A brilliant example of a different kind of accountant

A different kind of accountant - HMB Accountants with tardis

These time-travelling accountants serve clients in multiple dimensions.

When the first thing a visitor to an accountant’s office sees is a whopping great TARDIS, a very different conversation happens. And that’s a good thing!

A conversation that’s more about business growth than purely accounts work.

Accountants that are different attract. And they get talked about. HMB Accountants are testament to that.

The first thing you see when you walk into their office is the TARDIS from Doctor Who.

The TARDIS is a time machine, allowing its occupants to explore that past, the present and the future.

I visit many accountants and often it’s same, same, same. When I stepped in to this office, I had a very different and positive experience.

Seeing the TARDIS invoked the following connotations…

These accountants are DIFFERENT and they’re FOCUSSED on…

The Future

Exploring the future with their business owner clients.

Great accountants take time to understand the dreams and aspirations of their clients.

They then explore ways they can achieve them by…

  • Analysing the numbers
  • Performing sensitivity analysis
  • Sharing alternative strategies
  • Quantifying ideas

Showing how the business can grow to enable their client’s dreams.

It’s all too easy to get stuck in a rut as a business owner. Exploring the future – and how to get there – invokes energy and motivation; aided by having a clear plan.

The Present

With each client…

  • Reviewing the current situation
  • Performing situation analysis
  • Identifying strengths and weaknesses

This helps the business owner focus on improving the right things in their business.

The Past

As an accountant, besides producing the accountants, it’s important to analyse the past.

Performing trend analysis over time on many key performance indicators.

Some numbers may look OK at a glance but when viewed as a trend over time, can reveal a lot. And can cause alarm bells to ring that might otherwise remain silent until it’s too late.

Attracting like-minded clients.

It’s a bold and brave move to know that some people may not like this and be put off working with HMB Accountants. Rather than working with just anyone, Howard and Sarah like working with people with similar values and interests.

Howard and Sarah Bedford are the two wonderful people who own and run HMB Accountants (they’re standing either side of the TARDIS in this photograph with me). They’re sci-fi fans.

People buy people.

As visitors enter their office, they’ll ask about the TARDIS which, fun aside, can lead on to the points I mention above.

Visitors not only see the TARDIS, they walk into it and enter a whole new world of possibilities.

They will talk about their experience with other people who have similar interests. And those people are contacting HMB Accountants.

Being a different kind of accountant matters

Being different generates different conversations and perceptions. Most accountants do only the basics. Few invest the time to understand their clients and help them grow.

If you’re a business owner, is your accountant analysing the future, present and past? Or only the past? All three dimensions are crucial.

If you’re an accountant, how are you differentiating yourself?

 

Read more on how to be more than ‘just an accountant’ to your clients.