Accountant's Minute's Podcast

In the past, many accountants were not called upon to be able to display outstanding communication skills, but in the era that we are now in accountants, who wish to broaden their work activities to include Business Advisory Services, need to have cultivated strong written communication skills; have the ability to be able to think critically and translate accounting data and reports into compelling documents that are able to be easily understood by the targeted recipients, whether they are business owners, leadership team members, shareholders, team members or government organisations.  In the next ESS BIZTOOLS’ Business Advisory Services Update webinar/conversation that we’re presenting on Wednesday, 10th February 2021, the theme is “Virtual Corporate Communication”.   Read The Full Article Here

The challenge at this time of the year for accountants is helping your SME clients set their plans for 2021. Now is the time for business operators, both medium-sized and small, to be planning their business activities as best they can for 2021.  Many of your clients are going to need assistance in setting their strategies for this year which, hopefully, will be different to 2020. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=364&Itemid=639

In our last Business Advisory Services Webinars/Conversation for 2020 Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS and Paul Barnaby, Managing Director, Beyond Accounting Technologies and Australasian Representative of PlanGuru, discussed the concept that ‘Predictive Accounting’ will be vital in the planning to help clients in 2021. More Info: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=349&Itemid=639

If you haven’t already started, now is the time to be thinking about the services that your accountancy firm is going to offer to your clients and prospects in 2021. We will all be glad to see the end of 2020, but many challenges still exist.  There are thousands of businesses around Australia still on the JobKeeper program and many businesses are not performing at full capacity, primarily because of the problems experienced by the tourism industry, accommodation and restaurants and bars because of the various lockdowns that have been in place around Australia. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=329&Itemid=639

Despite COVID-19 Coronavirus and all of its associated problems Crowd Sourced Funding continued to grow in Australia during 2020 and the Joint Founder and Managing Director of Birchal Pty Ltd, one of Australia’s leading Crowd Sourced Funding Intermediaries, Matt Vitale, expects 2021 to be a “bumper year” for the capital raising market centred on small businesses and medium-sized enterprises. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=328&Itemid=639

The Accounting Business Expo was conducted as a virtual conference on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th November, with one of the most talked about features being the large number of presenters commenting on the introduction of “Business Advisory Services” by accountancy firms.  This is great news, especially for those people who have been advocating, for many years, that accountants need to provide a broader range of commercial services to assist small businesses and medium-sized enterprises to grow and add value. Peter Towers presented “Delivering Business Advisory Services To Add Value” to the accountants, business advisors and bookkeepers who participated in the expo. You can access Peter’s Accounting Business Expo presentation....   Read The Full Article Here

Welcome to our new format of weekly Business Advisory Services Update articles and videos with presentations by ESS BIZTOOLS and one of our Affiliates where we will discuss various issues relating to the implementation of Business Advisory Services by accountants/business advisors/bookkeepers. Our first presentation “Reset Your Practice” will feature Amanda Gascoigne, Chartered Accountant, Coach and Mentor, Amanda Gascoigne Consulting and Peter Towers Managing Director ESS BIZTOOLS. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=322&Itemid=639

Business people are looking for more accurate financial information as to what the effect of their decisions will be on their future operations by utilising 'predictive accounting' which incorporates 'key driver budgeting' to prepare Budgets, Cashflow Forecasts and Predicted Balance Sheets relating to their future operations. In the next COVID-19 Survival Panel webinar will be presented on Friday, 23rd October 2020 with the theme relating to “Predictive Accounting”. The keynote presenters are Paul Barnaby, Regional Integration Consultant, Asia-Pacific PlanGuru, CEO Beyond Accounting Pty Ltd, a Predictive Accounting consultancy firm and Peter Towers, Managing Director, ESS BIZTOOLS.   Read The Full Article Here

“The Australian economy is going to be very reliant on a suitable vaccine for COVID-19 Coronavirus if we are going to get the economy operating as it was in January 2020 once again.  In the meantime, the government needs to be a bit more targeted with its financial support and businesses are going to rely on their accountants to guide them on the best way forward for the operation of their businesses”.  Ashley Evans, Managing Director, AAA Financial Solutions, the keynote speaker in our COVID-19 Survival Panel webinar on Friday 25th September, said today. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=292&Itemid=639

