The BIG opportunity (how can we make the most of it?)

In my last mentoring session, we talked about the big opportunity that we have as accountants over the next few years.

How to seize that opportunity, how to position ourselves to make the most of it, and what resources we can use to communicate the value of this offering. It's all about working closely with our clients, becoming integrated with their businesses just like an extension of their finance arm.

You see going back five, 10, 15 years, the traditional relationship between client and accountant was that the client would do the books, drop them off to the accountant once a year. The accountant would do the accounts, file them away, and then say, "See you next year."

However, tech has changed all of that. Tech has allowed us to work much more collaboratively with clients in real-time. To actually do a lot more of what we're trained to do to help a client in real-time. Giving real-time numbers, giving forecasts so that meaningful decisions can be had.

Tech now enables us to actually run a full finance function for SMEs much more cost-effectively then SMEs employing their own finance staff. You see when a business gets to a certain size it needs financial input. The trouble is that SMEs so those companies say between half a million and five million turnovers, don't have the budget to have a full-time FD, or even an FC, or even a finance team that can do everything required for that business.

So what ends up happening is that either someone over skilled is employed, meaning that they end up doing tasks which are not befitting of their skill set or someone less skilled is employed, which means that the business and clients miss out on the added value, the advisory services that an FC or an FD would bring. That's where I see an opportunity for us accountants that we can integrate with our clients to be able to deliver the full finance function virtually even from wherever we are.

From bookkeeper to CFO and anything in between. So from the full finance function to filling in the gaps where the client needs it and tech enables that to happen. Would love to hear your views on this. If you're an accountant, are you doing this already? Have you transitioned your business model? How are you communicating this to your clients and to your prospects? And what are the results you are seeing? We've certainly found that we have a much closer relationship with clients when we are an extension of their finance arm. Essentially, we are their virtual finance office.