Survive & Prosper – A new guide for accountants

This e-Book is just for accountants. Which is hopefully you. And it’s been compiled from literally thousands of conversations with accountants that we have been engaging with around the world. It’s an exciting time for accountants and the change in the mobile arena is particularly interesting. So it’s perhaps not surprising that this year we have seen more online data being accessed using Smartphones and tablets than on PCs. And over 90% of mobile browsing time (time online) is spent in an App. Recent research shows that the digital imperative is not just from millennials or the mass affluent. Most of us use the latest mobile technology and it’s because of this surge of growth and change that it’s a top priority for professional firms to respond. To stay competitive, many firms are developing new digital capability’s, such as ‘anytime, anywhere, any device access’. Beyond this, the rise of mobile has set customer expectations for instant, innovative and effortless service available 24/7. Mobile is now the first screen for consumers and they expect this from their accountants. Most readers won’t dispute these changes, recognising that the technology that drives these pocket-sized powerhouses is phenomenal and is poised for even more growth.

Harnessing this power

How can you harness this extraordinary mobile technology to help drive your business forward? In this 38 page report, you will
discover a proven, simple and remarkably painless way your firm can do just that, helping you to respond positively to the changes and without it absorbing up a lot of your time or any significant up-front investment.

Excellence born from experience

We have grown MyFirmsApp from an idea in a boardroom to the world’s largest Custom App platform by applying what we’ve learnt over 35 years working with accountants through our other businesses. We remember the days before websites, before telemarketing, before LinkedIn and before mobile and Apps!

Keeping accountants FIRST

Back in 2013 I made it my business to discover how mobile technology, in particular a Custom App, could help firms, especially with communications, new client recruitment, reducing attrition and keeping accountants first.

• First in front of your customers where they’re spending most of their time
• First in the software / digital world – not second and not a conduit
• First in the minds and choice of your future customers
• First in the world of Making Tax Digital

At the point of publishing, our approved App platform is being used by almost 200,000 people worldwide and that number continues to grow by tens of thousands each month. We didn’t achieve this without learning a lot along the way and continuously feeding those valuable lessons back into our product. It’s been a humbling journey and we’re exceedingly grateful for the feedback from firms and their clients worldwide. The end result is a dramatically smoother user experience at every level. In simple terms, we’ve created more Apps for accountants than anyone else (over 1000 to date). So we’ve learnt more than anyone else and, in turn, we’ve made more improvements than anyone else – putting us head and shoulders above our competition.

A lighthouse in the digital fog

I believe that the profession should not just survive, but it should also prosper. Experienced accountants bring immense value, benefits, experience and knowledge in a way that no system or tool can. We are passionate then that each firm should own the mobile space should have its own mobile App and continue to be the trusted advisor in a mobile world.

Putting Accountants First

Accountants First

Between Q1 2014 and Q1 2016 App usage has more than doubled

This excerpt was taken from the first chapter of the the all-new eBook – ‘Survive and Prosper’ – A New Guide For Accountants. You can download the full report here.

A ‘Glass half full’ view of the impact of technology on the profession

Today, the accountancy profession operates in a world of disruptive innovative change that can be a challenge or an opportunity. In this report we will focus on the disruptions but with a ‘Glass half full’ approach. Why? Simply because our philosophy is to ‘put accountants first’ in everything we do and we want to help you embrace the changes and benefit from them, rather than the possible negatives threats.

The rate of change is unprecedented

Whilst we might not know exactly where we are going – we are going to get there a whole lot faster . Its happening everywhere you look and so fast that it can feel overwhelming. With so much change its important to focus our attention on the things that work. The activities, strategies and solutions which have proven results or value. It can also be helpful to partner with innovative organisations who can handle and manage some of the change for you, whilst ensuring you remain in control.

The change is predominately ‘mobile’

We may be oversimplifying this, but at a basic level the vast majority of the technological changes are happening in the mobile arena. In today’s world we are mobile; we consume our data on mobile and search on mobile. It’s the one device many of us cannot be without.

As a result, mobile use is outpacing desktops and laptops. And as the following pages reveal, Apps are the doorway, the chosen interface we prefer to use to access this material.

Our habits have changed and while old habits may die hard, there’s no doubt client behaviour is changing too. Today clients use Apps to find answers and to interact with the world in many different ways. The mobile App usage statistics you will find in this report confirm this extraordinary change in habits.

It means that clients and future customers are using Apps to interact, consume media and find answers. Critically at a time when the position accountants hold as a trusted advisor is being challenged; why not secure it by launching your own App?

Driven by demand and desire

This change is being driven in 4 ways:

Mobile Apps

Mobile Apps have overtaken historic PC / web searches. Apps are now the preferred tool to interact, search, watch and listen. Like websites years ago, professional firms now need an App presence.

Software suppliers

For some of the accounting software suppliers accountants are the conduit. The means through which they are able to reach multiple customers. Software companies who have seen the desire for mobile Apps and change in user behavior are responding by launching Apps given away by accountants.

User behaviour

Growth in mobile and specifically MyFirmsApp has been down to a demand for the tools, content and services we have built into an App. It’s a demand ‘by the people’ who want to use Apps on an unprecedented scale.

Government changes

Government agencies around the world want to employ and distribute a digital agenda. In doing so they have access to more data, in real time, and without it being reviewed by a professional firm or Tax Agent. The result in the UK is the recent MTD changes, in Australia the ATO have launched their own App.

Access your free report today and become one of the very first to read this highly-informative guide exclusively for accountants.

 

 

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