Salary survey shocks... HMRC's late penalty own goal
Most folk love a salary survey. It gives you a chance to indulge in that guilty pleasure of comparison with your peers.
According to the Office of National Statistics, the median household income for the UK, where the average house price is £225,000, is just £27,200.
So where do accountants fit into that picture? Lucy Skoulding at Accountancy Age has some answers.
Earning trends for accountants
Her survey into accounting earning trends sets the average annual salary of £62,042. But this can vary widely depending on factors such as gender and location or whether you're in practice or industry. Still, not bad.
Not good, though, is the gender pay gap. At 21.5 per cent, the profession is running at 3 percentage points above the national average.
Accountancy Age's editorial head honcho Emma Smith says: “The results of the survey demonstrate that the accountancy sector has much work to do to close the gender pay gap and ensure that women have the same career opportunities as their male counterparts.
“While the top accountancy firms have committed to improving gender diversity at senior levels, the profession as a whole needs to closely collaborate to advance dialogue on how real progress can be made.”
This issue is bound to be in focus at upcoming Accountex's round-table hot topic discussion on Women in Accountancy.
HMRC's late penalty own goal
HMRC cancels 270,000 late penalty notices in 2016, a freedom of information request by Clifford Chance, a law firm, finds.
That figure was 610,000 in 2015 and 400,000 in 2014. An improvement, but it still seems like a significant number worthy of investigation. Especially as it's software system problems like this that give people the collywobbles over making tax digital.
Software simply cannot be trusted
Roll up for the British Accountancy Awards
Accountancy Age has announced that entries for the British Accountancy Awards are open. Individuals, firms and bigger groups are in line for gongs.
Categories include practice excellence, team of the year, excellence in accounting and finance, and individual excellence. There are also awards for national firm of the year, finance team of the year, innovation and transformation of the year, and rising star of the year.
The 2018 awards will be on 26 September at London's Grosvenor House, with more than 1,000 guests from across the UK expected to attend.
Full list of accountancy awards categories
The full list of categories and their descriptions can be found here.
The deadline for entries is 14 June with the shortlist to be published on 20 July.
Have a look back at last year's event here in AA's Judging Report and download the entry pack here.
Mental health recognition
On the subject of awards and accounting excellence, Mental health charity Mind has named Jessica Carmody, chair of KPMG’s mental health network, as its employer champion of 2018.
Jessica is noted “for promoting mental health within the business, leading fantastic workshops and events, sharing her personal story and inspiring senior leaders to get involved”.
KPMG feature in Mind’s Wellbeing Index awards, as did Deloitte. Both receive a silver ranking, for achievements in promoting staff mental health and making progress in the area.
BDO the UK’s sixth largest accounting firm is given a bronze ranking, which goes to employers who have “started their journey to better mental health".
And, as in many walks of life, mental health is an issue of growing concern in the accountancy profession.
CABA’s 2017 Wellbeing Report, says 34 per cent of ICAEW members are worried about their physical and mental health.
How to avoid a digital domesday scenario...
As you know, the Domesday Book is the record of the "Great Survey" ordered by William the Conqueror in 1086. You may not know, however, that we are rapidly approaching a "Domesday for the Digitally Disconnected".
The next UK census in 2021 will be ditching the parchment and going "online first". That's right, for the most part, all the research will be carried out digitally.
It stands to reason and logic, really... a bit like Making Tax Digital. We are bowing, at times reluctantly, to the inexorable march of technology.
Heavy-handed approach to MTD
From what I can work out, HMRC seems to have taken a, shall we say, slightly heavy-handed approach to the MTD task in hand.
The Office of National Statistics, however, seems to be taking an altogether more enlightened and gentle approach to reaching its digital census goal.
The ONS has started work on helping that small, but important sector of the population known as, "We Don't Do Digital".
It is building up a network of experts and organisations to support the refuseniks; the sort of individual who keeps paper receipts in a shoebox, say.
