Podcast appearances and mentions of paul meissner

While the entire world changes in response to war, inflation, the Covid Era work habits that are sticking round and Jim Chalmers attempt to alter the course of capitalism, our pertinacious host Paul Meissner proudly declares that TECH WILL NOT CHANGE (even though he knows ChangeGPS will drop 3 new products this year)! Before we dive in, a huge thank you to our episode sponsors 'Access Offshoring'. Are you struggling to find quality staff in your firm? Speak to the team at Access Offshoring. They specialise in finding quality talent in the Phillipines, trained on Australian tax law. They can help you improve your margins, unlock your capacity and get your firm back on track.  Tax will Change Blue collar workers won't get the same ATO treatment as white collars The year of the micro business as COSBOA gets the chance to stop pandering to unions  The year of return to employment for failing micro businesses  Conference Schedule overload  Post Conference marketing to accountants to be .... reduced? NAH! The voice of accountants gets organised to have impact for small business and themselves Professional bodies make an effort to improve, hopefully  There has to be a growth in offshoring  Conference Content maintains its repetition  Accountants look after themselves!! This show is proudly sponsored by Access Offshoring and ChangeGPSSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Xero goes down does CTO Mark Rees get a red alert alarm in the middle of the night? Is it red flashing lights and blaring alarms?    Listen to find out as Paul Meissner goes 1:1 with Mark Rees at Xerocon      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

5 years ago Paul Meissner stood in the door frame of David Boyar's office at the fancy co-working space WorkClub on Collins St Melbourne. It was so fancy, by co-working standards that it hard original parquet floors. Arguing about something Xero had just done Megan Velo, who seemed to do all of David's client work, suggested the two should start a podcast. Ron Lesh and BGL backed it. 5 years of tech promises, tech deliverables, delayed tech, industry body fails, and change that was sped up by a pandemic went past.  An active community desperate for a voice was developed.  Trent McLaren was appointed as CEO.  Then Linked In reminded Dave and Paul, it was their 5 year anniversary and they just so happened to be booked for a live show at the ChangeGPS Summit on the Gold Coast.  So Dave and Paul did what they've done so many times before. They hit record.    Joining the show BGL CEO Ron Lesh From the Trenches CEO and DiviPay head of accounting Trent McLaren      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Listen to hear Paul Meissner flinch as someone who clearly isn't an accountant get's called on and these other fine stories. Best on Ground David There are a lot of acquisitions going on https://www.datadear.com/blog/2021/09/we-are-pleased-to-announce-the-technology-acquisition-of-datadear-by-intuit/?fbclid=IwAR0D2o4544adL3nTl8CZkh0G1pgC5oKN2suk0WZWdMs1kQDPcmCuyB8eO5o  https://www.enterprisetimes.co.uk/2021/10/05/sage-buys-proposal-software-vendor-goproposal/  https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/hub24-to-triple-customer-base-with-class-deal-20211018-p590sr    Elon Musk is an Accountant  https://www-businessinsider-com-au.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.businessinsider.com.au/elon-musk-productivity-hack-daily-routine-5-minute-slots-2021-10/amp?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a6&usqp=mq331AQIKAGwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16342519063940&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com     Paul   ChangeGPS is Xero's Practice App of the Year https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidboyar_xeroawards-unbeatableaccountants-activity-6853906282974474240-0Z7M   Practice Protect Cloud Apps report is one glorious set of actual data that let's you know what apps firms are using. https://hub.practiceprotect.com/cloud-apps-report-2021  Orange Girl herds Xero's sh*t fixing team in a glorious corporate response https://twitter.com/orangegirlnz/status/1443927056669155364     Worst on Ground David When award winners go to jail https://twitter.com/eringriffith/status/1443563933357395978/photo/1  ITR pricing is too cheap https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-6849466529642352640-lqAH/   Paul A 5 year old blog isn't relevant anymore so don't post it on socials  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markwickersham1_the-3-reasons-you-should-have-a-brochure-activity-6845718677178851328-cvLy    Linked in Polls need to stop     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Compliance is not dead, but it's not perfect so David Boyar interviews Paul Meissner to get the state of compliance revenue. The biggest problem is how revenue is generated. Some tech companies try to solve this by assuming revenue from compliance is a dying source but no one in practice really believes it's going anywhere. In this episode David Boyar interviews Paul Meissner to find the three problems with how revenue is generated from compliance services.  It's too easy to discount Too many services are bundled into the annual fix fee Don't do the annual price increase "just because you can" Some of these points may be relevant to you, some may bolster your confidence in what you are currently doing and some, well they might make you mad.          See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Zoom recorded episode Trent Innes, Xero's head in Au and Asia talks about:- How Xero got their JobKeeper products in the market so quickly Why the Xero Community facebook activity has exploded Tips for managing remote teams What the future of work is Why you need to be responsible for the work/life changes you want to make after this crisis ends. About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL.  

Paul Meissner returns to the podcast from episode 88 to talk about his continued passion in curling, finding a new hobby in golf, giving up umpiring, and why he feels accounting is not a commodity!

Paul Meissner of 5Ways Group Chartered Accountants, the “From The Trenches” podcast, and Freedom Mentoring, joined us for this episode of Where Accountants Go, The Accounting Careers Podcast. Paul is actually our second guest from Australia, but this time from the Melbourne area.  A previous guest, Ryan Lazanis, recommended we contact Paul for the show and we definitely weren't disappointed.  Not only is Paul quite a character, he has structured his professional life to integrate into exactly the work / life balance he was looking for.  He is able to spend the time that he desires with his family, plus he is able to work on his golf swing quite a bit!  In a nutshell, he spends about two-and-a-half days in his accounting practice, and then spends the rest of his time on personal endeavors, other business interests (the podcast, mentoring, etc), and golf. 

