When you listen in to a conversation with a leader of an accounting business with over 100 people, and you hear how seriously they take investment in their team now so that it delivers a return in 12, 18, 24 or even 36 months, it's well worth considering what’s being said. 

So, when Rebecca Mihalic of the Australian firm businessDEPOT talks about taking team members along to client meetings, not as a piece of furniture (to use her language), but as active participants in the meeting, using the tools of the meeting to enable them to contribute in a valuable, meaningful way, you can see how Rebecca is growing her team to deliver a result for her personally. She can cascade client relationship work to others, work that otherwise might not happen. 

It's a valuable discussion. There's a phrase towards the end of the discussion where Rebecca talks about creating a safe space to fail and a safe space to win as being one of the fundamental concepts that she uses when leading and managing her team. 

You’ll find many helpful insights in this discussion with Rebecca. I hope you'll go to your favourite podcast platform, whether it be iTunes or Spotify or another platform, or join us at humanisethenumbers.online and look for this podcast discussion with Rebecca Milahic. 

Please scroll down the episode page for this podcast for the contact information for Rebecca and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.

It's simply brilliant when you can spend some time with a chartered accountant, one who spent 17 years with EY down in Australia before becoming an owner-managed business buying accountancy services. 

Craig believes that an accountant does a brilliant job, a better job, if they're 80% human and 20% accountant when working with their owner-managed business clients. 

This podcast discussion is with Craig McKell, from our very good friend AdvanceTrack. Craig is working in the profession again and is now the General Manager of Asia Pacific for AdvanceTrack. 

He's amazed at the challenges the profession faces from a talent-shortage perspective. He shares a brilliant insight around the fact that you don't have to fall far from the corporate world of accountancy to make a real difference with real people – owner-managed businesses. 

It's worth going to this podcast to understand what you do, for example, with three names. What could you do with three names so that you're more human than you are an accountant (80% human, 20% accountant)? 

You’ll find great value in this podcast as we discuss the 80/20 rule according to Craig McKell. 

I hope you enjoy this practical, passionate podcast with Craig McKell of AdvanceTrack. 

All you need to do is go to your favourite podcast platform or join us at humanisethenumbers.online and seek out the podcast with Craig McKell.

Please scroll down the podcast’s episode page for the contact information for Craig and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

The key question – how do you and your firm make a difference? – makes a difference in the conversations you have with your current team members when it comes to connecting them up with the real meaning behind what you're doing. 

Making a difference and communicating that will also help you connect with potential future employees so that they're more likely to join your firm rather than another, ultimately making a difference to the business owner clients that you currently work with, as well as to future prospective clients. 

If these future prospective clients are able to see that you can really make a difference to them and their business, they’re more likely, obviously, to want to work with you and your firm. 

In this podcast with Mark Walker of VFD Pro, Mark unpacks his experience as a senior financial professional, including his time as a board-level finance officer at Carnival Cruises and his work with The Co-Op, as well as with a number of SMEs.  He has built a product, a tool, that's shown him, his client accountancy firms and their clients how they can make a difference by better connecting. Yes, there is a conversation around the future of their business, and yes, around the finances, but also around the whole business, so that there's a stronger relationship. 

That's why I think this podcast discussion is so important. I hope you'll take time out to go to humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform to find this podcast with Mark Walker. I’m sure you’ll find it really valuable. 

Please scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Mark and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

Where's the value in your firm around pulling together absolute clarity around the behavioral standards, values, and beliefs, that you want to live by in your accountancy firm?

Is the hard thinking, hard work going to pay off for you and your firm?

Well, on this Humanise The Numbers podcast discussion with Phool and Cheryl, owners and leaders of two different accounting firms, they share their insights on how getting clarity on values has actually paid off for them.

Whether it be in recruiting new team members, setting standards of performance with their existing team or even the impact of sharing values with clients.

I've just finished a workshop with eight different accounting firms, the smallest with a team of 12, and the largest with a team of more than 200 people. 

We openly discussed the merits of having no values, having good values that aren't really lived, and having great values that genuinely exist in their firm, values that are lived, that you can see happening every week, every day, across the firm. 

Now clearly, if a team of people seriously buy into a set of values, seriously buy into the purpose you have for your firm, they're going to have a reference point for all the decisions and all their actions, which will sponsor the future success of your firm.

So why not join me, Phool and Cheryl on this Humanise The Numbers podcast discussion and see what they have to say about interaction with team members, interactions with potential future team members, interactions with clients and how values impact those really key conversations that ultimately fuel the future success of their firm and can fuel the future success of your firm too.

When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Phool and Cheryl and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

This is podcast 3 of 5 of the ACCA Strategy Series

Where's the value in having a crystal clear sense of purpose for your accountancy firm?

On this Humanise The Numbers podcast discussion, you're going to hear from James Lizars and Steph Rickaby, two sole owners of two modest size accounting firms that think big  about their core purpose.

And you'll hear Paul Shrimpling ask them, where's the payoff?  Where's the value in having and building and creating and living a real sense of purpose?

 Hope you enjoy the discussion with James and Steph.  When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for James and Steph and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

Is it worth the time, the effort, the energy in talking strategy in an accounting firm?

Well, this was a question posed to me by ACCA.

