Mark Ferris

We’d love to see you at our webinar next week! Not registered yet? Just click below. In today’s competitive market, growth-minded Accountants face significant challenges in standing out and attracting quality leads. Prospects have access to more information than ever before and expect a seamless sales and onboarding process. Additionally, there’s downward price pressure and…

Buying an Accounting business is a plausible strategy for growth, entering new markets and gaining access to Clients and employees. And firms are frequently up for sale as owners retire or transition to new projects. These acquisitions are not without risk. We spoke to a Panalitix Client, based in the US, who has successfully acquired…

An Accounting business based outside Sydney, Australia was disappointed with their year-to-date results, especially profit.  This triggered an offsite meeting where they developed a “Profit Improvement Strategy”. One important outcome was a mindset change FROM focussing on ‘chargeable’ time TO creating capacity (through improved efficiency). Here’s an overview which should be applied in many Accounting…

In today’s competitive market, growth-minded Accountants face significant challenges in standing out and attracting quality leads. Prospects have access to more information than ever before and expect a seamless sales and onboarding process. Additionally, there’s downward price pressure and a perception that technology is taking over traditional accounting tasks, relegating Accountants to mere oversight roles,…

Much of accounting work is cyclical. Not to oversimplify, but there are ‘busy periods’ (usually when regulatory deadlines loom) and ‘quiet periods’. During busy periods, Accountants tend to focus on Client work… and nothing else. This can result in missed opportunities. An Australian accounting business wanted to generate more opportunities and smooth out their monthly…

Good workflow practices and high productivity drive success in Accounting businesses. Simply put, Client work needs to be completed efficiently, accurately and on time. We spoke to 3 high-achieving firms to better understand how they manage workflow. Two important themes emerged: Focussing on PROCESS, here are some ideas from leaders of successful Accounting businesses. How…

An Accounting business in Sydney, Australia ($3.5 million in revenues) has invested in sales training for selected team members. Their goals are to: The challenge is multifaceted and in this module we covered how to succeed in a ‘Virtual Selling’ environment. Here’s a summary: Can you apply these techniques to get better at sales in…

Accountants can advise Clients on Leadership and Management to improve organizational success. Leadership is the ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute to the organisation’s success. Management is the process of controlling an organisation, a group, or a set of entities to achieve a particular objective.  Many Accountants are leaders in their own…

A firm just outside Sydney, Australia has done a good job generating leads for their CFO Services. As a result, they’ve had introductory meetings, follow-up meetings and sent numerous proposals. But they’re having difficulty closing some of these deals. They don’t want to be ‘pushy’… but they want certainty so they can plan and get…

We’re excited to announce the launch of our next Group Mentoring Programs:• North America Accelerate25! and• Australia Accelerate25! Our programs are having a huge impact on Accounting businesses and include:• virtual meetings (twice-monthly) and in-person meetings (quarterly)• a curriculum customised to the needs of the group• a big emphasis on accountability and hitting targets• having…

A huge opportunity for Accountants is to use their knowledge of a Client’s businesses to identify new opportunities.  However, this will not ‘just happen’. At the outset, Accountants should acknowledge that: An Accounting business in Colorado Springs set out to find an additional $200K in new business from existing Clients over a 6-month period. Here is…

Accounting businesses need to respond to changing conditions in order to stay competitive.  Embracing technology, increased delegation, digital marketing, improving Client communication and managing remote workers are just a few instances which require managers of modern firms to adapt.  This can be challenging.   Working with a firm in South Carolina, we applied the Beckhard-Harris formula…