What skills do you wish your colleague had? Posted 04/10/2019 by Mark Blayney Stuart & filed under AATPowerUp. As upskilling becomes a key need and objective for many accountancy practices, what skills do you need to develop in the workplace and how can everyone in the team complement each other? As part of our AATPowerUp series we look at the skills that are missing in the workplace. We spoke to colleagues across the floor space at 1 Accounts Online, led by Director Paul Donno. The company is unusual: it is entirely digital, and all clients use online software, mainly Sage One and Xero, and some on Quickbooks. Making a traditional practice digital “Having run a traditional practice for 18 years,” Donno says, “I merged that and then after 18 months started this company.” The somewhat radical decision to accept only online clients was made “because of the lessons I learnt – particularly to do with cash flow. All our clients pay by GoCardless, all are on direct debit and that’s triggered by Practice Ignition. We are very software-driven and our processes are too.” A need for digital skills This emphasis on digital means a demand for very specific skill sets. “We have two apprentices who are highly skilled digitally and indeed don’t know any other way of working,” Donno says. “So far that’s involving bookkeeping, accounts production and reviews for clients.” Both Donno’s apprentices, Grace Orrell and James Revell, are currently doing AAT Level 4. What skills will apprentices need going forward? “We’ll need to develop them in terms of analysing the data that’s coming out of the software – becoming proficient with the tools and presenting the data to clients.” As Donno points out, “this need is not in terms of traditional accounting, but that’s the skills gap we’ve got at the moment and is the next stage for us. In a year’s time when the apprentices are fully developed, we’ll have qualified accountants who will act as a much needed resource and keep us up to date on compliance.” How a skills gap can help enhance your business Something for firms to consider is that the skills gaps you need to fill must be related to the needs of the business. “An area we never found profitable in the past, but which we now do, is bookkeeping – we will probably get another bookkeeper now.” The benefits here are “that our bookkeeper is able to train clients with the client’s own online software, and help them when they struggle a bit to put the right things in the right place. That’s enormously valuable.” Different generational skills Does Donno find that having younger people on the team means he learns from them? He laughs. “Yes. Particularly Excel. The younger generation just go at it in a different way, and when they’ve been using Excel, I seem to learn something every time I look at it.” It’s also highly beneficial, Donno observes, that the younger generation “have a good understanding (and no fear) of online software. They approach it differently, understand it fully and see it from the client’s point of view. That’s really useful – then as a team we learn and work through things together.” Supporting each other to learn quickly Kerry Seeley is Bookkeeping Manager. “I’ve only been here for seven months,” she says, “so I’ve been quickly doing lots of different things in that time – learning Xero, then Xero payroll and specification. Before that, I was doing desktop programmes only – so the digital learning curve has definitely been what I’ve been focused on.” And gaps to resolve for the future? “Making Tax Digital is definitely the big one – I need to discover more about that – and I’m currently learning more about VAT, which I hadn’t been covering before.” Seeley is undertaking AAT Level 4 “and my colleagues James and Grace are also at the same stage. We all help each other with anything that needs a bit of cross-skills support.” From accountants to adviser Donno also has his eye on two further areas. “Two clients rang me this week and they have good, profitable businesses but they need to take it to the next level. That’s where I will step in – the advisory part of the business.” The second area is on helping clients with wellbeing. “This, increasingly, is very important. Lots of start-ups and entrepreneurs can be running highly successful organisations, but it can be lonely and you can be vulnerable. My wife is currently training to offer a wellbeing service, so that will come into the business in the future.” What skills are your clients missing? As well as looking at the skills gaps in your own business, look at the skills gaps that your clients have – and see how you can fill those gaps. “Many businesses in the micro- and small business arena don’t know about forecasting tools, they don’t know enough about data, KPIs, and so on. There is a lot of accountancy support available, but I want to do more here for our clients – I can see us moving into that type of support.” Skills young accountants need What are the skills that young accountants need to brush up on? “I think the key skills gap is knowing how businesses really work. Identifying why a client wants something, or doesn’t want something, or doesn’t understand something.” This is not something you learn from textbooks and studies, Donno adds, “essential as those are. This is the part that you only learn on the job, with us all spending time learning and training ourselves as the job develops.” Donno’s company is very much a family affair – his daughter Jade is Practice Manager. “I organise everybody’s workflow,” she says, “and I also do much of the marketing for the business – in effect, everything that isn’t accounts-related.” She has an understanding of how businesses work “from my background in musical theatre; I was a director of several productions and this has given me leadership skills.” Whilst Jade is Xero certified, “I am the person everyone else looks to for non-accountancy skills, and vice versa! I’m open to training opportunities or webinars, of course, especially in marketing – I would like to learn more there and keep up with the times because things change very quickly.” What skills do you wish you had? “I’d like to learn more about how to help other businesses, and I’m not an accountant so more accountancy skills would be useful as I’m working in an accountancy practice!” But she is keen to point out that “we have a range of skills across the office, and that makes us work better as a team – we don’t all have the same skills or there wouldn’t be the different jobs for us.” The office is open-plan, “so if people can hear that you need help with something in particular, they can offer it. We all communicate very well – weekly meetings with the whole team, and daily meetings to discuss workflows.” “I’d like to learn more about how to help other businesses, and I’m not an accountant so more accountancy skills would be useful as I’m working in an accountancy practice!” But she is keen to point out that “we have a range of skills across the office, and that makes us work better as a team – we don’t all have the same skills or there wouldn’t be the different jobs for us.” The office is open-plan, “so if people can hear that you need help with something in particular, they can offer it. We all communicate very well – weekly meetings with the whole team, and daily meetings to discuss workflows.” Skills lacking in the accounting industry “I do think the industry is failing to keep up with the fast developments in technology. The gap is huge in terms of the latest software and trends, and in terms of how software integrates.” says Dunno. For example, “we’re getting lots of enquiries at the moment from clients who want to switch to us because their current accountant doesn’t fully understand the software, and what it’s capable of, and that means their staff don’t know either.” Sometimes it’s that the understanding is not there; after all, the technology can be highly sophisticated, and a lot of it is new; “but just as importantly, sometimes the will to help those clients is not there. They have the rather old-fashioned view that it’s their job to produce the accounts or the VAT returns and then the rest of it is up to the client. We don’t operate like that.” There are many lessons to be learnt here for other accountancy practices Are you up to speed with the software? Are you offering your clients an in-the-round package? Do you consider fully what clients need, rather than thinking about what you can offer? You can follow our series on Twitter with #AATPowerUp