Thanks for waiting as Paul and David co-ordinated their COVID-19 responses to clients over the week. This episode was recorded Week ended 6 March, don't worry we'll get up to date next week!  BEST ON GROUND Paul Meissner Finally some practical rather than fear based information. Great Jacinda Ardern video, these infographics and a blog from Gusto’s Will Lopez.  https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/03/watch-health-experts-join-jacinda-ardern-to-dispel-some-coronavirus-covid-19-myths.html  https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/covid-19-coronavirus-infographic-datapack/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/wlopezjr_an-employers-guide-to-navigating-coronavirus-activity-6643188048160964608-Eg1X   David Boyar Follow Anthony Pratt on Twitter - NOW! https://www.linkedin.com/posts/anthonyjpratt_activity-6642814189863874560-ckBb/  Tips for working from home (with or without corona virus) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9hFplfAu7P/?igshid=17n629udacfu2  How do you recruit a BD role for your firm? Surely the Firms BDM needs to be an accountant.  https://www.seek.com.au/job/41134304   WORST ON GROUND Paul Meissner  IWB Marketing, is IWD becoming the new Valentines Day type of Hallmark holiday? Marketed awards and cupcakes? What about real discussions and real change where required.    In The Guardian Alexandra Topping observed IWD “is in danger of becoming little more than a corporate Valentine’s Day, with companies jumping on the bandwagon to whitewash their brands rather than promote women’s equality”. https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/the-last-thing-women-need-is-iwd-a-corporate-version-of-mothers-day/  Justin Kan’s hybrid legal software and law firm startup Atrium is shutting down today after failing to figure out how to deliver better efficiency than a traditional law firm, the CEO tells TechCrunch exclusively. The startup has now laid off all its employees, which totaled just over 100. It will return some of its $75.5 million in funding to investors, including Series B lead Andreessen Horowitz. The separate Atrium law firm will continue to operate. https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/03/atrium-shuts-down/? KPMG retakes independence exam amid cheating scandal.  All 600-odd KPMG Australia partners and more than 5900 client-facing staff will be forced to resit the consulting firm's internal independence exam amid an investigation into cheating on the annual assessment. The firm has taken the unprecedented step after a whistleblower complaint that model answers to the 20-question multiple choice exam at the end of the course were being improperly shared. https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/kpmg-retakes-independence-exam-amid-cheating-scandal-20200308-p547xn    David Boyar We’re having the wrong conversation about Scott Cam’s 300k pay packet. https://twitter.com/DavidBoyar/status/1237308986975760384?s=20  Can we ban banks saying they are open for business? https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/josh-frydenberg-meets-bank-bosses-over-coronavirus-hit-20200311-p548xj.html   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND David Boyar An actual solution to app overwhelm   https://www.linkedin.com/posts/clarity-street_claritystreet-accountingbusinessexpo-guidedtour-activity-6640510264502476800-FZga  The only Coronavirus question worth asking - Can my SMSF buy toilet paper? https://twitter.com/samrotberg/status/1234951004853948416?s=20 Is corporate compliance the saviour of bookkeepers? https://twitter.com/DTramma/status/1235086009336885248?s=20 Welcome back to the fat corporate credit cards and account execs as 500 Audits jobs hit the market. https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/the-audit-quality-inquiry-interim-recommendations-at-a-glance-20200303-p546ez Paul Meissner BGL is Xero’s app partner of the month https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ronlesh_bgl-making-compliance-easy-in-the-cloud-activity-6640031630868217856-EayO/ Breaking free of datacenter legacy thinking Data storage on glass https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0ntAnqJ_7c&feature=youtu.be Three social media terms that I wish would die: 1. Storytelling 2. Authenticity  3. Thought leadership I hate them because at best they are meaningless, and at worst they are misleading. The Thought Leadership part is hilarious.  https://twitter.com/mkobach/status/1234300379107676160 UK finally allows digital signing of Trust deeds.  https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/electronically-signed-deeds-are-legal-lord-chancellor-confirms/5103306.article#.Xl5xGi0XAFs.twitter   WORST ON GROUND David Boyar Yikes, Deloitte gets slammed, and rightly so.  https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/14092-full-federal-court-rips-into-deloitte-appeal A deeper understanding of accounting explains why movie food is such a rip off.  https://twitter.com/investing_city/status/1234908202577231872?s=20 https://twitter.com/plalor/status/1235020236878794752?s=20  Paul Meissner Corona Vivus and the mass hysteria. Media to blame. Quickbook Connect cancelled (only major Accounting cancellation (for now). F1 GP is still on. Toilet paper gate.  https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/tech/tech-pulse/quickbooks-connect-cancelled-due-to-coronavirus-fears A chartered accountant, Mr Nisbet was a senior manager at KPMG for over a decade before his most recent role as a director at BDO’s Adelaide office. Mr Nisbet said he aims to demonstrate his worth as an active tax adviser, rather than a reactive one, in his new role. “A reactive tax adviser lodges tax returns, gets defensive and careful under audit, and is able to get the job done. However, they are not necessarily the first person a client calls outside of compliance season,” Mr Nisbet said. “Aside from delivering technically accurate advice and quality thought leadership to clients, an active tax adviser knows that tax decisions are not made in a vacuum. “Tax advisers must gain their clients’ trust to offer honest appraisals, provide a ‘whole of firm’ approach to solving problems and identify opportunities outside the box.” https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/appointments/14096-new-mid-tier-principal-calls-for-more-active-advisers Pre-insolvency industry has far too many skeletons. Sad that it happens but glad they get caught and dealt with.  https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/14085-money-laundering-pre-insolvency-adviser-gets-5-years-jail   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

David Boyar https://dynamicbusiness.com.au/topics/news/senators-urged-to-pass-equity-bill-that-could-see-smes-flourish.html  Don’t reinvent the wheel with political point projects Fund national infrastructure priorities https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-02/current_priority_list_%20february_2020.pdf https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-03/2020_infrastructure_priority_list_low_resolution_-_updated.pdf  Government backed investment in start ups  Extend australian business growth fund (proposed at 500m) Paul Meissner Expand the capital allowance regime to include stock in limited circumstances. Timing difference so budget neutral but could really help some businesses recover and survive.   Increase the availability of lending, bank guarantee type stuff. Get the cash flowing Certainly not politically motivated cash handouts. Cost too much for limited gain. Smart tax cuts. Tax cuts only work if you have made money. Loss carry back rules would specifically target businesses with a profit history that have faced a downturn.    About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

