into providing advice and information to business managers. This allows business managers to make more informed decisions. Technology now extends into providing information technology services in accounting. For larger firms they are becoming ‘one stop shop’ business service providers to business. This has seen them competing with consulting firms as McKinsey & Co, Bain & Co, Boston Consulting Group.

Remaining relevant with customers

Bookkeepers and management accountants are no different. With the introduction of Goods and Services Tax in Australia, the role of bookkeepers has become important. Our role with owners and management has become more intimate. Business is becoming more technology based through transactions, e-commerce, online banking, cloud accounting and many addon features. Our knowledge, skill and experience is critical to success. It’s becoming necessary for business to keep up with competitors. Remaining relevant with customer technology needs is required by business.

Technology key to innovation

To demonstrate how technology influences business, let’s look at some of the best performing USA stocks in the last 20 years. We see Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Apple. Watching Sky News “Smart Money”, Xero Managing Director Trent Innes identified the cost benefits to business using cloud based technology, allowing remote access to their business on mobile devices as smartphones and tablets. This allows business success through innovation and improved cashflow management. This is followed by CEO Simon Griffith from Who Gives a Crap, an online social enterprise. Their purpose is to build toilets for those in need by selling 100% recycled paper cleaning products online. They use tehnology to streamline their logistics and warehousing to minimise costs.

We’re human, but we’re needed

So yes, accountants or consultants are human. It is what makes the profession one of the most trusted and sought after. Our work is wide and varied as our clients needs change and evolve. Management accountants are sought for our intimate understanding of our clients. This allows us to provide insights they could not achieve on their own. Our role is no longer bean counting. It’s now advising and using technology to allow business owners and managers to make more informed decisions. Technology is now a growing part of the service provision for clients. Innovation is essential to for businesses to remain relevant with their customers, now and in the future.

 

Why Foley Business Management is relevant to your business

Our purpose is to build sustainable communities and to create a better world for our childrens’ children.

This is why we take a holistic approach to our clients, not just preparing financial statements and leaving it to the client to work out on their own. We provide financial management solutions to small businesses, not for profits and social enterprise so they can make informed decisions. For many people, owning a business is a big step. One that will affect you, your family and your community.

If you would like to speak to one of our consultants for a free 30 minute consultation, please contact us to organise a time that is convenient. A business can be a rewarding experience for you, your family and your community! Let’s make sure you do it the right way.

Xero Roadshow 2017 Brisbane

The Xero’s Roadshow for 2017 in Brisbane gave some great insights into some of the features that not only already exists, but they will be releasing. We were also able to hear from addon providers who had stalls at the event. The number of addons and apps you can now have either attached to Xero or as separate features is always growing and changing.

Why having an accounting package will improve your business success!

According to ASIC data, after 5 years the success rate of a business is 51%. Who enters into business with the odds of your business not being a success being 49%. You may as well toss a coin to decide if you go into business!

For a business that uses an accounting package, especially cloud software, this dramatically improves to an 88% success rate! The numbers speak for themselves, if you don’t have an accounting package, you are gambling with the success of your business.

Addon for Boosted Benefit

An interesting fact is that only 40% of businesses use an addon connected to their Xero package. While many apps don’t require being connected to your accounting package, businesses could be losing benefits of adding value to their business and clients by not doing so.

The scary thing is some bookkeepers don’t know what addons are out their to recommend to their clients. This means they aren’t even able to offer them the ability to decide if they could benefit from an addon.

As a management accountant, I am constantly looking at ways to not only improve my business, but those of my clients to ultimately improve their ability to make decisions. For this reason I provide clients with software evaluations.

Let’s be honest, as a business owner you want to do what you are good at. You don’t want to be on a computer doing research and being shown through demo’s when it’s not your thing! We can do that for you considering the needs of you, your business, your customers and your suppliers.

New Product- Fixed assets for tax purposes

This is a great new product addition to Xero. For businesses with assets, this will be a great way to keep track of what you do and don’t have. It will also assist with tracking and entering depreciation so you have more accurate reports. I look forward to using this feature for clients!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQhNTxcg18L/?taken-by=foleybusinessmanagement

MYOB INCITE Roadshow 2017

https://www.instagram.com/p/BQKCT69gGv9/?taken-by=foleybusinessmanagement

Tomorrow, today

This event was predominantly for bookkeepers and accountants who use MYOB. The event opened with Gus Balbontin, former Executive Director of Lonely Planet. The theme of the event was ‘Tomorrow’. Gus spoke of how Lonely Planet had to adapt to the change of media and publishing from the ‘old media’ of papers and magazines to the ‘new media’ of the digital age where everything could be found at the click of a button. A reminder that if you do not move to meet what your customers want for tomorrow, then you will be left behind.

Customers buy holes, not drill bits.

The second part of the roadshow centred around add-ons and getting the most out of them. With a number of add-on exhibitors, this allowed me to re-acquaint myself with those I knew and those I had yet to meet. The event re-inforced the fact business needs are constantly changing. This includes accounting and financial management products. There are literally thousands of add-ons available and our business clients require us to be able to give them recommendations for these add-ons that will allow them to make informed decisions.

Leaders in Business

For this reason Foley Business Management invests time in understanding not only the needs of our clients, but the tools they require to make their businesses better to serve their clients. We are finding our services not only consulting to our clients, but to the providers of accounting and add-on software. Why? Because of our expertise in management accounting, we understand what is needed in software to make it a benefit to users. We are advising the makers of drill bits what the drill bit needs to be able to do and what it needs to do that serves the client.

  • Businesses need a hole.
  • Add-on providers make drill bits.
  • We advise Add-on providers what is needed to use a drill bit, such as a power drill, and how the client will use it, such as in hard wood or soft wood.

How we can assist you and your business or ‘make sense of your dollars’

Our purpose is to build sustainable communities. What we do is provide financial management solutions to small business, not for profit and social enterprise that allows their owners and board members make more informed decisions. We do this by providing bookkeeping, management accounting and consulting services, specialising in the Indigenous sector.

Your business is a valuable part of the community. You provide employment, spend money in the community, provide goods and services the community uses and needs. We want to assist you to do this better by allowing you to make more informed business decisions. Basically, we help to make sense of your dollars.