6 ways to hone your influencing skills Posted 04/09/2019 by Georgina Fuller & filed under AATPowerUp, Communication. These days, the term ‘influencer’ seems to refer more to self-styled ‘public figures’ on Instagram than it does to powerful people in the workplace. But influencing skills, such as collaborating with colleagues, negotiating with clients and managing upwards, are still essential attributes for any accountant who wants to stand out from the crowd. In this part of the AATPowerUp series we’ll be looking at how you can hone such skills and become an influential person in your industry. 1. Collaborate with colleagues and clients Catherine Morgan, finance coach and planner at The Money Panel, says collaborating with colleagues and clients can really help elevate your status. So what’s the best way to branch out and connect? Be authentic “Be authentic with your approach and see what skills each person can bring to the table. You need to be willing to compromise and willing to tolerate the other persons ideas as much as your own,” Morgan advises. Communicate clearly Remember that if you are going to work together, you will need to be clear on the boundaries when it comes to your relationship and your responsibilities. “Strong collaboration takes hard work and effort from both sides,” she notes. “Perhaps record your conversations over video so that you can go back and listen to the call and confirm the details.” Check in little and often “Have regular meetings over lunch or even jump on a video call for a virtual coffee. Engage with each other using social media channels and support each-others challenges and successes. Think of it like a marriage!” says Morgan. 2. Negotiate an agreement When it comes to negotiating an agreement, it’s worth thinking about what a successful agreement looks like and what you want to achieve before you go in for the win. Preparation, passion and perseverance “Remember the three p’s – preparation, passion and perseverance. Rehearse saying your pitch out loud in a room with yourself to develop a positive mindset that will help you when you’re feeling nervous,” Morgan advises. If at first you don’t succeed.. If you are unsuccessful with your first negotiation, think about a counter offer. A Plan B. “Compromise is key and there is often a middle ground to be had in any negotiation. Don’t be afraid to speak the truth and explain how you have thought about alternative options. It demonstrates your flexibility.” 3. Join a network and broaden your horizons “Not all businesses have big finance teams to bounce off or learn from, and sharing the trials and tribulations of life in finance can help you realise that you’re not alone in the challenges you’re facing,” says Urchana Moudgil, COO of Upgrade Pack and a former finance director. So how can you connect with other people and try and broaden your outlook? Get out there Networking groups provide an opportunity to get perspectives and insight from those working outside of your own organisation or industry. “Joining a network was one of the best pieces of advice I was ever given,” says Moudgil. “Having those connections, and that positive reinforcement, certainly played a role in giving me the confidence of my convictions at work and helped build influence in my career as a result,” she notes. Think about the bigger picture “Having a commercial mindset will not only make you more savvy about the organisation, and better able to earn future influence through knowledge, but will also give you the opportunity to build more collaborative and rewarding working relationships based on a mutual understanding and trust,” says Moudgil. 4. Influencing through storytelling Developing your influencing skills is all about building your personal brand. “We are all wired to trust and connect with faces, messages and stories. So telling your story through books, quotes, blogs, videos and talks is a powerful ways to communicate what you stand for,” Morgan says. Don’t be shy or afraid to ‘show off’ If you are visible, on a public platform or social media, you will inevitably start to influence your market space, including potential clients, competitors and collaborators. Posting regularly on social media (the mornings are usually the best time) and thinking about the story you want to convey and letting people know about your achievements will all help raise your profile. Break away from the norm “Don’t be afraid to break away from the ‘norm’ in your profession. Build your brand and business around what you believe in, and what you can do to help others with their pain points because people don’t buy what they need, people buy what they want,” Morgan advises. 5. Building rapport with people Some people are naturals when it comes to building a rapport. They might subconsciously echo the way someone speaks, mimic their body language or perhaps be a brilliant listener. But, if you’re not necessarily a natural extrovert, how do you try and build a rapport with someone. Reach out to others in your profession Morgan recommends trying to connect with influential people in your industry, either through social media or directly. “Engage them with friendly banter, like you would do with friends and explore any common interests. Some of the greatest friendships are forged when you’re relaxed, friendly and show your personality,” she notes. Be curious Everyone’s favourite subject is usually themselves so you should go out of your way to be curious. Ask them lots of questions and be inquisitive. Try and take a genuine interest in them and find out what makes them tick. 6. Establish yourself as an expert Establish yourself as an expert in your field by sharing messages about what you are passionate about, Morgan advises. Know your audience “Some people will agree with your message and follow you, maybe even become a customer. Others won’t and that’s perfectly okay! Better to influence those who will become your raving fans rather than aspiring to attract everyone.” Build a niche for yourself Are you something of a pensions expert or do you know all about bookkeeping? Which skill or niche can you build upon. “Try and build a niche for yourself,” Morgan advises. “It will serve you better in the long run and allow your business to communicate the right messages.” You can follow the latest on Twitter with #AATPowerUp, or check back here for more.