In this special episode David interviews Malcolm Stewart from MJS Business & Financial Services. Malcolm met David at the Perth Xero Roadshow and asked to be on the podcast. Turns out we’re in the business of making dreams come true.  In this episode you will learn: The best, safest investment strategy Managing through the wealth industry revenue model changes Managing a practice through the mining boom, and after it! Malcolm’s favorite tech change (My Prosperity integrating with X Plan) Why older accountants struggle with the physicality of the FASEA exams  Old school targeted marketing. A paper solution to a digital problem.  www.sendhandwritten.com.au About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND David Boyar Accounting Business Expo has made major changes to the lineup   https://www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/accounting-business-expo/The-Plenary.stm You are competing on user experience only https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6635430455967612928/ The importance of compliance professionals  https://www.eurekareport.com.au/investment-news/the-importance-of-compliance-professionals/146747?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTXpJM09EQXpOR0V3T0dNMSIsInQiOiI0QVpSUzNcL1F5SDk2MTZ4QnUzbmFtdUdVcjI1ZHVyVzI0bmc5azlSQUtqbUJENVFhaGJUcWVKZ1wvOHJuWERiMjVNaFpwNml2M1QyVVRJWjNZYzZHWlYzVkowNUxzVk5YeWRzdEJ6UDBhN0k3OXNuSnUrZmNoRGkzMkxCeEtXa0hrIn0%3D How to pick a visualisation chart  Which Chart Should I Use   Paul Meissner Xero Boss Report 2020. Very interesting growth figures per business size. Small and micro growing, bigger contracting.   Xero Boss Insights 2020 report  Xero release automatic activity statements https://central.xero.com/s/article/Automatic-activity-statements#XeroTax Overpayment of wages are common Overpayment as common as 'wage theft'  S&P/ASX All Technology Index - commencing in Q1, 2020. The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (XTX) is designed to be a broader, more inclusive index than the existing S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index.  This reflects the broad range of ASX-listed companies in the technology sector. Further details about the Index methodology will be released upon Index launch. But is Xero the most overvalued stock on the ASX. https://www.livewiremarkets.com/wires/will-we-crash-and-what-to-sell?utm_source=Livewire&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Will%20we%20crash    WORST ON GROUND David Boyar The FBT guide for employers is 277 pages. If compliance is dead, business owners are stuffed  ttps://www.ato.gov.au/law/view/document?docid=SAV/FBTGEMP/00001&PiT=20200129000001 Killing pre-advisory before it gets off the ground   Paul Meissner Celeste Barber was warned about choice of firefighter fund  Buy now, pay later companies are completely unregulated and it's leaving Australians vulnerable, Splitit CEO Brad Paterson argues    About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND David Boyar The IPA reckon play is a flashback to the glory days of quickbooks re entering the market, but with a genuine CPD benefit  https://email.publicaccountants.org.au/v/54796/32838338/email.html?k=qVWxTtVmHbh-BjRjW1DRerTjS2nWTWtv0cF5ROg5K38  How good and easy to read is this excel summary.  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lotfi-garzoun_the-definitive-100-most-useful-excel-tips-activity-6635135119499816960-_7Wh/    Paul Meissner Definition of advisory? a great article by Elaine Clark, where she restates her love of compliance and says: “I guess the only fault about compliance accountants is that, generally, they do not shout about how good they are at what they do and the services that they provide. They just do it!” Yet the so-called ‘twittersphere’ and ‘blogosphere’ are full of all sorts telling us that compliance is dead and we can only exist as an advisory practice. This statement alone shows exactly how little they know about what we do and how we do it. It shows their ignorance of the work of thousands of accountants across the UK who work tirelessly and with great professionalism and ability. They are already advisory practices, but just happen to be advisory practices that don’t use the software or systems that they are trying to sell us. Accountancy practices already are Advisory practices  AI Data bias https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/men-women-books?   WORST ON GROUND David Boyar When someone says you should read more they’re ignoring everything that makes you you  https://twitter.com/PropellerAdv/status/1227757368563208192   Accountants don’t understand their own influence, even if it’s just on twitter.  https://twitter.com/investing_city/status/1228137010776305665   Paul Meissner Brutal Valentines day breakup message. :-) https://twitter.com/ato_gov_au/status/1228132839889096704?s=20  Trent Mclaren’s re posted bubble in a bubble Xero Roadshow data shows people find community  Facebook Groups Xero live events Linked In  https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/weve-created-accounting-bubble-now-were-all-trapped-inside-mclaren   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND David Boyar What if we think about change as a way to reduce our own redundancy risk? https://generationcfo.com/2020/02/11/automation- redundancy-risk-is-fake-news-heres-why-part-two/ PI Women in accounting The best summary of the receipt app race right now. https://www.accountingweb.com/technology/accounting-software-news/come-place-your-bets-in-the-data-capture-casino#.XkHk7qjSHsU.linkedin Another accountant trials a 4 day work week - what are the unexpected benefits of this. https://blog.connacc.nz/the-four-day-working-week-a-trial-for-connected-accountants/ Paul Meissner XLOOKUP in Excel. Hallelujah!!!  https://www.cbronline.com/news/xlookup-excel  AFR claim the court got it wrong, I say they got it right. Bulks up an argument for main residence test. I’d rather 100% tax free than 50%.  https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/the-wrong-call-small-business-hit-by-cgt-concession-ruling-20200206-p53ygd    WORST ON GROUND David Boyar QR codes aren't new and dont work.  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stevenleaney_business-cards-are-something-that-havent-activity-6632503913545297920-jRsO/  Offshoring will not - repeat will NOT reduce jobs https://theoutsourcedaccountant.com/blog/does-outsourcing-cost-local-jobs/ Paul Meissner $8m in tax avoidance out of PKF. Big firm, interesting the lack of oversight. The charges include knowingly lodging nine false income tax returns on behalf of the client and concealing, destroying and knowingly providing forged evidence in response to a Tax Office audit.  https://www.afr.com/wealth/tax/tax-partner-accused-of-evading-8m-for-client-20200211-p53zpw  How to damage staff morale. Partners get free breakfast while staff are told to drink less milk.  https://www.afr.com/rear-window/kpmg-partners-exclusive-breakfast-service-20200210-p53zek  David’s demo skills   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Paul Meissner Advice to my younger self Comes from: https://twitter.com/AliciaLMoreau/status/1206751875686469633?s=20 Try anything (audit, reception, advisory or compliance) Extra 1hr per day makes a big impact, especially technical reading or asking why  Make the right decision with the right information Don't be outcome focused, just be your best Client communication - personal interaction, not all online Output focused, not time focused (timesheet issue) David Boyar Fun work is still work  Keep Stumbling  Call out for help (mental help episode)  Network is only worth what you give to people. Keep giving  About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND Paul Meissner Lodgement dates automatically extended till May. Aligns with other dates. Smart and practical. https://www.ato.gov.au/Media-centre/Media-releases/ATO-extends-tax-relief-and-assistance-for-people-impacted-by-bushfires/  Trent Mclaren tweeted this interesting review of robot restaurants failing. Including a reference to Zume, the pizza bot we had on the show before. Reminds me of the factory automation research that showed co-bots being the most efficient https://www.businessinsider.com.au/san-francisco-robot-restaurants-failing-eatsa-cafex-2020-1  From tax commissioner to PM, the Russian experiment https://twitter.com/7newssydney/status/1217519639460106240?s=21  David Boyar Labor dumps the Franking Credit Policy  - accountants should view it as a win https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/labor-vows-not-to-take-the-same-franking-credits-policy-to-the-next-election/news-story/50eb8466897ba6a8cdf74dcc2e7f6d30   Disappointing that something as positive as grants and loans (with 2 years interest free and .6% interest) are given a negative spin https://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/politics/morrison-bushfire-small-business/  Remember Emma Tibbils? Here’s how a high performing young CA asses her employment options. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/emma-tibballs-3805b8a6_ideas-career-impacts-activity-6613522602877169664-dAOt    About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Accounting predictions for marketers are what the budget summary email is for accountants. Everyone rushes to get theirs out first and they almost all the same. Predictions are the new content fodder to grab your attention at the start of year and whilst we dislike content for contents sake we have a few things to say about what’s going to be important in 2020. So here are our predictions to help you know what to focus on, and what to ignore. Paul Some add ons will fold/run out of money Compliance holds as 80% of revenue for the majority of small firms Professional bodies have a chance to return to relevance. Catalyst success to continue The Joint accounting bodies unite together to fight for the return of the accountants exemption.  Conferences change forever (end of Accountech?, last chance for ABE) The amount of business coaches for Accountants will peek out as the market gets sick of them   David . Governance for accounting businesses will increase as more advisory work is done (all types of advisory), some firms are already struggling with PI. The accounting bodies to work closer with members Decade old ideas go mainstream Moving to cloud Cloud documentation Automation and efficiency focus (more than new service lines) People give up on value pricing as being too hard The cutting edge firms will worry less about tech and more about client and staff experience   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

