Mark Lee - all about accountants | 2011 April

The advisers’ guide to HMRC products

April 29, 2011

Tweet As a long time supporter of the excellent work done by LITRG I’m pleased to note that they have recently launched www.revenuebenefits.org.uk for accountants and other advisers. This new website is designed to provide advisers with access to the latest information on various HMRC ‘products’, including tax credits, child benefit and guardian’s allowance, national minimum wage and more. LITRG has been keen to do more to support advisers who have to grapple with the “giving” side of HMRC activity, in particular, tax credits and child benefit. The new Revenuebenefits website was created [...]

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Don’t be an Accountwit on twitter

April 26, 2011

Tweet It’s been a while since I last shared my tips and advice re twitter. These are all linked on the twitter page of this blog. I’m seeing more and more accountants and accountancy firms starting to use twitter and making classic mistakes. No wonder so many stop tweeting after a while and conclude it’s a waste of time. It is if YOU do it wrong. That’s not a fault of the concept but of the user misunderstanding what it’s all about, how it works and how to get the best from it. [...]

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A template agenda for a new client meeting

April 21, 2011

Tweet This draft agenda re a first meeting with a prospective client dates back to 2006. It’s an example of the approach I adopted when I was in practice. I had created a number of template agendas – I chose the most appropriate one and personalised it for each meeting. This always impressed prospects as it showed I had thought about their situation beforehand – by ref to our initial telephone conversation. The other benefit of this template was that it contained reminders of issues I needed to cover. Better that than to have them [...]

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Stop being a generalist – Why you’ll get more clients if you’re specific

April 18, 2011

Tweet Some years ago I signed up for some personal coaching with John Niland. I have remained on his mailing list – he regularly shares useful tips and advice for independent professionals. Last week I noted he had given another good example of why it is so important to be clear as to who are your ideal clients. It’s irrelevant that YOU may feel capable of being able to help anyone or everyone: “To see the truth of this, just place yourself in the position of a [prospective] client. Perhaps you [as the [...]

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Tax specialists leaving general practice accountancy firms

April 15, 2011

Tweet I’ve commented before on the challenges that face accountancy firms that look to recruit their first full time dedicated tax partner. Recently I heard about an unexpected development – Tax specialists leaving general practice accountancy firms. It’s a sign of the times. The reasons vary but include: Tax partners’ reluctance to promote dubious tax schemes – to the disappointment of general practice partners (who naively consider their tax partners’ approach to be uncommercial); Tax partners wanting a bigger share of the firm’s profits – to better reflect their contribution. The tax partners [...]

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Yellow pages bingo for accountants

April 4, 2011

Tweet I loved a recent blog post written by Paul Simister on his ‘Differentiate your business‘ blog. He explains that Yellow Pages Bingo is a game for checking that your marketing hasn’t fallen into the trap of being too similar to your competitors. And he then reveals the results of playing the game with accountants in central Birmingham. Paul’s game shows the high level of similarity when comparing accountants’ adverts in Yellow Pages. He looks at descriptions of firms, services and offers. I suspect the results would be the same across the country [...]

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Don’t be an Accountwit on twitter

A template agenda for a new client meeting

Stop being a generalist – Why you’ll get more clients if you’re specific

Yellow pages bingo for accountants

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