To suit or not to suit?

To suit or not to suit?

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I have been toying with the idea of being different than all other accountancy practices in my local area and ditching the norm in terms of dress code for myself and my team. In stead of the usual business suit/tie etc, maybe go as far as smart casual for everyone......

Any thoughts on this? Pros and cons?

My client base are all small businesses, self employed persons and small limited companies and no one has any real issues regarding formalities (as far as I can see anyway).

Replies (61)

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By john.jenkins
11th Nov 2011 15:57

A key questions is what you are trying to achieve and dress to match.

Networking events/lunches are full of middle-aged men in grey suits so it helps to do something different to stand out and be remembered.

 

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By justinelaws
11th Nov 2011 15:58

....just so long as your middle-aged, grey loving men are not the ones looking to employ you - it might put them off!  But as others have said - if it does, then perhaps you are not the accountant for them!

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Replying to User deleted:
Sarah Douglas - HouseTree Business Ltd
By sarah douglas
11th Nov 2011 16:46

Not all suits need to be grey.  We are in 2011.  If you do like wearing a suit , there are some lovely tailor shops selling at the same  price as M&S just with a nicer cut better shirt and tie.   The shirt and tie make a huge difference to how a suit is perceived , as can well cut waist coat or brasses especially if your young or whatever age if you can pull it off. 

 

 

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By DazedByTheLight
11th Nov 2011 19:08

Topical

 

 

Who do you believe, a Beard or a Suit?

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15673359

 

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By lme
14th Nov 2011 12:19

why not ask you clients?

See what the best ones say and dress accordingly!

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By petersaxton
14th Nov 2011 13:49

Don't let your clients decide

My view is that people respect you more if you think for yourself.

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Replying to John Abbott:
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By chatman
14th Nov 2011 15:31

Disagree with you Peter.

petersaxton wrote:
My view is that people respect you more if you think for yourself.

My view is that people think you're a weirdo if you think for yourself. Maximum respect can be gained by repeating the same cliches that people have heard before, because if they have heard it before, it must be true.  This probably applies to wearing suits too (trousers made of cloth that wears out easily, with insufficient pockets; top with strange folding-over bit at the neck, open at the front and therefore requiring buttons to close it; coloured strip of cloth round the neck, tied in traditional manner, and impractical jacket very wide open at the front); people expect to see you wear one and are confused if you don't.

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Replying to Harrison88:
By petersaxton
14th Nov 2011 15:55

You've got a point

chatman wrote:

petersaxton wrote:
My view is that people respect you more if you think for yourself.

My view is that people think you're a weirdo if you think for yourself. Maximum respect can be gained by repeating the same cliches that people have heard before, because if they have heard it before, it must be true.  This probably applies to wearing suits too (trousers made of cloth that wears out easily, with insufficient pockets; top with strange folding-over bit at the neck, open at the front and therefore requiring buttons to close it; coloured strip of cloth round the neck, tied in traditional manner, and impractical jacket very wide open at the front); people expect to see you wear one and are confused if you don't.

Let me qualify it by saying that I prefer the company of people who respect people who think for themselves.

I was doing some work at a company a long time ago and everybody said that the finance director was incredibly intelligent and so much better than anybody else at the company. My view was that he sat in his office and never considered the effectiveness of the accounts department. Maybe they thought I was a weirdo!

After a while internal auditors came round. They visited every few months. Eventually they came to the same conclusion as me. The finance director was sacked. The new company view of the finance director was that he was incompetent.

Very few people think for themselves. Or some of them do but they don't have the guts to tell the truth.

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Replying to sarah douglas:
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By chatman
14th Nov 2011 16:05

Incredibly Intelligent FD

petersaxton wrote:
everybody said that the finance director was incredibly intelligent and so much better than anybody else at the company

He must have been wearing a suit.

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Replying to jefflcbba:
By ShirleyM
14th Nov 2011 16:13

Whatever keeps the boss happy???

chatman wrote:

petersaxton wrote:
everybody said that the finance director was incredibly intelligent and so much better than anybody else at the company

He must have been wearing a suit.

... and liked to surround himself with yes-men (and women). How come you slipped through the net, Peter?

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Replying to k743snx:
By petersaxton
14th Nov 2011 18:21

Desperation

ShirleyM wrote:

chatman wrote:

petersaxton wrote:
everybody said that the finance director was incredibly intelligent and so much better than anybody else at the company

He must have been wearing a suit.

... and liked to surround himself with yes-men (and women). How come you slipped through the net, Peter?

Because they got me in to do the accounts of a Norwegian subsidiary (they'd used an accounts package and entered the exchange rate incorrectly - the rate was about 10 to 1 but they used 1 to 10). They realised they needed me to sort out the accounts department - they had a finance director and a chief accountant! The first bank reconciliation I did was 40 pages long (handwritten!). That must have been over 1,000 reconciling entries.

The accounts staff were rubbish. They had a new accounts system and instead of posting payments directly to the bank in total and allocate them to invoices and credit notes they posted them from the individual invoices. When they got credit notes they tried to post negative payments but when the program wouldn't accept them they tried positive payments!

An engineer introduced me to a saying I hadn't heard before but it's supposed to be well known: "It's all very well making something idiot proof but the idiots are bloody clever!"

 

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