How to make your voice heard at work Posted 04/09/2019 by Neil Johnson & filed under AATPowerUp. ‘Speak up, Johnson!’ I’ll never forget those words, oft-barked at me by my primary school teacher. The thing is, it never did anything more than make the room louder as the other children began to giggle, then I’d stutter and fluster trying to ‘speak up’, and then wish the world would swallow me up. Learning how to speak up ‘You need to learn to speak up Johnson!’ But how exactly does one do that? As part of the AATPowerUp series, we are looking at ways to make your voice heard at work. This is something I can relate to. I wouldn’t describe myself as a particularly shy or nervous child, nor am I likewise in adulthood, but making my voice heard has not always come naturally. Why not? Simply a lack of confidence, which everyone experiences in varying degrees of depth and frequency. A lack of self-belief? Or external influences, from within a workplace, for example? As with most things, it’s a combination of all the above. “Sometimes it’s a lack of confidence, but it can also relate to a set of beliefs that might come from the company culture, such as ‘the boss is always right’, ‘senior leaders should be followed and not challenged,” says Kate Atkin, a professional speaker and coach. How important is your voice ? Additionally, people can be inhibited by believing that they don’t have anything to add, or are not senior enough to voice an opinion. Some are simply too worried about coming across as stupid. While others may prefer to think first and speak a formed thought later, which seems perfectly sensible, but it can mean they miss out on air time in meetings, something that also befalls people who are introverted (more about this below). And struggling to be heard in a workplace doesn’t just impact the shy, the introvert or the unconfident, it can affect people at different stages in their lives, even one day or week to the next. The key question that people need to ask first is: why do they want to be heard in the first place? “In everything we do we have a purpose that is driving us,” says Caroline Holt, founder of Attitude Coach. “When people can get in touch with why it matters to speak, to contribute, then they will find themselves speaking and contributing if they have a more expansive purpose, such as being able to add value.” Ignore the quiet ones at your loss In an interview with The Guardian in 2012, Susan Cain, author of Quiet: the power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking, talks about how Western culture is extrovert, how we favour action over contemplation, and how the rise of big business has only amplified this. But arguably business has fostered this extrovert environment to its detriment. “Businesses are missing out on the value the quiet ones bring,” says Holt. “In rooms with lots of people talking, often it’s the quiet one who has the best idea, if they’re given the space. If the majority white middle-aged male business leaders realised how much value is contained within every single employee in their company, they would do more to illicit that value. They would see it add to their bottom line, it would make their business better and more effective. They would want to make the space for the quiet ones.“ Tips for individuals “Have courage to speak up – don’t think you have to word it ‘right’.“Do it with consideration, i.e. if you are going to challenge, think about the other person and how they will feel.“Do it with conviction – don’t apologise for having an opinion. You are entitled to it.“Individuals who need to grow their confidence can start by contributing to a meeting through voicing their agreement with something within the first 15-20 minutes (often people silently agree, or nod, but voicing your agreement can help you grow in confidence, and it helps other people see you as willing to add to the discussion),” says Atkin“If you find it challenging speaking up in meetings, get someone on your side. If you know someone in the meeting who you feel confident and comfortable talking to, ask them to make some space for you when the meeting is in progress, to invite you in,” says Holt. Atkin’s tips for leaders Ensure agendas are circulated prior to meetings, and not just immediately prior, but with enough notice to give people a chance to think about the topics being discussed.Chairs of meetings can invite contributions from those who have remained quietLeaders need to be open to challenge, discussion and show they value opinions of others. No-one is always right (even though we might like to think we are!). You can follow our series on Twitter with #AATPowerUp
Lessons for lifelong learning and re-skilling Posted 04/08/2019 by Phil Hall & filed under Career, Skills. Approximately two thirds of AAT’s 90,000 students are aged over 25. This suggests that many of our students are either retraining or upskilling – the buzzwords of our educational age. Against a backdrop of rapid technological change, labour force movement and understanding that there is no longer anything close to a job for life. This is even more profoundly highlighted by the fact more than 3,000 AAT students are aged over 50. Taking inspiration There are thousands of examples of students successfully reskilling by taking an AAT qualification, sometimes in adversity, and going on to bigger and better things. These serve as a particularly strong example to others that retraining, and reskilling is something that should be embraced rather than feared. Taking just one such example, 33-year-old Diana Mikolajewska, a single mother who started her studies with AAT just 10 days after the birth of her second child. Within a couple of years, she had changed jobs and was working as an accounts assistant and a couple of years later set up her own accounting practice. She is now a Chartered Accountant. Older workers Of course, reskilling is not the preserve of those in their twenties and thirties who may not yet have found the vocation that’s right for them. It’s also increasingly essential for older workers who may have been made redundant, been out of the workforce for some time due to caring responsibilities or are simply in need of change. In 2017, AAT and City & Guilds jointly commissioned a report into “Lifelong learning for ageing workers”, which made several detailed recommendations as to how older workers could be encouraged back into the workplace. These recommendations include; improving the capacity of JobCentre Plus to provide tailored advice to older workers; encouraging employers to implement workplace mentoring schemes and to incorporate mid-life career reviews as well as urging learning providers to rethink the content, marketing and delivery of courses to improve their appeal to older workers. AAT also recommended that it would be sensible to pilot new funding streams and ways of signposting funding to assess the impact on loan