Running an accountancy practice can feel overwhelming. But it shouldn’t mean sacrificing your life, your sanity or your family time. Yet for many accountants, that’s exactly what it feels like.
At the recent AVN Most Inspiring Accountant Awards, five exceptional practitioners shared their journeys from chaos to clarity, revealing the practical steps they took to transform their businesses, reclaim their lives – and win an award along the way..
Their stories are full of insights for any overwhelmed accountant who’s feeling undervalued or stuck in survival mode.
Ready to learn from the best?
The Phone That Never Stopped Ringing
Harish Sharma, founder of Grip Business, faced a problem many of us would recognise: his phone rang every ten minutes. With 600-700 clients and no proper systems in place, he’d completely lost control.
“I was juggling way too many tasks,” Harish explained. “I was handling admin, reviewing accounts, reviewing VAT returns – things I shouldn’t have been doing. And I had clients I’d taken on in 2012-13 where the fees had never been reviewed.”
Not raising those fees meant he’d lost confidence in his ability to charge what he was worth.
Harish’s Breakthrough
Working with his AVN coach, Harish implemented a series of practical changes:
- Solved the interruption problem: He hired a third-party company to answer calls after 10 seconds, with clients receiving a link to book a 15-minute session
- Created visibility: He built a live dashboard showing the status of accounts, VAT returns, and client fees
- Found his backbone: Using AVN’s client grading system, he increased fees by 25-50% for most clients, and up to 300% for the most demanding ones. The result surprised him: “I was nervous I might lose those clients, but they never left us. They’re actually happy with our service.”
Most importantly, Harish has now shifted his mindset from business operator to business owner. He now has a 14-member offshore team in Sri Lanka, giving him the time to focus on his business.
Harish is the winner of the Business Vision Award.
From Paper Bag Clients to Premium Service
Amrat Parshotam of ATP Accountancy knows what it’s like to start from a position of desperation. After his role as Financial Director for the Versace Group ended following Gianni Versace’s murder, Amrat found himself suddenly unemployed with bills to pay and children to feed.
“I was taking any and every client that walked through the door,” he admitted. “The paper bag clients were the worst – they take up a lot of your time for little money, and some just walked away without paying.”
The toll on his personal life was severe. His family saw him as “a grumpy old git sitting in the corner,” and he dreaded Monday mornings.
Amrat’s Transformation
Amrat’s turnaround began with a fundamental shift in mindset:
- Client selection: He graded his clients and got rid of the ones who weren’t right for him
- Proactive engagement: With more time available, he started phoning clients to ask about their problems
- Niche specialisation: He noticed most of his clients were in construction and related trades, all wanting to “get off the tools”
- Emotional connection: Working with Patrick from Perfect Client, he created a deliberately dark, emotional website that speaks directly to tradespeople feeling overwhelmed
His ‘Get Off The Tools’ programme uses a simple nine-stage process that respects his clients’ time constraints.
The financial impact was immediate. Using AVN’s Time’s Up pricing tool, Amrat virtually doubled his fees – and clients were happy to pay.
More importantly, his family life transformed. “My kids now actually talk to me as a father, and my wife talks to me as a husband,” he said with visible emotion.
Amrat is the winner of the Practice Differentiation and Business Advisory Awards.
How To Build a Business That Runs Without You
Kathryn Webb of Torbay Accountancy started her practice working part-time from home after having children. When her husband suffered an injury that forced him to step back from the family business, Kathryn needed to scale up – fast.
The problem? All her systems existed only in her head.
“I was regularly losing sleep over four key areas,” Kathryn explained. “Quality: were we doing the right things at the right time? Cash flow: we had major issues with scope creep and late collections. Capacity: we weren’t using our time well. And profitability: we were spending too much time on low-value tasks.”
She felt like a bottleneck, constantly overwhelmed and losing control.
Kathryn’s System Solution
Kathryn’s approach was methodical and thorough:
- Question everything: She examined every single task, asking: Does this need doing? Does it need to be done by us? Can a system do it? Can we outsource it?
- Document ruthlessly: Every process was fully documented following best practices
- Embrace technology: She implemented GoCardless for payments, upgraded workflow management software, adopted better proposal tools, and leaned heavily into AI
“We completely overhauled our tech stack and revolutionised how we did everything,” she said.
The result is a streamlined, confident operation that can scale without Kathryn becoming the limiting factor. Her team now executes her ideas effectively, and she’s ready to tackle the next level of challenges.
Kathryn is the winner of the Consistently High Standards Award.
When Your Team Are As Committed As You Are
Charlotte Zacharia, founder of the Z2 Group, built her ten-year-old practice with a simple philosophy: maintain the personal touch while embracing technology.
As a mother of two working with clients in similar situations, Charlotte understood the importance of work-life balance. “I wanted to be able to build a practice that would fit my lifestyle and would also enable my clients to have that work life balance as well,” she says. But she also recognised that client expectations were evolving rapidly, especially with AI entering the equation.
