Episode 19

Advisory - 50 years of Wasted Opportunities for Accountants

Episode 19. The Accountants Influencers Podcast with Rob Brown & Martin Bissett on the tragic lost revenues of accounting firms from being too reliant on compliance.

Key shownotes from the whole interview include:

➯ Why so few accounting firms have been able to monetise advisory services

➯ Whether many accountancy practices remain stuck in the compliance trap

➯ How accountants fail to add value by prevaricating on positioning and delivering advisory work

➯ How accounting clients remain uneducated on the value and services their accountant can offer

➯ What happens to accountants and firms who don't embrace additional services to mere compliance

➯ Is your accounting firm full of compliance based deadline chasers or a commercial business intent on growing and serving clients?

➯ Where is your accountancy practice on the scale of 'order taker' to 'trusted advisor'?

➯ How an accounting firm identity is dictated by the culture/strategy set by owners and managing partners

➯ Why referrals are actually a poor source of new work for some accountants

➯ Why it's vital that accountants help clients understand what value and improvement looks like in their business

➯ What clients really pay their accountants and business advisors for

➯ What accounting professionals actually need and don't need to master advisory services

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About the Podcast

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Accounting Voices Podcast
Accounting Voices helps people in the accounting world stay relevant visible and vocal. Host Rob Brown interprets trends reshaping the profession and gives listeners insight to build authority influence and a stronger voice in firms and markets.

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About your host

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Rob Brown

Rob Brown is the founder and host of the Accounting Voices Podcast, the flagship solo show of the Accounting Voices Network. Each episode offers sharp analysis and commentary on the trends, ideas and people shaping the global accounting profession.

Through this Accounting Voices Podcast, Rob helps accounting firm leaders, decision makers and professionals stay relevant and make sense of disruption in areas like AI, automation, M&A, private equity and soft skills beyond the tech. His perspective blends clarity, insight and curiosity, making complex issues relevant and practical for professionals and decision makers across accounting and finance.

He also leads two monthly panel shows, Accounting M&A and Accounting AI, which bring together senior voices to explore consolidation, strategy and the impact of technology on firms and people.

Rob is the author of the bestselling book Build Your Reputation (Wiley) and a TEDx speaker whose talk The Personal Brand of You has more than 400,000 views. Over his career he has hosted and moderated more than 1,000 conversations with accounting and fintech leaders worldwide.

Based in Nottingham UK, Rob is a stroke survivor living with epilepsy, a black belt in kickboxing, a decent chess player and an average player of four musical instruments.