uptake among the over-50s. International experience Much can also be learned from international approaches that are being taken to reskill the current workforce. For example, in Singapore the Future Skills Credit, which is a $500 credit -paid directly to the training provider – available to any Singapore Citizen over the age of 25 for retraining purposes. In South Korea, the unemployed are entitled to almost $2,000 for vocational education and training. In the UK by contrast, HM Treasury quietly dropped plans to join the two thirds of OECD nations who allow self-funded work-related training to be deducted from taxable income. AAT responded to the 2018 consultation on the subject and suggested such reform was long overdue and that Government proposals did not go far enough. However, the 2018 Budget documents accompanying the Chancellor’s speech regrettably confirmed that they would not proceed with a measure that would have increased reskilling and upskilling opportunities for many. Taking action Of course, whilst we can complain about a lack of support from Government, there are funding pots available for employers, the most obvious being the Apprenticeship Levy. Although it can sometimes be daunting, there is also nothing to stop individuals wanting to retrain to find their own way. For example, irrespective of age or educational background, a quick search of the AAT web site will enable you to find an AAT apprenticeship in most UK towns. More widely, if accountancy isn’t for you, there are a host of other reskilling opportunities with the likes of Government departments, local authorities, charities and private sector organisations large and small. In the not too distant future, all this should be complimented by the much needed and long overdue National Retraining Scheme being operated by the CBI and TUC and backed by tens of millions of taxpayer’s money. The future is bright, opportunities are plenty for those willing to embrace change and never has the adage, “the world is your oyster” been more appropriate than today.
Watch HMRC’s videos on planning for a no-deal Brexit Posted 04/05/2019 by David Nunn & filed under Brexit, Members. With the prospect of a no-deal Brexit still looming, the Government has been forced to help businesses make last-ditch preparations. HMRC recently ran two webinars to help businesses and advisors take steps to continue trading with EU businesses. Here are the videos designed to help and support traders : preparing for a no deal EU Exit: 5 key areas businesses must be aware ofimporting goodsexporting goodschanges at the UK border. The webinars covered: why it’s important to apply for an Economic Operator Registration and Identification number (EORI)what Transitional Simplified Procedures arehow to prepare to make customs declarationswhat Entry Summary Declarations arehow to pay the correct customs duty and VAT. There will be an opportunity to ask questions during the webinar.
5 reasons you should care about creating a confident team Posted 04/05/2019 by Neil Johnson & filed under AATPowerUp, Communication, Confidence, Skills. At a personal level a lack of confidence can often lead to missed opportunities – perhaps a lack of self-belief or a fear of rejection mean you don’t try new things. Confident employees are good for business. They can make decisions faster, be more creative and more productive. They are also likely to stay with the organisation for longer. Here are some ways personal assurance contributes to a team’s effectiveness – and what you can do to foster it. 1. Confident teams take responsibility and solve problems Henry Ford once said: “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.” When a team is aware of its goals and how it fits into the wider picture, staff can grow to really master their roles and improve their own effectiveness. “In a confident team, there’s an energy and a sense that anything’s possible,” says Victoria McLean, CEO and founder of career consultancy City CV. “Obstacles appear less daunting and company objectives and targets are more likely to be met.” 2. Confident employees can resolve conflicts Differences are inevitable in the workplace, all the more so where there are several teams working according to differing goals, resources and priorities. If managed badly, these can become conflicts that consume the time and energy of line managers or HR officers called upon to act as umpires. Confident employees on the other hand are less likely to feel threatened by challenges from colleagues. And if conflicts do emerge, they are much more likely to be able to resolve them without the intervention of superiors. 3. Confident employees win and retain business Self-assured employees can bring in news customers and resolve difficulties with existing ones before they ever become a serious problem. They make better communicators, will ask more questions and inspire confidence in clients. Conversely, apprehensive employees may find it hard to deal effectively with colleagues and clients. They are less ikely to ask insightful questions and may fail to create the impression they really understand or appreciate clients, or can add value to them. So they may be a factor in causing customers to move on to pastures new. 4. Confident team members are more productive and more loyal Confident people are more productive. Productive people are more confident. It’s a virtuous cycle – and one that you can foster as a manager or leader. Jon Gilpin, an audit partner with BDO Birmingham, believes the impact of culture on staff retention is significant. BDO aims to create an environment that encourages employees to “Be Yourself”. “This means not being afraid to speak up in meetings, to share thoughts, opinions or concerns and be your true self no matter your role or level of seniority” , says Gilpin. Businesswoman Lisa Forde, owner of stationery maker Dotty About Paper, says clear roles create confidence and reduce stress. “When everyone knows their role well and feels capable to carry it out to the best of their ability, stress is reduced. When people feel comfortable in their job, they are also more likely to stay with you for longer.” 