The Personal Touch at Scale
Charlotte’s approach balances high-tech with high-touch:
- Annual value alignment: The team conducts annual reviews of both business and personal values, examining how client needs have changed
- Know your clients deeply: The team knows when clients’ children are starting school, when they’re getting married, and when difficult things happen
- Physical gestures matter: They send physical cards for occasions and host client events on their roof terrace
- Regular reviews: “Every year we have a team day, when we go through our business values as well as our personal values and look at what our clients need. How have they changed, year on year? And the world as a whole, how has it changed? How are people communicating? So we make sure that what whatever these changes are, that we’ve put them in practice.”
The strategy has paid off remarkably. Charlotte now enjoys strong relationships with 80-90% of clients, and new business comes purely through word-of-mouth referrals.
“We have clients who pop in if they’re coming through the high street just to say hi,” she said. “A lot of them bring us donuts, which is great!”
For Charlotte, winning this award validated an important principle: when you look after your team, they look after your clients.
Charlotte is the winner of the Client Committed Team Award.
From Panic Mode to Podcast Host
A few years ago, Rachael Chadwick-Harrison of Chadwick Accountants faced an entrepreneur’s nightmare: one flagship client represented 60-80% of her revenue.
“Every year it’s like, that’s going to come, that’s going to happen, it’s going to fall off,” Rachael explained. “I don’t want to make redundancies. I love this team. And I think all of us have probably lost a really important client and wondered how you’re going to deal with that.”
Rachael knew she needed to build her profile and create multiple revenue streams. She just didn’t know how to do it.
This is when she read Putting Excellence Into Practice, Shane Lukas’ book for accountants in practice. “The book landed on my lap at that point, and I couldn’t put it down. I read half of it and I was just like, Oh, my God, everything in my brain is in the book! This is how I’m going to do this.”
Rachael saw that what she needed was external support.
“I think everybody who is in accountancy, hopefully they think they’re a great accountant. That’s why you’re there. But we all recognise that, like our clients use us because they’re not great at accountancy, we need support as well. That’s why we came to AVN.”
The PR Strategy
Rachael also saw that she needed help to raise her profile. So she hired a PR consultant and implemented a comprehensive strategy:
- Control the prospect journey: She examined every touchpoint, from website clicks to first impressions when prospects visit the office
- Create the environment: The conference room was redesigned to be a welcoming environment, with prominent branding and testimonials
- Strategic positioning: She attended key events in her area to raise her profile
- Consistent visibility: She overcame traditional British reluctance to self-promote, consistently sharing achievements and awards
- Community integration: By joining the Chamber of Commerce, she gained early knowledge of grants and opportunities to share with clients
- Content creation: She launched “FFS (For Finance’s Sake),” a podcast offering advice to new businesses and featuring interviews with high-profile CFOs
She also made clear to her team that every client must be contacted at least four times per year, regardless of their service package. Using AVN tools like Taxability and OnTrack helps them spot opportunities to add value.
The Results
The transformation has been remarkable. Rachael now has a 99% client retention rate and faces a new challenge: “We have far too many leads! We need to look at pre-qualifying them.”
Her philosophy underpins everything: “Look after your team, and they’ll look after your clients.”
Rachael is the winner of the High Profile Practice and Changing Lives Awards. She was also voted the overall winner of the 2025 AVN Most Inspiring Accountant Award!
What Makes An Award-Winning Accountant?
While each story is unique, several themes emerge from these award-winning accountants:
1. They Invested in Proper Systems
Every winner moved their processes out of their heads and into documented, repeatable systems. This wasn’t just about efficiency – it was about creating businesses that could operate without them being the bottleneck.
2. They Embraced Technology Thoughtfully
From AI to workflow management to payment automation, these practitioners adopted modern tools. But they did so while maintaining the personal relationships that matter most.
3. They Found Their Pricing Confidence
Whether through client grading, value-based pricing, or simply having the courage to increase fees, all five learned to charge what they’re worth. Remarkably, they discovered that clients respected them more for it.
4. They Became Selective About Clients
The “paper bag clients,” the time-wasters, the non-payers – they all had to go. This freed up time and energy for clients who value their service and are willing to pay appropriately.
5. They Built and Empowered Teams
None of these transformations happened solo. Each winner built strong teams, delegated effectively, and created cultures where people felt valued and empowered.
6. They Got Their Lives Back
Perhaps most importantly, these accountants reclaimed their time, their family relationships, and their joy in the work. They’re no longer dreading Monday mornings or feeling like “grumpy old gits.”
7. They Sought Support
Every winner credited AVN coaching with providing accountability, guidance, and the kick up the backside they sometimes needed.
If you’re an overwhelmed accountant, missing out on family time or working longer hours for less profit, talk to us. AVN helps accountants like you to transform their business, just as these 5 accountants have transformed theirs.
Book a short discover call and find out if we’re right for each other – book your call now.