Fintech Insider Podcast by 11:FS
00:53:32 · Sarah Kocianski, Will Farnell
[00:53:32] S0: advisory side of things rather than the sort of... Because accountants traditionally, I suppose, have done quite a lot of, you know, the bookkeeping and the papers and the number crunching, but is this moving more into the we're gonna help you do things that you need to do and do them better? [00:53:44] S6: I I think we have to do more with with with the client relationships we have. Certain areas talk about compliance is dying. Compliance isn't dying. It's never gonna die. It's fundamentally important to what we do as accountants. But what is happening is it's getting smarter, it's getting more automated. We are seeing downward pressure on on fees because of that. So what we want to be doing is is using things like bookkeeping to deliver much closer relationships with our clients. We get the opportunities to talk to them more regularly, understand their pain points, ask the right questions that open up the opportunity for advisory led conversations. And that can be anything from introducing them to a bank that's gonna give them a better service or helping them raise money or think about how they can change the way they market what what they do. So there's a massive opportunity for us.
00:53:44 · Will Farnell, Sarah Kocianski
[00:53:44] S6: I I think we have to do more with with with the client relationships we have. Certain areas talk about compliance is dying. Compliance isn't dying. It's never gonna die. It's fundamentally important to what we do as accountants. But what is happening is it's getting smarter, it's getting more automated. We are seeing downward pressure on on fees because of that. So what we want to be doing is is using things like bookkeeping to deliver much closer relationships with our clients. We get the opportunities to talk to them more regularly, understand their pain points, ask the right questions that open up the opportunity for advisory led conversations. And that can be anything from introducing them to a bank that's gonna give them a better service or helping them raise money or think about how they can change the way they market what what they do. So there's a massive opportunity for us. [00:54:41] S0: And so with with, you know, with that in mind and with this kind of, I suppose, as you said, you're... You know, the the accountants are well positioned to fill this gap that's kind of opening up in the market. What are you most excited about? I know I spoke with people this morning and they come here and they look around all the technologies to see, you know, what what might fill the gap that they have their need for their clients. What... Is there anything in particular you're looking for here, is there a sort of a technology or a solution that you're most excited about?
00:54:41 · Sarah Kocianski, Will Farnell
[00:54:41] S0: And so with with, you know, with that in mind and with this kind of, I suppose, as you said, you're... You know, the the accountants are well positioned to fill this gap that's kind of opening up in the market. What are you most excited about? I know I spoke with people this morning and they come here and they look around all the technologies to see, you know, what what might fill the gap that they have their need for their clients. What... Is there anything in particular you're looking for here, is there a sort of a technology or a solution that you're most excited about? [00:55:02] S6: I I think, generally, the way I'd I'd... Prior to 0com, my my view was that the the innovation within the core platforms is kind of plateauing a little bit. We've seen the big strides forward in in the technology that we get as a core platform. We're getting great innovation from some of the app partners, but it's now time for the accounting firms to look at themselves and say, how do we how do we drive innovation by utilizing the tech that is now available for us? So I think it's almost... We've got to kind of start looking inwards and say, how can we build processes and use the stuff that's out there readily available in the market to just do more for our clients and deliver a better experience for our clients. [00:55:47] S0: So accounting tech. [00:55:49] S6: Absolutely. [00:55:50] S0: Brilliant. Well, thank you so much for joining me. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day, and I hope the session tomorrow goes very well. [00:55:55] S6: Thank you very much indeed.
00:55:55 · Will Farnell, Pranav Sood, Sarah Kocianski, David M. Brear
[00:55:55] S6: Thank you very much indeed. [00:55:56] S7: Thank you. [00:55:59] S0: Thank you so much to all of our interviewees. Some great insights about the fantastic work they're doing. Now it's time for the Fintech Insider live show, including some amazing guests and some even more amazingly bad jokes. Enjoy. [00:56:13] S10: Hello, and welcome to Fintech Insider. This week, live from ZeroCon twenty eighteen at the Excel Center in lovely London. My name is David Brewer. [00:56:22] S0: And I'm Sarah Kochansky. [00:56:23] S10: How are you guys doing? That sounds pretty good. Right? [00:56:29] S0: Yeah. It's good. Yeah. [00:56:29] S10: Alright. That was a good, like, first time as well, guys. Well done. Like, very responsive audience. That's good. For everybody listening at home, this is end of day one at Zerocon, and it's been a bit of a big one, hasn't it? [00:56:42] S0: Oh god. It's been epic. [00:56:43] S10: And and of course, the the best is obviously yet to come with what we're doing here here now. It looks like the bar is definitely open for everybody. Has everybody got a drink? Yeah. Okay. Well, this is gonna be fun. Like, towards the bottom of that drink, I think it's gonna get a lot funner for everybody, you guys and us, quite frankly. But... And we we are either sort of ending the first day or starting the after party. Which one do you think it is?
00:57:08 · Sarah Kocianski, David M. Brear
[00:57:08] S0: I think we're starting the after party because there's booze out. There's great snacks out. So we're we're gonna get things kicked off. So we're gonna start off by recapping the top announcements from across the conference today, and then we're gonna take a bit of a deep dive into the topics they cover, and we're gonna have some fantastic guest on the stage alongside us. But before we get there, we have to talk about the reason we're here today. So there are 5,700,000 small businesses in The UK with over 1,000 new ones started every day. For which accountants are actually now seen as the key adviser? So they are far outstripping other contenders on trust. I've spoken to several accountants today. I know this to be true. Also usage, out, you know, up above and beyond lawyers, bank managers, and IT consultants. 90% of Xero customers connect to an accountant and these Xero now advise 2,000,000 businesses in The UK. So they they're kind of a big deal. Right? Not only that, but as fintech is moving more and more into SMB banking and SMB finance, accountants are gonna be playing a huge role in shaping what these services look like going forward. [00:58:09] S10: Does. And we've got a lot to go through today, haven't we? Actually, with all of the announcements and everything that's gone through, but we we kind of can't do this alone. Before we get started, we want to introduce some of our very special guests. So please welcome to the stage representing Zero. We've got Kerry Gohman. [00:58:25] S0: Whoo. Let's have some clapping.
00:58:25 · Sarah Kocianski, David M. Brear, Keri Gohman
[00:58:25] S0: Whoo. Let's have some clapping. [00:58:29] S10: Kerry is the global platform lead at Zero and representing the accountants. We have Becca McClorsch who is the director of operations at BDO. [00:58:38] S0: Becca's got her team in. I... So welcome to the show ladies. Do you want to start off by telling us a little bit about what you guys do? Do wanna start, Carrie, as Becca is busy waitressing for the evening? [00:58:51] S13: Thank you so much. [00:58:52] S0: Just keep flowing in there. It's fine.