How to be an accountant of the future – an interview with Rob Nixon

Estimated reading time: 4 min

We caught up with Rob Nixon business manager turned business training extraordinaire for accountants. He trains accountants and helps firms function and transition to success in this hectic world of progress. Here are his thoughts on the current state of accounting and what it says about the future of it…

What is the most important business improvement Accounting firms today can make?

Rob started off by saying “The biggest thing accounting firms can do is actually speak to their clients…proactively”. He emphasized that “accountants around the world are awesome at waiting” and that “most accountants are history writers, not history makers”. In Rob’s mind, this is the #1 thing accountants can change today to achieve better business success.

He recommends “20 meetings per partner per month” to “find out where the client is at, what they’re doing, what their plans are”. Each meeting “starts off as a customer service meeting but ends up being a sales meeting”. It’s important to ask each client “where are you now, where do you want to go, and let’s show you how we can possible help you get there”.

What is the most detrimental business action often made by Accounting firms today?

Relating to our first question, Rob feels that “being reactive and waiting is the worst thing an accounting firm can do today”. Now this is where our interview got incredibly interesting. Rob stated that there are 3 core disruptors to the accounting industry today:

  • The internet – everyone is becoming an expert and has access to loads of information.
  • Computed accounting – pre-built accounting software is reducing the need for physical accountants.
  • And overseas business/ offshored outsourcing – cheap labour is more readily available.

These factors make many of the core offerings of the average accountant redundant, and the worst thing to do about it, is wait and react to it. The solution? Be proactive. Identify the changes, explore what opportunities your firm can take advantage of, and pursue them early!

What is the key purpose of CoachingClub(TM) and what makes it such a successful tool?

The CoachingClub is a training strategy for accountants that’s covered in 3 ways:

  • Seminars & conferences –
  • Online tools, resources software –
  • Coaching club program – 8 accounting firms in a room at any 1 time, learning and being pushed to accountability so as to take action upon what they learn. This project has served over 800 firms across the the 8 years it has been running!

Do you feel Accounting firms today adopt the digital world enough?

We think not, and Rob gladly joined us by saying “no they’re not adopting it ENOUGH!”. And there’s a reason for this. Rob laid out for us the fact that the digital world is inevitably taking over. He said “accountants can’t stop this happening so need to embrace it”. In Rob’s point of view (and rightly so) there is no real time dependency on when accountants embrace the digital world, because that day has past.

5. How do you see the future of technology and rise of the digital format affecting accounting?

Rob explained how technology is already starting to automate jobs for accountants in a big way. They’re being forced to be more innovative and forward thinking, or suffer losing customers. Accountants in the workplace will start being valued for these important traits that add value to customers as well, so it’s not just firms that are affected.

An example that Rob produced for us was project Watson, producing “Siri for business”. This project by Apple and IBM saw $2 billion pumped into it to create a super computer that takes the world’s information and processes it, then spits it out in a concise manner. They’re combining this with Siri to create “Siri for business” so that when you have a business concern, you can simply ask Siri! That’s free advice, and could trump personal accounting advice. So simple business advice and reactive solutions are not the future of accounting as far as Rob can see it. Being proactive could just be the true future of accountants.

Rob’s resources for accountants

Rob and his associated groups offer a host of free and paid services design to support and train accountants and their businesses.

  • http://robnixon.com/ offers free advice and resources for accountants through Rob’s own personal blog.
  • http://proactiveaccountants.net/ brings accountants free tools and resources, while connecting accountants accross the world.
  • http://mypanalytics.com/ is a service to help accountants “create the conversations [they] need to be conducting with clients around relevant metrics”. There’s a free trial available!

And be sure to look out for his book later in November of 2014 titled “Remaining Relevant”. His first book, “Accounting Practices Don’t Add Up” is also available via his website.

A big thanks to Rob Nixon for joining to do this interview while offering his wealth of knowledge and expertise to accountants the world over.

The Creative Agency Secrets Team

 

Need accountancy marketing help?

Creative Agency Secrets are experts in accountancy firm marketing.  We can tutor you and teach you what to do if you want to do the marketing yourself.  Or we can do the firm’s marketing for you.

Learn more and join our free Accountants Marketing Newsletter

22 replies
  1. video pipe inspection
    video pipe inspection says:

    What i don’t realize is actually how you are no longer really much more well-liked than you might be now.

    You’re very intelligent. You recognize therefore significantly in relation to this subject, produced me in my opinion consider it from numerous varied angles.

    Its like men and women aren’t interested until it is something to do
    with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs excellent. Always deal with it up!

  2. สูตรเลขลาวพัฒนา
    สูตรเลขลาวพัฒนา says:

    สูตรเลขลาวพัฒนา
    I do agree with all of the ideas you have offered
    in your post. They’re very convincing and will definitely work.

    Still, the posts are too short for newbies. May
    just you please extend them a little from next time?

    Thanks for the post.

  3. news
    news says:

    Because the admin of this website is working, no question very shortly
    it will be well-known, due to its quality contents.

  4. large breed dog harness
    large breed dog harness says:

    Hello this is kinda of off topic but I was wanting to know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors
    or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I wanted to get advice from someone with experience.
    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  5. sell your house fast
    sell your house fast says:

    hello there and thank you for your info – I’ve certainly picked
    up anything new from right here. I did however expertise
    several technical issues using this website, as I experienced to reload the web site lots of times previous to
    I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK?

    Not that I’m complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will sometimes
    affect your placement in google and could damage your high quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords.
    Well I am adding this RSS to my e-mail and could look out for much more of your respective exciting
    content. Ensure that you update this again soon.

  6. clear event chairs
    clear event chairs says:

    whoah this weblog is great i love studying your articles.

    Keep up the good work! You already know, many people are
    searching round for this information, you could help them greatly.

  7. heat pumps surrey
    heat pumps surrey says:

    Admiring the time and energy you put into your site
    and in depth information you offer. It’s nice to come across
    a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same old rehashed material.
    Great read! I’ve saved your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.

  8. check over here
    check over here says:

    Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any
    widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my
    newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping
    maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
    Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look
    forward to your new updates.

  9. 45W car chargers
    45W car chargers says:

    It’s in point of fact a great and helpful piece of information. I’m
    glad that you shared this helpful information with us.
    Please keep us informed like this. Thank you
    for sharing.

  10. white resin chairs
    white resin chairs says:

    Hello there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this
    website before but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
    Nonetheless, I’m definitely happy I found it and I’ll be
    book-marking and checking back frequently!

  11. voice over internet home phone
    voice over internet home phone says:

    Definitely believe that which you stated. Your favourite reason appeared
    to be on the web the easiest thing to consider of.
    I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while other people consider concerns that they just don’t understand about.
    You controlled to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the whole
    thing with no need side effect , other folks can take a signal.
    Will probably be again to get more. Thanks

  12. wind energy technician australia
    wind energy technician australia says:

    I have been exploring for a bit for any high quality articles or weblog posts in this sort of
    house . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this website.
    Reading this info So i’m happy to show that I’ve a very excellent uncanny feeling I
    came upon just what I needed. I most surely will make certain to don?t forget this website and provides it a look regularly.

  13. telephony solution
    telephony solution says:

    I like the valuable information you provide in your articles.
    I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently.
    I’m quite sure I will learn a lot of new stuff right here!
    Best of luck for the next!

  14. epoxy driveway
    epoxy driveway says:

    Excellent blog here! Also your website loads up very fast!
    What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host?
    I wish my web site loaded up as quickly as yours lol

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.