So, on this Humanise The Numbers podcast you'll hear Douglas Aitken, a colleague of mine, and I talk about the core elements of strategy and how those core elements can deliver a true return on investment for you and your firm.

This is podcast 1 of 5 in the ACCA Strategy Series.
 When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Douglas and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

How do you define in your firm the concept of real time accounting? And is it really meaningful?

In this Humanise The Numbers discussion with Stefan Barrett of Bee Motion an accountancy firm in Stockport, you'll hear Stefan share his insights around what real-time accounting means to him and how he makes it valuable to his clients.

When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information forStefan and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

Where's the value in an accountant, having a strategy conversation with a client and then accountability conversations with clients?

Well, in this Humanise The Numbers podcast discussion with Hugh Steadman of C&H Steadman in Hemel Hempstead, you'll hear Hugh describe his views on how talking the historical reports from annual accounts is so last year and actually talking about the future is so where we need to be at as a profession.

Hugh also shares his stories of helping clients with outsourcing, strategy, recruitment and how a serious illness last year created a huge opportunity for his firm and allowed his team to step up in a way that has had a profound impact on the future of the firm.
 When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Hugh and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

What must it be like for the leadership team of an accountancy firm to be not a hundred percent confident, but seriously confident about the future stability of their firm.

You're about to hear from Suda Ratnam of 70 person, 11 partner firm Raffingers on the outskirts of London, share what they as a firm are doing to humanise the numbers in their firm based on their mentoring program for their team.

And also a quarterly review process with their team to ensure that everyone in the firm is on the track to progress, to be doing the best work they can do and to feel as though they're very much part of the progression of the firm.

So please, why not join me and Suda Ratnum at HumaniseTheNumbers.online for this podcast discussion that ultimately sees Raffingers invest in their people quite significantly, and fits very well with the message around 'If  you don't grow your people, you won't grow your practice'. But if you do grow your people, you will grow your practice fees, profits, capital value and cash. And also that sense of pride and enjoyment of running a humanised accountancy business.

When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Suda and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

What do you think it would be like to grow an accountancy firm from 30 people strong to 200 people strong 4 offices, 18 partners, and still retain the feel and culture of the family firm you were 30 years ago when there was 30 people in the firm.

Nathan Keeley from Carpenter Box down in Sussex, joins me on this HumaniseTheNumbers.Online podcast and shares in quite intimate detail, a number of the things they've done and things they're doing to ensure that they've got that sense of collaboration within the team and the sense of collaboration too, with their clients.

Yes, they’ve been using technology but also looking at every role in every department in its own merits and building KPIs that suit each individual and each department in its own merits. I think you'll find a huge amount of value in what Nathan has shared in this podcast. And I hope you'll join me at HumaniseTheNumbers.online

And please, if you get the opportunity to give me your feedback, it'd be great to hear from you.  When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Nathan and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

What one thing is the key to the future success of your accounting firm?

Don't you think actually it makes sense to get an outsider's perspective?

To answer that question, an outsider who absolutely loves the profession and has spent the last six years working with the profession I'm  joined by Zoe Lacey Cooper, the director head of events at Accountex the largest UK exhibition for the accounting profession.

Join me on this Humanise The Numbers podcast and hear Zoe sharing her insights and experiences that point to implementation as the one key thing.

How exactly do you build a stronger connection with each and every one of your team so that each and every one of them are more productive, generate a higher standard of work and ultimately deliver greater bottom line profits to you and your firm?

 On this HumaniseTheNumbers podcast discussion with Wayne Hockley from Anthony Russell, you'll hear Wayne describe in detail how they've moved their firm from a monthly rhythm for production workflow, to a weekly rhythm around production workflow.

 Plus how important it's been to drive more regular, daily, if not more than daily contact with each and every member of their team.

 That may sound inefficient but this approach by Wayne and Tony has delivered effective results and effective bottom line profits for their firm.
So why not join me on this podcast interview to hear the insights that Wayne has to share.
 When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Wayne and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

What would it be like knowing with absolute confidence in absolute certainty where you're taking your firm? What the vision of your firm is?

The goals that you've set for yourself.

Knowing with concrete certainty that you're going to get there.

In this discussion with Jo Drinkwater of Grant McKnight in the West Midlands, you'll see, hear, even feel Jo's confidence and certainty about the future of her business and her team and the work she's doing with her clients.

You'll get a sense of her zeal and enthusiasm and joy of running her relatively new business.

And hopefully be inspired by that energy and get something of real value from this discussion.

So please join me on this Humanise The Numbers podcast and meet Jo Drinkwater and feed off the enthusiasm and zeal she's got for the profession for her team and for her customers.

I hope you enjoy the podcast.  When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Jo and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

If you or a loved one is unfortunate enough to need a medical or surgical procedure, chances are you'd prefer, for example, to have a kidney transplant specialist, if you needed a kidney transplant, rather than consulting with a general practitioner or even a general surgeon. 

On this podcast, Reza Hooda talks about the fact that your business clients would prefer to work with a specialist in their field, their market, their sector, rather than with a generalist. But Reza also makes the point that, ultimately, your business owner clients would much prefer to work with someone who knows them personally in a deep way. The marketers would call it Segment Size One – there's only one person, one business owner, in that segment. 

As Reza points out, your job as an accountant in a meeting with your clients is to help them see their business in a light that removes some of their concerns, worries and fears about its future, which is why I think this wide-ranging discussion with Reza is such a valuable podcast. 

