Episode 63: Using Data to Grow Your Business, with Dan Beck
In Episode 63, Sam interviews non-traditional In Demand Accountant, Dan Beck from PT2.0. Dan and Sam discuss his background and about PT2.0, plus why you need to use data to grow your business and measure behaviour change in your firm.
Dan explains the real value for accounting businesses in the data we already have, plus some problems in the industry that can be solved using data better. He gives some examples from clients he’s worked with at PT2.0.
Dan and Sam discuss costing versus pricing and getting it right for advisory work, plus why you need a technology strategy, not simply a software choice.
They then cover the difference between reporting and analytics, and why it matters, before Dan shares where he sees in the industry changing in the next five years.
Finally, Sam and Dan discuss closing the time gap for client data to they can make better decisions in real time and we can be more efficient.
Listen to an excerpt
What we cover in this episode
Dan’s background and about PT2.0 technology company
Measuring behaviour change in firms
The real value for accounting business in the data we already have
Some problems in the accounting industry that can be solved by better using data
Examples from Dan’s business working with firms to do just that
Costing versus pricing and getting it right for advisory work
Reframing our ideas around technology and getting our mindset right for technology
Why you need a technology strategy, not a technology software choice
The importance of a regular advisory meeting
The difference between reporting and analytics and why it matters
How Dan sees the accounting industry changing in the next five years
Teaching clients to have better data rather than fixing it for them
Closing the time gap for client data so that clients can make better decisions and we can be more efficient
Quotes
“There's been quite a few studies that we've done that show the right person in the right role is leading to dividends. So it's a really exciting place for accountants to be. I think that most don’t realize the value of [data] they sit on internally. And I don't think that they realize that a lot of the stuff that they could find out about their teams and their clients, they've already got access to, already got the tools to do it. It's just that mindset of growth.” ~ Dan
“We charge for the five minutes, not the 30 years experience. And we've got to start charging for what the value of that is, or else we're going to race to zero.” ~ Dan
“At the end of the day, the world's greatest dashboard means nothing. If you don't use it to help your client build their business, if you don't help that dashboard to help build your own firm, if you don't use that data in an improvement program is just a tool. ~ Dan
“A lot of these dashboards, they are fantastic to use. They're going to make you more efficient in having conversations. What it is people want is somebody, a human, to sit and have a conversation and spend some time [with them.]” ~ Sam
“One of the major points is that the data is relevant to the person who's consuming it. It is not just data there for data's sake. And now one of the big things that we talk to accounting firms in is the difference between reporting and analytics.” ~ Dan
“Accountants are born analysts. We've been trained to be reporters, but we're born analysts. We go looking for what's not right and why. All we need to do is change that frame of reference to now go and say, ‘Let's actually devise strategies for clients of what's not on track.” ~ Dan
“The value is in correct data. So you have all the data in the world. But if the data is dirty…it’s garbage in garbage out. It's such a fundamental shift in the way that we need to operate. And by having it correct at the source means that the information can be picked up in real time.” ~ Dan
“Technology is going to keep going it like in the last five years, it's been progressing in a massive rate. It’s going to get faster, we're going to have other technologies: AI, machine learning, quantum computing. We're on an acceleration phase. So eventually, the analysis will be done automatically. But someone still needs to consume and convey that information. So to me the big training on people isn't necessarily on how to better use the technology, it’s how to have better conversations, using technology.” ~ Dan
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