There is no one perfect accounting firm

Do not get caught up wasting your days thinking about or chasing the perfect accounting firm. That can only lead to doom and depression. The only version of success you should be focussing on and chasing is your own.

I’ve had many conversations about this ‘one perfect firm’ and have found that Directors of good firms, with opportunities on their desks and great people on their teams, feel inadequate, discontent and deflated. This idea that everyone has the ‘opportunity to start again… but maybe not in the firm you are in’ concerns me.

This is total garbage and takes attention and joy away from any good in your current situation. Don’t throw the champagne out with the cork!

Rather than investing time in lamenting how far away you are from the perfect accounting firm, do the following:

1. Get a clean sheet of paper and write down what your own version of success is.

For example, this might be 60 clients, at an average spend of $30K each, in these 3 industries, with a team of 3 people (this is what one of our firms decided in December last year, and at the time of writing, he has 57 more to go get… #success).

It could be 800 clients who come to your firm for everything, accounting, finance, wealth, legal and business advisory (110 internal referrals per quarter… #success)

2. Now look at your version of success and add some detail around what a good day at the office would look like.

3. Now chase down what you wrote in point 1 and 2.

Rather than 50+ dot points on the single perfect firm, here are three versions of perfect to help you thinking boldly about chasing down your version of success.

1. Husband and wife team who have a firm based in Australia, however, they live the majority of the year between Bali and Italy. They look after their clients' accounting and advisory, and inspire them to live the lives of their dreams.

2. A firm with an 80-year history, where the current owners have individual tributes to all the previous owners on their website and are looking after the fourth generation of some families. Supporting each other as business partners but also as friends during tough times. Taking home $600K each, and investing time in their team so that the legacy will continue.

3. A sole practitioner who surfs every morning and has a coffee with a different client each day. He has a small dedicated team who have a minimum tenure of 7 years, and they get along so well that they socialize outside of work weekly. The Director has helped each team member buy a home and they are focused on financial freedom for their clients as well as themselves.

When it comes to business, perfect is subjective.

What would your own perfect accounting firm look like? 

To fill the accounting industry’s gap in education, Karbon is launching Karbon Academy. Combining proven theory with practical examples and group coaching, you’ll be taught in your four tracks (strategy, management, efficiency and growth) by the best practitioners and lecturers from around the world in an MBA-like curriculum that has specifically been built for accountants.

Join us this August to take your accounting practice to the next level. Learn more and enroll at Karbon Academy