I hope you'll take time out to go to humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform and check out this discussion with Reza Hooda. 

Please scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Reza and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

How come some accountants are really good at connecting with their business owner clients and other accountants are less good, less effective at building that personal connection with that business owner clients. 

On this podcast interview, you'll hear Luke Smith of Purpose -  this is part two of a two-part discussion I had with Luke recently. 

Myself and a bunch of other accountants actually grill Luke on this podcast and you'll hear Luke describe what it is his team are doing to ensure that there's a real connection in every year-end meeting between his team and his business owner clients.

So why not join me and a bunch of other accountants on this humanisethenumbers.online podcast and hear what Luke has got to say about how he and his team do great work to build that connection between his team and his clients.
When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Luke and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

How do you explain to clients the value behind you charging them in excess of 2% of the turnover of their business? 

And how do you explain that a million pound turnover business can and should, and willingly will pay you £20,000  or more per annum for the work that you do with them.

Well, on this podcast interview with Luke Smith of his firm Purpose, you'll hear Luke describe in detail what he says, what he does, how he says it,  and how he does it to earn the right. to charging an average fee across all of of clients in excess of £20,000. 

So why not join me on this humanisethenumbers.online podcast and hear what Luke has to say about how he does a brilliant of of working with these clients, but also demonstrating the value that his firm delivers to his clients. 

I hope you enjoy the podcast.  When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Luke and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast. 

On  this Humanise The Numbers podcast interview I’m talking to Coral Tolley-Fletcher and Jonathan Vowles of JVCA - based in Cranfield -and I have a sneaking suspicion I ambushed Coral and Jonathan a little around their views of the value that they and their firm deliver to their clients. 

And we have what I believe is a valuable conversation about the two types of value, the two aspects of value or pay off as I like to call it.

One being the, functional, factual, financial payoff that your client's experience of working with your firm and the other being the emotional payoff, you know, that sense of reassurance and certainty and confidence that everything's all right in the world that clients get from working with you, their accountant.

So why not join me, Carol and Jonathan on this Humanise The Numbers podcast at Humanisethenumbers.online and see what you make of those two elements of payoff or value functional and emotional. And hopefully you'll derive, get some value and take some action on the back of making more of the opportunity to talk value in two different ways with your clients.
When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Jonathan and Coral and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast. 

How would one of your favorite business owner clients feel if they were approached by another accountancy firm that was genuinely wholeheartedly committed to building a better future for them and their business.

I've just interviewed that accountancy firm they're called Wood and Disney.

I've interviewed Brendon Howlett one of the owner directors of Wood and Disney. 
And he shared what's behind the firm's corporate focus...

Building Better Futures, which...

 I'm fairly certain applies to the team, just as much as it applies to the clients and Brendon shares some insight, some knowledge around what and how they make the most of that central purpose, how it influences their conversations with their clients and the impact that has on client loyalty and the ability of that central purpose.

That commitment to building better futures brings them new clients, especially given the challenges we've had in recent months with the coronavirus issues and so forth.

So tune in here at humanisethenumbers.online and you'll be able to access the podcast interview between Brendon and I, as well as a handful of other podcast interviews. 

And, when you've had a chance to listen to it's about 30 minutes with Brendon, I'd really appreciate you dropping me a line. Let me know what you thought and what you've got out of that podcast interview. 

Hope you enjoy it.  When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Brendon and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast. 

Have you ever wondered how to get more production out of your production team?

What I mean by that is have you ever wondered how to better help your production team turn out more sets of accounts, more VAT returns, more management accounts in any given time, even if they're working remotely part of the time, or maybe even if they're working remotely all of the time.

In this podcast interview I'm talking with Kat Wellum Kent of multi-partner multi-office firm Monahans down in the Southwest of the UK and Kat with her 45-strong production team have started a number of initiatives to do just that.

 I really liked the buddy system that Kat talks about on the podcast, as well as the different career paths she creates depending on the natural preferences, natural tendencies, natural skills and personalities that go with her team.

So why not join me at humanisethenumbers.online and listen to this podcast with Kat Wellum Kent and you'll get a real insight into the great work Kats doing within Monahans.
When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Kats and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast. 

In this podcast you'll hear how Mark and his team take seriously, deadly seriously, the five behavioral values they hold true in their firm.

It's impressive for one core reason.

Mark and his team have worked remotely for years. It's not just something that they've created over the recent months thanks to the pandemic.

They worked remotely for a long time. They've got this tight knit coalesced, highly motivated team, partly because they genuinely wholeheartedly live the five behavioral values and Mark shares, what and how they do that on this podcast interview..

There's also one other thing that stands out well in the interview and the discussion with Mark.

His team's commitment to the weekly rhythm so there's 52 opportunities a year to be successful.  Not 12 (if you're rolling a monthly rhythm).

So why not dive into that interview? And you'll be able to access Mark talking in detail about the what and the hows and the why's around Telford accountants.

Hope you enjoy this Humanise The Numbers podcast.
When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Mark and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast. 

Because both Will and Peter are leading high-growth digital accountancy practices it's enlightening to listen to what they have to say!

In this discussion Peter and Will share their insights, key skills and structures that support the growth of their firms, the development of their people and the very strong relationships they have with their clients.

