Artwork for podcast Accounting Answers Podcast
The Collaboration Catalyst: Tech Vendors + Accountants
Episode 4230th April 2024 • Accounting Answers Podcast • Rob Brown
00:00:00 00:11:52

Share Episode

Shownotes

Ep: 42 Top experts answer: "What could the tech/software vendors do better to serve accountants?"

The Accounting Answers Podcast, hosted by Rob Brown, asks critical questions of the experts, leaders and influencers who shape the decision-making of accountants, CPAs and finance professionals. Today we ask:

What could the tech/software vendors do better to serve accountants?

You'll hear insightful and passionate answers from these 5 experts and influencers:

Dwayne Bragonier | Renowned tech leader, author, recognized for practical, cutting-edge process improvement

Stephen Heathcote | Chief Executive Officer at PrimeGlobal - The Association of Advisory and Accounting Firms

Trevor Greenway | CEO of interVal, streamlining firms, finance and wealth with AI

Val Steed | CPA, MA, CITP, accounting, technologist, thought-leader, over 35 year veteran

Vipul Sheth | AdvanceTrack MD, ethically helping firms help clients with global teams

Tune into more on this daily show for short, sharp episodes that keep you informed of what's happening in the accounting world and the whole ecosystem of consultants, organizations, vendors and advisors who serve them.

To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, book your place at the next gathering. Great for building your personal brand and making valuable industry connections in return for a small donation to charity: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events

◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢

Thanks to our sponsors:

CPA Trendlines. Actionable intelligence for the professional tax, accounting and finance community. Facts and figures, insights and implications, news, trends, tips and research serving more than 500,000 tax, accounting and finance professionals from around the world. go to https://cpatrendlines.com to sign up for free email updates.

If you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrown

You can also check out other Accounting Influencers Shows on YouTube:

https://bit.ly/AI-youtube

Transcripts

Speaker:

The future of accountant, isn't just

about numbers and financial statements.

2

:

It's about empowering businesses to make

informed decisions, navigate complex

3

:

challenges, achieve their financial goals.

4

:

And everyone recognized that Kansans

are at the heart of this and must become

5

:

trusted partners with business acumen

expertise in data analytics, storytelling,

6

:

strategic guidance, taking the clients

towards success and whatever your role

7

:

is in this ecosystem, you need to stay

ahead of the curve to stay relevant.

8

:

And that's why this accounting

answers podcast was conceived to

9

:

keep you informed and competitive.

10

:

I'm your host, Rob brown, and

I've interviewed 111 accounting

11

:

experts, leaders, advisors, vendors,

and influencers in the last few

12

:

months and collected for you the

very best and latest thinking on

13

:

what works and what is coming up.

14

:

And this week, they show 10 to 15

minutes gets you the low down on

15

:

what matters today in the rapidly

evolving accounting landscape.

16

:

And the professional is shed

in its traditional image of

17

:

number crunching, embracing a

bold new future data technology,

18

:

strategic guidance, reign Supreme.

19

:

I've asked the same five questions

throughout covering the next

20

:

generation of accountants.

21

:

The proactive advice they need to be

given the drivers have changed the

22

:

role of tech and software vendors

post the best predictions for the

23

:

next few years, let's get started and

hear what our experts have to say.

24

:

Today was listed in the views of our

experts, in what the tech software vendors

25

:

could do to better serve accountants.

26

:

What should tech companies do to

develop innovative solutions that can

27

:

help accountants enhance productivity?

28

:

I provide better service to clients

and stay ahead of the curve.

29

:

It's an emotive question with

lots of different angles.

30

:

See if you can spot some clear

messages and crucial themes coming

31

:

out from our accounting influences.

32

:

We have with this now, Trevor Greenway,

CEO of interval, where he focuses

33

:

on streamlined in firms, finance

and wealth with AI leading the way.

34

:

And applying artificial intelligence

to the accounting industry

35

:

for transformative results.

36

:

Trevor Greenway: Talk to them and

don't be fearful of the answer.

37

:

You know, I just, at the end

of the day, people buy products

38

:

for, it's pretty simple.

39

:

You know, people buy products because it

either makes them more money, it solves a

40

:

known pain or it's incredibly convenient

or in a perfect world, it does all three.

41

:

So I think that it's really important

that you don't just develop something

42

:

that you think, Solves a problem.

43

:

You know, solves a problem

because your customers have

44

:

told you that it is a problem.

45

:

And so those conversations are critical

and then iterate and get feedback

46

:

because you have to understand tech

is probably scary to some firms,

47

:

you know, they know it's a part of

their future and they know that some

48

:

have made great investments in it.

