Humanise The Numbers - for ambitious accountants in practice

Paul Shrimpling

Welcome to the 'Humanise The Numbers' podcast series. Here you'll find a whole series of interviews with the leaders of accounting firms who are building (or have already built) a firm of the future now! You'll hear key insights, key skills and key habits that underpin the success of these firms. Insights, skills and habits that can underpin your firm's future success too. It seems that when an accountancy firm connects their team and their clients to the numbers that really matter to them they transform the results for everyone. This is accelerated when the humanity of the way they work shines through too. That's why we're talking about ambitious accountants humanising the numbers.Here's what a director of a multi-partner multi-national firm said recently ."What I like about your podcasts is that they are real. They are not scripted and I appreciate the fact that your interviewees admit they don’t have all the answers but are willing to let you put that fact out on a podcast. It is what is going on at the front lines of great small accounting practices. I have now listened to about half of them, I intend listening to them all as each one just has a nugget that I am writing down to see if I can use in our practice at some stage."
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Episodes

Kat Wellum-Kent, CFO of Fractional Finance and Speaker
2d ago
Kat Wellum-Kent, CFO of Fractional Finance and Speaker
What must it feel like to leave a promising, high-flying career with a leading firm and start up your own firm – to hand your notice in and, six months later, kick-start your accountancy firm with one client?Well, that's exactly what Kat Wellum-Kent has done. She set up Fractional Finance and has grown that to a business with a fairly clear vision of building a £5 million turnover business in just five years. She already has clients paying her, yes, £400 a month, but also clients paying her £7500 a month. On this podcast, you'll hear Kat share her insights around fairness for the team and the vision based around how this will play out for her clients and the capital value that she's going to help them grow. She shares the importance of building a vision board and having good reasons for why you're doing what you're doing, so that in those moments where it gets tough, you can have a quick check-in on your vision board and say, yeah, I'm on the right path. Why not go to this podcast discussion with Kat Wellum-Kent to hear those deep insights and see how they might apply to your established firm, or your startup firm, or the firm that you've got in your mind's eye that you're looking to set up in the not-too-distant future. I'm certain you'll get great value and enjoy the discussion we have together. Go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform and you'll find Kat Wellum-Kent sharing her deep, meaningful insights.Please scroll down the podcast’s episode page for the contact information for Kat and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.
Andrew Botham,  Investor and advisor - growth stage businesses
22-11-2024
Andrew Botham, Investor and advisor - growth stage businesses
There’s something very remarkable about the work accountants can do to transform the lives of their business owner clients, transform the results of their business, and feel a sense of pride, satisfaction and passion for the work they do. On this podcast discussion with Andrew Botham – accountant, business owner, guide, consultant, whatever label you want to give him – Andrew tells a handful of stories about how, with two or three numbers – not numbers that show up in the balance sheet or the P&L, but a handful of numbers – you can help business owners see sense and make decisions that turn a business that's generating £300k worth of profit per annum into a business that's generating £927k in net profit every month. This is because, as accountants, they help the business owner zero in on a handful of KPIs, ask a handful of questions and encourage the business owner to make a handful of key decisions. I've worked with Andrew in the past, and it was a delight to have him on the podcast to unpack his simple, effective ways and means of running client discussions, helping business owners transform their results. You can access the full podcast at Spotify, iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, or you can find it at www.humanisethenumbers.online. Please scroll down the episode page for this podcast for the contact information for Andrew and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.
Rebecca Mihalic, Director at businessDEPOT Sydney, Head Of Accounting (APAC) at Ignition
04-10-2024
Rebecca Mihalic, Director at businessDEPOT Sydney, Head Of Accounting (APAC) at Ignition
When you listen in to a conversation with a leader of an accounting business with over 100 people, and you hear how seriously they take investment in their team now so that it delivers a return in 12, 18, 24 or even 36 months, it's well worth considering what’s being said. So, when Rebecca Mihalic of the Australian firm businessDEPOT talks about taking team members along to client meetings, not as a piece of furniture (to use her language), but as active participants in the meeting, using the tools of the meeting to enable them to contribute in a valuable, meaningful way, you can see how Rebecca is growing her team to deliver a result for her personally. She can cascade client relationship work to others, work that otherwise might not happen. It's a valuable discussion. There's a phrase towards the end of the discussion where Rebecca talks about creating a safe space to fail and a safe space to win as being one of the fundamental concepts that she uses when leading and managing her team. You’ll find many helpful insights in this discussion with Rebecca. I hope you'll go to your favourite podcast platform, whether it be iTunes or Spotify or another platform, or join us at humanisethenumbers.online and look for this podcast discussion with Rebecca Milahic. Please scroll down the episode page for this podcast for the contact information for Rebecca and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in the podcast.
Craig McKell, Asia Pacific GM at AdvanceTrack
27-09-2024
Craig McKell, Asia Pacific GM at AdvanceTrack
It's simply brilliant when you can spend some time with a chartered accountant, one who spent 17 years with EY down in Australia before becoming an owner-managed business buying accountancy services. Craig believes that an accountant does a brilliant job, a better job, if they're 80% human and 20% accountant when working with their owner-managed business clients. This podcast discussion is with Craig McKell, from our very good friend AdvanceTrack. Craig is working in the profession again and is now the General Manager of Asia Pacific for AdvanceTrack. He's amazed at the challenges the profession faces from a talent-shortage perspective. He shares a brilliant insight around the fact that you don't have to fall far from the corporate world of accountancy to make a real difference with real people – owner-managed businesses. It's worth going to this podcast to understand what you do, for example, with three names. What could you do with three names so that you're more human than you are an accountant (80% human, 20% accountant)? You’ll find great value in this podcast as we discuss the 80/20 rule according to Craig McKell. I hope you enjoy this practical, passionate podcast with Craig McKell of AdvanceTrack. All you need to do is go to your favourite podcast platform or join us at humanisethenumbers.online and seek out the podcast with Craig McKell.Please scroll down the podcast’s episode page for the contact information for Craig and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.
Nicki Savill, Partner and Head of Outsourcing at Moore Kingston Smith
28-06-2024
Nicki Savill, Partner and Head of Outsourcing at Moore Kingston Smith
If your firm is making good use of technology, and embracing new technology as well, if you are building the knowledge and skill of your team and building deeper relationships with your clients, you'll know that you’re on track for the ambitious future you have in mind for your firm, your team and your clients. In this podcast with Nicki Savill of Moore Kingston Smith, Nicki spends a good deal of time talking about how to build deeper relationships with clients and how to build a stronger sense of human connection across the team as, ultimately, it is the team's knowledge and skills that deliver for your clients. It's a powerful discussion. Nicki's very open and candid about what they do and how they do it, as well as about the metrics they use around face-to-face meetings, face-to-face interactions with the team – these are far more human than when using Teams or Zoom.You'll hear Nicki describe how important, how impactful, those handshake, face-to-face discussions are with both team and clients. I hope you enjoy this discussion with Nicki as much as I did. The time absolutely flew by and I think you'll get something of significant value from the insights that Nicki shares. You can get the full podcast at humanisethenumbers.online, or you can go to your favourite podcast platform and seek out Humanise The Numbers and Nicki Savill.Please scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Nicki and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.
Mark Walker, CEO of VFD Pro
03-05-2024
Mark Walker, CEO of VFD Pro
The key question – how do you and your firm make a difference? – makes a difference in the conversations you have with your current team members when it comes to connecting them up with the real meaning behind what you're doing. Making a difference and communicating that will also help you connect with potential future employees so that they're more likely to join your firm rather than another, ultimately making a difference to the business owner clients that you currently work with, as well as to future prospective clients. If these future prospective clients are able to see that you can really make a difference to them and their business, they’re more likely, obviously, to want to work with you and your firm. In this podcast with Mark Walker of VFD Pro, Mark unpacks his experience as a senior financial professional, including his time as a board-level finance officer at Carnival Cruises and his work with The Co-Op, as well as with a number of SMEs.  He has built a product, a tool, that's shown him, his client accountancy firms and their clients how they can make a difference by better connecting. Yes, there is a conversation around the future of their business, and yes, around the finances, but also around the whole business, so that there's a stronger relationship. That's why I think this podcast discussion is so important. I hope you'll take time out to go to humanisethenumbers.online or to your favourite podcast platform to find this podcast with Mark Walker. I’m sure you’ll find it really valuable. Please scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Mark and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.
Steve Pipe, speaker and author - Advisors to the Profession series
04-04-2024
Steve Pipe, speaker and author - Advisors to the Profession series
As we approached our 100th edition of the Humanise The Numbers podcast, we found choosing someone to invite as the guest a bit challenging. But then we thought, what if we could make a global impact by having the right standard of guest, one that could inspire you, your firm, your team, your clients, maybe, to transform the numbers that really matter in your firm and across your clients’ businesses? And that's why we brought in Mr. Steve Pipe, with whom I had the great privilege of working during the first five years of my career supporting ambitious accountants. Steve speaks in a deep and meaningful way about core purpose and values, about engaging your team, about making a difference on a level that is inspiring, but also challenging, and in a way that’s quite practical. I hope you'll take time out to hear the message that Steve shares and that you’ll take some action off the back of it – this will benefit your team and the commercial results of your firm and it could have a profound and positive impact on your clients as well. And that work could then go on to have a global impact. So please go to www.humanisethenumbers.online to find the podcast with Mr. Steve Pipe, Chartered Accountant, or go to your favourite podcast platform. I hope you find this conversation as stimulating and valuable as my team and I have.Scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Steve and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.
Subarna Banerjee, Managing Partner at UHY Hacker Young LLP and Chairman of UHY International, Leadership Development series
28-03-2024
Subarna Banerjee, Managing Partner at UHY Hacker Young LLP and Chairman of UHY International, Leadership Development series
It's easy for us to assume you want a more successful firm. You also probably want a more enjoyable place to work. I guess the big question is, which comes first – a more enjoyable firm or a more successful, more profitable firm? On this Humanise The Numbers podcast with the Managing Partner of UHY Hacker Young in London and Nottingham, Subarna Banerjee, you'll hear Subarna dive deep into his team-first approach – an approach that's led to the commercial results that they've enjoyed in recent times. You’ll also hear about his deep commitment to a core purpose and a set of values that aren't just corporate wall art, aren't just corporate BS, but real, alive and making a difference for his team and, at the same time, informing their decisions around their customers. If you're seeking out ways and means of building a more successful firm, consider checking out what Subarna has to say about a team-first approach, as opposed to one that is commercial-first, and see how, if you do that in an authentic way, you can build a more successful firm. Please go to www.humanisethenumbers.online or go to your favourite podcast platform and seek out the Humanise the Numbers podcast with Subarna Banerjee. I look forward to seeing you there. Scroll down this episode page for the contact information for Subarna and for the additional, downloadable resources mentioned in this podcast.