Episode 164

The Crucial Link Between Accountants & Business Partners

Anders Liu-Lindberg is the co-founder and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) at the Business Partnering Institute. He owns the largest group dedicated to Finance Business Partnering on LinkedIn with close to 10,000 members. He has ten years of experience as a business partner at the global transport and logistics company Maersk. He is the co-author of the book “Create Value as a Finance Business Partner” and a long-time Finance Blogger on LinkedIn with 60.000+ followers and 130.000+ subscribers to his blog. Selected shownotes:
  • The best definition of business partnering and its impact on value creation in business
  • Where true influence and impact really comes from in a professional role
  • How the word 'influence' has changed over the years and what truly defines an influencer
  • What separates the hype and social media following from the genuine influencers in a profession
  • The number one thing accountants must do to become a better business partner in their firms
  • The main difference between strategic partnerships/commercial alliances and business partnering
  • The reasons silos exist in firms and why accountants are best placed to break down departmental barriers
  • Why communication is the top attribute for effective business partnering in professional firms
  • The value of identifying the key priorities of stakeholders in your accounting firm, both internal and external
  • Best practice tips for external partnering with clients, customers and introducers
  • What stops finance and accounting professionals from becoming good communicators and business partners
  • How  a doubling of rate of automation in transactional finance is affecting accounting professionals
  • Why some skills cannot be learned overnight but must be mastered over time and by developing longer term habits
  • How the 70-20-10 principle of upskilling and learning affects change programs for accounting firms
  • The role of learning journeys to develop people in professional firms
  • What finance and accounting professionals must to become more valuable in a virtual world
  • Top tips for professionals to develop commercial awareness and business acumen
  • A positive spin on the term 'creative accountants'
  • The biggest reason accountants should think more entrepreneurially
  •  Are we asking too much of today's finance and accounting specialists with technical AND people skills?
  • What accounting leaders must do to develop a culture of coaching and learning in their firm
  • The benefits of accountants investing in themselves and their skills outside their chargeable hours
  • The importance of accountability to push accountants to develop their own networks and careers
  • What accountants should be doing to be more involved in making key business decisions in firms
  • What's coming up for accounting and finance professionals who want to move up the value chain.
Connect to Anders on LinkedIn (apologies for background sound - the joys of recording live!)
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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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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.