G'day! Welcome back to season 4! Best on Ground The ATO shows off its data strength with Bushfire support - Automated lodgement deferrals by postcode. Software can’t do that.  Receipt Bank raises $73m to dislodge everything we thought about the Xero/Hubdoc move of 2019 (so last year).   https://www.receipt-bank.com/blog/receipt-bank-raises-73m-in-series-c-round/  Check out these tools for accountants to help with bushfire victims  IPA: https://www.publicaccountant.com.au/news/ipa-offers-support-to-bushfire-victims  CA: https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/news-and-analysis/news/australian-bushfires-support-resources-for-you-your-clients-and-communities  CPA: https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/professional-resources/business-management/business-recovery/disaster-recovery-toolkit  Indinero founder calls out Intuit for over hyping AI and ML  https://futurefirm.co/indinero-the-accounting-firm-of-the-future/  Worst on Ground Accountants without significant new training are not business advisers but this message comes from someone who has been advocating the opposite for years.  https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/13895-accountants-cautioned-on-advisory-jump David can’t work out if this comment is a joke or not but it highlights the tech challenge the average firm is struggling with.”Our organisation does not have access to a smart phone so can I go back to lodging paper returns?” https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/technology/13731-ato-details-mygovid-implementation-roadmap#!/ccomment-comment=8264 What's your social media obligation when posting old content? About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Change GPS. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Wanna hear about the latest accounting trends in the profession? Sure you do! But which ones are real and which ones are fake? I chat with a leading cloud accounting pioneer, Paul Meissner of 5 Ways Group, winner of the 2019 Xero Cloud Champion of the Year award to find out!

Best on Ground Optus Fined for Scare Tactics The ACCC said in a statement that Optus had emailed a total of 138,988 of its mobile customers on 24 May 2018, claiming that their home broadband services would soon be disconnected, and urged them to “make the switch, before it’s too late” to Optus NBN broadband. The real kicker, according to the competition watchdog, was that these customers’ home internet services were not even provided by Optus, but rather its competitors. https://www.mybusiness.com.au/marketing/6454-optus-fined-6-4m-for-misleading-nbn-claims Are some business advisory services just too risky?    There are roughly 100 accredited business valuation experts in the CA community, and they're struggling to get PI https://www.facebook.com/groups/977122739056681/permalink/2189420644493545/ Nandos rolls out in restaurant ordering app but Paul saw this on the Greek Islands last year. Is tech that slow?    https://www.thebusinessconversation.com.au/2019/11/15/nando%E2%80%99s-table-ordering-technology-revolutionises-fast-casual-dining/1573788749 The Outsourced Accountant tackles a common offshoring question "how do I protect data?" in a simple info graphic in their private client facebook group (pic on the website) You can now feel free to use you bad grammar  Apostrophe warrior gives up fight, saying ‘ignorance and laziness’ has won  Apostrophe Protection Society has closed Here is the ultimate guide: https://www.apostrophe.org.uk/page2.html https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/apostrophe-warrior-gives-up-fight/news-story/04b0858fcec41e6ea4477046d0fa8f09 Worst on Ground Regulating the wild west just got knocked back a rung.  7.30 Report missed an opportunity to have an important discussion about the wild west of non bank lenders by using a hard luck, Aussie battler story instead.  https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/the-wild-west-of-shadow-banking/11748144 The next wework collapse was for a $300m dog walking business (we can't make this stuff up) https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/27/tech/wag-dog-walking-softbank/index.html The Tesla Cyber Truck launch has created 250,000 orders, each with a refundable $100 deposit. Does that qualify as a sale in marketing language? What about accounting standards?   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND David Boyar https://twitter.com/Rich_Preece/status/1199164672370450434  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl4lzz3uhkI&=&feature=youtu.be Chad Davis at IFAC   Paul Meissner London Xerocon - printed coffee cups and cricket pitch.  Blockchain is Dead? Crypto Geeks Debate Merits of Once Dear Tech https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-12/blockchain-is-dead-crypto-geeks-debate-merits-of-once-dear-tech    WORST ON GROUND David Boyar https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/editorials/westpacs-systemic-failure-opens-door-to-criminals/news-story/d022ddd339400bcdbe35ccda4b24c457 David accepted 100 Linked in connections at once. 20 automated responses, 1 real conversation.    Paul Meissner https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/firm-management/news/12083988/8-good-reasons-why-every-accounting-firm-should-survey-their-clients CRM Fail from a cold caller. 2nd call in a month. Same telephone number.    About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND Paul Meissner Have we hit peak crazy for Venture Capital. Will we learn from WeWork? https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/op-ed/venture-capital-slow-down/ Congratulations to Xero on hitting 2mil subscribers. https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/a-big-milestone-xero-hits-two-million-subscribers-revenue-jumps-20191107-p5387t.html Another amazing company breakdown. This time Ryan takes a look at McDonalds. Do McDonalds profit from burgers or property?https://twitter.com/investing_city/status/1192200769652396032?s=21   Worst on Ground Findex CEO in trouble over the changes to CGT. Never a good look for the head of an accounting firm to have incorrect tax returns.  https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/findex-ceo-fights-ato-over-tax-on-capital-gains-20190815-p52hfv Apparently Advisory is the path to growth for accounting firms. Based on the AFR top 100 list, it’s the hidden growth from acquisition that could be the key.  https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/advisory-the-path-to-growth-for-accounting-firms-20191111-p539cg?&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nc&eid=socialn:fac-14omn0053-optim-nnn:nonpaid-25/06/2014-social_traffic-all-organicpost-nnn-afr-o&campaign_code=nocode&promote_channel=social_facebook How do you raise money for drought relief? If your Findex apparently you do it by wasting water.  About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND David Boyar Lawyers don’t have the same relationship with clients Accountants do but this new subscription model could change that https://legalvision.com.au/news/legalvision-launches-legal-advice-subscription-for-149-month/  CA Catalyst SOLD OUT Data Analytics Workshop proved to me that just because an app has a lot of xero connections, doesn’t mean it’s right for you. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6593297938557038592/?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A(ugcPost%3A6593297898438529024%2C6593433855431151616)  Leadership taken seriously by Hood Sweeney https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hood-sweeney_hoodsweeney-southaustralia-professionalservices-activity-6594443066617266176-oTft  Paul Meissner https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/24/us/nuclear-weapons-floppy-disks.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes https://www.9news.com.au/national/tax-return-ato-deadline-lodging-how-do-i-file-when-mygov-excuses-australian-news/0a6b12c5-abcd-4d92-804b-6c3594a686f2?ocid=Social-9News https://www.grammarcheck.net/clutter/ https://twitter.com/mfriedrichark/status/1188869007601881095?s=21 ATO winning the 2019 AMY Awards for their Online Services for agents Campaign   WORST ON GROUND David Boyar The 30 under 30 recognises young talent, but do they need more entitlement?  How can we manage their expectations? https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/30u30/ Wayne Schmidt's email stuff up: “Hi >”   https://twitter.com/wayne_schmidt/status/1186505290843217920?s=20 Paul Meissner ASIC Factsheet re SMSF’s is something a lobbyist would write. Overblown cost to run and return % numbers. Bordering on advice. Great BGL response.   Rockpool Underpayment of workers: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-25/rockpool-dining-group-accused-of-tampering-timesheets-by-union/11638380   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND David Boyar The power of Paul Meissner who is a finalist in the Xero awards for Cloud Champion. https://twitter.com/storminwalker/status/1179811595570036736?s=20 Congratulations Paul https://www.xero.com/au/events/xero-awards/  Customer Focused Fine Print for Financial products. https://www.smartcompany.com.au/finance/fintech-asic-financial-services/  Paul Meissner Sage buys Autoentry. https://www.sage.com/investors/investor-downloads/press-releases/2019/09/27/sage-announces-acquisition-of-autoentry/ Hubdoc to Xero, AutoEntry to Sage, what’s next... Costco is a fascinating business. You know all those groceries you buy?  Yeah, they basically sell those at breakeven and then make all of their profit from the $60 annual membership fees. https://twitter.com/investing_city/status/1179974257779982336?s=21 PwC Is Spending A Massive $3 Billion To Upskill Its Employees. Number of employees 250,930 (2018) https://pulse2.com/pwc-3-billion-upskill-employees/   WORST ON GROUND David Boyar Paris Financial channels Donald Trump in a post that  tells people “You gotta ditch your current accountant. Seriously!” https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ugcPost-6575255094957350912-ucvT The gig economy is not the future, data proves it  https://hbr.org/2018/10/myths-of-the-gig-economy-corrected https://oversharing.substack.com/p/everything-we-thought-we-knew-about-the-gig-economy-is-wrong  Paris Financial channels Donald Trump in a post that  tells people “You gotta ditch your current accountant. Paul Meissner Brazen attempt to extort money: https://www-publicaccountant-com-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.publicaccountant.com.au/news/scammers-posing-as-federal-officers-try-to-extort-money-from-taxpayers/amp   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Paul Meissner Unable to switch off.  5 out of offices in 10 years.  Being able to work remotely gives a false sense of being able to do it effectively.  Remote working is often glorified as beaches, etc. I needs to be the same work intensity just a different location.  Family holidays and the challenge.  About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND David Boyar RSM adopts Greatsoft, a huge blow to MYOB and a huge win for a new entrant  https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/technology/13638-xero-scores-biggest-migration-with-mid-tier-deal  FYI DOCS Customer sentiment feature  Paul Meissner If this isn’t a window in to releasing software. Flashy, promises a lot, released prematurely and ultimately the key features needed aren’t connected yet.  https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/04/police-robot-told-woman-go-away-tried-report-crime-sang-song-10864648/ https://www.accountingtoday.com/opinion/beyond-the-hype-how-ai-is-being-used-by-accountants-today So the record wasn’t actually a record. Good marketing hype though: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/599974/   WORST ON GROUND David Boyar Greed is back, the excuses for Latitude Financials failed IPO don’t make any sense when put up against the market. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/the-crucial-mistake-ahmed-fahour-may-have-made-in-latitude-s-failed-ipo-20191016-p53166.html Paul Meissner https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/careers/i-clearly-caught-you-man-busted-trying-to-cheat-in-bizarre-skype-job-interview/news-story/2abe3da11f64614e22dc703bb60b5223 Worst job title ever. “At the inflection point of change” https://www.linkedin.com/in/ntamm   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

