How many firms do you know that have a Chief Impact Officer? Yep, me neither. So, you may want to join this podcast with myself and Graeme Tennick, of Tennick Accountants, as Graeme talks about his role and about how and why it came into being. There are a number of standout moments in this podcast, not least when Graeme describes how to have the team really working with purpose, with real meaning in their work, all the time. So please join us on the podcast, either via your usual...

What's it like to start an accounting firm with £200, to grow it quickly over a period of five years, and then to decide to exit? And from the start of that exit conversation to completion, for it to take only 25 days? We'll cover all of that and a lot more in this podcast with Laura Taylor from Bright Flamingo. Laura shares how that journey affected her, and she also reveals some secrets along the way that could help you in your own accounting firm. If you want to hear more, join...

A pressing question that every firm, every leader, every manager, should ask themselves is: how do you build long-standing trust with your clients and with your team? In this podcast with Elinor Perry of Pentlands, you'll hear Elinor unpack 20 years of experience of running her firm – from when she bought in to the business to the garden party with 130 customers on a lawn wishing her every success for the next stage of Pentlands. How do you build that level of trust? Elinor ...

How must it feel to found and to grow, over a period of almost 40 years, a busy, vibrant firm, from humble beginnings to over a hundred people? In this podcast with Alan Farrelly of UHY Farrelly Dawe White, based in Ireland, you'll find out how it felt to contend with all of the advances in technology and the other changes that we've seen over the generations, to the point where Alan is thinking of planning for exit. How does that all feel, that journey? You'll find the answers to...

There is a thing that’s been talked about in the profession for decades, something which has never really got traction in every firm in a leveraged way. It works in some firms in a small way and in a very few firms in a big way. It’s that thing called 'Advisory'. How you move your firm from compliance services to advisory services is an ongoing, almost endless question. And yet, it's normal, it's natural, to have conversations – human being to human being, individual to individual – and...

When you're trying to unlock the potential that you know exists within your team, within your client bank, within your firm as a whole, it can feel frustrating that you just can't seem to get to it, you can't unlock it. In this podcast discussion with Russell Watkins, who's spent 30 years in the lean, process improvement space working with manufacturing and other businesses, we tap into a potential key for you, your team, your firm, to truly get to the levels of performance you believe ...

We know that recruiting great people and keeping them is a huge challenge for your accounting firm, so how do you stand out from the crowd? In this podcast with Sherelyn Cowles, Chief Business Development Officer at Gooding Accounts, we discuss how to build a great culture by identifying and articulating your core purpose and values, and by being very clear about how everyone is expected to behave. We also talk about the importance of ensuring your values, vision, and core purpose...

What does a succession plan look and feel like from the perspective of those that are buying in? And once you’ve got that buy-in, how do you actually manage the expectations of your team and your clients, all while finding out yourself what it's like to be a leader? And when you're up and running, how do you rise above the sea of sameness? You’ll find out the answer to these questions and more in this podcast with Stuart Clark of Russell & Russell Business Advisors in Gl...

If there's a phrase that encapsulates the content of this podcast discussion with Mark Allen, it would be 'applied wisdom'. We tap into Mark's several decades of working within the profession, first as a board director of PLCs, then transitioning into a practice leader, starting up and successfully selling a three-office firm, and finally moving into working with networks for accountants across the UK. Mark is a bit of a hero of mine, overcoming serious health challenges to contin...

In the second part of this 2-part podcast discussion with Stephan Meier, world-renowned author of The Employee Advantage, you'll be able to hear Stephan unpack a large number of insights, ideas and strategies that could ultimately deliver a competitive advantage to you and your firm. So please join Douglas, my colleague, Stephan and I on the second part of this podcast at humanisethenumbers.online.

You'd probably like to get your hands on a competitive advantage that would lead to the future financial success of your firm, one that would enhance, or even transform, the results you're currently achieving. Where do you go looking for that advantage? Once upon a time in the world of work, it was all about a product advantage or, in the accountancy space, a service level advantage. But at the end of the day, an audit service from one firm is not dissimilar to an audit service from another. ...

Chances are that the vast majority of the people in your firm want to do a good job, whatever their role – accounts, bookkeeping, audit, tax or payroll. They get out of bed every morning to do good work. But to be successful as an accountancy firm, it's more than just the accountancy services that matter. As valuable as these are, what also matters is the care with which the work is done and the care with which a firm looks after and serves clients. In this podcast discussio...

It's a unique experience to have someone who is in the digital space in a deep way coming on the podcast to talk about humanising the numbers. Getting Dan Cockerton onto the Humanise the Numbers podcast has been an ambition of mine for the last 12 months or so – and we've finally managed to make it work. And it was a bit of a relief that, when challenged about digital first versus human first, Dan chose human first. On the podcast, he unpacks and shares his insights of working with the ...

It was exciting to welcome Roger Knecht, the president of Universal Accounting, onto the Humanise the Numbers podcast. And I wasn't expecting to have what essentially turned into a 45-minutes sales training session with Roger. That ultimately is where the value in this podcast actually lies. Roger is so open, so structured, in running through how to construct a sales meeting, a client meeting, with the paymaster general of your firm, your clients – and with your prospects. Roger h...

When you come across an accountant who happens to have 900 clients – business clients – and who has a page on his website called The Human Accountant, you can understand why we at the Humanise the Numbers podcast would be interested in having a bit of a chat. It was our great pleasure and privilege to welcome Stephen Paul on this podcast discussion, where we unpacked what really matters to Stephen – running the sort of firm that enables him to live the life that he wants and to earn the livin...

It's such a privilege when you get the chance to speak to a couple of business leaders who founded a firm with nothing just a few years ago – in fact, set the business up during lockdown – and then have grown rapidly since then. Last year, the business grew by 6%, and the year before by 25%. This year, they’re looking to grow in excess of 25-30% again, possibly more. It was a terrific opportunity to spend some time with Vicky and Russ from Byrd & Link – an audit specialist, as...

When you're fortunate enough to spend an hour or so in a deep discussion with two members of the leadership team of a 600-person firm, a team that have profoundly and consistently improved their firm's performance over the years, it's definitely something worth taking seriously. And that's the case with this podcast discussion with Richard Spofforth and Jenn Williamson from Kreston Reeves. As you would expect, we unpacked deep and powerful insights in and around technology, but also dee...

It's a rare privilege to sit down with the leader of a top 20, global firm and chew the fat about the way the industry, the profession, is changing. So it's worthwhile listening to this discussion with Rhys Madoc, CEO of UHY International, and hear his views and insights – from across the globe – that are relevant to your firm, in your locality, as much as they are to the global profession. We talk about selling, about how we have to get closer to understanding what's going on in ...

It's just brilliant to have a chance to speak to an accountant who has worked in practice – right at the centre of adopting technology – who then moves on to being a provider to the accountancy profession. But rather than being a provider of software services, Billie Mcloughlin is part of the 20:20 Innovation team. She’s working with a large number of leaders and managers across many firms and uncovering how they're adapting to the changes that are hitting the profession. It’s gre...

In business, one thing that's absolutely certain is that a client’s perception of your firm is connected to their expectation of what you'll deliver to them, for them, with them. In this podcast discussion with the two Richards, Richard Brewin and Richard Bertin, of All In Place, you'll be exposed to some really powerful insights. Yes, in accountancy, you have to deliver compliance services, and most, if not all, of your clients, expect you to do that. But not all of your cl...