Episode 13

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Published on:

25th Oct 2021

Introducing the Little Black Dress

Lucky episode 13!

In this episode we introduce listeners to your newest team member - your tech stack. Your technology should be working for you and should be doing the work of a few FTEs whether it comes to workflow, document management or data processing.

We break the tech stack down into the back of house - apps for your firm - and the front of house - apps that you and your clients use to facilitate the flow of data. Penny suggests focusing on your back of house first which will then allow your to deliver a quality front of house experience to your clients.

The Little Black Dress is Penny's analogy for your front of house tech stack. You can wear it for any occasion and can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. Your standardized tech stack will do 80% of the work for 80% of your clients. You don't need to be an expert in every G/L, every expense processing system and every payroll system, choose one and specialize.

Tech is a big topic and in this episode we barely touch on what to look for in an app - we'll dig further into in the next episode.

Be sure to check out the book that gave us the inspiration for this podcast: Strategy and the Fat Smoker. Buy it on Amazon.

If you'd like outside help on this process or have questions about anything discussed in this episode, please do get in touch.

If your app provider and would like to better understand how we work with technology companies feel free to reach out.

Penny Breslin - LinkedIn | @PennyB57

Damien Greathead - LinkedIn | @Damien_GH

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About the Podcast

Strategy and the Virtual Controller

Helping accounts and bookkeepers build the firm they want, their way

Your hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead have more than 30 years of combined experience in the accounting industry. This podcast is to share their experiences of working in, and consulting to accounting and bookkeeping firms of all sizes, helping them grow.

Nothing discussed will be rocket science, instead they'll be discussing 'how' firms have successfully, and not so successfully, pursued growth. Penny and Damien will be sharing their insights on how firms can be successful by focusing on their people (clients included), their technology, and their processes and systems.

Ultimately how successful an accounting business will be depends largely on how the owners manage change, which alongside taxes appears to be the only constant.

We do want to acknowledge David Maister's great read Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing what's obvious but not easy as the inspiration for our title. Buy it on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3dhcUFC

Subscribe today for an upbeat and practical conversation about what's working and what's not in accounting businesses around the world.

About your hosts

Penny Breslin

Penny Breslin is the founder of MoneyPenny, a consulting firm specializing in helping accounting firms and other businesses embrace the power of technology to simplify their operations and increase their profit margins.

Drawing on her years of experience and her knowledge of what it takes to run a successful business, Penny oversees the development of back office processes for her client firms. From the initial evaluation of the firm’s workflow, to technology selection, and assisting in the on-boarding of the firm’s clients, Penny works with her clients to maximize the benefits of a paperless and cloud-based firm.

Damien Greathead

Damien has been working in the accounting industry for more than 15 years. In addition to getting his hands dirty preparing tax returns and doing bookkeeping, but the bulk of his experience comes from consulting to both accounting firms and the technology companies that serve the industry.

He set up 2020 Group USA which was a membership group for small and medium sized accounting firms and then went on to set up Receipt Bank (now Dext) in North America.

He regularly speaks to industry bodies on technology, marketing and change management.