Following on my riff to Richard Messik’s piece about Riley Chartered Accountants, I had a Skype video conversation with Jon Stacey, senior partner at the 20 person firm. It turns out Jon is one of only two men working at the firm. That is a complete 180 degree turn from when he joined the practice back in 1989. We talked about the drivers for change in his practice, what his firm is using and the differences their technology choices have made to the practice.
As background, Jon’s firm acts for corporates mostly with turnover in the £5 million range so there’s a fair amount of audit and many staff are on the road much of the time. His firm has three vertical niches: leisure and hospitality, ‘shed’ retail where goods are sold at modest prices and engineering. His firm uses a variety of software from CCH and others. He encourages clients to use e-conomic, Clear Books and has just added Xero into the firm’s portfolio of online solutions for clients.
The biggest change his firm has made comes in its approach to communications. As Richard noted, they’ve pretty much ditched all their Lotus Notes applications and the server hardware that went with it in favour of Google Apps and Yammer. In doing so, Riley has achieved:
- A direct saving in IT administration equivalent to one full time employee
- Dropped cost and maintenance on server hardware
- Improved customer communications
- Increased the velocity at which it responds to client inquiries
- Developed online audit working papers using Google Docs
- Raised fees with clients based on doing more business related work via online channels
- Enabled knowledge transfer to clients and interested third parties
During our conversation, Jon confirmed something I’ve intuitively felt was ‘right’ for some years: “Online communications mean that we don’t have the interminable problem of dealing with things going around the postal system. If I’m discussing a problem online with a client using say Skype and Google Docs we can iron out any misunderstandings in real time. It’s a single document change. Clients love it. The proof comes in the fact we are doing more and more value add work with those clients that we’ve got using online tools.”
One perennial talking point: will it only be the Gen Y and younger clients that drive adoption? The answer seems to be ‘no’ in Riley’s case. “It’s all to do with whether they understand the value that online methods bring,” said Jon. “When they see the benefits of speed and immediacy it becomes self evident.”
Riley has a presence on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn but Jon says they are not aggressively marketing online solutions. Why? Today, the firm is experimenting with many different services. The biggest impediment comes from being forced to use on premise solutions for tax and certain other administrative functions.” There isn’t a single solution out there we can use. I know it may not happen for a few years but it holds us back a little.” Now there’s a challenge for someone out there.
The firm also feels it is important to test with clients first. Jon cited that in one case, what they thought would work for foreign currency turned out to be a beta. “It didn’t do the job we wanted but that didn’t matter too much since we were able to quickly test and move on.”
The firm offers a package it calls Support Unlimited. Clients can call, email and have as many meetings they like in a year at a mutually agreed fee. That might lead to project work which constitutes a change order for which a new fee is negotiated. “At the end of the year, we sit down and evaluate who won – client or us – and then adjust accordingly for the next year. Clients love it because they know there is no clock ticking.”
Given the richness of ‘stuff’ being developed doesn’t Jon find there is a problem managing change? “No – we like change.” Asked about the type of staff that will be required for the future, he is unequivocal: “I’d much rather find someone who took a degree in zoology, took a year out, traveled the world, worked in a bar somewhere and then opted for the profession. You can always teach the technical stuff but we need people who can communicate. That’s the essence of what our practice is about.”
Riley’s has not been immune to the recession but Jon believes its relentless focus on discarding server based baggage in favour of services that allow immediate communication with customers at low or no cost allows the firm to focus on the things that help it build its business in a sustainable manner. Experimenting with technologies is in line with my ‘cloud loser’ argument.
Jon is a firm believer in knowledge transfer: “The more a client or their other advisers understand, the better it is for them. For example we suggest that clients give access to online accounting information to their bank advisers. It saves us time and short cuts the Q&A process. We in turn can help the bank better understand the client’s business.”
Riley’s firmly fits into my definition of a practice that is progressive. Does yours? Get in touch and let’s have a conversation.
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Sounds pretty progressive to me, but I have one question, do they still do time sheets?
“At the end of the year, we sit down and evaluate who won – client or us – and then adjust accordingly for the next year. Clients love it because they know there is no clock ticking.”
If not who do they determine this?
Not as far as I am aware
We record what projects/meetings/e-mails etc are sent and review that with the customer at renewal date.
We still argue about time recording which is still done for audit projects as a management tool but as we fix price all our work they are irrelevant to customers (and I would argue to us too but I haven’t quite won that one yet! Ron Baker’s work on time recording does get a regular airing here!)
Sounds pretty progressive to me, but I have one question, do they still do time sheets?
“At the end of the year, we sit down and evaluate who won – client or us – and then adjust accordingly for the next year. Clients love it because they know there is no clock ticking.”
If not who do they determine this?
Not as far as I am aware
We record what projects/meetings/e-mails etc are sent and review that with the customer at renewal date.
We still argue about time recording which is still done for audit projects as a management tool but as we fix price all our work they are irrelevant to customers (and I would argue to us too but I haven't quite won that one yet! Ron Baker's work on time recording does get a regular airing here!)
Now this sounds like a really progressive firm. I’m impressed.
Good niche too. There aren’t many smaller firms of accountants that would even dream of limiting themselves to £5m+ turnover client companies.
And I’d bet money they DON’T use timesheets. The adjustments made each year are probably much more broadbrush – rather than the more common arguments about the odd £100 here or there.
Mark – our niche has been to aim at that size client but we’re not quite managing it yet. However, we don’t in general deal with many non-”corporate” businesses and yes, we do have a lot of audits for a practice of our size.
As far as the time is concerned, see comment below.
Now this sounds like a really progressive firm. I'm impressed.
Good niche too. There aren't many smaller firms of accountants that would even dream of limiting themselves to £5m+ turnover client companies.
And I'd bet money they DON'T use timesheets. The adjustments made each year are probably much more broadbrush – rather than the more common arguments about the odd £100 here or there.
Mark – our niche has been to aim at that size client but we're not quite managing it yet. However, we don't in general deal with many non-”corporate” businesses and yes, we do have a lot of audits for a practice of our size.
As far as the time is concerned, see comment below.
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