  Summary on intellectual Vices http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/65080/1/7%20Intellectual%20Vice%20and%20Self-awareness.pdf   Interview with Quassim Cassam  https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL3NlYW4tY2Fycm9sbHMtbWluZHNjYXBl&episode=Z2lkOi8vYXJ0MTktZXBpc29kZS1sb2NhdG9yL1YwL1dXQVowOUFKQ1hmVWhkVjUtV01md1JhWTd0SGxhQXZsbjF0aU1fLVdPREk&hl=en-AU&ep=6&at=1570074349310   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND Paul Meissner Apple’s core values are a very interesting read. Do you have core values? https://www.facebook.com/180048600476/posts/10157563033890477?sfns=mo Accountkit - amazing software. Actually made me go “Wow”. Haven’t had that reaction for a long time. https://www.account-kit.com/  David Boyar Hands down the simplest explanation of a balance sheet I have ever heard  Income statement https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marksamowitz_accounting-finance-accountingmadeeasy-activity-6574588862612459520-zRYy  Balance Sheet  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marksamowitz_accounting-finance-accountingmadeeasy-activity-6577802576362778624-J-sA  How do blind people see numbers? https://edition.cnn.com/2019/10/01/us/uno-braille-trnd/index.html  WORST ON GROUND Paul Meissner CA and CPA article re crisis of costs for financial advisors. Didn’t listen and pushed all members to get registered: https://twitter.com/paulmeissner_/status/1179183332510167040?s=21 CBA survey with 37 responses should never have been published due to the laughable sample size. Like marketing sending out the report with their pre-determined slant, before the actual results are in.  Part 2 was a sales person from a reporting software using it as confirmation bias. Desperate in my book.  https://www.9news.com.au/world/tesla-electric-police-car-runs-out-of-power-during-pursuit-us-news/94269854-6526-4972-8aba-e889a31665da?ocid=Social-9NewsP David Boyar What is the #1 reporting app in the Xero ecosystem? https://twitter.com/spotlightrep/status/1174814379805741056?s=19 WeWork backs out of IPO and slashed valuation.  http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/marketing-expert-scott-galloway-on-wework-and-adam-neumann.html   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Paul Meissner Recurring invoicing payments Mental Health (was it too much?) Addons - email sharing stories again, no follow up, too soon. David Boyar Start Up alley - some came to Xerocon too soon Partner story mini stages - ‘Xero’s got it’s soul back’ Trenches event - Our best yet. About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

BEST ON GROUND Paul Meissner Nagging clients have a point, why not listen to them? https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/practice/general-practice/are-nagging-clients-really-that-unreasonable Cheaper debt for being sustainable. David sees strait through this. https://www.commbank.com.au/business/latest/sustainable-finance.html   David Boyar Tax Managers are the most in demand and highest paid jobs in the USA https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-no-1-job-in-america-with-the-best-career-opportunities-pays-112000-a-year-and-its-not-in-tech-2019-08-14 How does a global tech giant collect cash money? https://www.marketwatch.com/story/uber-customers-paid-more-than-6-billion-in-cash-last-year-and-accounting-for-it-isnt-easy-2019-08-16 How to show the value of a tax break https://twitter.com/nick_a_marie/status/1168520374423678982?s=19   Gig workers are becoming more like employees in this state. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/upshot/gig-economy-limits-labor-market-uber-california.html   WORST ON GROUND Paul Meissner Advisors as sales people..not a good idea. https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/developers-offer-advisers-90-000-to-flog-high-rise-apartments-20190813-p52gk1 The accountants exemption is on its way back. Kind of.  https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/13522-return-of-accountants-exemption-hits-a-snag Agile has its place in small firms. https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/management/agile-working-revolution-or-fad-20180413-h0yqwr   David Boyar How does EY not pay super on time? https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/ey-faces-fines-after-falling-behind-on-superannuation-payments-20190815-p52hde Sales automation looks good but, does it create leads? https://www.facebook.com/groups/theentrepreneurialaccountants/permalink/518545622063643/  Congratulations to our friends at Practice Ignition on raising $26m. Bigger celebration when we celebrate profitability though! https://www.xero.com/blog/2019/09/xero-app-partner-practice-ignition-lands-a26-million-tech-investment/   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Paul sits with Xero Founder Rod Drury. About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Paul Demo’s not lectures. I don’t want to hear your views on timesheets, how I bill my clients, etc. I want to see the product and what it does.  Practice your pitch(s). “It does everything” - NO, “it’s for every client” - NO. What’s the problem it solves, how does it solve it and what do the results look like. Pick 3  You don’t need to show everything the system does. People won’t remember the lot, so just impress them with 1-2 big things. Find the problem it solves for the person/people you are addressing. Are they new to cloud, established, etc.  Swag - useful not plastic David Ask me about my business first and change your pitch depending on the answer If you aren’t experienced, don’t try to close Try to start a relationship, accountants are slow buyers About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

