A question that has probably been asked by many throughout the last year. A question that once again became relevant with Melbourne in strict lockdown for the last two weeks.

For me, it became especially important when I moved house a few months ago. There were many questions that came to mind. Where would I place my desk? What would I want my clients to see? Where would the lighting come from?

To help our new (& existing) clients understand the connection between our preferred apps, we've developed an updated version of our App Stack. See below for more information on all of our recommended apps!

Recently, I undertook one of life’s big-ticket items, moving house. Like a lot of these big things in life, there is a mix of excitement and angst. Moving house brings up the questions of: where, what, when, costs and so on. When big life changes are in our control, they start with a sense of excitement and if we are lucky; the excitement gets through a lot of that change. To find my new home, I spent weeks (actually months, but ssshhh) searching for something that would suit both my personal and professional lifestyles, and feel like an upgrade.

Every Accounting firm likes to think they are different, but the reality is you are not dissimilar to the other 15,000 - 20,000 accounting firms within Australia. Therefore, getting a grip on these 7 steps below, will help you stand out as the trusted advisor you know you are.

1. Spend time on your business, not in your business

Our CEO & Founder Amy Holdsworth was recently featured on The Ambitious Accountant video series.
The episode was hosted by Sayuri Jayawardana, Senior Accountant of BRISCA Outsourcing Services. In the video, Amy talks about 3 specific ways that keep her moving forward when times get tough.

Watch the full video below!

There are two new players that have joined the document signing space. These could replace the current leaders in the industry which to this day have been Adobe Sign & DocuSign.
 
The products that have recently entered the market are FuseSign & Annature and we're excited!

Throughout the last 12 months, many firms realised the importance of staying up to date with the latest software and technology. This became crucial when Melbourne was placed into Stage 4 Lockdown, and workplaces had to start running their business and their teams in a new virtual way.

2021 will definitely continue to bring new challenges, and we're excited to see how technology continues to develop in the coming years!

To help you stay motivated, we found this fantastic list of tech trends to look out for in 2021 by Accounting Today.

One of the most hotly debated topics in the accounting industry app space is the use of CRM software. What actually is a CRM? And why is it a highly debated topic?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management Software. In short, it's software that helps manage all your relationships and interactions with team members, clients and potential clients.

Accountants are often hesitant about using a CRM because the software that has been designed for accounting practices has never gone to the lengths of capturing the requirements of what a CRM does. For accounting software, tax has always been at the forefront when developed and there has never been a strong focus on sales and marketing, because the ATO has also always guaranteed accountants with a constant and steady stream of clients due to tax work and all other accounting and compliance work related. While it doesn't guarantee that you'll have good quality clients, it does mean that you will always have clients. In addition to this, many accounting practices also rely on word of mouth and referrals allowing them to grow organically. The game, however, is changing.

We were recently featured on the Talking Numbers Podcast with Paul Jansz. Paul has spent the last 22 years working deep within the accounting industry in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, and throughout the US.

In the podcast, Amy & Paul talk about various topics including the challenges businesses are facing with COVID-19, and the benefits of simplifying processes and moving your accounting practice to the Cloud.

Listen to the full podcast here.

Over the last 2 years or so, we've had a number of wonderful industry contacts, clients and advisors tell us about their favourite personal and professional books... Books they have recommended that Clarity Street should read in order to develop our skills!

The list is varied and wonderful... oldies and new books. Full of professional, business and personal development topics - areas we all need improvement in.