What is the primary message for accountants in your book, The World’s Most Inspiring Accountants?
Quite simply that, as accountants, we can use our skill with numbers to change the world.
This great profession of ours can do great things. Some of them are obvious things, like helping businesses become more successful and profitable, saving them from failure, and creating jobs and wealth; so that one business at a time, our economies get stronger and life gets better for everyone.
And some are less obvious. For example, some accountants are finding powerful new ways to make a difference by:
- Helping businesses measure and reduce their carbon footprint;
- Making life better for people in need by using sites like Buy1Give1 to connect their business with causes that resonate with them; and
- Making a public commitment to change the world, for instance via my website, Accountants Changing the World.
What encouraged you to write The World’s Most Inspiring Accountants? What previous factors came together to make you want to pursue this topic?
I have always believed that the accounting profession can change the world. In fact, it’s why I became an accountant in the first place. And it’s also why I have spent the last 17 years researching what makes accountants great.
Much of that research has been into how some accountants get much better results than others—which resulted in my writing several books and launching the free Improve Your Practice initiative.
But in this new book I want to broaden my research to specifically look at how some accountants are having a much bigger impact on the world around them. So, following on from my previous book UK’s Best Accountancy Practices, it will feature dozens of case studies revealing in precise detail how individual accountants are using their skill with numbers to make a real difference to the businesses, finances, and lives of their clients. It will also show how accountants are making an equally profound difference to their communities, their local economies, and the lives of those in need.
And it will be specifically designed to inspire accountants around the world to serve their clients better, make more of a difference, and help to restore the reputation of the profession.
What are the key findings of your research?
So far I have identified over 70 detailed case studies of how accountants are making a real difference. But I still need more!
As was perhaps to be expected, many of these stories involve accountants helping to improve their clients’ profits, cash flow, business value, tax bills, and personal wealth.
What is perhaps more surprising is the fact that in many of these cases, relatively simple input from the accountant has had a disproportionately positive impact. For example, some of the things that have had a profound impact have included helping clients:
- Properly understand their costs;
- Change their prices;
- Get better management information, often by switching to cloud accounting;
- Improve their financial controls;
- Tighten up their credit control procedures; and
- Raise finance
Encouragingly, therefore, the evidence suggests that accountants don’t have to retrain as business consultants in order to make a real difference. Our core skills still have much to offer.
Excitingly, the case studies also reveal how profound the human impact of our work can be. For example, I have gathered heart-warming stories of how accountants have helped their clients cope with Alzheimer’s, save their marriages, and even adopt a child.
But, as I said, I am still looking for more case studies because I know there are lots more firms out there doing great things.
So is there still time for accountants to get their firms featured in the book?
There certainly is. And the invitation to feature in the book is open to ANY accountancy practice, anywhere in the world. It doesn’t cost anything. And they will be able to describe their practices as “officially one of the world’s most inspiring accountants.”
What’s more, the process is very straightforward:
- Practices can nominate themselves by submitting a case study of how they have made a significant difference and completing the entry form by August 31, 2015 (see details on LinkedIn here).
- We will then select the most inspiring case studies to appear in the book.
And, by telling the story of how practices have made a real difference, the book will prove beyond any doubt how special those practices AND our profession are.
