6 themes to expect at the 2017 Accounting Business Expo

6 themes to expect at the 2017 Accounting Business Expo

The Accounting Business Expo is Australia’s largest business and technology event for accountants. Wayne Schmidt recently spoke with some of the event’s keynote speakers and organizers to preview the accounting trends and issues they’ll be discussing.

The planned themes and outcomes have been carefully chosen to help you embrace new ideas, grow your practice and take advantage of changing face of the industry. 

The future of accounting

Sholto Macpherson from DigitalFirst.com is Head of Content for the Expo, and was instrumental in curating the speakers and agenda. He says the goal of the event is to communicate where accounting firms are in 2017, and share the latest and greatest thinking—not just for compliance, but also relating to sales, marketing and people management. 

But Sholto is most excited about the side of the program that will discuss advancements in technology, and how this will continue to evolve accounting going forward.

We've got some really exciting stuff around automation in accounting, and artificial intelligence, and all the things that will have a huge impact on the future of accounting and accounting firms.

Sholto Macpherson, DigitalFirst.com

A melting pot of the accounting profession

The Accounting Business Expo is open to anyone involved with the accounting profession, including practice owners, accountants, bookkeepers, other wealth professionals and anyone in the industry responsible for the finance function within their business.

It's going to have accountants who are out in industry—like CFOs and financial controllers—in the same room with practices. Really exciting conversations will happen walking around the Expo as people start to absorb the information that's coming through.

David Boyar, Sequel VCFO

Accountants and bookkeepers working together

Tim Munro from Change Accountants will be discussing the relationship between accountants and bookkeepers, and the opportunities you have to form profitable relationships that will benefit everyone. He says there are areas for bookkeepers to support accountants that haven't even been touched yet—especially in the wealth area. 

I've been to a lot of conferences and I haven't yet seen an agenda at a conference like this. It's sensational.

Tim Munro, Change Accountants

Being a great accounting leader

Steph Hinds from Growthwise will be talking about how business is a game, and the best team will always win. She’ll be showing you how to lead your team, and place your employees and anyone else on your team in the right positions. She says this is vital if you want to take your firm to the next level.

We all have to ensure we've got great leaders, and we all have to ensure we've got the best team that we possibly can if we want to progress our practices forward.

Steph Hinds, Growthwise

Your firm’s practice management options

Lisa Callaghan from Interactive Accounting will be discussing practice management, and the solutions that are available for your practice. To ensure all opinions are covered, she has put together a panel of accountants who have experience with different practice management models. They’ll discuss the key decisions and process they went through to evaluate how to run a practice from preparing a proposal to the moment a job is completed. 

Beyond her own presentation, Lisa is also excited with the left of field content that will be presented at the Expo. 

A session I'm definitely going to will simulate a live hack on an accounting firm. I think cyber security is something that is really important. It's something that we're not talking about.

Lisa Callaghan, Interactive Accounting

Education without an agenda

The Accounting Business Expo is organized by an events company rather than a vendor or practice—which, according to Guy Pearson from Ignition, means there is no hidden agenda.

It's awesome to have all these speakers telling war stories rather than pitching books or expecting you to buy software. There's no upsell at any point in time, other than coming back next year for free.

Guy Pearson, Ignition

Free to attend, the Accounting Business Expo showcases solution providers and offers free education, live demo sessions, networking events and the opportunity to earn valuable CPD hours. You can find out more information and register here

This article contains quotes from An accountant's preview of the 2017 Accounting Business Expo. You can watch the full video here.