You should go to Xerocon. Paul Meissner 6 reasons to get to Xerocon Networking Addons all in 1 place Partner stage (content done practically) David Boyar Refine your vision  Re energise yourself Benchmark yourself About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Best on Ground Nature vs nurture. The goal of parenting is often a nurturing, equality method, but in a family business context or performance based rewards, there is often a clash. Jon Kenfield has some great content.  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jonkenfield_familybusiness-business-conflict-ugcPost-6565414094575415296-F3hA Why do accountants rely on their feelings when giving advice? Because they’re wimps. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/337496 Hot desking, love it or hate it. We discuss if the people who dislike it are just disappointed they cannot hide in an office playing solitaire?https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/workplace/the-hidden-hell-of-hot-desking-is-much-worse-than-you-think-20190729-p52bom BGL are demo-ing new tech at RegTech and the crowd are loving it. No wonder they're AFR’s 5th most innovative company https://twitter.com/BGLdot/status/1159613260317904896?s=20 Large cultural shift is happening at ANZ bank where staff bonuses are being removed. Bonuses often drive selfish behaviour were highlighted in the Hayne review. This is the first sign of fundamental changes. https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/anz-dumps-bonuses-for-performance-dividend-20190805-p52e2z We way thank you and farewell to MYOB CEO Tim Reed. https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/appointments/13373-myob-ceo-tim-reed-steps-down Worst on Ground Hotshot entrepreneur racks up over $3.6m in debts. With social media, how people promote themselves can belie their true performance.  https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/clients-burnt-by-airbnb-hotshot-callum-forbes/news-story/9d5340d5691c17fa5dcdabe579ec70f0 The Westpac account opening saga continues with excellent customer service. Uber posts a $7.7b loss as revenue growth stalls. If not for UberEats, growth would be negative. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/uber-shares-dive-as-it-posts-7-7-billion-loss-20190809-p52ff2.html Is it a scam? The it’s hard for the ATO to communicate whilst telling us not to trust every bit of correspondence saying it’s from the ATO. https://twitter.com/DavidBoyar/status/1159608567961272320  About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Best on Ground Congratulations to our friends at Judo bank on their new capital raise pumping more $$ into the business lending space https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/judo-bank-raises-400m-in-second-round-equity-raise-20190726-p52b4t If you have to ask your accountant about the assesability or deductability of something, you probably already know the answer. https://twitter.com/cbriancpa/status/1154775607470886914?s=20  Awesome VR use of the moon landing https://time.com/longform/apollo-11-moon-landing-immersive-experience/  The accounting profession v the accounting industry. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6558622154890588160/  Deliveroo finds a tax and super planning solution for their drivers https://www.itwire.com/strategy/deliveroo-partners-with-solo-smart-in-tax-arrangement-for-delivery-riders.html Worst on Ground Would you give your staff 12 weeks life leave? https://matadornetwork.com/read/australian-company-paid-life-leave/amp/ Social selling accounting ledger subscriptions? https://twitter.com/QuickBooks/status/1151957060923351055?s=20   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Listen to David as he interviews Ben Thomson, the Founder and CEO of Employment Hero, as they discuss about how they raised $22 million and how they are on a mission to reduce the number of wage scandals. The cover: Why we are partnering with Employment Hero. What they are going to spend their $22 million on. The journey to becoming a hero in payroll scandals and how to become a great employer. Taking on the mental health of the members and how Employment Hero help with this. From making mistakes to running a tech business and how Ben built a massive company. The fundamental source of the big scandals. Finally, Ben talks about how they provide value to their clients. Head to www.employmenthero.com/ftt to find out how they can help your clients. About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

On the back of a tweet from a self confessed (USA) thought Leader who is just flogging software. Paul asked, “Should small businesses start with a review of the tech available or start with their own processes and how to improve it which might include software?” David Use swimlanes to map processes I use asana for my processes, for example we have a month end system for a client that covers what checks need to be done on automated data dumps, how to check manual journal calcs, what info we need from different people and asana is system used to CONTROL the process Balance what you need with what tech can do. Paul 3 tips for the Process vs Systems dilema: Technology Must Start with Streamlined Processes Solve a Problem. Don’t Just use a New System Process Mapping For more check out Freedom Mentoring About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Best on Ground This Excel feature is amazing. Take a photo and upload it straight top Excel.  https://support.office.com/en-us/article/insert-data-from-picture-3c1bb58d-2c59-4bc0-b04a-a671a6868fd7 ABS has an app. For those stats nerds out there, this is awesome. Has key economic indicators and also 2016 Census info on postcodes, etc. You can also customise your own Key Indicators.  https://twitter.com/ABSStats/status/1153514839249170433?s=20 A linked in profile description that makes the complex simple. https://www.linkedin.com/in/arfitzgerald/ After years of banks spinning their performance to us ANZ’s brilliant new add shows the spin small business owners use to appear successful.  https://twitter.com/ANZ_AU/status/1131340918810976256 Worst on Ground BREAKING | National Australia Bank was today forced to admit an embarrassing breach of 13,000 customers’ personal data, including contact details and driver’s licence numbers .  https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/financial-services/national-australia-bank-admits-to-data-breach-13000-customers-affected/news-story/d690644976567e6f645022c5ebabd114 ACCC’s 23 recommendations to take on the large digital businesses. Could get ugly. Interesting take on journalism suffering.  https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/holistic-dynamic-reforms-needed-to-address-dominance-of-digital-platforms David had to open a bank account and it took 45 minutes. Should it? Hear the story in this weeks episode. About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

