The Need for Fit for Purpose Accounting Software Solutions

Rob Brown: 00:00:01

The future of accountant, isn't just about

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numbers and financial statements.

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It's about empowering businesses to make

informed decisions, navigate complex

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challenges, achieve their financial goals.

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And everyone recognized that Kansans

are at the heart of this and must become

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trusted partners with business acumen

expertise in data analytics, storytelling,

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strategic guidance, taking the clients

towards success and whatever your role

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is in this ecosystem, you need to stay

ahead of the curve to stay relevant.

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And that's why this accounting

answers podcast was conceived to

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keep you informed and competitive.

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I'm your host, Rob brown, and

I've interviewed 111 accounting

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experts, leaders, advisors, vendors,

and influencers in the last few

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months and collected for you the

very best and latest thinking on

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what works and what is coming up.

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And this week, they show 10 to 15

minutes gets you the low down on

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what matters today in the rapidly

evolving accounting landscape.

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And the professional is shed

in its traditional image of

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number crunching, embracing a

bold new future data technology,

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strategic guidance, reign Supreme.

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I've asked the same five questions

throughout covering the next

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generation of accountants.

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The proactive advice they need to be

given the drivers have changed the

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role of tech and software vendors

post the best predictions for the

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next few years, let's get started and

hear what our experts have to say.

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Today, we're again, asking

people who care about accounting.

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A simple question.

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What role do the tech providers

and software vendors play in

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the evolution of the industry?

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Technology's playing an increasingly

crucial role in the accounting profession.

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And the consensus is the tech industry

needs to step up to meet the evolving

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demands of accountants, but how exactly.

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Listening as another five of our

111 influencers and experts share

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their wisdom and their best insights.

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I'm really excited now to bring to

the microphone, the influencer of

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influences in the accounting world.

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The heavyweight accounting guru

that is Randy Johnston fault leader

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and genuine Renault-Nissan sprit

for all accounting technology.

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Known for his deep knowledge of

accounting tech and his ability

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to inspire innovation and change

within the accounting world.

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Randy Johnston: Well, here, the

tech industry hasn't served the

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accountants very well, and the

accounting software vendors,

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frankly, have, drugged their feet.

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And so the lack of innovation

in the last three to four years,

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in particular, and it has nothing

in my mind to do with pandemic.

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It has everything to do with

vision and investment, need to.

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Rebuild products that are

simpler and more complete.

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And that's a real tall order.

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but what happens here is the tools

that we're using in many cases

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are 20 and 30 year old designs.

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And today there are so much better ways,

so many better ways that this, technology

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can be used to automate processes, to

improve workflows, to improve business

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exchanges, to, do mundane things

that doesn't have to be done manually.

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So it's a pretty tall order,

both the public practice tools.

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And the accounting software tools

are doing pretty major overhauls.

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People are trying, but they may

not have quite the budgets or

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runways to get those accomplished.

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The next voice you'll hear is Randy

Woodson CEO at Advising B2B SAS

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companies on next stage growth,

where he's expertise, guides,

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firms through scaling challenges.

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With strategic insights

and operational excellence.

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Randy Wooton: This is the question

that I am struggling with as someone

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trying to sell to accountants.

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the accountants that I've talked

to, the firms that I've talked to

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specifically in the B2B SaaS space

are just anxious, anxious about what's

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happening in the broader B2B space.

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There is a tech recession going

on, meaning every client is

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tightening their belts and looking

at ways they can save their money.

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So any accountant that's trying to

encourage them to buy new technology is

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probably going to be falling on deaf ears.

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So as a vendor to an accountancy, the

thing that I think we need to be clear

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is how we help that accountant get more

for less, meaning they can hire fewer

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people, they can support more clients,

and they're able to get more scale.

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And I think as accountancies

are facing hiring challenges as

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well, that's a long term play.

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There is a challenge in terms of the

upfront cost to learn new technologies,

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and I think some accountancies right

now and, controllers and fractional

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CFOs are just so overwhelmed with

everything that it's just too hard

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for them to consider, anything.

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So, what we try to do is we want

to help them win new business.

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And so that is thinking about

technology plus services.

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So, if we do a webinar with consulting

firm or accounting firm, it's

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like, hey, here's what Maxfield can

provide in terms of data and tech.

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But to get the value out of this customer,

you're going to need a service provider.