The discussion starts on the topic of book keeping but soon morphs into an even more important debate about client relationship work, team skills development and more.
Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast here.
When on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Will and Peter and to find additional resources mentioned in the podcast. 

As we approached our 100th edition of the Humanise The Numbers podcast, we found choosing someone to invite as the guest a bit challenging. But then we thought, what if we could make a global impact by having the right standard of guest, one that could inspire you, your firm, your team, your clients, maybe, to transform the numbers that really matter in your firm and across your clients’ businesses? 

And that's why we brought in Mr. Steve Pipe, with whom I had the great privilege of working during the first five years of my career supporting ambitious accountants. Steve speaks in a deep and meaningful way about core purpose and values, about engaging your team, about making a difference on a level that is inspiring, but also challenging, and in a way that’s quite practical. 

I hope you'll take time out to hear the message that Steve shares and that you’ll take some action off the back of it – this will benefit your team and the commercial results of your firm and it could have a profound and positive impact on your clients as well. And that work could then go on to have a global impact. 

So please go to www.humanisethenumbers.online to find the podcast with Mr. Steve Pipe, Chartered Accountant, or go to your favourite podcast platform. I hope you find this conversation as stimulating and valuable as my team and I have.

Scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Steve and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

It's easy for us to assume you want a more successful firm. You also probably want a more enjoyable place to work. I guess the big question is, which comes first – a more enjoyable firm or a more successful, more profitable firm? 

On this Humanise The Numbers podcast with the Managing Partner of UHY Hacker Young in London and Nottingham, Subarna Banerjee, you'll hear Subarna dive deep into his team-first approach – an approach that's led to the commercial results that they've enjoyed in recent times. You’ll also hear about his deep commitment to a core purpose and a set of values that aren't just corporate wall art, aren't just corporate BS, but real, alive and making a difference for his team and, at the same time, informing their decisions around their customers. 

If you're seeking out ways and means of building a more successful firm, consider checking out what Subarna has to say about a team-first approach, as opposed to one that is commercial-first, and see how, if you do that in an authentic way, you can build a more successful firm. 

Please go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or go to your favourite podcast platform and seek out the Humanise the Numbers podcast with Subarna Banerjee. I look forward to seeing you there. 

Scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Subarna and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

When you start to unpack the value and the importance of your team being connected with the vision and the future goals of your business, you know you're in a position to acquire some insight and to deliver actions and decisions that will support the future success of your firm. 

On this podcast discussion with Ashley Leeds, a man with 16 years’ experience in working with accounting firms – from QuickBooks to Digita and in other organisations – as well as from the perspective of his work in coaching, we unpack exactly that. 

How do we better connect our team to the goals and vision of the business? How do we better connect our team to what matters to them as well, their personal goals? And what do we do to better tap into deeper and stronger levels of motivation, drive and enthusiasm, giving our team members the responsibility to help us develop the business as well? 

Please go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or go to your favourite podcast platform and seek out Ashley Leeds on the Humanise The Numbers podcast. I look forward to seeing you there. 

Scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Ashley and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

What happens when you put two business leaders, both of whom serve the leadership and management teams of accounting firms, into a podcast discussion? Well, you end up with a bit of a fireside chat, a very candid fireside chat, that unpacks a number of key issues influencing the success of accountancy firms. 

In this Humanise The Numbers podcast discussion with Paul Richmond of theGrogroup, you'll hear Paul and I chewing the fat, but also diving deep into topics such as client grading, exiting clients, KPIs and building a leadership team that really drives the future of an accountancy firm forward. 

If you're interested in seeing two competitors – I don't necessarily see us that way, and I don't think Paul does either – not bashing heads, really, but sharing thoughts and ideas on how to transform the results of accounting firms, please go to www.humanisethenumbers online, or go to your favourite podcast platform. I look forward to seeing you there.

Scroll down this podcast’s episode page for the contact information for Paul and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

It's not surprising that I'd be so excited about welcoming two of the leaders of the fastest growing tech company in the UK and, according to Deloitte's, the third fastest growing tech company of all time, Allica Bank. 

On this Humanise the Numbers podcast, we welcome Conrad Ford and Sophie Hossack, who share powerful insights, valuable ideas and principles around growth – and they should know, given the rate of growth they're experiencing at the moment. 

If you want to hear Sophie and Conrad unpack some of the principles behind their rapid growth and how it connects and is relevant to you and your accounting firm, then please go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or go to your favourite podcast platform. 

I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I have, and I hope you'll take one or two of the insights and turn them into decision-making and action across your firm. I look forward to seeing you there.

Scroll down this podcast’s episode page for the contact information for Conrad and Sophie and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

One of the deepest, most valuable, conversations you can have with your business owner/business leader clients is in regard to the future of the business without them. It's about exit planning and succession, about preparing the business for their exit, whether it's an internal or external sale, and about whether the management team will continue in their footsteps. 

But how do you have those conversations? What questions do you ask? On what topics do you want to zero in and focus so that your clients get real value from that conversation? 

On this humanisethenumbers.online podcast discussion with Christine Nicholson, she unpacks her 30 years of experience, allowing you to take away a number of key insights that will stimulate great conversations with your clients, as well as within your own firm, so that you can prepare your accountancy firm for a better future without you as a manager and leader. 

Scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Christine and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

It’s stating the blatantly obvious that, when you and your team build the knowledge, the skills and the habits that result in a deeper, more trusting, more valuable relationship with your clients, you'll end up with a more successful firm. 

That success comes because deeper relationships with clients mean that they’ll stay with you longer, they’ll be more loyal, they’ll buy more services from you, they’ll be more willing to pay higher fees, and yes, they’ll recommend you to their friends in business as well. 

On this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Darren Glanville, the country manager for Fathom, you'll hear Darren unpack and share his insights on how, when you and your team drop into learning mode, you will end up building stronger, deeper, more trusting, more valuable relationships with your clients. 

Learning mode's about being curious, and what I loved about the conversation with Darren was this blend of questions, conversations and curiosity about the past, present and future, and how this leads to stronger, better, deeper, more trusting conversations and better, deeper relationships with clients. 

By checking out this podcast with Darren, you'll tap into his experience of working with accountants over many years. But you'll also be signposted to the knowledge, the skills and the habits needed to enhance the quality of the relationships you and your team have with your clients. 

So why not go to www.humanisethnumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform for this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Darren Glanville.

Scroll down the podcast episode page for the contact information for Darren and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

If you've led a six-person accounting firm with a turnover of £250,000 and built it over the years into a £1.5-million firm with 22 people, you'd rightly feel a sense of pride and satisfaction in what you'd achieved. 

You might, though, be running out of energy, passion and ambition for your people, your clients and the business. 

Well, that's not the case with Simon Chaplin of Greenstones. Listen to this podcast discussion with Simon and you won't be able to help yourself in terms of buying into the passion he has for his team, his clients and the core purpose of his firm. There are huge lessons to be found within this discussion with Simon. 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It's easy for me to say that because I've known Simon for a long time, but it's the sheer commitment to the humanity within his firm that I enjoy so much in our discussion. I hope you do too. 

Go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform and look out for this podcast discussion with Simon Chaplin.

Please scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Simon and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

It's not every day you get to interview an accountant who's also a retailer and a podcaster, and in this discussion with Andrew Van De Beek from Australia – Andrew runs a twenty-person accountancy business in Victoria – the discussion turns almost into a philosophical debate, but with real, practical outcomes.

Andrew is committed to the concept of the business of relationships, with a core focus, a core purpose, around building businesses and helping owner-managed business leaders build organisations that stand the test of time. 

We spent time talking about process and people. We spent a bit of time talking about purpose and profitability as well. But it was the depth of the conversation, the detail of the insight, that stood out for me. 

I thoroughly enjoyed speaking to Andrew. I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I did. 

Go to your favourite podcast platform or go to humanisethenumbers.online and seek out the podcast with Andrew Van de Beek.

Please scroll down the podcast’s episode page for the contact information for Andrew and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.

If you are brilliant or remarkable or just getting better at leading and managing your team, personalising and humanising how you work with them, and you’re brilliant or remarkable or getting better at working with your clients, then you’re going to have a more successful firm. It's stating the blatantly obvious. Also, if you are leading and managing change in your firm – because change is inevitable, the speed of change is increasing and a key skill is adapting and adopting the changes that are hitting the profession – then improve your leading and managing change skills and you will build a stronger, better, more resilient and highly thriving accountancy firm. I've just described three key themes that show up in a podcast discussion with Daniel Hood, who is the editor-in-chief of Accounting Today from the USA. This podcast gives us a USA perspective, an overview, on the accounting profession abroad. What Dan does brilliantly is unpack how important personalising things are for your team and your clients, how leading and managing change is a key skill in which to invest time, effort and energy and, generally, how humanising things pays off big for accounting firms. There’s lots to take from Dan's insights. I hope you enjoy this discussion as much as I did with Dan, so please go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or go to your favourite podcast platform and seek out the Humanise The Numbers podcast. 

Once on this episode page, please scroll down for the contact information for Daniel and the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

When a business leader that has 3000 team members and works across several countries, several continents, even, shares their insights on what’s working within the accountancy profession and how to make their business more successful, I’m all ears.

It was a great privilege and a great honour to have Elona Mortimer-Zhika, CEO of Iris, join me on the Humanise the Numbers podcast to share her insights on how important, how valuable, humanising the numbers is from her perspective. 

Dive into this podcast discussion and you may realise that you're already doing certain things well. You may also realise and appreciate the ways and means of improving one or two things that you're already doing. You’ll almost certainly go, ‘mmmmm, not even kickstarted that one – let's get into that because it can have a big impact on our team, our clients and the success of the firm.’

So I hope you'll join me and Elona on this podcast at www.humanisethenumbers.online or go to your favourite podcast platform and you'll find the Humanise The Numbers podcast series there. 

Please scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Elona and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

It can't be easy to transform an accountancy firm from one that's charging clients about £200 a month to one that's charging clients in excess of £1000 pounds a month. 

It can't be easy to grow from scratch an offshoring team out in the Philippines – from zero to ten in just twelve months. 

And it can't be easy to approach every one of your 30 team members across two locations and ensure that every one of them gets what they want out of working in your practice, on a really personal level. 

That's what Robert Fiford of djca accountants has done and, in this Humanise The Numbers podcast, he shares how he's done it. I found this discussion wide-ranging, only because Robert has so many insights to share. 

