12th July, 2023
Welcome to the Fiscal Therapy podcast, powered by MYOB.
Each episode you’ll hear insightful real-life experiences from accountants and bookkeepers and discover how you can overcome some of the biggest challenges in your practice.
Learn how to grow your practice quickly and gain new clients in a competitive market while future-proofing your business.
Hosted by Jody Sitters, MYOB’s Community Relations Manager — Accountants, episode 1 features a candid conversation with Irene Bennetts, founder and CEO of Admin Army and “instigator of razzle dazzle”.
Listen in as they discuss scaling with automation and the best outsourcing for practices.
Discover how bookkeeping is a transactional process where there’s not a lot of room for creativity, so the “razzle dazzle” is where you can deliver over and above for your clients.
It can be a grand gesture, showing how to negotiate a better rate, or little things like brand continuity.
They dive into explaining what BPO is — business process outsourcing. Effectively it’s when you bring in an outside entity to help with labour resources. They also talk about the traditional perception of a BPO, and how off-shore resources can be viewed negatively.
The pair talk about the wide range of experience and expertise needed in a practice, and how an outsourcing partner can help practices.
For example, some firms need help with processing GST, others might need year-round compliance support or other administrative support, including payroll and bookkeeping.
This diverse type of support allows practices to scale in a sustainable way.
Automation is not expertise and it never will be. One thing you can’t automate is razzle dazzle. But it reduces friction. By using automation, you can eliminate unnecessary friction that creates holdups with key stakeholders, both internal and external.
This creates huge time saving efficiencies, and ticks a lot of boxes for practices.
Overcoming challenges of growth is the most consistent battle, because you have to work hard to be able to reach the next level. The ongoing challenge is to keep growing and improving to fuel the growth of the business.
Focus on short-term pain, long-term gain, because it’s easy to think about doing something the old way rather than thinking about new and better ways of doing things.
They then talk about remote working, how the benefits of BPO can include outsourcing being set up for working from home. This enhances flexibility while striking a good balance with people who like coming into an office. The key to that balance is communication with all employees.
Fiscal therapy — what is the sweet secret to success?
The overwhelming secret is being true to yourself and your instincts. That encompasses everything, quirks, foibles, imposter syndrome; if you can own who you are, you’ll attract the right people for your business.