Online transactions and everyday life
The ONS says: “For the majority of people, this won't be a problem. It will be just another of many online transactions they do as part of everyday life.
"Others, though, won't find it so simple. These are the people who, for various reasons, are being left behind by the digital revolution. They're not opposed to being online; they just don't have the skills, confidence, technology, or opportunity to do so.”
We want to meet you
"Can you help us to get as many of the "digitally disconnected" group as possible doing their census online?
Whether you're a company or a charity, a nationwide operation with thousands of branches, or a local specialist with a handful of outlets, we want to meet you," the ONS adds.
“Our task is to provide a network of face-to-face online support for the census across England and Wales. We recognise that to do this we may need to consider working with a wide variety of organisations committed to helping those struggling to go digital.”
You can find out more about the 2021 Census Assisted Digital scheme here. There will be QA sessions in London next week and next month.
See you tomorrow.
Why you should visit Accountex 2018: the video...
Accountex 2018 event director Zoe Lacey-Cooper features in a new video to explain why next month's show at ExCel in London should be at the top of every accounting and finance professional's to-do list
With more than 7,000 visitors, 200-plus exhibitors and 180 speakers, Accountex 2018 is THE event of the year. And new for 2018 is the Hot Topics feature - a series of round-table discussions on women in accountancy, millennials and sole practitioners.
Check out the video below:
The emergence of robotics in accounting
The digital economy is disrupting even the once stable world of accounting, especially the emerging trend of robotics.
Organisations, be they businesses or government agencies, are required to become agile data-driven enterprises capable of predicting, anticipating, and quickly reacting to a dynamic global economy to remain relevant.
Data collection, data transformation, and data visualisation are all fundamental parts of modern accounting.
This data-driven era requires a clear understanding of how data, information, knowledge, wisdom, and decisions are connected.
The size and scale of data from all aspects of an organisation, market, global economy, and industry cannot be manually handled by a human workforce in any meaningful way without causing a severe case of analysis paralysis. The emerging high-tech solution for this time-sensitive demand is met by robotics.
Robotics process automation
E&Y Report explains this emerging trend as follows: “Robotic Process Automation (RPA) promises to transform the cost, efficiency and quality of executing many of the back office and customer-facing processes that businesses rely on people to perform.”
A recent requirements-gathering exercise I participated in for a global business revealed that for a cost of approximately $5,000 – $7,000, a RPA could be purchased and this robot could perform the work of three 8-hour shifts repeatedly with consistent quality and efficiency — without any human errors. This client also explored whether 3 such RPAs could be used consecutively over the course of a 24-hour day to perform 3 routine tasks.
This annual licensing cost can lead to steep cost reductions by replacing human activity with robots and then utilizing accountants to manage the RPA, code changes to align emerging needs, and perform the thinking functions.
Robotics in Insurance and Robotics in Automating Manual Process are two demo video tutorials published by E&Y to educate the marketplace. These video demos show work process flows and the steps executed in an automated way, mimicking what a person would do, including process-related email communications at a fraction of the cost of an employee.
These robots do not need vacation or sick time, they do not require benefits, and they perform quality work efficiently and repeatedly, making RPA the next wave of cost-cutting across businesses.
Benefits of RPA
Accenture Consulting estimates RPA to yield the following benefits:
- 80% Cost Reduction
- Task Performance Time Reduction of 80% – 90%
- Increase in output quality by human error elimination
- Scalable solutions unlike human-based teams
- Integration by bolting on to existing Accounting ERP systems
- Allowing for local competency and control
All these indicate a trend of moving away from outsourcing to RPA. In fact, outsource providers themselves are integrating RPA into their resource planning model to reduce the human involvement and resulting margin improvements.