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Here's our service providers

that we've worked with that

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know how to use our technology.

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So I do think it's a little bit

of investment on either side.

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but the promise is that we can help

them win more business and they

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can serve that more business more

efficiently, which would increase

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their profitability over time.

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Rob Brown: Coming to him now is

Richard Kopelman CEO at one of north

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America's fastest growing accounting.

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where his leadership has been

instrumental in driving growth,

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innovation and client success.

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Richard Kopelman: What we've done in

order to facilitate the growth in our

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business, the foothold, the growth, the

foothold of technology in our business

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has been to be part of the roadmap.

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of the tech companies.

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So I think one of the things to

continue to do and do it even better

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is to involve the technicians in

the development of the technology

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and the roadmap of the technology.

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Rob Brown: Coming up now is the

entertaining and educational.

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Nixon who coaches, accountants on

creating massive profits and massive

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time-savings transforming practices

with these revolutionary approaches to

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practice management unprofitability.

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Rob Nixon: All right, I'm going

to target America on this one,

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not so much the UK and Australia.

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Get rid of the desktop or

hosted versions of the software.

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Just turn it off, right?

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Seriously, UK and Australia, New

Zealand, we're already there.

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Nordic countries are already there,

but America and Canada, come on, right?

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Vendors, just turn it off and

force everyone to go to the cloud.

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so that's the first thing.

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And you just got to force,

well, maybe you've got the.

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The desktop or the hosted version,

the accountants will use it.

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Cause they don't want

to change, turn it off.

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Right.

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Second, provide content with the data,

you know, so the data of the practice

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managed numbers and analytics, how

about provide some content as to

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what they can do with that number.

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And, and the third one.

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is with the, cloud vendors with who

connecting the practice management suite

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to the, client, accounting is provide

predictive analytics, you know, back

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to the accountant, you know, provide,

you know, ebbs and flows and cash flow

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and accounts receivable and accounts

payable and alert the accountant

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as to what's going on their client

business, because that may help the

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accountant be more proactive, you at

a minimum, the accountant will know

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what's going on their client business.

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Rob Brown: Let's hear from Rob Pilsen's

accounting firm, coach mentor and

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consultant based in Australia known.

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The strategic advice that

transforms accounting practices.

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Into more efficient, profitable

and enjoyable businesses.

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Rob Pillans: So, fundamentally, I've got

three or four things that I would love

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to see, you know, the tech, the software

companies doing in relation to accounts.

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Firstly, please, don't launch

half baked products that are

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solutions looking for a problem.

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Right.

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You know, please deliver software that is

actually genuinely delivering on, solving

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a problem that an account might have.

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And of course, because I'm an

accounting firm coach and consultant

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and mentor, I'm thinking, of course,

from an accounting firm perspective.

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And every now and again, people

say they're just not doing that.

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So that's the first one.

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secondly, just genuinely listen

to the feedback from your

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users and actually act on it.

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I still feel like that's

not happening enough.

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Third, make your tools super connective

in terms of having a robust, a robust

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API, so that you can, you know,

be connecting with other tools.

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And then lastly, and I, I think

really importantly, and I get this

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feedback from a few of my clients.

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Please, as a tech company, a software

provider, stop trying to tell accountants

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how to run a better accounting firm,

and actually just tell them what your

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software does and how it helps them and

what problems it solves, because I don't

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think there's enough of that going on.

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Microphone (TONOR TC30 Audio Device)-2:

So they have five grand

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answer to the question.

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What could the tech and software vendors

do better to serve accountants each

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work in depth that week, Monday through

Friday, we give you the insights of five

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top influencers in the accounting world.

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On this critical area of the

tech providers, software vendors

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and how they serve accountants.

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That's 25 valuable perspectives,

viewpoints and best thinking every week.

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And with each fresh week comes a

fresh question and more thoughts

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from the best accounting leaders

and influences we can find.

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Thanks for listening to this brand

new accounting answers podcast.

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And sharing the show with your friends.

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If you want to join the conversation,

you can plug into our community of

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implementers@accountinginfluencers.com

and check out our virtual

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speed networking events.

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These happen every few months

for the north American region

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and the UK Europe region.

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The great opportunities to raise your

profile, build valuable connections and

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share your thoughts with influential

peers until next time, this is your host.

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Rob brown, saying stay informed,

stay relevant and stay connected.