Look out for these 16 sessions at Accountex London 2023

Another year, another exciting Accountex London line up.

People walking across the Millennium Bridge in London, with St Paul's Cathedral in the background.

On May 10-11, 2023, hundreds of exhibitors, speakers and accounting professionals are coming together at ExCeL London for the 2023 Accountex London conference.

To make the most out of the full agenda, here is a shortlist of must-see sessions across the education programme and exhibitor stand theatres.

👉 Information on getting to ExCeL London

Day 1: Wednesday 10 May, 2023

It’s your fault you’re experiencing a talent shortage

📍People, Talent, Culture & Wellbeing (Theatre 6)

Controversial session name, right?

Bobby Lane (Factotum), James Hurley (The Times), Jo Wood (The 6 Figure Bookkeeper, Jo Wood Virtual CFO) and Stephanie Maley (Factotum) will explore your role in safeguarding your team by creating a results-based culture, and giving your people opportunities and freedom that breed productivity and loyalty.

The human firm

📍 Sage Theatre (Stand 1210)

Will Farnell (App Advisory Plus) and James Ashford (GoProposal) will take you through what it means to run a human-centric accounting firm. This means putting your clients and your team at the centre of your practice. This promises to be an engaging discussion, full of actionable insights.

How to scale your portfolio FD practice without needing to clone yourself

📍 Accountants in Industry (Theatre 10)

How do you scale your portfolio FD practice when your clients only want to work with you and you only?

With Heather Townsend (The Accountant’s Growth Club), Lorna Leonard (Leonard Business Services) will share how she’s managed to do it. She’ll deep dive into how to develop your team and the strategies you need to convince your clients to work with them (rather than you).

Communicating as an introvert in an extrovert’s world

📍 Communication (Theatre 7)

Amanda C. Watts from Oompf Global will teach you how to embrace your introverted-self and leverage your own style to communicate effectively with prospects, clients and team members (and then still have time to decompress and recalibrate).

Funding, buying and selling your accounting firm

📍 Practice Growth & Resilience (Theatre 3)

What do you need to do to prepare to sell your firm? Or to buy another?

Kirsty McGregor (The Corporate Finance Network), Ollie Maitland (Capitalise.com) and Paul Surtees (Capitalisse.com) have all had success in doing so. Learn from their experience in navigating the challenges and achieving your goals.

Getting the most out of your firm’s data to track performance and measure future growth

📍 App Advisory (Theatre 9)

How well do you really know how your accounting firm is performing? Can you accurately predict where you will be next month, next year and beyond?

Frances Kay (App Advisory Plus), Rowan Van Tromp (Karbon) and Graeme Tennick (Tennick Accountants) will discuss the critical metrics and KPIs every firm should track to understand performance and future growth.

Why cyber criminals love accountants

📍 Emerging Practice (Theatre 11)

Simon Newman (The Cyber Resilience Centre for London) will reveal why cyber criminals have been so successful in recent years. He’ll share the simple (yet impactful) measures you can take to reduce your firm’s vulnerability to the most common types of cyber crime and the crucial role you have in supporting your clients.

How accountants can save the world

📍Emerging Practice (Theatre 11)

Discover how accountants are uniquely positioned to effect emissions-based change.

James Lizars (Thrive Accountants) will outline the opportunities to help clients be accountable to their carbon footprint, how you can upskill as a sustainability expert, and how you can convince clients to take action.

Women in leadership: Journeys, successes and challenges

📍 Accountants in Practice (Theatre 13)

This panel session brings together inspiring female leaders and entrepreneurs who are innovating and changing the tech landscape.

Elona Mortimer-Zhika (IRIS), Sara Lewis (IRIS), Lucy Cohen (Mazuma) and Nikki Adams (Ad Valorem) will share their personal stories and the lessons they’ve learned along the way to empower other women in shaping their career in the business and technology sector.

Day 2: Thursday 11 May, 2023

Beyond ChatGPT: The future of AI in tax

📍 Tax & Compliance (Theatre 1)

AI and data analytics, among many other things, hold the power to help you reduce the risk of missing potential tax breaks.

Join Dermot Hamblin (UNIPaaS), Nick Stubbs (Tax on Demand), Paul Aplin OBE (tax tech specialist) and Rebecca Benneyworth (Rebecca Benneyworth & Co.) as they take a look at what’s happening now and what’s on the horizon (and how to plan for it).

