Who can you trust? Bank or accountant

Earlier today I had a long conversation with Philip Woodgate, partner at Goodman Jones. Much has changed in the last few weeks – volatility on the foreign exchange markets, difficulty in securing credit and a general crisis in confidence are all factors leaving many advisors scratching their heads. One of the things we discussed was how best to help clients in the current downturn.

The usual ’suspects’ like cash management came into the discussion. Not surprisingly, GJ’s HR business is ticking along at a good clip as clients seek to re-organize their business. I am more interested in the reputation of the profession and its ability to provide quality advice that clients are prepared to trust. It’s a tough one. As regular readers will know, the problems experienced in India at Satyam and the extent to which PwC was either complicit or incompetent do nothing to help the image of the profession. Even so, I was surprised at just how bullish Philip remains.

While acknowledging this year will be tough, Philip suspects that clients feel a genuine sense of betrayal by their banks. “On the one hand they were encouraged to spend, then the brakes are put on and now we’re told to spend again. It’s confusing for many. They’re coming to us more than I might have expected.” That’s good news for GJ but then I know they are a well run firm that works hard to help its clients.

We also discussed what might be done for clients who are in the fortunate position of being profitable and cash positive. Aaprt from the obvious things around ensuring business effectiveness, now is a good time to be investing in technology that allows the business to get ahead of the competition. When I say investment though I’m thinking more about experimenting with low or zero cost technologies such as Wordpress, Twitter and so on. While Philip agreed that take up is still at the early stages, there are benefits to be gained. “We’ve seen US clients considering the UK coming to us via the website because they can easily see that it is an area we can help.”

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