This week, Paul and David explore the concept of the Hybrid Professional, as outlined in this TEDx talk by Sarabeth Berk, and its application to the accounting profession. About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Best on Ground ABS Getting in to the social media swing with social engagement on the Rugby State of Origin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6554599885642010625 Lot’s of taxpayers lodging early. Anyone advising to hold off on claiming a refund should be an advisor. Never delay a refund, cash is king. ATO are very clear that future tax legislation will amend the return.   https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/tax-compliance/13258-lodgments-spike-by-88-per-cent-as-taxpayers-ignore-advice  Tech is lying to you if it says it creates insights. Tech doesn't, you do. https://twitter.com/Paul_BarnesACCA/status/1149017223928963072?s=19 Can accounting solve issues in Indigenous communities?  https://twitter.com/IndigenousIAA/status/1147759367288045568?s=19 Can you save money buying a jet instead of flying Qantas? For the staff perk, who cares! https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:6555566884006227968/  Paul’s BGL webinar on the Modern Compliance Advisory Firm. Massive turnout. Over 500 registrations. Compliance is certainly not dead. Worst on Ground ATO Changing definition of Taxi: @Uber says it's disappointed with the outcome, but is working with @ato_gov_au to address the "inconsistency" in the law whereby Uber is the same as a taxi when it comes to having to pay GST, but not when it comes to getting FBT exemption https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-08/no-tax-breaks-for-employers-using-uber/11283184 Hilarious satire on business books https://www.smartcompany.com.au/people-human-resources/professional-development/business-self-help-books-fck-off/ Records fall as this tweet packs more jargon from a motivational speaker than the avge sales email to an accountant https://twitter.com/GrantCardone/status/1149830800717877248?s=19 About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Listen to David and Paul as they interview Joseph Healy from Judo Bank, LIVE at the SOFY Party, as they discuss about the banking industry, the economy and Judo Bank. The cover: Bank controversies and where banks have missed out the needs of the small and medium sized businesses How major banks are so focused on their profit maximisation and have made a huge mistake when they lost sight of their social license.  The uniqueness of Judo Bank where the major banks have fallen off One of Joseph's major regrets in agreeing to outsource financial analysis to India at NAB where it dropped banks costs to 30% but also reduced the quality as well. Judo Bank's first actual operating day and how they compete with the big major banks. Finally, Joseph responds to some crowd queries regarding the banking industry. About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant.

Best on Ground Get clients who rave about you like Gabi Leibowitz. Post 200m sale https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6550704110189010944/ Fan fashion Paul’s webinar with BGL. The Modern Compliance firm: https://www.bglcorp.com/event/the-modern-compliance-advisory-firm/ If H&R Block can go paperless, why can’t you https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/13227-h-r-block-cuts-out-paper-ahead-of-tax-time-2019  Worst on Ground Accountants boasting about revenue. The economy Labour party changing the name of a tax bill is the height of pettiness. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6551990734134882304 In Depth: David and Paul reflect on their 2018 resolutions and share their predictions for the year to come.  About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL and The Outsourced Accountant. 

This week, Emma Tibbals, joins Paul and David for a hearty conversation on freedom and what that means. Emma is currently studying her Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accounting at Monash University and a Student Representative for CAANZ. Hear an emerging accountant's views on gender diversity, what freedom means and the threat posed by STEM jobs. Best on Ground Great practical content for small business Vanessa Bamford: http://www.vbbusiness.com.au/work-smarter-not-harder-calculating-break-even-point/ Great breakdown comparing the 3 Accounting professional bodies by Amanda Loves to Audit - https://youtu.be/6Qg39Zo6sZk Workflow automation explained – top 5 tips from the experts - https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/about-us/ca-catalyst/insights-and-guides/workflow-automation-explained-top-5-tips-from-the-experts Accounting Web SWAG review https://twitter.com/AWebTom/status/1124319489611456513   Worst on Ground CAANZ Vote - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/chartered-accountants-australia-new-zealand-member-vote-con-abbott Do you need to be qualified: https://twitter.com/brettnealcpa/status/1119602270138585088?s=21 More Franchising issues: https://www.theage.com.au/business/workplace/bubble-bursts-for-tea-chain-giant-chatime-over-underpayment-20190424-p51gt0.html?btis Super ‘’Battle of the Sexes’’ clickbaits https://www.superguide.com.au/comparing-super-funds/gender-gap-super-boards-large-funds-perform-poorly Indepth: Freedom - with special guest, Emma Tibbals About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

Paul sat down with Ron Lesh from BGL to cut through the noise surrounding the election.  They cover: Bill Shorten's accountants rort comments Franking Credits Negative gearing Capitals Gains What should the industry do? About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

Best on Ground Cocky tax startups - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/think-your-2018-tax-season-tough-check-out-visors-attempt-david-leary Vale Henry Bloch (H&R Block founder) - https://amp.usatoday.com/amp/3555032002 When important messages can’t get heard https://twitter.com/horizonaccount/status/1116306674178879489?s=19 What the marketers got wrong https://generationcfo.com/2019/04/17/automation-redundancy-is-fake-news-heres-why-part-one/   Worst on Ground Someone who wants to be Federal Treasurer caught miscalculating franking credits: https://twitter.com/paulmeissner_/status/1119169867209306112?s=21 Pilot bookkeeping raises $40m. Why? If it’s a tech play, they are building Receipt Bank again and playing catch up with others. If it’s a services play, then anyone raising for services businesses is an idiot. https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/18/index-ventures-stripe-back-bookkeeping-service-pilot-with-40m/amp/ Will tech really overtake this firm and what have we seen in the past that might indicate the future: https://futurefirm.co/will-accounting-tech-startups-overtake-your-firm/   I’ll never get tired of weird deductions https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/tax-compliance/12889-tax-agent-claims-family-pet-as-guard-dog-gets-booted-by-tpb   Indepth: How to fix conferences (and what’s wrong with them) About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

This week, Paul sat down with Robyn Jacobson, Senior Tax Trainer at Tax Banter, FCA, FCPA, CTA, tax agent, blogger and podcast host at Tax Yak. She's also involved in advocacy and sits on a number of committees. The chat about: How training has changed with new technologies Why face to face training hasn't replaced How to apply legislative changes to real life business cases Using the structure of policy development to your advantage Top 6 tips for micro firms to keep up with the changes in tax About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

Best on Ground Bold News from MYOB on Payments Advisory - https://www.myob.com/au/blog/bold-strategy-payments-accounting-business-expo/  Life as a Xero Community Manager - https://cloudaccountant.today/2019/03/29/life-as-a-xero-community-manager/   Great discussions happening between accountants and Judo Capital at the Water Cooler Lunch Series Worst on Ground Are your small business clients ready for STP? 1 in 10 say no: https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/tax-compliance/12841-netflix-but-not-stp-1-in-10-small-biz-stp-ready Out of the US, Congress is considering a bipartisan bill that would make it illegal for the IRS to offer free electronic tax filing - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2019-04-16/congress-considers-free-online-tax-filing-ban-video Bill Shorten's comments regarding 'accountants tax rort', CAANZ nailed the response: https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/news-and-analysis/media-centre/press-releases/chartered-accountants-set-record-straight-after-opposition-leaders-abc-interview  Indepth: Three outcomes we want to see from the upcoming election We lay out our wish list for the upcoming election for the accounting space, whether there is a change in government or not.  About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

