Why your firm needs clarity to thrive
How Clarity, finalist in Xero’s Practice App of the Year 2021, can help you introduce and create a profitable, repeatable and scalable business advisory service for your firm.
C
ompliance isn’t dead
For years accountants have been told to move from compliance to advisory. “Compliance is dead!” is an often-heard rallying cry. We know this isn’t the case. Small businesses will always need assurance over the raft of constantly changing regulations and legislation. Compliance is here to stay. But for most accountants, a pure focus on compliance services doesn’t deliver sustainable profitability. Combining compliance AND advisory is a path that does work. But it’s not just about more money, it’s also about more impact and more happiness for your clients, team and the firm. So why have firms struggled to introduce business advisory services? Traditionally, business advisory hasn’t properly leveraged the right combination of people, process and technology.
@clarity_hq
Aynsley Damery, CEO & Founder, Clarity Aynsley Damery is a qualified accountant and former CEO of a multi-award-winning niche advisory accounting firm for entrepreneurs in the UK. Aynsley is now the CEO and founder of Clarity - complete business advisory platform for accountants. He has advised thousands of businesses around the world and sits as an advisory board member on a number of companies and charities. He is considered one of the most influential accountants in the UK and has co-authored an international best seller.
Advisory services are often delivered by more senior team members (partners and managers), to top clients and often with a bespoke service. This works well for your toptier clients, who can afford and are prepared to pay for that type of service. Senior team members have limited time, so what happens when we try to introduce more junior members to the equation and offer advisory services, using traditional methodologies, to our smaller clients? The more junior team don’t have the experience, and existing systems and processes are still heavily dependent on timestarved senior team assisting, training or delivering. Smaller businesses are not prepared (or able) to pay the fees associated with a bespoke service. And often, partners assume that smaller businesses, who reluctantly pay for accounts and tax returns, won’t want to pay for advisory
services - even though they do pay for coaches, mentors and business organisations. Finally there is also a lack of understanding of what business advisory is, overcomplicating the process or assuming that firing out reports to already overwhelmed business owners is business advisory. Business advisory made simple So what is business advisory and how does a firm implement or scale business advisory services? This is the exact same framework used by large scale consulting agencies, Big4 firms, small niche advisory accounting firms and pretty much any other business in wealth management, tax, marketing, branding, time management- you name it! Business advisory really is that easy. Within the same platform, you can now deliver all aspects of this business advisory framework. Help your clients understand where they are now Clients don’t get their numbers. Now, your team can quickly understand how a client is performing with the 7 Key Numbers that every business owner should know. Clarity gives you a complete picture of your clients’ profit and loss, balance
16 / Issue 26
XU Magazine - the independent magazine for Xero users, by Xero users.
