I have been at Xerocon South, a conference for Xero users, accountants and bookkeepers from the Asia Pacific region, in Brisbane for the last 2 days.
I was there for my POS software company Tower Systems, a Xero partner.
Over the two days I talked to more small business accountants than I have in years. We talked about changes in their businesses and the businesses of their clients. Change is everywhere.
Plenty of these accountants have newsagents as customers so, naturally, we got to talk about newsagency businesses even though this is not why I was there.
It was a good two days talking with people who help retailers and other small business owners work on their businesses.
One insight was that accountants are changing their businesses in response to significant changes in the nature of their work. Whereas a small business accounting was labour intensive from bookkeeping to other record keeping, now it is more about insights as the paperwork has been replaced by collected solutions such as Xero and MYOB that link directly to POS software.
Accountants have had to change their businesses to stay viable as the bookwork has become less human based. The challenges of change due to technology driven disruption is not dissimilar to what newsagents face in their newsagencies.
As accountants are taking on more advisory and strategic planning work for clients, they are looking for better data, consistent data on which they can rely to provide insights. Some who deal with newsagents praise their clients for their data while others bemoan the inaccurate record keeping.
What was most interesting was the desire among accountants for less time to be spent on bookkeeping. They want the change that is disrupting a traditional income source in their businesses. They are chasing change. They want data to flow automatically, daily, between retail software and the accounting software and from there to the accountant. This enables them to better serve the strategic needs of the business rather than being bogged down in bookkeeping that serves a need but is not focussed on business efficiency or growth.
This is true for newsagents, the need is as real as ever to spend less time, capital and space on declining parts of the business and more on growth areas. What accountants are doing is exciting and it encourages me that if they can do it more newsagents can given that accountants have historically be considered to be risk-averse conservative business people.
Mark,
I would suggest the accountants at the conference were the exception not the rule. I would also suggest that small business owners get the service they deserve. Too many use the accountant for no more than tax compliance, fiscal returns and nothing else.
Most do not engage the accountant during the year and examine ongoing profitability. Their focus is fee minimisation, hence the wide spread use of cheap bookkeepers and form fillers.
There are some damning statistics on small businesses in Australia. None more so than % that are closed rather than sold or passed on. Succession plans and exit strategies are non existent.
There are progressive accountants out there. But if your emphasis is on fee avoidance, last year’s tax filing and superannuation pots, you may not find them.
I didn’t say they were the rule Colin. That there were 2,500 there suggests the number engaged is strong as some were representing others from the practice who could not make it.
The trade show had around 120 companies demonstrating products that help eliminate paperwork and speed up workflow, gaining in the client businesses. This is where a saving for small business can help an accountant and both benefit.