Best on Ground Patti & Scott Scharf - Great catch up. Amazing how small the world of accounting is and how the conversations about advisory, technology, pricing, etc are far different to a lot of the general conversations out there, especially by salespeople. Compliance is far from dead in the USA: Sales Tax https://www.avataxrates.com/ Reading is good for your brain, listening about reading isn’t as much https://twitter.com/damonayoung/status/1114797728502935552?s=19 Sustainable Growth Vs Scaling = Great to see a big tech company having a realistic conversation https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/uncategorized/why-its-time-to-stop-thinking-about-scaling/amp/?__twitter_impression=true RBXxchange - the explosive bookkeeper v accountant conversation that ended in a very productive chat with ATT Director Cassandra Scott.   Worst on Ground Fathom's response to Goal Seek Analysis: https://support.fathomhq.com/using-the-analysis-tools/goalseek-analysis Accountants Daily article on the IGT report: https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/12875-igt-heralds-accountants-business-model-change More awareness of flexible work conditions done badly. https://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/a-full-time-role-in-part-time-hours-the-truth-about-flexible-work-20190405-p51b88.html Indepth: Being Present - The victim of the work from anywhere culture Work life balance used to be about the amount of time you spent at work. But with more and more people not really having an ‘’at work’’ mode or place, work is kind of everywhere all the time. This puts pressure on being present. Now Australia overall doesn't have it that bad, according to the OECD better life index, we rank 30/38 countries for working "very long hours" (50 or more) with just 13.8% of us doing so and the trend is down .2% since 2005. What impact does this have on: you, your family, staff and clients? This was an issue raised in an earlier FTT episode where we were joined by both Paul and David's FCA fathers - how does this new generation deal with being 'aways on'? About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

Paul sat with Angus Capel, Xero Small Business Advocate and former adviser to Federal Small Business Ministers, Michael McCormack and Craig Laundy, to get an inside look at how the Federal Budget gets put together.  They talk about: what was the thinking behind moving the small business definition from $2m to $10m thoughts on the 2019 budget the process of how a small business initiative gets in to the budget how does the budget play out in terms of an upcoming election what does the budget look like if we end up with a minority government About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

A Budget piece outside the budget news cycle? How dare we! But that is just the point of accountants. We care about the budget even when it doesn't give us clicks.  With David and Paul sitting on the Xero budget panel and live tweeting the event of the year (we believe that) this show is non stop action. Best On Ground  A well balanced piece on how to get ready for the future of work https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffthomson/2018/09/26/automation-organizational-readiness-and-the-need-for-new-skills/amp/?__twitter_impression=true Worst on Ground Hubdoc and Fathom produced a ''you have to do advisory'' article that missed the mark by so much, they edited it after Paul politely brought it to their attention on Twitter.  http://go.hubdoc.com/hubfs/Road-to-Advisory/Pre-Advisory-Checklist-Hubdoc-Fathom.pdf  About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

Water Cooler Lunch Series Request your seat to join David and Judo at one of our Melbourne lunches and learn about expanding your network of professionals to include CFO advisers (yes, Sequel CFO works with accountants) and new bank lenders.    Interview with Joseph Healy With so much attention on the banking sector both David and Paul are sure that new entrants are going to have an impact. One such entrant is Judo Capital who is going to be able to compete at similar debt pricing to traditional SME lending banks.  David tracked down Judo Capital's co-founder and joint CEO Joseph Healy for a wide ranging interview.  The highlight of course, is his envy that bankers don't have the trusted relationship us accountants have with clients. About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL.   

This week, David is coming straight to you from Accounting Business Expo. He's joined by the biggest and brightest leaders propelling our industry forward for an epic panel discussion. We are joined by: Andrew Van De Beek - 2018 Thought Leader of the Year Lielette Calleja - 2017 Au Firm of the Future Winner and AAT Director Heather Smith - Literally wrote the book on Xero, Cloud App master mentor and cloud newsletter author Steph Hinds - One of the first 100% cloud accountants who rivals Paul Meissner for strait talking  Ron Lesh - The founder of BGL, the tech company who has survived more change than most (and shares amazing insight as an exhibitor at ABE)  And a special cameo appearance by Sam Rotberg - a recent social media superstar (listen to find out more) NOTE: Paul couldn't get to Accounting Business Expo but don't worry, he comes up often in this episode!   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

Best on Ground  Philadelphia bans cashless stores  Anthony Pratt's best on social media Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce, responds to 10 year old boy's handwritten letter  Young kids starting businesses Resurrecting the Dead Horse Theory Worst on Ground  Shoes of Prey went in to liquidation - when you listen to your customer, but your customer doesn't actually know what they want. Australia's Super funds legacy systems run on spare parts from eBay, 1950s programs 'Overnight success is a farce': Aussie founder sells startup last valued at $25.4m to American Express The battle for work/life balance is lost. The war for device/non-device balance has just begun.  Kmart employees forced to join industry super fund Select Committee into Fair Dinkum Power Challenger bank, Countingup, launches invoicing from their smartphone app Indepth: You don't HAVE to do advisory. Something grinds our gears. And that something is:    Generic conversations about accountants having to do advisory, from people who've never done it.    It comes from this idea that because advanced use of technology means that it takes a lower amount of time to do traditional compliance work. It stems from a line Xero used to tout, 'Compliance is dead, you have to do advisory'.    What's wrong with the way advisory is being spoken about?   About Us From the Trenches is brought to you by Paul Meissner from Freedom Mentoring and David Boyar from Sequel CFO. Proudly sponsored by BGL. 

How does your firm keep up to date with all the constant tax changes? In this episode of Tax Yak, Robyn yaks with Paul Meissner, a Chartered Accountant who runs a 21st century accounting firm that uses cloud solutions, upfront agreed pricing and no time sheets.The discussion covers:the state of the profession and the impact of technology such as cloud solutions;the challenges practitioners face in keeping on top of constant changes to the tax law;compliance v advisory work;the value of getting involved in consultations and committees; andwhether interactions with the ATO have changed over the years. Host: Robyn Jacobson Guest: Paul Meissner linkedin.com/in/meissnerpaul/ fromthetrenches.com.au freedommentoring.com/ Recorded: 26 February 2019

Paul Meissner has always had a thing for winter sports. After competing in downhill skiing in University, his attention turned to curling, a sport where he gets to yell a lot. Some of his highlights include a game against the gold medal-winning Canadian Paralympic Team and another time playing a pickup game against Greg McAulay, a Canadian world champion curler. In this episode, Paul and I talk about how curling is a great metaphor for an office, where the team is made up of different skills and it takes all four working in tandem to get it right. By playing regularly, he's learned to communicate more effectively and to change plans quickly. Client faces light up when they find out he does curling, so he often takes colleagues and clients to play. He really enjoys that because everyone is out of their comfort zone and there's a level playing field so everyone can play equally.

Paul Meissner is the next generation of Accountant. His firm, 5ways Group, operate 100% in the cloud. Paul has a passion for the small-medium business market and using technology to streamline how businesses operate. He and his firm are active on social media, networking and sharing ideas with Accountants around the world. Paul and 5ways do know technology and Xero. They were 2014 Xero Award winners ("100% Cloud), are a Xero XPAC member and were one of the first Accountants to embrace Xero here in Australia. " 5ways Group are a creative cloud accounting agency based in Melbourne. 5ways is the way accounting should be. We are all about the success of our clients through our club type culture that embodies ‘the modern accounting practice’. Our firm is at the forefront of technology and we strive to be a part of our client’s success and have a hell of a lot of fun doing it. www.5waysgroup.com.au https://www.facebook.com/5waysgroup @MeissnerP &@5waysgroup https://au.linkedin.com/in/meissnerpaul https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PaulMeissner5ways/posts/p/pub www.paulmeissner.me & https://about.me/paul_meissner