What motivated ACCA to sponsor the Independent Accounting Practice of the Year award at the Finance Awards Wales this year?
Independent practices across Wales play a crucial part in supporting businesses in growing and we are proud to be able to recognise the vital contribution they make to supporting the Welsh economy, supporting businesses of all sizes, in all sectors and at all stages of their business lifecycle.
How does recognising independent accounting practices contribute to the overall growth and success of the accounting profession, and why is it significant to ACCA?
Many ACCA members spend their professional lives in public practice with a majority of those working in small and medium sized practices (SMPs). It’s a core part of our strategy to offer support, guidance and advice for accountants working in SMPs.
At a Welsh level, as I mentioned, SMPs are crucial to supporting businesses in Wales. Looking at previous years’ entrants, it is clear SMPs are often now offering niche services to clients, based on their specialist areas of expertise. This expertise added to excellent knowledge of their clients’ businesses and ambitions for the business means SMPs are in a great place to add value.
Close to their clients – understanding their business and working together to grow the business – means genuine long-term partnerships can be forged. Also in Wales we have a strong network and collaboration between finance and professional services – if they don’t know the answer to a question, they will know who to ask.
How can recognising and celebrating independent accounting practices contribute to fostering excellence within the industry, and how does ACCA encourage this?
Recognising and celebrating independent practices is important as it helps to raise their profile and is a key way to acknowledge the importance of the work that they do – often there are preconceptions of who accountants are and what they do. By showcasing the great service that they provide and the expertise that they have can only help to boost the attractiveness of the profession to the next generation.
In your view, how does recognising and awarding entire practices, as opposed to individuals, positively impact the overall performance and reputation of independent accounting firms?
Awards such as the Finance Awards Wales are a great way of recognising the vital work being carried out by independent accounting firms, and the value they can add to clients’ businesses across a whole range of services.
We always try and encourage our members to enter awards! The number of accountants who enter accountancy awards is relatively low. Yet the benefits of entering, winning or being shortlisted are far greater than people imagine. The process of entering such competitions can be a great catalyst for promotion of your team, practice or indeed, yourself! And it is a great way for the practice to reflect on the work they do and the progress they have made. In a busy schedule that activity is too often squeezed out.
The most valuable objectives of winning awards are probably the raising of your profile among the business community and evidencing your credibility with prospective clients. This exists from the time you decide to enter, to being shortlisted and well beyond the awards event.
There are many other positives that can come from entering awards:
- boosting team morale
- a chance to reflect on your work objectively – what are you, or your team doing differently from your competitors?
- Attracting and retaining new team members
- personal prestige
- the associated PR – both locally and nationally
- added credibility with business associates and networking contacts
- reflecting on your success and achievements
We could all find reasons to not put ourselves forward, but as our members who have won previously will agree, the benefits far outweigh the negatives.
What are some of the unique challenges faced by independent accounting practices, and how does this award contribute to addressing those challenges?
The challenges practices face is so often a reflection of the challenges faced by their clients. Recent years have seen several transformational shifts in the technology available to accountants. Cloud-based solutions with a range of add-ons that integrate with the core product, together with access through broadband and mobile networks, have removed the ‘brown paper bag’ and replaced it with the smartphone and the tablet.
Practices that can embrace modern technology – and increasingly that includes AI –the more that they can work with clients to automate bookkeeping and transactional work meaning that more time can be spent using their accountancy expertise to look at the business, the risks and opportunities, analysing data and so becoming the trusted business advisor.
ACCA’s Support for Practices:
How does ACCA support the professional development and success of independent accounting practices, and are there specific resources or initiatives in place?
We offer a range of services to our members working in small and medium sized practices, including CPD, technical advisory advice and regular updates through our monthly InPractice mailout but also building a community of members working in this segment of the profession through providing advice and guidance, by sharing our research and insights work and by bringing members together to discuss common issues faced.
How does ACCA engage with the broader accounting community, especially with a focus on independent practices, and are there programs or initiatives aimed at fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing?
We engage with members across the accounting community at a Welsh, UK and global level – through local and national events and activities, and by highlighting the work that our members are doing to a wider audience. We encourage knowledge sharing through forums such as our UK Practice Panel, LinkedIn groups and via our website.
ACCA is striving to help small and medium sized practitioners. We have pulled together a wide range of resources and information to help achieve this, including information about practising certificates, monitoring and ethics as well as marketing and recruitment and retention.
We have produced a series of toolkits is aimed at offering practical support to accountants in SMPs, and those supporting SMEs in their crucial role of supporting livelihoods and sustainable growth.
The toolkits cover the following areas:
- Leading sustainability
- Attracting, retaining, and managing talent
- Going digital
- Developing new services
These can be accessed via:
Practical toolkits for SMEs and SMPs | ACCA Global
Public practice and SMP | ACCA Global
Do you have any advice for independent accounting practices looking to enhance their services and increase their chances of winning this prestigious award?
The opportunity for SMPs to grow in today’s business environment is unprecedented. Digital transformation, in particular, is truly enabling smaller accountancy firms to reimagine the services they offer, but successful change is critically dependent on attracting, developing and retaining the right people.
That means compliance fees are becoming less important as advisory work takes centre stage. This shift means everyone in practice must evolve to ensure they stay relevant. Successful accounting practices have strong vision and strong values. The leaders of the business know where they want to be and they have a strong sense of ethics to back up their technical expertise and knowledge. They are also always learning and developing- whether it is embracing the latest technology or working hard to learn how to make their own business -and their clients- successful and sustainable addressing climate concerns and moving towards net zero. They also embrace diversity in the workforce offer different career and qualification opportunities – including apprenticeships – and offering a work life balance to ensure they attract, motivate and retain the talent they need. Good recruitment and retention practices are essential .
What do you foresee for the future of independent accounting practices, and how does ACCA aim to contribute to the continued success and innovation in this sector?
An independent accountancy sector has always thrived but the future of independent accounting practices has never been brighter. Advances in affordable technology, shifting attitudes to working and employment practices combined with those eternal qualities – professional values and an entrepreneurial spirit – are making a huge difference. Start-ups, niche firms and growing businesses can attract and retain clients and with the right set up and attitude can offer a best in class service regardless of size. And firms will always look to keep themselves competitive and offer the service clients want – sometimes quite niche- through mergers and acquisitions as well as organic growth.
Talent: Staff retention can be a critical issue for independent practices. Progression is often said to be key to retention, with the opportunity to learn and develop new skills. It is important to look at development and retention in conjunction. Independent practices need not restrict their employees to in-house development programmes, but instead support their initiatives for self- curated training and provide financing for external training opportunities. The use of mentoring, inter-generational cooperation, working in pod systems, networking, and involvement of employees in community work are just some of the approaches used by SMPs to develop staff. Building a continuous learning culture that can engage and support the workforce to adapt and transform in line with business needs is of supreme importance for SMPs
What is the best advice you have been given and why?
‘Don’t fall off stage’.
Always wise words from Beth Bannister from British Business Bank when handing out a prize at an award. I’m sure she actually wanted to see me fall off stage…
This was excellent advice as falling off stage is not a good look.
What’s Your Favourite book?
My current favourite book is the biography of the late Rolling Stones drummer, Charlie Watts ‘Charlie’s Good Tonight’.
As well as being an incredible drummer, he lived an incredibly private life off stage, involving keeping horses, a taste for fine suits and collecting rare first editions of books.