I hope you enjoy this discussion as much as I did and I hope you can take away one, two, three, or possibly even six or seven, high-value elements of this podcast.  Please go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform. I'll see you there.

Scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Robert and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

Don't you agree that it would be profoundly useful if you could get a sideways view of what's going on in the accounting profession, a sideways view from a fellow financial professional, but through a different lens? On this Humanise the Numbers podcast discussion with Claire Evans, you'll get the perspective of someone from the financial services industry. 

Claire's worked in that industry for a long time. She has trained a lot of financial services people and is training accountants now on both personal and business cash flow and how to bolt the two together. And she talks profoundly, deeply, about the need, the value, of a long-lasting, meaningful relationship with a real future focus. 

You’ll hear Claire unpack her five-stage framework for running a brilliant client meeting, as well as many other powerful insights.

I hope you enjoy this discussion with Claire as much as I did. 

Please scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Claire and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

I found it profoundly, remarkably, valuable to enter into a podcast discussion with someone who has a really broad perspective across the profession – someone who spent 15 years in practice, someone who has worked at technology companies such as Xero and Dext and who works now with literally hundreds of leaders and managers of accounting firms, someone who can signpost what the best firms are doing compared with the other firms in the industry when it comes to brilliantly connecting with their team to get the best from them, brilliantly connecting with their clients so that they can make a big difference, feel pride in their work and generate great profits for the firm. 

But also doing something special around – and Katie uses a phrase on this podcast discussion about ‘choosing your ending’, which I thought was brilliant – connecting with vision and goals. What are the goals and vision of your people, of each individual within your firm? 

She talks about personalisation as well, connecting with the ending in mind, the vision of your clients, having a conversation with them about the future of their business and, actually, about the future of the firm as a whole. 

I'm sure you'll find this podcast both entertaining and valuable, listening in to what Katie's got to say about the accountancy profession and how it can have a positive and meaningful impact on you and your firm. 

So please go to www.humanisethenumbers online or to your favourite podcast platform and look out for Katie Hawking. 

Scroll down when on this episode page for the contact information for Katie and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

It can't be easy, can it, to grow a firm from one person to 18 in just three years and to take your client numbers from 50 to 700 within the same time frame? 

Well, that's exactly what Rachel Harris of the accountancy firm striveX has achieved. 

And one of the reasons for the success of that journey is down to Rachel's 'team first' approach. 

Even though she's gone from 50 to 700 clients, the focus is 'team first'. And she unpacks on this Humanise the Numbers podcast the five strategies, the five processes, that make her firm, striveX, a ‘team first’ business that's delivered the growth, the results, that she's now experiencing.

I hope you enjoy this conversation with arguably one of the most vocal people on social media, Rachel Harris. You will see the depth in the way she manages and leads her business around her team. 

Please go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform. I'll see you there.

Scroll down on this episode page for the contact information for Rachel and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

What does it take to grow an accounting business from its initial two founders to 40 people in five years? Great question.

What does it take to grow an accounting business which generates average fees per client of £30,000? Another great question. 

What does it take to grow an accountancy business where its people absolutely love working and where the clients respect and love the work that the firm's doing for them? 

I had the great privilege of spending an hour on a podcast discussion with Alastair Barlow, co-founder of flinder. Alastair unpacked many things, but he talked specifically about the determination to systematise the business so that it's not reliant on Alastair and it's not reliant on his co-founder, Luke. 

And standards – the power and the importance of standards and expectations show up big time in this discussion. Last but not least, the determination to uphold those standards across the firm comes through really strongly. 

I hope you take time out to listen to this profoundly valuable conversation with Alastair and that you enjoy it as much as I did. Please join me on this Humanise The Numbers podcast or you can go to your favourite podcast platform. I look forward to seeing you there.

When on the episode page, please scroll down to the bottom to see Alastair's contact information and to access the additional resources mentioned in the podcast. 

Nearly every time I ask the question ‘what matters most to clients?’ –  technical work, the speed with which the work's done or the relationship work – and whether I'm with an individual accountant, a leadership team within an accountancy firm or presenting to an audience of accountants, the answer that almost always comes back is that it's the relationship work that the clients value the most.

In a profession that leans more towards introversion than extroversion, it makes sense to dive into what is it accountants could and should do to build stronger relationships with their clients.

It was great to have Amanda C. Watts on the podcast to unpack her experiences and to share her understanding as a self-confessed introvert on how and what accountants can do to build stronger relationships through asking better questions and listening more, as well as the deeper, practical skills of making that come to life. 

If you can see that relationship building is a primary source of value for your clients, and that improving the knowledge and skills in that space would pay off for you, your team and your firm, why not join Amanda and me on this podcast.

I hope you enjoy this Humanise The Numbers podcast as much as I did, please scroll down the episode page page for the contact information for Amanda and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

It's not every day that you get to have a deep and valuable conversation with someone who's deliberately, consciously, ambitiously looking to shift the profession towards the place it used to hold in the hearts and minds of its clients. 

And that's why I felt so excited, so privileged, to be able to spend some time with Will Farnell on the Humanise The Numbers podcast, talking with Will about the insights he has captured in his book, The Human Firm.

Will is very open, very keen to be clear regarding his first book, The Digital Firm, which was about his experiences around how he got his firm to a place where they were the first 100% cloud-based accounting firm, and how those insights have driven him to realise that it's more about the humanity within the firm, around your clients and your team, that matters. 

