Coveted Recognition in the Profession
Accounting Today, the accounting profession's oldest and largest trade journal, has recognized me as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting for the past eight consecutive years. This recognition is perhaps the most coveted in the profession.
Canopy recognized me as one of the Top 10 Social Media Influencers in Accounting in 2021 and 2022.
Avalara placed me on the Top 100 Accounting Leaderboard from 2018 to 2023.
Why Accountants' Enhanced Success Became My Purpose
When I was in college, my Dad's business suffered. It was a professional accountant, my friend's father, who took a quick look at the financial statements of my Dad's business and told me that while the sales were not growing, more and more money was stuck in inventory (raw materials for medicines). The sales speed needed to be increased to convert inventory into cash within the time available till the expiry dates of raw materials. Unfortunately, this revelation was a bit too late to salvage the business. My Dad's company folded, and the family endured tough years. I was too young to fathom even remotely to know that an accountant could have changed our destiny. My Dad and his partners were all technically competent people to get into a pharma business but needed to be made aware of the abilities of accountants to seek business advice in time.
That's when I (subconsciously) recognized the real power of professional accountants to make a positive difference in businesses and people's lives. I distinctly felt I needed to learn what can make accountants more successful so that they could, in turn, positively impact more people's businesses and lives. I did not know then what I would do to accomplish this objective, but I surely knew why.
Remember the book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion? I have no doubt, whether they realize or not, "Accountants Are Influencers" ©
Most people perceive accountants as people who produce financial statements and tax returns. They feel that accountants' main job is to ensure compliance. The accounting profession has contributed to this strong perception through its practices developed over decades.
Nobody, even today, is really talking about accountants as influencers.©
It is easy for business owners to buy a subscription to accounting software and to (think they can) do accounting. But I shudder to think how many businesses fold because the owners do not leverage the influence of accountants. Intriguingly, and unfortunately, despite the recent few years of efforts to create a more apt "accountants as advisors" perception, very few accounting professionals recognize their own influence. More sadly, the opportunities to make a positive impact on more businesses are lost every day.
Over my first few years of working with accounting firms, I learned how accountants' influence worked. It was surprisingly simple — working with the right clients, automating as much manual work as possible, connecting the dots – one business at a time, identifying ways to address the causes of business pain, and leveraging the real opportunities to help the business flourish. But I also learned that it takes a lot for accountants to unlearn the bad practices that they routinely do as work.
So, I started sharing, gratis, what I was learning. I started writing. I wrote articles, essentially stories from my learnings, that uncovered practical insights. Top publishers in the accounting profession noticed the value in what I was sharing. That led to me publishing my first book, Accountaneur: The Entrepreneurial Accountant. It became a best-seller with accountants in many countries across multiple continents purchasing the book.
I published another ground-breaking book in 2021, The Definitive Success Guide to Client Accounting Services (CAS). It is the profession's first-ever comprehensive, research-backed book on CAS. The book quickly became a best-seller, and within six months of publishing the first edition, on popular demand, a second workbook edition was published. Accounting professionals in 17 countries across five continents and from coast to coast in the United States have bought the book so far.
Why Am I Sharing These Details?
I am not writing this to brag. Honestly, I am not. I am sharing this with you to establish my credibility – to earn your trust that I have the expertise and experience to provide enormous value to help you (if you seek), the accounting professional, unleash your influence.
Accountants leverage my published content across articles, podcasts, and webinars, via my blog, the accounting profession's first and only CAS-exclusive "The CAS Newsletter (free to subscribe)," LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., over tens of thousands of times every year (yes, I do keep track of clicks/downloads/views/count of listeners/referenced by other websites, etc.). I presume, with great surety, that accountants consume the content I produce to learn how to turn their potential into the performance they desire and deserve
You can buy the best and most intelligent software to run your practice. But it is not going to make you a successful accountant. Learning how to combine your education, expertise, experience, and resources to deliver on the expectations (sometimes unstated/unrecognized) of your clients will. I believe in uncovering/revealing/unleashing the influence of what you do, not just guiding you on how to do your work better/faster/cheaper.
Your influence is only yours.
Your influence can earn you more return on your time. Your influence can give you a deeper fulfillment because of your impact on your clients' lives. Or your newfound ability to lead more clients to success. You decide. Your influence is yours to create and deliver.
There's a limit to how much you can do and get done, but there is no limit to how much of your influence you can monetize. I know accountants who take home $100,000 a year and ones who regularly earn $1,000,000 or more a year. I have guided hundreds of accountants to make more money, gain stronger trust, experience more professional satisfaction and the respect they deserve from their clients, by unlocking their potential, processes, services, and impact.
