Episode 52

The Role Accountants Play in the World of E-Commerce

Ali Miller

Alan Wilson is the CEO and founder of Expandly – an eCommerce SaaS solution that is helping accountants across the globe. An entrepreneur in all sense of the word, Alan spends much of his spare time helping out other budding businesses – advising on pitches and investment at accelerator programs including Natwest and Barclays.

Ali Miller is Expandly’s sales director and was one of the first employees at Xero UK. After months of pestering (and bordering stalking) Ali finally succumbed to Alan’s plan that he join the Expandly team (and its foosball table league) as sales director. The rest, they say, is history. Shownotes:

  • The accounting profession is transforming, with almost every business being a digital business
  • How the ‘big three’ of Xero, Sage and QUickbooks are helping to drive the digital evolution
  • MTD is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get everyone online
  • Expandly gives e-commerce sellers the ability to sell on multiple channels no matter what they’re size and get live reporting
  • E-commerce is remote selling and is a lot more than just Amazon and ebay Alan Wilson on the BD Academy Accounting Influencers podcast with Rob BrownAlan Wilson
  • Expandly acts as the glue between e-commerce businesses and platforms like Xero
  • How e-commerce is rapidly changing the way we live and do business
  • The immediacy of e-commerce means people are less bothered about going to buy things on the high street
  • 73% of shoppers buy from multiple channels, although Amazon dominate the market
  • It’s not just the big retailers that sell online – everyone can do it and make good money from it
  • Turnover for e-commerce clients is really high and such businesses really need accountants
  • Some accounting firms really go after e-commerce clients and do well, but others shy away from the complexities
  • E-commerce businesses are much more likely to thrive if they have an accountant who understands the industry
  • The progressive accounting firms who get the cloud and advisory are the ones able to add massive value to their clients
  • The biggest pain point for accountants working with is the sheer volume of transactions
  • The e-commerce market is largely uncatered for by accounting firms
  • The ability to make decisions at speed separates the good accounting firms from the great ones
  • Accounting firms who are on the cloud and understand the ecosystem around it are best placed to offer insight to clients
  • There are 25m global e-commerce businesses or merchants, with 3m really serious players, generating $4tn in sales and growing in double figures
  • Only 15-17% of businesses are online, so e-commerce is only going to get bigger
  • When businesses know how they’re doing ‘in the moment’ it can be much more successful.

'The progressive #accounting firms who get the cloud and advisory are the ones able to add massive value to their clients' says @expandly & @alimillerlive on the Accounting Influencers #Podcast #accountants #accountex…

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Alan Wilson and Ali Miller on the BD Academy Accounting Influencers podcast with Rob Brown

Alan is a Rangers-supporting Scotsman whose pastimes include visiting North Korea and Chernobyl. Interesting facts and claims to fame? Alan’s visited 60 countries, has run two marathons (before they got popular) and twice in his kilt. Ali was England’s under 18’s basketball captain – a story he loves to remind the team when slam dunking the office basketball. www.expandly.com

Ali on Twitter

Alan on Twitter

Alan on LinkedIn

Ali on LinkedIn

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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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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.