5. Confident team members are easier to lead When team members are properly empowered, understand their roles, and are valued it makes them easier to lead. Lisa Forde adds: “Time is precious and delegating tasks is an important part of keeping on top of your schedule. When my employees have confidence in themselves, I can have confidence in them. This has been invaluable to me when it comes to delegating, as I can trust them to get the job done.” BDO supports staff with resilience training Accountancy practice BDO is supporting its staff with resilience training, which focuses on “performance under pressure”. These resilience sessions in particular help staff work more efficiently and manage the inevitable stress that comes with having a client-facing role with often very tight deadlines. BDO also uses a buddy system where new trainees partner with more experienced juniors: “This helps build confidence on both sides as both can learn from one another,” says Jon Gilpin, of BDO Birmingham. “Passing on their knowledge and experience also helps a mentor realise just how far they have come and how much they have learnt since they started with the firm.” Are you doing enough to improve employees’ confidence ? Focus on cutting down stress and ensure employees feel comfortable in their roles and responsibilities by building a good working relationship with them. Use structured career development programmes to help team members identify and articulate their skills. Coach staff on their personal branding and how to market their career as a brand would. Help them gain the confidence to network and market themselves internally and externally. Lack of confidence and imposter syndrome is incredibly common – watch out for staff whose education or background may make them susceptible to feeling inferior, and give them appropriate support. Offer staff internal networking opportunities and expose them to diverse role models. Coach employees to build resilience skills and cope with changes in the workplace. Consider sending individuals on specialist resilience training. Introduce a mentoring or buddy systems to give employees a wider perspective. Keep yourself up to date with new management techniques that are springing up to capitalise on new learning and maximise employee confidence. You can follow the latest on Twitter with #AATPowerUp, or check back here for more. A
How accountants can find their ‘spark of joy’ Posted 04/04/2019 by Mark Blayney Stuart & filed under Career, Members. Marie Kondo’s decluttering series has proved a global sensation – even before arriving on Netflix on New Year’s Day, her books had sold 11 million copies in 40 countries. But when you’re handling important and sensitive paperwork, can it really work for accountants? “Yes, it can,” says Andy Furniss, Director of Indigo Green Chartered Accountants in Leominster. “From a spark of joy perspective, I think you have to have a system in place for the office or it can become overwhelming. There are so many tasks and jobs that need doing all the time, it’s never-ending. A ‘Kondoed workspace’, if we can use that term, can help you work more efficiently.” If you have as clean a desk as possible, “and you don’t get the feeling of having to wade through mounds of work, it helps clear the mind and focus on the tasks you have to do that day.” Those mounds of work “inevitably create distractions, make it harder to find what you need, and slow you down because your motivation and energy is zapped by the all the stuff.” Technology will help you declutter So how to do this? The first step is to ensure as much as possible goes to the cloud. “To state the obvious, if you are still printing out paper to put in a manual file, you can’t go paperless, so the first thing you need to do is move your clients’ files onto the cloud,” says Heather Townsend, Founder of The Accountants’ Millionaires Club. “But it’s not just about stopping printing, it’s also potentially about increasing the number of screens each individual has to work with. It’s really helpful to look at a document on one screen, then type into the software on another screen.” Whilst going paperless means ditching the filing cabinets and most (if not all) of your printers and photocopiers, Townsend says, “before you can do this you will want to spend some time with your staff going step by step through your workflows to identify when they would print out a document, and how this would be dealt with in the new ‘paperless’ world.” Recycle your box files? Looking at Marie Kondo’s methods of compartmentalising into threes can help. Try seeing paperwork with this mindset too – there are papers you can destroy, papers you need to keep forever and papers that could go back to the client as quickly as possible. “We’re as paperless as much as can be,” says Furniss, “but in reality it never ends up like that. However, there are things you can do to make it manageable. Firstly, we don’t generate any paper ourselves any more – all the paper in the office is client paperwork. Our accounts, files and records are all electronic nowadays, which enables you to file everything in a regimented and systemised way; things can be easily recalled whenever you need them.” The key is to focus on the empty space, not the paperwork itself – a very Kondo way of looking at things. “The client paperwork arrives, we do the work on it and then get it out of the door as quickly as we can.” A ‘Kondoed workspace’, can help you work more efficiently Where is your ‘spark of joy’? Marie Kondo recommends hugging all your personal possessions, and if they don’t produce a “spark of joy” in you, thank them and say goodbye. Whilst this might seem a little esoteric for the workplace, are there methods accountants can use to distinguish between stuff you really need, and things you can do without? “It’s really easy to think that you can’t do without something if you don’t really analyse the how and why you use something,” says Heather Townsend. “Only when you have really considered the implications of not having something can you decide that you can’t do without something.” “Have a practice management system,” says Furniss. “We have all our clients in there, and it sorts all the jobs we do for clients and knows how frequently we do them. When the frequency comes round, it automatically starts off a job for us. There’s a specified workflow to take us through those jobs, and each colleague can look at the calendar and see the jobs that are attached to you and other staff.” Consider using invoice software Next, “harness invoice recognition software. “When an invoice comes in on email, you forward it on to the software – ReceiptBank, AutoEntry and Hubdoc are all good examples.” The software takes the digital image (i.e. a pdf) from the email, reads the data from it, and helps you process the bookkeeping whilst also storing the digital image. “That digital image is accepted by HMRC as evidence of that cost.” Key to the accountant’s decluttering strategy is the knowledge that whilst the law says you need to retain records from the past six years plus the current year, “you can hold that data electronically – it does not have to be a paper trail. The clients we are fondest of are those who maintain all of their invoices electronically. Lever arch leverage Having a more organised office also helps significantly with good mental health and productivity. “We are being bombarded with information 24/7,” says Heather Townsend, “and this can easily lead to being overwhelmed. Whereas a tidy desk and office can help to remove distractions and help staff just focus on the job at hand.” Less clutter also means you know what to look for, and you