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Practice excellence
istock_Miodrag Gajic

Meet the judges: How small firms show excellence

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17th Jun 2016
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AccountingWEB caught up with ICPA chairman Tony Margaritelli to discuss the latest trends in small practice, as he prepares to judge this year’s Practice Excellence Awards.

Margaritelli has witnessed what’s going on in the world of small practices, and has seen practices embracing the new digital landscape, whether it is through cloud accounting or in marketing.

Become digitally aware

As the incoming Making Tax Digital wave sculpts the accounting landscape, Margaritelli has seen many firms adjust and adapt. It is this durability that Margaritelli cites as one trait a Practice Excellence firm will have adopted, yet they are not hinging their cloud accounting adoption on satisfying the Making Tax Digital agenda.  

Speaking about firms becoming more digitally aware, Margaritelli said: “[These firms] are embracing and installing it with their clients, and they’re using it not necessarily for quarterly reporting, but to add more value to their clients.”

Already, Margaritelli has seen a change in the ways Practice Excellence firms approach bookkeeping, with increased uptake of bank feeds. “It’s acceptance that bookkeeping is not about entering reams of cheques and invoices. That’s been accepted more and more,” he said.

Promoting the value of bank feeds, Margaritelli said: “You can get 90% of the job done direct from the bank, and so reviewing is significantly easier than entering.”

Become part of the community

Social media is another area which many small practices have used to drive their practice’s productivity, and also ingrain their community spirit.

Watching small firm’s social media channels, Margaritelli has been impressed by practitioners championing local events, local businesses, and through this, picking up business.

“It’s all well and good saying you’re a local accountant, but local to where? How do they know I am in Hornchurch, for example, if I never mention Hornchurch, or if I don’t champion local businesses, or things happening?” said Margaritelli.  

Margaritelli’s advice echoes that of previous Practice Excellence winner Linda Frier, who infused her firm’s community spirit into their social media output. Speaking to AccountingWEB, Frier said: “We make sure clients who are tweeting positive things about their business that we retweet, and in turn, we find that when we are talking about positive things and things that others should know about, that our clients retweet for us”.

Through social media, small firms can rival the big firms without the cost of copywriters or a marketing team. “Any accountant worth his salt has years of experience or knowledge of what’s going on, or what their clients are asking, that they can bring to bear on social media,” said Margaritelli.  

Potential clients will take notice, not ignoring it because it is some firm in Southend saying it, rather than one of the bigger firms.  

Create your mission statement

Finally, the application process of the Practice Excellence Awards inspires practitioners to consider the direction of their practice. Margaritelli impressed the importance of practitioners choosing a mission statement, which  focuses “what you’re about” and what “you are trying to achieve.”

It also acts as a measuring stick to determine how your practice has evolved. “Three/four years ago, were people as keen when new clients came through the door to get them straight on cloud based accounting system– no they won’t, but now you are. So, there’s a change in your mission statement,” said Margaritelli.

 

Does your small practice share any of these traits? Enter the 2016 Practice Excellence Awards and tell us about your practice's excellence. Entries close 5pm on 17 June. 

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