49

:

And there are some real leaders in

market, but you have to understand

50

:

that that's not everybody.

51

:

And so I think your empathy towards

their plate and the situation that

52

:

they find themselves in today, that's

a tech vendors job is to help them

53

:

navigate We are not here to kill you.

54

:

We are actually here to can, you

know, play an active role in the

55

:

evolution of the industry that is

gonna be better for everyone long term.

56

:

And you can only do that by having

real open and honest conversations,

57

:

even if you're afraid of the answer.

58

:

I'd say the main problem with

some tech providers and software

59

:

vendors, specifically in accounting.

60

:

There are other places where

this works well, but I think

61

:

specifically in accounting.

62

:

One, you have to be credible

and have domain expertise.

63

:

You have to, they have to believe that

you understand their domain deeply.

64

:

And two, It's not, you're not a commodity.

65

:

This is still relatively the tech

evolution inside of accounting is

66

:

still relatively young relative to

other industries that we've seen.

67

:

It's, you know, there's been a

ton that's been happening, but

68

:

it's now like Moore's law is real.

69

:

The exponential growth

is actually happening.

70

:

And so I think.

71

:

Where I think a lot of companies fail

is they assume, well, if I put in a ton

72

:

of, you know, business development reps

and account executives, and I give them

73

:

their quotas and they cold call, you

know, it's going to be wildly successful

74

:

because the accountants will fall in line.

75

:

And I think the point is

that that doesn't work well.

76

:

And it actually creates a It widens

the gap between the vendors and the

77

:

accountants because they're saying, we're

curious about technology and there are

78

:

things that we want to implement, but you

haven't shown me any real knowledge of how

79

:

my day to day actually works and you've

just treated me like a number and it's a

80

:

volume game and they're, you know, they're

typically dealing in billable time.

81

:

Right.

82

:

And so it's not a great

combination of factors where

83

:

you want a bunch of their time.

84

:

You don't really care.

85

:

You're just throwing numbers and

volume at this, at this sales process.

86

:

And they're sitting there saying,

unless I can really quickly understand

87

:

the solution and understand that it

actually solves the problem for me.

88

:

I'm not ready for this.

89

:

So don't commodity sell me, understand

my business deeply and tell me how

90

:

you're going to solve for the pain

that I also acknowledge that I have.

91

:

And I do truly believe that the

vendors that continue to behave

92

:

that way don't really listen to

the customer, don't acknowledge

93

:

that they're behaving differently.

94

:

I do believe that the extinction is real

and that's, that's actually compounded

95

:

by the fact that, you know, a lot of

those sales engines that are built

96

:

that way are very expensive to run.

97

:

Well, we just came through a little bit

of a tech recession where the market

98

:

kind of reset and probably healthily.

99

:

And so the companies

that were built that way.

100

:

We're head, you know, headcount heavy.

101

:

We're looking to meet quotas and we're

trying to drive, you know, that kind

102

:

of a sales process that's incredibly

expensive, so they'll have to stop.

103

:

Uh, and it, I don't believe

it to be very successful.

104

:

It's an honor to bring to

the microphone to Val Steed.

105

:

A true accounting, legends

CPA, M a C I T P and accounting

106

:

technology thought leader.

107

:

Another 35 year veteran, who's been at

the forefront of technology adoption

108

:

and education in the accounting field.

109

:

Val Steed: accountants Inventory is

their time and so anything we can

110

:

do to actually help them Be more

efficient or understand our solutions.

111

:

We we are guilty of this at zoho.

112

:

We are very guilty of this of not having

Really good training Certification, demo

113

:

data sets, examples, case studies, all

of these things, if you want to talk

114

:

about product related solutions, the

help accountants that are considering

115

:

a solution, grasp it quicker, learn

it quicker, get certified quicker, you

116

:

know, all that's very, very important.

117

:

Also, different, whole different I

really think accounting tech has got to

118

:

start doing what they did years ago and

reach back into the profession to help

119

:

the profession at large with programs

such as programs helping encouraging

120

:

young people to consider accounting as

a profession to encourage and support

121

:

the local chapters, CPA organizations,

accounts organizations, whatever, and

122

:

support those organizations through the

profession, as well as just sell product.

123

:

Hey, well, this now he's fitful chef

managing director at advanced track

124

:

outsourcing, helping accounting

firms build global teams offering

125

:

outsource services that enhance

capacity and client service without

126

:

compromising on quality or ethics.