know where to look for it. Finally, “Kondoism” can be somewhat addictive once you’ve embarked on it. Is it possible to overdo things? “One problem clients can have is to assume their software provider is holding everything for them even if they’ve not put it in there,” Furniss says. Either do everything digitally, he recommends, or nothing at all – you have to commit. “If some things are electronic and some aren’t, you start to think things will be there when they’re not. If you add things ad hoc, you’ll find not everything has got associated with a cost and that’s when you fall foul of the seven years rule.” Some clients “go their own merry way,” Furniss concludes ruefully, “and you can’t do anything about that!” But by adopting a Kondo-minded lifestyle for yourself – and promoting it to clients – you can make life a lot calmer. Top tips to Kondo for accountants Treat the office with respect. A practice management system helps you see the bottlenecks, attach tasks efficiently and effectively, and visualise the work you need to do.Aim for paperless nirvana. Get on the cloud, and get your clients on the cloud; but commit to this 100%, or you can fail to keep records when you dispose of paperwork. Break jobs down into achievable chunks. The mountains of work can be oppressive – use the ‘rule of threes’ and attack jobs in manageable sections. Thank you, and goodbye! Keep a flow of paperwork through the office and dispose of things when they are no longer needed. With everything safely on the cloud, you do not need to keep everything on paper.
How to boost your confidence at work Posted 04/04/2019 by Charlotte Beugge & filed under AATPowerUp, Confidence. ‘All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence and then success is sure’ said Mark Twain. Cynical, certainly – and ignorance never helped anyone’s career. But it’s true that being confident and motivated at work could help. Here we are looking at how to improve your confidence as part of the AATPowerUp series which aims to supercharge your Business skills. Learning to be confident Dr Rob Yeung, psychologist and author of The Confidence Project: your plan for personal growth, happiness and success says: ‘Confidence is something that is built up by nature and nurture. But confidence can be improved through effort and persistence’. Dr Gary Wood, psychologist, coach and author of Letters to a New Student and Unlock your Confidence agrees. ‘Confidence is learned rather than an innate quality although some people seem like ‘naturals’ it’s just that they have had a head start in family support or social networks. We often hear the advice that we need to ‘fake it ‘til we make it’. ‘What this really means is that people show courage and take risks and put themselves out there. A key element of confidence is courage and faith in our own abilities but true confidence cannot be faked. At heart, confidence is about being comfortable in your own skin and helping people to be comfortable in theirs’. Confidence tracking ‘It’s a lot easier to feel confident when you have done a good amount of preparation and practice’ says Dr Yeung. ‘For example, if you’re going into an important meeting or a job interview you can relax and feel much more at ease if you know what to say. ‘So think about what preparation you can do – for instance, for an interview you can think ahead about likely questions and then write out and loosely rehearse saying out loud your interview responses. That way, when someone asks you to talk about, say, your biggest achievements or your weaknesses you can feel more confident that you have something positive to say. TIP: Dr Wood says that a helpful strategy is ‘confidence tracking’. This means looking at areas of your job and life in which your confidence levels are higher ‘and work out what’s different and what you’re doing differently. Then you can borrow from these high confidence situations to help in lower confidence ones’. Having belief in your ability ‘Confidence is merely a belief in your own abilities and sometimes people have high beliefs in themselves that are not matched by their competence and capability. For example, we’ve all seen singers and other performers on TV talent shows who are confident that they are great even when we in the audience can see that they are actually not very good’, Yeung notes. In the office ‘people who are highly confident may actually come across as arrogant or even narcissistic’ says Dr Yeung. ‘Such individuals may not be able to see their own weaknesses or they may blame others rather than themselves when things go wrong’. And actually, a less confident worker may be better. ‘There’s some research evidence suggesting that people who feel anxiety and worry about their performance may actually end up getting better results’ he adds. Julie Ward, Tax Hut Julie Ward was “a little bit quirky” at the start of her career, subconsciously offsetting her dyslexia by working extra hard on developing her technical knowledge. “When you have a weakness you often don’t realise you have a lot of strengths that offset it,” she says. Ward became a tax expert, learning how to break down complicated tax issues into plain language, which gave her career a huge boost. She ended up becoming a co-author of the Tolley’s Taxwise books and later started her own business, The Tax Hut. Speaking up for your achievements But do you actually need to be confident to succeed? ‘There is definitely research suggesting that people who speak up more tend to be rated as being more capable and intelligent than others who may be quieter’ says Dr Yeung. ‘So if you are a quieter individual, it is in your career’s best interests to think about how to boost your profile’. TIP: Do this by preparing ahead of meetings so you can point to successful projects: if you don’t mention them, who will know about them? ‘The reality of the workplace is that you need to speak up for your achievements if you wish to be noticed and promoted’ Dr Yeung adds. How to make others feel confident If you’re a manager of staff, then you play an important part in boosting your team’s confidence – and tempering those who can appear too confident. Dr Yeung says: ‘When you have a member of the team who is lacking in confidence you should be looking to give him or her projects that will challenge that person just a tiny bit each time and gradually grow their confidence’. If you do have a team member who is more confident than maybe they should be, then you have to give them feedback so they can change. ‘High confidence that is not backed up by high skill and capability is likely to lead that person to take on responsibilities and projects that won’t get done well’ adds Dr Yeung. And, adds Dr Wood ‘Truly confident people are team players who take others along with them’. So boost your own confidence – and others will follow. You can follow the latest on Twitter with #AATPowerUp, or check back here for more.
