More recently we’ve been talking to a lot of business owners who are resistant to change, and probably would accept the term “late adopters”.
The technology curve that everyone pulls out at appropriate times would probably note these people as the 16% Laggards. It’s probably not a pretty name for accountants to have, though we are resistant to change.
One recent accounting firm owner I spoke with noted: “I resisted computers, I resisted iPhone, I resisted the Cloud, and I resisted Outsourcing”.. That pretty much sums up some of the more recent calls I’ve had. It seems many Accounting firm owners are facing the fact that they need to up-skill in their firm, and have some kind of strategy on Outsourcing and where it fits within their firm.
When trying to understand why Australian accounting firm owners are late to the Outsourcing party, I’m frequently told a lot of different reasons: Technology issues, just too busy, trouble meeting compliance deadlines, forever training new staff, forever looking for new staff, spending time chasing sales, on the hamster wheel just to keep up, trying to figure out social media, don’t want to delegate tasks or let go of the compliance, not sure what to do with the spare time, don’t really understand outsourcing but don’t know who to ask and don’t want to seem dumb.
Accountants are always supposed to have all the answers, so fear of the unknown is a big issue.
However, for good or bad, we are now in the digital internet age, cloud is here, iPhones are here, 24 hour connectivity is here, social media is here and your clients expect you to engage on social media, software automation is coming (it’s almost here!) and outsourcing is here and has been here for almost 20 years.
The most important thing is to step back from the coal face, exit the trenches for a day or two, and come up with a comprehensive strategy to attack those issues mentioned in the previous paragraph. Come up with a “to do” list for each major heading, linked to your strategy (and tactics) for achieving something in the short and medium goal.
Remember the old proverb: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is now”. Whether you apply that to investing or moving your business ahead forward, the best time to start is more likely now.
Feel free to reach out to Odyssey if you’d like to chat more about how our Outsourcing can help with your Australian compliance workload.
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