Bruce Coombes joined us on Accountants’ Flight Plan, all the way from Australia. He offered interesting insight into some universal truths in the accounting profession.
Bruce became a chartered accountant in 1985 and has spent his entire career with or providing solutions to the accounting profession. He is the founder of QuickFee Australia and QuickFee US. He oversaw the company from startup to IPO. Since June 30th 2021, he has transitioned into the role of managing director over Quick Fee Australia.
On this podcast, we discussed accounting trends specific to the U.S and how they compare with the industry world-wide. Bruce has noticed a slower trend for the United States to adopt fixed price billing packages compared to Australia and the U.K. He attributes that to the complicated tax code of the U.S. We also chatted about digitization, and why data collection is one of the biggest hinderances to the transition from traditional accounting.
Bruce and I shared sentiment over why accountants should find their niche. Specialization is the key to profitability. Bruce said, “Experts in something tend to be more profitable, less stressed and offer better services to their clients.” Offering those advisory services is a great way to add value to your firm.
It wouldn’t be an Accountant’s Flight Podcast if we didn’t also touch on the importance of work-life balance. We discussed how that balance is how you get and retain good staff and build a business someone wants to take over.
Listen to the whole conversation below or click here, to watch the video version of the episode.
Notable moments:
00:00- Introduction
4:10- Trends Bruce is seeing in the profession
5:25- Why the U.S is behind on the trends
10:25- Digitization
12:45- The benefit of specializing your firm
13:00- Staffing issues
20:00- Work-life balance
24:00- Pace of the business has changed
25:00- The idea of being constantly busy
32:00- Expanding scope of business
33:40- How to find Bruce
bruce@quickfee.com
310-584-1173
PS – Whenever you’re ready, here are 4 other ways we can help:
- Seller FAQ: Answers to the questions sellers are asking. From practice value, to timing, we’ve got you covered.
- Strategic Guide to Selling your CPA Practice Video: The how-to of selling a CPA firm.
- Accounting Practice Academy: If you’re looking for benchmarks, our 8-week workshop has a community of established firm owners that will help you get perspective, reduce your owner hours, and raise your bottom line. Email ibrennan@poegroupadvisors.com with “APA” and we will fill you in on the details.
- If you want to chat about your exit strategy, email bball@poegroupadvisors.com with “strategy call” or request a call here.
