“Find an accountant who wants to design the future, not write up history”
This succinct statement with its clear unequivocal message is a quote from a small business owner who participated in the 2018 NAB “Key Insights into the Australian Accounting Industry” survey.
The accounting profession, like many other professions and industries, is being disrupted in ways that we have not experienced in our living memory. It is not only digital disruption but also disruption through legislative changes, that impact the services the profession can provide, and increased competition.
The key message coming through is that if all the accountant does is to continue to write up history – only offer tax and accounting compliance services – their future looks bleak. For example, PwC’s 2015 research into jobs most likely to be automated in the next 20 years – “A Smart Move” – lists accounting clerks/bookkeepers as the job highest on their list, with a 97.5% probability of being automated.
While many accountants are still in denial and slow to react, some are responding to the challenge. They are looking to build on their strengths and improve their value proposition and evolve their business model. The new business models often start by recognising that the old business model, of being everything to everyone, is from a bygone era.
An example of this is a group of smaller accounting firms, who are developing, what they refer to as, a ‘Private Client’ offering. This offering is aimed at taking their progressive clients on a wealth creation journey. It is based on the idea that Accountants are in the business of wealth creation while Financial Planners are in the business of wealth management.
This thinking is best illustrated as follows:
Some of the key points that this model makes are:
Creating wealth is a journey, and to be successful on that journey one needs to develop a ‘wealth mentality’ from the outset.
While a profitable business is a source of wealth, it is not of itself, wealth. Unfortunately, there are too many examples of business owners who have run successful businesses in their lifetime that have little to show for it when they come to retire. This is often because they have failed to understand that running a successful business is not an end but a means to an end. They have confused high income and expensive lifestyles with being wealthy.
Intergenerational wealth is about taking wealth to a different level and leaving a legacy for succeeding generation(s).
Accountants, as independent trusted advisers, are in the best position to assist and support their clients develop a wealth mentality, grow profits and turn profits into wealth/intergenerational wealth.
The ‘Private Client’ offering will not be offered by all accountants and nor will it suit all clients. It will only suit clients who have a wealth mentality and who prioritise wealth creation.
Where do you sit?
Warwick Cavell is a thought leader in communicating for results and strategy implementation. For over 25 years, he has helped leaders improve business performance by changing the way people communicate and work to solve problems – both internally and with their clients. He is a highly respected facilitator, coach, speaker and trainer, and author of regular blogs.
