The other day I was speaking with a 50 year old accountant who was just starting afresh in a new firm he had created, but had partnered up with a backer with cash. The accountant was commenting in his working some 70-80 hours each week as “sweat capital”. The middle age accountant is bringing the mentality from the last century, …
Australian accounting firms: recruiting new Gen Z talent and the laws of attraction
As we start to see the next generation enter the workforce, it’s time to revisit Australian accounting firms recruiting. Whilst many are still making comments about the Millennials (Gen Y) who were born from 1981 to 1996, it’s time to start considering recruiting strategies for the Zoomers (Generation Z) who were born from 1997 to 2012, of which the 1997 …
Corporate social responsibility: perhaps now more important than ever
For those reading news online in many of the various news applications or social media applications, it’s hard not to feel (at least for older readers) that the world isn’t doing so well. At the same time, it’s more important for business owners to engender a sense of community and a sense of belonging and giving. And yes, while we …
Australian accounting firm owners: the direct connection of charity to the community
In our last blog, we touched on the lifecycle of the Australian accounting business, with the end result of the lifecycle being the change of the entity to being an investment for the Accounting firm owner. It’s well researched that giving activates the reward centre in your brain, improves life satisfaction, and makes you feel happier. Health also improves through …
Why it’s critical for Accounting firm owners to get out of the business, and turn it into an investment
We’ve all seen the cash flow quadrant which encourages people to move from being an employee (having a job) into being self-employed (owning a job) to being a business owner (owning a system) and into being an investor (owning investments). Whilst it’s a sobering thought of the massive number of companies that don’t make it to the second year, let …
Australian tax compliance Client confidentiality and the TPB’s take
In 17 November 2020 the TPB released some Question and Answer comments on Cloud computing and confidentiality as a result of questions received during the webinar. There are a couple of very interesting answers that will surprise most accountants. It’s worth also referring to the TPB practice note TPB(PN) 1/2017 on Cloud computing and the Code of Professional Conduct which …
Australian SMSF auditors: including the extra Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Notification
With the longer term impact of COVID-19 as yet one of the unknowns, there has been recent news regarding disclosure requirements for SMSF trustees who have not yet completed their 2019 financial year accounts. We’ve seen some recommendations related to the need to disclose the pandemic as a significant event in the “Events subsequent to Balance Date”. Accountants should be …
Ownership versus Usership: Why we’re all about the job based compliance model
Over the past year we’ve been seeing a big push in the articles into the quantum shift from ownership to usership. Ownership is dead, seems to be the common themes. Research is showing that less people want to own things, and are more comfortable with using them on a temporary basis. It’s not surprising that global car sales are down, …
The top 5 regrets when your accounting career is over. Hint: They aren’t what you think
Though it’s been around for a while, we frequently see on the social media the “The Top 5 Regrets Of The Dying”, and no, we aren’t talking this week about the death of compliance. We’re talking this week about the ability to stop for a moment in our day, not put our heads down and start at our iPhones, and …
Is it time to exit older accounting firm owners?
After years of talking to Accounting firm business owners, we’re starting to see a trend. Older accounting firm owners are starting to be pushed out of their firms, or just closing shop. And it’s not just us noticing the trends: ‘The doomsayers are wrong’: Accounting industry younger and thriving ATO Assistant Commissioner Colin Walker has revealed new demographics for the …