Practical ways to improve your interpersonal skills Posted 04/03/2019 by Georgina Fuller & filed under AATPowerUp, Communication. The growing prevalence of accountancy software and automation have, it could be argued, made the so-called ‘soft skills,’ such as communication, negotiation and conflict resolution even more important. These are the sorts of attributes that help accountants stand out and make a difference and what separates us from the robots. Over the next three months, the AATPowerUp series will be focusing on your Business Skills with tips and tricks to improve your communication. How can you cultivate your interpersonal skills and improve the way you communicate with your colleagues? Active listeningAssertivenessHandling conflictGiving feedbackEncouraging and motivating colleagues Active listening We all know when someone is only half listening to us and may find we tail off and don’t finish what we were saying as a result. Alison King, managing director of Bespoke HR, says active listening, where you really apply yourself to hearing what the other person has to say, can significantly help communication with colleagues, peers and clients. “Developing the skill of being able to actively listen is one of the most important attributes you can hold,” she notes. “It can improve relationships with all the people in your life and some research shows it can even enhance productivity.” So how can you hone your skills and become a brilliant listener? Think about your body language Think carefully about your body language while you are listening and adjust it to an open and positive stance so that the speaker feels comfortable communicating with you from the outset. Use verbal prompts Use prompts to respond throughout the conversation with affirmations (such as nodding your head) to show that you are listening. This will let the speaker know that you are engaging with what they are saying and helps to keep your mind from wandering. Avoid interrupting You should also try and avoid interrupting where possible. “You should be able to bat away stray thoughts but be mindful that it is very easy to let your mind wander particularly if the speaker is in full flow,” King says. Paraphrase Paraphrasing what has been said helps show the speaker how carefully you’ve been listening and also helps cement the information in your own mind. Assertiveness Carl Reader, chairman of business advisory firm d&t, says that being assertive can be an issue for many accountants. “It always has been, and probably always will be, due to the nature of the personalities that go into accounting,” he comments. Reader points to the DISC personality profile assessment tool by Wiley. “If we use the “DISC” profiling system, we can see that most accountants are high S (stability) and high C (Compliance). However, they also tend to be very low in D (dominance) and I (influence). Assertiveness tends to come more easily to those who are either high in D or I and, in particular, to those that benefit from both of those personality attributes,” he says. Make a conscious effort to be assertive If assertiveness is not something that comes naturally to you, it’s something you will need to make a concerted effort to do. Once you have made the decision to try and be more assertive, it will take effort to maintain it. Think about what you are trying to achieve Thinking about why you are being assertive and what is driving you should help keep you focused. It might be one of your KPI’s or working towards your next promotion but, whatever it is, try and keep it in mind before you revert to your usual submissive default. Don’t confuse assertiveness with aggressiveness There is a fine line between being assertive and being aggressive. Being assertive means you are calm, collected and in control. Being aggressive generally leads to losing your temper and causes conflict. Keep this in mind. Handling conflict Just about every workplace will have had to address conflict at some stage or other – whether that be with colleagues or clients. Learning how to handle it effectively, so that conflict never reaches boiling point, is an essential skill to master. Understand the cause of the conflict The first thing you need to do is make sure you understand how and where the issue has arisen. Look at all the different perspectives and gather any relevant evidence you need to make sure you’ve covered everything. Address it in a objective way Sometimes it’s easier to bury your head in the sand and ignore an issue rather than try and address it but this rarely resolves anything. Try and view the conflict objectively and not get too emotionally entangled in it. Call a meeting Ask those concerned to come to a meeting to address potential issues and go through the issues one by one so you can form a strategy to deal with it. Take a colleague or peer along Asking a colleague along will help keep you calm and may help give you another perspective or way of resolving the issue. They can also take down notes in case there are any repercussions from the meeting or in the event that the issue isn’t resolved. Giving feedback Susy Roberts, executive coach and founder of people development consultancy Hunter Roberts, says feedback should be an ongoing, informal process but framed in a positive way. Start with a positive Always start feedback with what they are doing well before going onto any constructive criticisms. This will help buoy them up and make them more receptive rather than defensive. Make sure you use the right language “Using appropriate, ‘clean’ language is the most effective way to ensure that feedback is constructive and has impact,” Roberts says. “Rather than telling someone how they did, they should be encouraged to describe their experience in their own words and assess what went well or what could have been done differently,” Roberts advises. Encourage self-reflection Encouraging self-reflection helps avoid any overt criticism and bad feeling. “Saying, “You did X well but I would have preferred Y to be done differently,” doesn’t allow the person to explore why they did something in a particular way,” Roberts explains. “Instead, ask what do they enjoy most about their work? Which of their strengths do they think add the most value? Encouraging this self-reflection allows people to not only assess the success of a particular task but also to identify areas in which they excel and where they may need to improve.” Encouraging and motivating colleagues If you find yourself surrounded by a negative and unmotivated team, it will inevitably have an impact on your own productivity and mindset. There are, however, a number of things you can do to change this. “If you are a manager, see if you can take a personality profiling test to understand differences in working traits,” says King. “Using tools, such as Myers Briggs, can help you to understand the different personality types within the team and the best ways to get them to work together.” Communicate It might sound a little obvious but communicating and talking to your team really helps. “Your first focus should be on communication – talk to your team to help find the route of the problem,” King advises. Get the line managers involved Everyone works better when they feel appreciated and valued so it’s vital for managers to be as encouraging as possible. “Good managers need to be mindful and almost remind themselves at given points to thank their team for the work they’ve done, to make sure a job is well done is congratulated, and to make sure that feedback is shared as widely as possible,” Reader says. Find out what makes them tick People are motivated by different things and what might appeal to one person might not work for another. Keep this in mind when you are trying to encourage and motivate your employees and try and find out what makes them tick. You can follow the latest on Twitter with #AATPowerUp, or check back here for more.
It’s time to PowerUp your business skills and here’s why Posted 04/02/2019 by The content team & filed under AATPowerUp, Skills. Whether it’s a sunny holiday or some extra money added to your annual salary, we all have goals we’re working towards. An accountant or bookkeeper can be technically brilliant, but if they don’t have strong skills to communicate advice and offer solutions to their clients, they will have less impact than a less technical, but more rounded accountant. Business skills are a must Imagine being sent to a clients’ office to advise on where they should be making savings and suggesting they stop working with a supplier they’ve been using for years. Or having to tell a director in another department they must cut operating costs by 20%. Or even needing to persuade your own team to do things differently. All of these things require great communication skills. And they are an everyday necessity for bookkeepers and accountants, from students up to the most senior level. Over the next three months, the AATPowerUp series will be focusing on your Business Skills with tips and tricks to improve your communication. FACT: Employers’ top requirement for new employees is strong interpersonal skills. One in five states the single most important factor is how a new employee will fit the company culture. Source: Survey of 1,000 employers, carried out by AAT in 2018. #AATPowerUp Business Skills Over the next three months, AAT will be helping you PowerUp your Business Skills. We’ll be providing content and resources to keep skills at the cutting edge, whether you are a bookkeeper, accountant or an employer running a training programme there will be ideas, inspiration and case studies. You can follow the content here on aatcomment.org.uk or on social media: #AATPowerUp. Here’s a sample of what’s in store. Communication skills Having the numerical skills to identify a problem is a great starting point, but the way you communicate the solution requires a different type of skill. We’ll be starting out with foundational skills involving great personal communication both verbal and written. We’ll deep dive into techniques for asking the right questions, listening effectively, as well as how to develop at networking and presenting. Practical ways to improve your interpersonal skills Rapport building and client relationships After personal communication, we move to managing relationships. This is an increasing part of the finance professional’s role, from apprentices and bookkeepers, right up to heads of department. We’ll be covering influencing skills to help you make a positive impact among colleagues and teams in your organisation. And we’ll be revealing ways to PowerUp your relationships with clients. Creating a successful formula for client relationships Digital skills Automation is driving change, but aside from this, it is important to also know how to operate the various types of tech and get it to work for you. We’ll have a range of materials to help, from gaining basic digital skills to a miniseries on data analytics. The Oxford English dictionary is being lobbied to change the definition of an accountant from ‘a person whose job it is to keep or inspect financial accounts’ to ‘a person whose job it is to keep or inspect and advise on financial accounts’. Leadership Managing your own workload is one thing but learning the skills required to manage others, and manage others well, is often something that needs to be learnt. We will be looking into what it takes to be a great leader, how to take over a team and create your own culture, and how to manage change. 5 reasons you should care about creating a confident team Teamwork Working as a team and getting the most from your team can be tricky, particularly with a variety of different personalities. In this segment, we will be looking at how to manage conflict, how to take feedback as well as getting the most from working in a team. What skills do you wish your colleague had? These are just some of the highlights we will bring over the next three months. You can follow the latest on Twitter with #AATPowerUp, or check back here for more.