"The key group of clients that accountants should be promoting the concept of Business Advisory Services to, are any clients who are receiving JobKeeper payments", said Mark Holton, Director, Smithink Pty Ltd in the previous COVID-19 Survival Panel webinar. These clients were obviously running sound businesses prior to the challenges of COVID-19 and many of them will need your assistance to be able to recreate the business activities that they had in operation, prior to the lockdowns and other problems that have been caused by the virus. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=286&Itemid=639

How good is your relationship with your clients? One of our keynote speakers in our COVID-19 Survival Panel webinar for accountants on Friday, 14th August 2020, Amanda Gascoigne is an experienced Chartered Accountant. She has been a small business owner for 21 years and had her own accounting practice for 18 years working primarily with SME clients. She has pivoted in recent years and now helps small and solo accounting practice owners have better practices and better lives and also helps them have better relationships with their clients through her coaching and mentoring business exclusive for accounting practice owners. One thing that Amanda realised while in practice was that a large proportion of her new clients’ previous accountants, weren’t proactive in selling them advisory services. Their practice model was to simply provide the compliance services the clients asked for and they were hesitant to suggest value added services such as tax planning, budgeting and cashflow planning and business planning...

Will Business Advisory Services be the number one product in your firm? Business Advisory Services was nominated by the accounting firms interviewed by the Commonwealth Bank’s Accounting Market Pulse as the “practice area to be in the most demand in 6 to 12 months of 2020/21". Have you developed a strategy of how you can offer a range of services to assist your clients to organise themselves so as to maximise their opportunity to survive COVID-19 Coronavirus? Business Advisory in a COVID World In our next COVID-19 Survival Panel webinar for accountants on Friday, 28th August 2020, Mark Holton, Director, Smithink Pty Ltd and well-known presenter at accounting conferences, will outline a further series of strategies following on from the presentation, “Business Advisory in a COVID World”, that he presented in early July 2020.   Read The Full Article Here

“Business Advisory Services” – highlighted by the Commonwealth Bank’s “Accountants Market Pulse” report has been the activity identified by a group of accountants as being their main priority for the next 6 to 12 months – What is happening in your firm? Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=281&Itemid=639

The Prime Minister has announced significant changes to the JobKeeper Programme from 28th September 2020 with the programme being extended until 28th March 2021 following some changes.  From 28th September 2020 the current flat $1,500 a fortnight subsidy will be replaced by a 2 Tier System. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=279&Itemid=639

Greetings from ESS Small Business – the challenges for business operators continues with the ever changing circumstances of COVID-19 coronavirus. The ever changing situation in Victoria and now New South Wales with Queensland imposing selective border restrictions targeting Victorians and Metropolitan Sydney is all highlighting a significant degree of nervousness for the business community. The next week will be a big week for Federal government announcements culminating in the Economic Statement to be released by the Federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg on Thursday 23rd July.   Read The Full Article Here

The situation in Victoria is a warning to the rest of Australia! The unfortunate situation in Victoria, relating to the significant increase in cases of COVID-19, has highlighted the ongoing problems for business operators and accountants to be diligent about all aspects of business operations so as to reduce the possibility of severe COVID-19 restrictions being reapplied, which will undoubtedly have a significant effect on business operations. All of this highlights the necessity for accountants and business operators to be aware of the ongoing desirability of continuing the implementation of marketing strategies and also having an awareness of key issues relating to legal matters, as they affect professional accounting firms and small businesses and medium-sized enterprises.   Read The Full Article Here

83 days to go to the end of JobKeeper – will your clients be ready? Business advisory service expected to be the most in demand! The CommBank Accounting Market Pulse for June 2020 has identified that a majority of firms expect Business Advisory Services to experience the greatest demand in the coming 6 to 12 months. Read more: https://www.essbiztools.com.au/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=277&Itemid=639