Road map towards RPA
Deloitte in its guide to robotic process automation states that “… to maximize the impact of robot-led automation, business leaders need to have a solid understanding of the available tools and a clearly defined strategy for automating their enterprises.” Deloitte recommends a 5-step process for driving RPA, visualized in summary as follows:
Training for robotics readiness in accounting
We can see how accounting has evolved from T-Account bookkeeping to a high-tech facilitated analytical and decision support field that continually evolves. However, the way we teach accounting at universities has remained consistent with a bygone business era, devoid of any technological underpinning or analytical skill development integration to tell the story of what is going on with a business. This has resulted in a skill gap between education of accountants and practitioner requirements.
Both university curricula and continuing professional education need to step up to meet the demands of the digital economy in order to bridge the accounting professional skill gap. Accountants need to embrace technology and modify their skillset to remain relevant amid professional disruption resulting from technology evolution.
High reliance on IT professionals to drive this change will continue to increase the governance and financial reporting risks for the CFO office because IT professionals do not understand accounting or the ramifications resulting from the Accounting-IT translation gap.
A new day has arrived, and it behooves each one of us to step up to the plate and embrace the change in the interest of professional relevance, responsible governance, and effective financial stewardship.
'Never before has technological change been so fast'
Elaine Clark questions...
CheapAccounting MD Elaine Clark talks to Accounting Insight News Editor Ian Moss about the highs and lows of her career and what she likes to do in her spare time...
The here and now…
How did you get into this business?
It’s a typical “mid life crisis” story. Just over 11 years ago I was sitting in yet another mind-numbingly boring meeting and just thought I can’t do this any more. I quit, went on holiday to New Zealand to clear my head of corporate nonsense ... and there the idea for CheapAccounting.co.uk was born. The rest, as they say, is history. I certainly have never looked back and do not miss the corporate world one bit.
What’s the deal with CheapAccounting.co.uk?
It’s quite simple, really, and it does exactly what it says on the tin. We offer competitive fees for those with straightforward accounting needs by using technology to assist in the compliance process. It’s not rocket science. The business is built around a network of independent fully-qualified sole-practitioner accountants working under the CheapAccounting.co.uk brand; a franchise for want of any other word.
What have accountants got to learn about survival?
Like any business, you have to constantly change and evolve; it’s not enough to rely on the fact that you’ve always done it that way. Never before has the speed of technological change been so fast. It’s exciting and exhausting but it’s the way of the world in all sectors, not just accounting.
And what can you teach them?
Well you can only ever teach someone if they are willing to listen and learn. Not everyone wants to learn from others.
All I can do is show what works for the CheapAccounting.co.uk network of franchisee accountants, what we do and why we do it that way based upon experience. Of course, our model doesn’t suit everyone. Like most things, there are not any right and wrong answers, just differences, but I am a great believer in looking at what works for others,. Not just in the accounting profession, and, more importantly, looking at things that don’t work and avoiding them at all costs!
Does the idea of information overload concern you?
To a certain extent, especially as there’s not much room left in my brain to fill it up with more “stuff”. I find that I am selective about what I look at, read and retain. I can’t possibly know everything. The key is to have the ability to research something if and when the need arises.
What’s on the horizon for you and the sector?
For the profession there’s a lot of technological and legislative change hitting at fast speed if the last few year are anything to go by. For me personal my role constantly evolves with it now moving into that of a writer, coach, mentor and speaker mix in the Sole Practitioner and Women in Accountancy space; all skills which I have acquired as part of CheapAccounting.co.uk and helping circa thirty Sole Practitioners set up successful accountancy firms.
Do you think women are well-represented in the industry?
At entry level, yes, but at senior managerial and board level, definitely not. You’ve only to look at the partner pages at some of the larger accountancy firms to see that women are not well represented. In particular there are parts of the accountancy profession still dominated by old-school misogynistic-type chaps. The good news is that they will retire at some point.
As an influential voice, what impact do you want to have on the profession this year?
Goodness that’s a tough one. I’m not sure that I’m influential enough to have any impact whatsoever. All I can do is to keep beating the drum for high standard in the profession and to further equality. And, of course, to out HMRC when they cock up, which they seem to do on many an occasion!
Early Days
Where did you grow up?
In Essex and Suffolk.
Were you any good at maths at school?
Not especially good, but then I wasn’t very good at most things in school and left at the age of 16.
Tivia/Miscellany
What’s your favourite film?
Mamma Mia for a jolly good sing-a-long and The Way We Were with Robert Redford phwoah.
What’s your favourite book?
It’s a set of books, which is what you’d expect from an accountant tee hee .... anything by Peter James and his Roy James detective books.
What’s your favourite type of music?
Mainly ‘80s stuff; it’s my era but I must admit to loving Ed Sheeran and Rag ‘n’ Bone Man.
What’s your ideal day out?
A walk in the hills followed by a pint at the end.
What’s your ideal holiday?
Sailing in the Caribbean, away from all technology.
Is money the root of all evil?
No ... a lot of good things can be done with money. It makes the world go around but, in the wrong hands, it can be destructive.
Do you support a football team?
No ... much prefer rugby.
Do you have a heroine or hero?
Not especially and not one person. I like straight talking, selfmade people who take the bull by the horns and just get on with things without moaning or blaming the world for things.
Changing role of the accountant – how to prepare
There is change in the air — have you noticed it? A focus on technology, as well as soft skills – combined with accountants’ quest to add more value to their clients – is catapulting us right into 2019. So, what’s happening now and how can accountants prepare for what’s ahead?
Cloud, AI, real-time data…
Cloud, AI, real-time data… just a few words to get your head spinning? According to a recent Thomson Reuters report, 95 per cent of accountants surveyed state their role is likely to change due to technology. Making tax digital (MTD) plays an important role of course, but other traditional tasks such as bookkeeping and data collections is expected to be increasingly automated over the next 10 years.
Technology including cloud software, automated tools such as chatbots, driven by artificial intelligence or statistical modelling software will be the norm in a few year’s time. Many businesses will feel overwhelmed, looking to their accountants for trusted advice. Hence, accountants need to be at the forefront of these changes to understand new technology and properly advise their clients.
I’d encourage you to embrace the changes brought by technology. After all, it can help free up your time so you can focus more on areas which it can’t replicate, such as strategy, relationships, emotional intelligence and trust.
Moving on from the role of the ‘traditional’ accountant
With many tasks being automated by technology over the next years, new opportunities are opening up, pushing accountants to go beyond their ‘traditional’ role. Many of the accountants we are partnering with are embracing this trend and started to add new services to their portfolio, aiming to become a one-stop-shop for financial needs. .
As the accountant, you know your clients’ financial situation and can provide consulting services linked to new business opportunities. For example, you can make recommendations on how to invest, when would be the best time to grow the business or whether extra funds might be needed to bridge the gap in receivables. Ultimately, by offering additional services, clients don’t see their accountant just as the ‘number cruncher’, but as trusted business adviser.
New skills for new times
Conquering the new tech challenges and expanding into advisory requires a new set of skills. In their recent report Professional Accountants – The Future, the ACCA hit the nail on the head: “All professional accountants will be expected to look beyond the numbers. They will need to collaborate and partner with people in other parts of the business and outside the business; interpret and explain the numbers; provide insight and information; help organisations to achieve short-term goals and longer-term objectives; think and behave more strategically and become more involved in decision-making than before.”
Ask yourself the following questions: Are you embracing new technologies? Are you thinking beyond your current remit to add more value to your clients? Do you have the necessary soft skills to succeed and retain your clients? The holiday season will give everyone some well-needed respite to reflect and recharge, but there is also room to think about how to tackle challenges and embrace opportunities.
So, how could you get a head start? Here are a few tips I’ve picked up from accountants recently:
- “Go to network events and talk to peers in similar situations. For me, that’s the best way to find out what’s happening in the market.”
- "Brainstorm with colleagues on the skills that are missing. Maybe your employer can organise a team training?”
- “Accountex and Accountex Summit North are the go-to-events and the perfect opportunity to learn all about the new tech available in the market. Definitely sign up to these.”
Five ways accountants can learn to love social media
Accountants have tended to stick to word of mouth, traditional marketing methods, and professional or business networks such as LinkedIn. A 2014 survey in the US by Social CPAs found that few organisations advertised on social media and many had no social media policies.
Things have probably changed a bit since that survey. But it's slow progress. However, accountants are realising that social media platforms offer cheaper, better, and more efficient methods of keeping in touch with clients. And keeping on top of industry trends.
Here are five ways you can make sure you are making the most of your social media marketing potential.
1. Create a simple social media marketing plan across multiple platforms
Even the least tech-savvy people know that social media is crucial to a business. But they may not know how to use it effectively. A scattergun approach to tweeting or an infrequently updated Facebook page isn’t going to be any use when it comes to marketing. Spending several hours a day glued to social media is going to stop you getting any work done. So how can you use social platforms efficiently while getting the best results?
- Post frequently without wasting time by using an automatic scheduling tool such as Buffer or Hootsuite.
- Create a social media marketing plan. This simply means creating objectives and goals for social media and seeing them through, without resorting to hiring an expensive marketing expert. Try this simple 6-step planrecommended by Hootsuite.
- Post varied content on each platform. “Pushing” the same content from just one platform makes you look lazy, and often the same content doesn’t perform well on different platforms. Make sure that what you’re posting is compelling and adds value — quotes and inspirational messages do well on Twitter, whereas LinkedIn has seen a lot of traction come from storytelling-type content.
2. Blogging: shareable content is king in social media
Google values fresh, unique social content much more than a static website and will reward those that share frequently with a higher place in search rankings. Studies have shown that business blogging leads to 55 per cent more website visitors.
However, your blog shouldn’t just be an afterthought tacked onto your website to appease Google. If you’re offering genuinely valuable content that your audience cares about, this will have a very positive impact on your business. How can you make your blog the one that people keep returning to?
Sharing your blog on social media and opening it up to the wider business community is a great way to make the most of blogging and social media in one fell swoop. Maximize content ROI and keep your time spent on advertising to a minimum.
- Learn the basics of SEO. Search engine optimisation is the art of making your site valuable to Google and bumping it up the search rankings. If you’re a total novice, don’t worry — there are many guides out there with helpful advice, and blogging platforms often have in-built SEO tools
- Position yourself as an expert. If you consistently share knowledgeable, valuable content, people will automatically turn to your blog as a trusted source of information. Spend some time learning about what makes a good blog post and track how well yours do using web analytics.
- Share, share, share! Great content will give your social media marketing a massive boost, especially if it is original and valuable to your audience. Share across all your social media platforms to demonstrate your expertise as an accountant.
3. A picture is worth a thousand words
If you’re a regular social media user – and most of us are – you’ll know that visual content is huge, and will only grow bigger: it is estimated that 84 per cent of communications will be visual in 2018. Photos, memes and infographics are crucial to your social media marketing strategy. Studies have shown that posts that include images produce a 650 per cent higher engagement than text-only posts!
You don’t think accountancy lends itself to the visual culture of social media? Think again!
- Share a few memes, funny pictures, or cartoons to keep your followers entertained. Don’t go overboard – it’s good to maintain a professional image, but showing a flash of humour and personality will make you memorable.
- Make your visuals valuable and shareable. Just like blog content, people love visual content that is of genuine value to them and their network. A picture post reminding people of tax return deadlines, say, is useful. And it gives you the opportunity to mention your services. Creating a custom image and adding your logo only takes a few moments. Plus there are plenty of online tutorials to show you how.
The Bench team shares beautiful visual images on their Instagram that vary from tax deadline reminders to client stories and people profiles.
4. Social media advertising: the direct approach
As well as using social media to share content, you can also pay for advertisements that will target the specific audience that you want to reach.
Facebook remains the most widely used social media platform among all age groups, with 64 percent of people using it. Facebook enables you to target your adverts to particular groups of customers based on different factors such as age, gender, and location, and you will be able to get results based on any budget.
- Drive specific actions. Are you looking to acquire new customers, or do you want to up-sell current ones? Facebook ads can be tailored to specific groups using different demographics, or even be set up based on your own data.
- Target a “Lookalike Audience.” Lookalike Audiences help you to target potential clients by finding people who are similar to those you are already connected with.
- Use analytics and testing. Facebook Ads Manager allows you to track how well your ads are performing. It measures sales, audience, brand outcomes, and performance. So you can test how well a particular advertisement is doing. And you can experiment with different approaches until you find an ad format that gets you clients on a regular basis.
5. Get personal
Social media is a much more personal approach to marketing than more traditional tactics. It lends itself to a more human approach. But you should always err on the side of professionalism. But sharing a few details about the person, or people, behind your company can give your brand more personality. That's something that works in the world of social media.
- Let people know what you’ve been doing. If your company has been on a team-building day, to an awards ceremony, or held a social event, post a picture and a brief description.
- Involved in a charity or non-profit organization? Tell people about it. Clients will like your involvement and it also gives your charity a nice publicity boost.
- Connect with your audience. Social media provides an easy way to talk directly and personally with current or potential clients.
- Positive testimonials and client storiesare an awesome way to include other people’s successes within your content strategy.
So these few simple steps will quickly give you an awesome online presence. Getting to grips with SEO and social media tools will enable you to find your ideal audience. And help convert your new followers into paying clients.
This article was originally posted by our friends at Accountex USA.
Accountex Summit North: keeping you in the picture
Accounting Insight News editor Ian Moss shares his take on Accountex Summit North 2018...
I could easily (well, probably not that easily) write thousands of words about my experience of Accountex Summit North, but I won't.
Instead, I'll jot down a few considered recollections and let you look through our photograph gallery of some quality moments from the event, which was held for the first time at Manchester Central on Tuesday 6 March. After all, 16 pictures is, proverbially, worth 16,000 words. So that sounds like a pretty good deal.
Judging by the smiles of the 1,000-plus attendees and the subsequent social media feedback, the Summit was a success.
Keynote was buzzing
The exhibitor pods were packed, the keynote auditorium was buzzing and the break-out theatres were 'standing room only'.
Former BBC business reporter Declan Curry set the tone with a thought-provoking keynote presentation on the commercial landscape, from Carillion to Brexit.
I was lucky enough to catch up with the energetic Damon Anderson from Xero who put me in the picture regarding the future. James Ashford of GoProposal was equally high energy, affable and engaging.
Scary flight into the future
Also in the new breed category was Ed Molyneux, of Edinburgh-based FreeAgent. He's a former RAF fighter pilot and you can tell. His breakout theatre presentation, 'Rise of the Robots, Accountancy at a Crossroads' was a thrilling and at times scary flight into the future.
But he brought his accountancy audience back to earth safely with an example, bizarrely, of travel agents. Despite prophets of gloom saying online holiday booking would drive them out of business, the opposite has in fact happened.
There are now just as many out there as 30 years ago, but they provide a more bespoke, advisory service. Sound familiar?
Expert in his field
With his trademark bow-tie, Andrew Hubbard of Tolley Tax had the appearance of a university lecturer from the 1950s. He's certainly an expert in his field and his packed session on Making Tax Digital had the audience riveted.
"There is concern that the tax pilot has not tested enough of the sector," he said with a hint of irony that spoke volumes of the anxiety this issue has raised in the accounting profession. "Records for ALL VAT transactions MUST be kept digitally by LAW. Just think about that for a minute." He paused, and people thought...
Elaine Clarke of cheapaccounting, hosted two round-table discussions, on 'Women in Accountancy' and on 'Sole Practitioners'. Both were well attended and lively. Continuing the theme of MTD and accountant-client relations, Elaine asked: "Is it time we got the whip out?"