In this episode, we speak to Graham Shapiro, Founder of Myccountant, about New Year's resolutions for small businesses ranging from finding the right tech to solve common problems to implementing attainable goals. Some of the topics discussed include: - The importance of understanding how you generate income - The difference between income and cash flow - Planning your cash flow - The hard work involved in running a successful business

- Goal-setting for business success - Dealing with setbacks

The book Graham mentioned is The Gold Mine Effect: Crack the Secrets of High Performance by Rasmus Ankerson

In this episode, we speak to Jim Leeves, Co-Founder and Head of Numbers at Shapes, about design thinking and how this can be used by accountants and businesses more broadly. Some of the topics we cover include: - The role of design thinking and how to apply it - Collaborating across the disciplines of accounting and marketing - The intersection between marketing and accounting - The importance of doing a pre-mortem (as opposed to a post-mortem) on your business

- Success stories and lessons learned - The future of advisory - Why you shouldn't "stay in your lane" - How to bring delight into business

Jim also mentions the following books, if you're interested in checking them out:

- The Design thinking Playbook by Michael Lerwick, Patrick Link and Larry Leifer

- The 6 Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni

Happy new year to all our listeners! Today, we are looking at the hidden power of administration in accounting practices. Our guest speaker is Susan van der Valk, a Partner at MGI Bass Gordon and Xero's MVP of the Year 2024.

We'll cover topics including:

• Core admin and management skills
• Balancing admin responsibilities with high-level strategic goals
• The role of team and culture
• Why admin tasks are overlooked - and why they shouldn't be
• The evolution of admin in the tech-driven future
• Non-negotiable admin tools
• Continued admin problems in the future
• And some rapid fire questions to end with!