2023 and all that

Over the last six weeks we’ve been looking at the steps involved in building your own five star firm. More of this in the New Year but, with Christmas approaching, I thought I‘d take a break from the plan and look at the areas that you may want to focus on in your firm next year.

Far be it from me to tell you how to run your firm; it’s your firm to be ran your way, that’s one of our mantras. I am around to chip in with opinion and thoughts though so here goes:-

#1 Wellness – no point in having your own firm if you and your team aren’t happy and healthy, and it won’t wait until you’re less busy. Having a wellness strategy planned into your diary and resources is as important, arguably more so, than all of your production and marketing plans.

#2 Accountability – few of us like the thought of being held accountable but the hard truth is that this is how things get done. It doesn’t have to mean people being beaten around the head with a rolled up timesheet, that’s for the culture of your firm to determine, but having clear and fair  KPIs, deadlines and goals and accepting that we are going to have to deliver on those is just grown up business isn’t it?  Of course, this is going to test your management qualities, hence….

#3 Leadership – allocating time to your personal development and your leadership style will pay dividends throughout your business. When did you last work on how you influence those around you and the impact that you have? Having a personal mentor or coach will help you to focus on yourself as well as your firm (I would say that of course, it doesn’t make it wrong!)

 #4 Team – firm leaders generally don’t allocate enough time to developing the skills and confidence of their team. I’m not talking CPD but helping them to develop the wider skills and personalities needed in your business. In this tech driven age it is our human side that will differentiate us so helping your team to grow in a more rounded way can be very powerful and a great retention and recruitment strategy.

#5 Client management – accountants generally have good clients but they can be a pain! We lose too much time chasing them up and having our advice ignored. Given the greater pressures on accounting firms today, we can’t afford to keep doing this. The chances are that roughly one in three of your clients are barely profitable to your business. It’s time to focus on creating better balanced client relationships and exiting those who don’t see that as fair. They trust you and like you, otherwise they’d go somewhere cheaper, so it’s time they started to show it by paying attention to you. Draw your lines on client behaviour.

#6 MTD – we live in the Digital Age where real time, accessible data and information is the norm and a feature of all of our lives. Why are some firms therefore allowing HMRC to drive the digital progression of their clients?  The timetable for HMRC’s digital strategy shouldn’t be the issue; your clients need to be working smarter regardless of when HMRC will mandate them to. You can’t help clients who won’t help themselves. Your own digital strategy should trump HMRC’s.

#7 Work cycles – the quarterly cycle of bookkeeping and management accounts has been around since the inception of VAT almost five decades ago, a time before internet, apps, mobile devices, machine learning and AI, so why is it still the staple work cycle for many? Daily and weekly cycles will become the norm and are already for many.  Are you up to speed?

#8 Embrace change – professional firms have traditionally improved by looking at what they did yesterday and working on it today to improve things for tomorrow. The pace of change in people and tech is so rapid these days that sometimes yesterday isn’t the right place to start from. Better to stand back and ask the question: “forget where we are for a moment, if we were starting afresh today, how would we do it?” This can lead to the agile, pivotal firm that we all talk about.

Just some personal thoughts ahead of 2023. Whatever you do next year, do it with vision, clarity, energy and belief. If you are doing what you believe in then it is up to others to decide whether they like it or not, that’s their choice. In the end, those who share your vision and beliefs will side with you.

That’s how it should be.

Merry Christmas to you. Have an enjoyable and relaxing break and set yourself up to smash 2023!