​The Business Growth
Accounta​​​​​nt

‘If you’re serious about growing and developing your accounting business, then Paul Shrimpling’s book is essential reading. Don’t just read it, take action. Do nothing at your own peril.’

“For any firm that is looking at staying ahead of the inevitable ‘march of automation’, this is the book for you.

Sharing knowledge and facts is no longer the role of the advisor, Google will do that far better. Your ability to remain relevant in the new digital age will depend on your skills in questioning, building rapport and connecting with your clients at a far deeper level.

As machines get better at answering questions… you need to get better at asking them. Paul’s book shows you just how to do that.”

The Business Growth Accountant is a treasure trove of advice on how to move your firm up the value curve – by giving your customers the services they need and want. In addition to Paul Shrimpling’s sage advice – and here I will reveal my bias – be sure to pay particular attention to three more Pauls quoted in the book: the late Paul O’Byrne, RIP, and his partner, Paul Kennedy, who continues to run what I believe is the most innovative accounting firm in the world, O’Byrne & Kennedy; and, of course, Paul Dunn, the man who blazed the trail and helped thousands of firms fulfill the transformational journey that is energetically articulated throughout this book.

“Brilliant. I have sent this book out to the board of directors and all our team leaders.

The timing of this book is excellent as I have just started HIT (Hallidays Internal Training) which is a course on training client facing team members on how to be a great business advisor (not an accountant). This book reinforces and supports the learning in this programme. It is going to be essential reading for everyone attending.

This is incredibly valuable. I thought the chapter on questions was really interesting as I hadn’t come across question frameworks before (maybe some of us don’t need them!) and I think this will be a really useful chapter for the team members who choose to move from accountant to advisor.

I 100% endorse everything Paul talks about in this book – It felt strangely as if he’d been rummaging around in my mind and pulling loads of stuff out and putting it on paper!

But to summarise…

…essential reading for any accountant who truly cares about their clients and has a burning desire to do something to help clients more. The No 1 handbook for moving from accountant to (growth) advisor.”

Paul provides many answers to the mysteries of how to deliver advisory services in his book, The Business Growth Accountant. Accounting professionals have been being told for years to be an advisor, with no real training on the path to get there.

Paul provides the steps with his "Higher-Value Route Map" in his book, as well as, real life scenarios from experienced accountants that deliver advisory services from around the world. This book will help you take the steps needed to be comfortable with the critical conversations that are necessary to be a truly value-added strategic partner to your client that they couldn’t imagine living without.

Paul highlights in his book how the accountancy profession is changing and changing at a rapid pace. He highlights that fact that to be a successful accountant in the ever-changing technological world, that you will need to adapt quickly or you will become extinct. As a profession, we have to reinvent ourselves to be more valuable to our clients. His book takes you on a journey of how to embrace technology and utilize it together with a mindset of developing great questions to be an invaluable resource and advisor to your clients. The age of compliance as a value service to a client is coming to an end. However, the age of our true value is just beginning if you want to embrace technology, are forward thinking and enjoy helping your clients become really successful. If you want to be an accountant of the future, Paul’s book is a must read to help you on that journey.

“In his book Paul does not set out to be popular. He challenges you to be so much more than just another beige accountant. And let me tell you, the world doesn’t need any more of them!

In your hands is the book that every dull, boring accountant should read so they get a sense of what the wise ones are doing. Then why wouldn’t you leave mediocre and run-of-the-mill accounting behind you and take the actions and insights suggested by all the contributors to Paul’s book?

If I were an accountant I’d buy every available copy of this book so that the competition can’t get hold of a copy.

Paul, and the firms he’s interviewed for the book, re-invigorate my belief that the accountancy profession can deliver on its potential to change the way that businesses perform.”

“This is a truly brilliant Inspiring, Challenging and Supporting book from Paul that is a must read for every accountant in practice.

Even if you are not looking to become a “Growth Accountant” there are masses of ideas, tools, and tips you can implement in your practice to make your life easier and deliver a better experience to your clients.

Paul’s story around “Canary-like” KPIs will stick with me forever and the section on “Blind, deaf and dumb pricing” has helped me challenge the team on their communication skills. If you are in practice and want to make more of an impact in the lives of those around you this is a must-read book.

