Author: admin

  • Does being part of a professional Accountancy Network pay dividends?

    Does being part of a professional Accountancy Network pay dividends?

    Professional networks are often passive beats with not much happening in the true sense of networking and co-operation. Members can be suspicious about giving too much away and fear about sharing their gains with other Members. I think from my experience of working with AVN, this doesn’t have to be the case. AVN is a…

  • When did you last work on your accountancy practice?

    When did you last work on your accountancy practice?

    Here at AVN we see many Accountants change their lives and change their Practices. All of these Accountants are at different stages in their business, all with different client bases, all starting with different aspirations for their business. What they do have however is a determination to succeed, a determination to not just put up…

  • Who’s got the most annoying client?

    Who’s got the most annoying client?

    Last night I had a conversation with 4 accountants who appeared to be in a contest for “who has the worst, barmiest, annoying client” competition. It is amazing that even these “switched on” accountants still work with these types of clients. Each admitted that they consume huge amounts of time and energy and are bad…

  • What’s all this stuff about values?

    What’s all this stuff about values?

    Have you ever met someone and found it difficult to strike up a conversation, don’t necessarily ‘get’ what they’re saying?  Chances are they don’t have the same values as you. Your values and beliefs differentiate you as an individual and attract like-minded people to you. Those with the closest values are your loved ones, your very close…

  • A picture paints a thousand words

    A picture paints a thousand words
  • Convenience is the enemy of value.

    Convenience is the enemy of value.

    For a Father’s day get together, my family and the families of my two sisters had arranged to take my parents out for dinner. For a variety of reasons, we agreed on our local Harvester pub and on the following Tuesday since Father’s day itself didn’t work for us all. So we pre-booked a week…

  • Deal with it

    Deal with it

    I often hear this phrase about an employee… “They are really sweet but I just can’t trust them to do everything they are supposed to!” Sound familiar?   Well, you have 2 choices: Get rid of them – if you can’t trust them to do the work you will be constantly worrying about it and…

  • Measuring your success

    Measuring your success

    A common set of metrics that are measured within an Accountancy Practice might include: – Turnover, Gross Recurring Fee Income, Profits, Average Fee Per Client … Do these resonate with you? Do they move and inspire you? Some of these don’t reflect success and some are consequences of doing the right things. What’s the right thing for you? Drive to strive…

  • Selling vs Listening

    Selling vs Listening

    Observation 1: Most Accountants hate selling Observation 2: Most Accountants are great listeners   Let’s face it, few of us enjoy ‘selling’ in the conventional sense of the word, it feels uncomfortable, you sense that the guard goes up when you begin discussing products and services that are over and above what your prospective client –…

  • Accountants – they are all the same

    Accountants – they are all the same

    Trying to get your business off the ground but it just won’t fly? The analogy that you are bumping along the runway, seatbelts fastened and awaiting the take-off, but it just doesn’t happen……. It’s frustrating and regardless of the amount of time and effort you put in….. you are still bouncing along. Sometimes as you…