This is why I was so enamoured and so up for a conversation with Will, where he shares deep and meaningful insights about his progression from an offline to a completely cloud-based firm by 2009, and how those experiences have continued to influence his progression towards being a firm (of 75 people) that's committed to the humanity of what's going on in his business, from his team's perspective and from his clients’ perspective. 

I hope you'll join Will and I on this humanise the numbers podcast. You can go to Spotify or Apple or your favourite podcast platform if you wish, but please take time out and have a listen to Will Farnell. I'm sure you'll get some real value from it.

When on the podcast page, please scroll to the bottom to see Will's contact information and to access the additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

When you get the opportunity to meet a leader, one that's been at the forefront of influencing and managing change across the whole profession because of his involvement in Xero, you grab it with both hands. 

It's a great honour to have welcomed Gary Turner, ex-UK lead at Xero, onto the Humanise The Numbers podcast to discuss growth, leading and managing change, the successful implementation of technology and how the balance between the importance of the team and the importance of clients plays out in every business, not just in accountancy firms. 

I'm absolutely certain you'll get something of deep and meaningful value from this discussion with Gary. I look forward to seeing you at the humanisenumbers.online podcast. 

Or if you prefer, go to your favourite podcast platform. I'll see you there.

Please scroll down on this episode page for the contact information for Gary and the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

When someone says to me that the numbers are the outputs, and it's the team, it's the humans, that are the inputs, you can imagine I'm all ears. 

In this podcast discussion with Nicky Clough of Insight Training, you'll hear Nicky unpack and expand on those thoughts. Yes, accountants are obsessed with the numbers, quite rightly so, because that's their area of expertise, but maybe we should also be obsessed with the humans in our firms, the people, and what we do to build their knowledge and skills. 

Nicky talks about the importance of building self-awareness as, when there's a higher degree of self-awareness, there's the willingness, the motivation, the ability, even, to build knowledge and skill.

I hope you get something of real value from this discussion with Nicky Clough – I certainly did. And you can get the full podcast at humanisethenumbers.online or you can go to your favourite podcast platform and seek out Humanise The Numbers and Nicky Clough.

Please scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Nicky and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

How good are you and your leadership team, and your managers generally, at holding people to account for their behaviour and their results? 

It's one of the sticky, challenging, thorny aspects of leading and managing people, leading and managing accountancy firms. In this podcast discussion with Des O'Neill of the CPD Store, you'll hear Des and I unpack the detail behind determining the boundaries you should put in place and how you do that, as well as what standards you set, minimum and aspirational, in order to make expectations clearer, so that accountability is easier? 

And that's only one of many subjects Des and I touch on in and around the ‘humanise the numbers’ topic – humanising for the team, humanising for your clients – so that you are certain to get something of real value that you can directly apply to your firm, with your team and with your clients. 

I hope you enjoy this humanise the numbers podcast discussion with Des O'Neill as much as I did. 

Please scroll down the episode page for the contact information for Des and additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.

When we started the Humanise the Numbers podcast, it was a bit of an experiment to see if there was any life in talking with leaders of accounting firms and some of the top advisors to the profession from around the world. 

And now, two years on, it's no longer an experiment, because I consider it a privilege to be able to have deep, meaningful, valuable conversations with leaders in the profession. 

And it's not surprising, is it, when you come across a great leader of a great firm, that they'd want to focus on reducing the grunt work, they'd want to have a real systems approach to support reducing the grunt work. They'd want to recruit and support the right people and at the same time build in accountability so that high performance can be measured. 

And that's exactly what Lucy Cohen at Mazuma is doing. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this conversation with Lucy, especially the value of the small comments that Lucy makes throughout the discussion. 

And if you've followed what we do at Remarkable Practice and my obsession with KPIs (Key Predictive Indicators, not just Key Performance Indicators), I was very keen to understand Lucy's approach to measuring the performance of the team and how she brings that to bear, so that their 35-strong team have a sense of achievement and deliver a great result across their 3000 clients.  This is a really interesting team member-to-client ratio, and they actually measure the number of calls that take place between clients and team members – approximately 750 calls a week.

It's definitely worth your while to check out this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Lucy Cohen from Mazuma. 
Please scroll down when you are on the episode page to find Lucys contact information and the additional resources mentioned in the podcast.

One of the challenges or, arguably, one of the opportunities facing your firm, facing the profession, is the march of technology. 

But more importantly, as technology takes over more of the technical work of accountancy and bookkeeping, there’s a real need to invest more time, more energy, and more money, even, in the development of human skills, the skills that help you work better together as a team and that enable you to work better with your clients. 

And with that in mind, it made sense to invite Alexandra Bond Burnett onto the humanisethenumbers.online podcast, so that we could tap into Alexandra’s experience, knowledge and insight from her work at drama school, her work in the finance world and her work as a coach, trainer and speaker for professional service firms. We discuss what it means to look at precision in a different way and the challenges that brings to accountants who want to get everything right in a world of ambiguity around people skills, the client skills.

So, if you want to improve your firm’s capabilities, knowledge, insight and human skills that enable you to build a better, stronger team and enable you to build better relationships with clients so that they stay with you longer, are more loyal, who refer you, who are happy to pay decent fees and actually want to buy more from you, why not join me on this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Alexandra. I'll look forward to seeing you there. 