"Paul has an enviable reputation as a thought leader in the accounting world, and this book just goes to show why that is the case. He makes a compelling case for all accountants, large and small, demonstrating why they need to be looking at being advisors, not bean counters or tax return filers. What's more, he gives some simple nuggets of advice that are priceless."

“The effort, energy and passion that Paul has put into creating this go-to book for any serious accountant has been clear to see over the last year or so.

We meet with Paul every quarter and feel his inspiration! His enthusiasm transports itself across our team and fills us all with joy, anticipation and most importantly of all…drive. This is what the book does too. Paul’s book is full of inspiring, yes, literally awe-inspiring thought and insight into how you can make your accountancy business a better business by helping your clients, by caring.

Top tip, once you have read the book, pick one thing, just one thing and do it…this will make you feel good and will encourage you to pick another one thing to do, before you know where you are you will have done lots! Small steps!”

I was inspired to be a Chartered Accountant by seeing what a business-savvy accountant called David did for my parents and their business. My parents worked hard, but the success of their business enabled me to enjoy a better life and certainly an upgrade on my holidays! They never made a major decision without David’s input. He was their sounding board, corporate finance man and friend.

One summer in his office David showed me he had a team delivering numbers. A team that meant he could spend his time understanding the numbers, talking to clients and using them to bring greater success to his clients.

Firms need to understand that being just an accountant was never enough and now, in the world of cloud accounting, the need to demonstrate you add value is more important than ever.

This book won’t make you into a business savvy accountant, but it will challenge everything you’ve learnt and done in the profession to date. And then show you how others have done it successfully so that you can follow their lead.”

"Having worked with Paul from afar, I can see that the dedication to his work is truly making a difference and inspiring the accountant's he works with. Which in turn is having an amazing impact on the client's that those accounting firms are working with. Do yourself a favour, pick up this book and learn how you can create meaningful impacts in your accounting business which allow you to grow profitably. "

I have just read your fantastic book and have been inspired to re-write completely our internal business advisory manual.

The firm has 58 staff now and we are attacking the MTD market at the moment with a training package for clients using Quickbooks, Sage and Xero together with an in-housed data processing solution using the same software but within LP.

We have been providing outsourced FD services for over 12 years with 80% of the practice now providing higher level tax planning (30%), business advisory(30%) and financial services advice (20%) to the client base.We are exploring creating two brands/practices - one for compliance services and the other Business Advisory first and accountancy a close second.

I am really inspired by your book and thank you so much for writing it, it has been a life changing experience.

“This book tells you everything good about Paul Shrimpling’s approach and contribution to the accountancy profession. Anyone who has seen him present would vouch that Paul can never be accused of being half-hearted, and this book oozes passion and wholehearted advice from the first page. The book is filled with straightforward and common-sense advice, and Paul’s credibility comes not only from his thousands of hours one-to-one with accountants looking to improve their businesses but also his ability to get others to open up about the secrets of their success. This is a must-read for any accountant looking forward to the digital age with a little trepidation.”

“In my opinion this book is essential reading for any owner of an accountancy practice in these times where the pace of change is the fastest it has ever been. I have read a few books on the current issues facing the accountancy profession by different authors. The way this book has been put together, pooling a vast range of resources, ideas and research, provides a very good framework for re-modelling a traditional accountancy practice into a relevant advisory service business.

Paul’s undoubted knowledge, experience and passion to help improve the accountant’s role comes across in every chapter of this book.”

Having read Paul’s book this has opened my eyes to the clear challenges that the profession faces. New technology and new competition mean firms need to seriously review what they do and how they do it.

The book clearly identifies these issues and provides guidance on how you can turn these into opportunities for the practice. This has inspired me to make the necessary changes in my practice to ensure its future and the exciting growth that can be achieved.

If you want to safeguard what you have and build on it, this book is a must read.”

“Paul has interviewed some remarkably smart practitioners, and blended their remarkably practical insights with his own, to produce a remarkably useful book”

“If you want off the hamster wheel of endless tax returns for unappreciative clients, and if you want to make a real difference in the lives and businesses of your clients, read this book.

While there’s plenty of buzz out there that accountants need to add advisory services to their firms, there aren’t too many sources that actually demonstrate how to do that.

Based on real world examples of accountants and advisors from around the world who are doing this work and on Paul’s years of experience guiding firms, this book lays out the steps you’ll need to take to transform your firm into Business Growth Accountants.”