Adding value

The four seasons of accounting & finance

The role of the accounting & finance team is evolving so that it “ . . . can make an important contribution to improving decision-making and ensuring the sustainable success of the business,” according to the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants. And that evolution is a result of a more connected, complex & globally competitive world, one that’s…

Read More

Are you laying bricks or building a cathedral?

You may have heard of the old story about a traveller who came across two bricklayers who were busy working… He asked the first worker what he was doing and the man replied he was laying bricks. He then asked the next labourer the same question and he said he was building a cathedral. They…

Read More

A Surprisingly Simple Way Accounting & Finance Can Remain Relevant, Add Value and Have a Great Career

I had finally had enough. With employers complaining accounting & finance graduates don’t have the right skills, with newly qualifieds frustrated they were not getting meaningful experiences to make an impact and most of the rest of us anxious about what the digital disruption from Industry 4.0 means for the future of the profession a…

Read More

How Accounting & Finance go forwards by looking backwards

Accounting & Finance has been around since the earliest enterprises were established however there are two types of finance teams now emerging, those embracing digital disruption and those who aren’t. This digital disruption I talk about has arrived in the guise of what commentators are calling the fourth industrial revolution or Industry 4.0, and in…

Read More

One simple approach for accountants to engage more with others for better results

I came across a joke today that asked “what’s the definition of an accountant?” Answer: Someone who solves a problem you didn’t know you had in a way you don’t understand. I found myself conflicted, part of me wants to defend the accounting & finance profession and part of me actually wants to agree with…

Read More

What type of finance team do you work in?

I always thought that there were two types of accounting & finance team; those who are continuing with their traditional, functional and transactional ways; whilst others are moving forward, proactively out in their businesses seeking out ways to add more value to them. But I realised there’s also a third type. I used to be…

Read More

The Authentic Accounting & Finance Professional

Traditionally accounting & finance professionals have been very much tasked to prepare & report the numbers, and analyse the KPIs, but some of them, the most effective ones, have realised that possessing this key ‘human’ quality allows them to make an even bigger difference in today’s digital age. What’s this key quality?  They are authentic…

Read More

4 Ways Finance & Accounting Makes a Difference.

I start with a story. Once upon a time there was a young couple who used to go to the beach for a walk together every Friday morning before they made their way to work . . . . . . Early one morning after a big storm had passed they were walking along the…

Read More

Knowing your curve to give the best guidance to partners

Finance teams are generally involved in business planning, forecasting and giving guidance to leaders and partners who want to have a fuller view of where their businesses are going, but how do we know we’re giving the most appropriate guidance and forecast? Many people compare being in business to experiencing a roller coaster ride. We…

Read More