When you are on Alexandra's episode page please scroll down to see her contact information and additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast. 

It’s fascinating when you get the opportunity to hear the powerful and valuable insights from the leader of a large finance team, responsible for the financial reporting of a £250 million turnover business, who then decides to drop that and start her own accounting business, grow it quickly, organically, and then begin to acquire other firms in order to accelerate the growth of the firm. 

Well, that’s Julie Wilkinson of Wilkinson Accountancy Solutions. She joins us on this humanisethenumbers.online podcast discussion and shares valuable observations around marketing, around how capacity comes before growth and around the challenges and processes needed to ensure that the systems are right in a high-growth business, as well as the importance of having a strategic reset every 13 weeks with the whole of the team. 

Fascinating conversation, useful insights. I hope you’ll join me at humanisethenumbers.online and check out my discussion with Julie Wilkinson.
Please also scroll down this episode page for Julies contact information and the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.

Have you ever wondered if, in your firm, you could be doing more in the environmental, sustainability space? Could the environmental message result in you winning new high-grade clients? Could it help you retain people or maybe even recruit new people?

In this podcast discussion with Peter Ellington, you’ll hear his candid, open and quite revealing insights, insights based on the research he’s done into the environmental space. 

He’s now building educational programs with the ACCA, and with ICAEW, and is growing his 800-client accounting firm on the back of his work in and around environmental sustainability. 

By the way, these are insights that you can apply to your firm as well, which could make you and your team feel a greater sense of pride and which could make a big and lasting difference. 

Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast here or go to your favourite podcast platform to listen and subscribe.

Please scroll down once on Peter's podcast episode page to find his contact information and additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.
Once on the episode page for Peter, please scroll down to find his contact information and additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

It’s a rare privilege to have a conversation with someone who has nearly 20 years’ experience of working with in excess of 2,500 accounting firms, someone who is willing to share deep insights about their experiences of the profession and how it’s changed over the years, as well as what’s needed, what’s necessary – now – to run a successful growing accountancy firm, someone who is currently in the process himself of setting up the UK operation of a – relatively new to the UK – business, albeit very quickly having won almost a thousand accounting firms.

So why not join Ian Cooper and I on this humanisethenumbers.online podcast. If you wish, go to your favourite podcast platform and I'll see you there.
Once on the episode page for Ian, please scroll down to find his contact information and additional resources mentioned in the podcast.  

What do you think it takes, in a relatively short five-year window, to grow a team of 14 people and to win 800 clients? 

Well, in this Humanise The Numbers podcast discussion with Johann Goree of OnPoint Accounting – with four offices, two in Scotland and two in England – you’ll hear Johann share how he has adopted a human approach to running an efficient firm that embraces and welcomes innovation and change. 

So why not join Johann and I on this humanisethenumbers.online podcast or go to your favourite podcast platform if you wish? I'll look forward to seeing you there.
Once on the episode page for Johann, please scroll down to find his contact information and additional resources mentioned in the podcast.

Your firm, like every firm, isn’t perfect. Your firm, like every firm, has team members who want to progress their careers and get better. And as they get better, your firm will get better too. 

The old adage that, if you don't grow your people, you won't grow your practice, is as plain and obvious as the nose on everyone's face. 

It was a real privilege to welcome Paul Barnes from the accountancy firm MAP onto the Humanise The Numbers podcast and hear lots of practical, valuable insights that Paul has picked up over his 10 years since starting MAP.

What was remarkable was how open Paul was about the challenges, frustrations and difficulties that he, as a fairly well-recognised accountancy firm leader within the UK, has faced.

It's just brilliant when someone is vulnerable and open and transparent about challenges, but also very open about what it is that makes a good, or a great, arguably, accountancy firm work.

Paul has built a firm with just 120 clients and 26 team members, and does an exceptional job of ensuring that each of his clients, either monthly or quarterly, is receiving deep, crystal-clear insight into the financial merits or otherwise of their business. 

I believe everyone in the profession would benefit from the insights that Paul shares on this podcast. I found it so inspiring that someone would be so open and so practical in what you do to make an accountancy firm successful. 

I hope you go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform and listen in as Paul Barnes shares his insights.  Once on the episode page for Paul, please scroll down to find his contact information and additional resources mentioned in the podcast. 

As a leader of an accountancy firm, or as a leader of a department, you’ll get to a stage where you wonder:  how on earth do I further improve the EBITDA or profitability of my firm or department? How do I improve its capital value?

Which is why I was just delighted that Sam Edwards, of the firm Strategy&, an advisory firm to businesses acquiring or selling other businesses, said yes to joining us on the HumaniseTheNumbers.online podcast. 

In the discussion with Sam, he’s very candid, very open, about the strategies, the processes and the principles behind building EBITDA and profitability from the standpoint of private equity firms buying into accountancy firms.

He's been involved in 12 deals in recent times, and he brings a real practicality to appreciating and understanding the drivers that deliver EBITDA and capital value growth. 

So I hope you’ll join Sam and me and go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or your favourite podcast platform to check out this valuable and worthwhile discussion with Sam Edwards.
Once on the episode page for Sam, please scroll down to find his contact information and additional resources mentioned in the podcast.