Neurodivergence and the profession

📍 Communication (Theatre 7)

While neurodivergence has always been around, its recent increasing awareness means it should now be a serious consideration for all firms.

This expert panel will explore their own experiences of neurodivergence, highlighting the impact it has and the opportunities it creates.

Join Alexandra Bond Burnett (Ambition to Impact), Carl Reader (author, speaker, business owner), Des O’Neill (CPD Store) and Nick Levine (CA, fintech consultant) for an insightful session on how to embrace neurodivergence in accounting.

Helping your clients protect their assets and businesses through a recession

📍 Practice Growth & Resilience (Theatre 3)

A gloomy economic climate. Double digit inflation figures. It’s a turbulent time for many business owners.

As your clients’ trusted advisor, it’s your role to help them weather these storms. Learn how to protect their personal and business assets (and elevate your reputation) in this panel discussion with Gavin Johnson (TAG Financial Planning), Ken Touhey (Insolvency & Recovery Limited), Lorraine Ellison (Simply Additions) and Mark Allen (TAG Community)

Starting your own practice: The top 5 things practitioners wish they’d known

📍 The ACCA Thinkers Theatre (Theatre 2)

Taking the leap into starting your own practice can be daunting, but it can also be the most rewarding thing you’ll ever do.

This panel of practitioners will share lessons from their own journeys, plus ACCA representatives will be on hand to answer any regulatory concerns.

Join Graeme Brown (ACCA), Jenny Bowden (Aivilo Digital Accountancy), Lydia Read-Potter (Booksmart Accounting) and Peter Jarman (PJCO Chartered Certified Accountants) to discover the five key things you need to know before starting your own practice.

30 tax tips in 45 minutes

📍 Tax & Compliance (Theatre 1)

Paul Flynn (ProActivTax) will share 30 tips, from tax legislation to suggestions about ways you can communicate complex tax issues to your clients and prospects.

Unlock the power of bookkeeping automation

📍 App Advisory (Theatre 9)

This session will explore practical strategies to make bookkeeping automation work better in your practice.

Jo Wood (The 6 Figure Bookkeeper, Jo Wood Virtual CFO), Rowan Van Tromp (Karbon), Sabby Gill (Dext) and Will Farnell (App Advisory Plus) will discuss tools and strategies for automating bookkeeping functions that will enable you to leverage your bookkeeping data to deliver advisory work to your clients.

Beyond ticking boxes: Why diversity and inclusion are the key to surviving and thriving

📍People, Talent, Culture & Wellbeing (Theatre 6)

Aside from being the right thing to do, there is a strong and proven business case that inclusive teams perform better.

Mo Kanjilal (Watch This Sp_ce) will look at why diversity matters and the actions you can take to make your firm more inclusive.

Make the most out of your visit

There’s simply not enough time to visit each exhibit, watch every presentation and shake every hand. So here are some tips for making the most of your time at Accountex London 2023:

1. Plan your time

Think of your time at a supermarket without a shopping list. Chaotic and aimless, right?

You’ll experience the same thing if you head to Accountex London without a plan of attack.

Set your goals and intentions, and prepare a strategy before heading in. Ask yourself: what is the single biggest problem I’m trying to solve? Then visit the stands and presentations that are going to help you solve it.

2. Bring business cards

It might sound old school, but a business card is a great way to stay in someone's memory without them needing to do much actual remembering—all they need to do is check their pockets.

A good alternative to business cards is creating your own QR code that people can scan to easily find your website or LinkedIn profile.

If you want to take it up a level, create a Linktree account, which allows you to create a single page with a list of links (e.g. your website, LinkedIn profile, and business LinkedIn page). Then you can create a QR code that opens to your Linktree page, so people have several ways they can connect with you—all from a single QR code.

3. Ask the right questions

You might think you know exactly what you want to ask each exhibitor, but chances are that you’ll forget a question or two when you’re standing in front of them. So, make a list of questions you’d like to ask them.

4. Leverage social media

Apart from learning about hundreds of different products, events like Accountex London 2023 can be opportunities to build out your thought leadership and social media strategies.

Make sure you:

Take photos with exhibitors, guests and booths
Share them across social media
Tag people, exhibitors, vendors, etc.
Use the #accountex hashtag

5. Produce post-event content

Share your thoughts and experience of Accountex London 2023 to drive traffic to your website or social profiles. It’s a great way to debrief on the event and share your insights with the broader accounting community (and, again, contributes to your thought leadership strategy).