127

:

Vipul Sheth: I think a lesson for

all of us, and it doesn't matter

128

:

whether you're dealing with family

or you're dealing with customers.

129

:

If you talk to the people, and I refer

to that very generally, so customers.

130

:

In this instance, that is

what we're talking about.

131

:

If you talk to your customers And

identify what's their greatest pain.

132

:

or what is it that their product

aims to solve, but actually doesn't.

133

:

And if you do that, what you do

is you get a much better product.

134

:

One that's actually the customers

have invested their time in.

135

:

And if they've invested time and

they see the results of their

136

:

time in a better product, I think

you've got a stickier customer.

137

:

You have ambassador for that product.

138

:

They'll be happy to tell other

professionals that actually this

139

:

product or this service is great.

140

:

You should go and use it.

141

:

And I think the more that we all do that,

will lead to greater success for everyone.

142

:

And one feeds the other.

143

:

Yeah.

144

:

If we have successful clients.

145

:

Yeah, we inevitably grow and

we're, we're very proud of the fact

146

:

that, our growth is predominantly

driven by our existing customers.

147

:

And it is driven by that

customer service ethos.

148

:

And that's the one thing that every

software or accounting, service

149

:

provider should, should aim to do.

150

:

Microphone (TONOR TC30 Audio Device)-147:

The next voice you hear will be

151

:

Stephen , chief executive officer

of prime global, the association

152

:

of advisory and accounting firms.

153

:

Stephen Heathcote: This is a great

question, because, you know, I could

154

:

say all the things about things like

integration and security, but I would

155

:

say the absolute best thing they

could possibly do to serve us is to

156

:

listen to us and, you know, not just

talk about their kit, but actually

157

:

talk to the people wearing the kit.

158

:

So that, that means really understanding

what, what makes professional practices

159

:

tick, what, when, when firms talk

about utilization, realization,

160

:

their margins, their people, for

their packages and their software.

161

:

How will it make a difference?

162

:

How will it improve profitability?

163

:

How will it make their firm future proof.

164

:

And that really means understanding

the pains and the gains of each

165

:

firm and having conversations.

166

:

So I, I find often it's, um, sometimes

it's startup vendors and entrepreneurs,

167

:

but because they listen and they

won't say, Oh, okay, we'll respond.

168

:

And it may be in the sixth or

seventh release down the line.

169

:

We have developers there now

that will help and support you.

170

:

The next voice is Dwayne .A renowned

tech leader, author, and recognized

171

:

for his practical cutting edge process

improvement in the accounting field.

172

:

Leading firms towards innovation.

173

:

Dwayne Bragonier: make cloud products

work and allow for easy integration

174

:

of other data sets with it.

175

:

So, to speak first, make products work.

176

:

Legacy versions had a framework

that worked for the end user.

177

:

It met their needs.

178

:

When they re write into their cloud

based products, quite often they

179

:

abandon the fundamental framework and

create a new user interface, which

180

:

isn't always necessarily better.

181

:

And in fact, many of them now are starting

to dummy down their application feature

182

:

sets because they're trying to make it

easy for the average person to use and

183

:

sure templating for us so that we can

see things really quickly is wonderful.

184

:

But please continue to allow

customization so that the experienced

185

:

user can do enhanced reporting.

186

:

And with regards to the integration,

please provide user friendly AIPs

187

:

so that you don't have to be a

programming expert in order to allow

188

:

for Dataflow to go into our ERP systems.

189

:

Microphone (TONOR TC30 Audio Device)-2:

So they have five grand

190

:

answer to the question.

191

:

What could the tech and software vendors

do better to serve accountants each

192

:

work in depth that week, Monday through

Friday, we give you the insights of five

193

:

top influencers in the accounting world.

194

:

On this critical area of the

tech providers, software vendors

195

:

and how they serve accountants.

196

:

That's 25 valuable perspectives,

viewpoints and best thinking every week.

197

:

And with each fresh week comes a

fresh question and more thoughts

198

:

from the best accounting leaders

and influences we can find.

199

:

Thanks for listening to this brand

new accounting answers podcast.

200

:

And sharing the show with your friends.

201

:

If you want to join the conversation,

you can plug into our community of

202

:

implementers@accountinginfluencers.com

and check out our virtual

203

:

speed networking events.

204

:

These happen every few months

for the north American region

205

:

and the UK Europe region.

206

:

The great opportunities to raise your

profile, build valuable connections and

207

:

share your thoughts with influential

peers until next time, this is your host.

208

:

Rob brown, saying stay informed,

stay relevant and stay connected.

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube