Join us at Accountex! 10th-11th May 2023

We are very excited to be hosting talks and panels throughout Accountex London: 10th-11th May including many of our brilliant Partners!

See the full programme here:

Find us at the App Advisory Theatre (Theatre 9) as well as Stand 1671!

Grab your free tickets and we'll see you there!

Day 1 - 10th May 2023

10am: How to automate and streamline your client payment processes to manage risk!

Payment technology is the hot category of 2023 and the evolution of the outmuscled finance function service for a number of accounting firms, means firms are looking for tools to enhance the offering around making client payments Of course, this is an area filled with risk - so what should firms be considering to protect themselves from fraud, whilst delivering a valuable and critical component of running a finance function?

This panel session will discuss the tools and processes needed to support your clients and ensure you can provide the missing piece of the finance jigsaw that for, so long, was outside scope for so many firms due to the inherent risks.

Join Frances Kay, Co-Founder of App Advisory Plus and Director of Farnell Clarke Limited, will be sitting down first thing with Thomas Djukic from Airwallex and Alex Keselman from ApprovalMax to discuss the ever-evolving payment technology.

11am: Superpower your payroll bureau with integrated HR services

If you are running payroll for your client base, there is a chance you are overlooking a unique opportunity to deliver extra value to your clients and new revenue for your firm. How often have you heard the words from a client: "We have taken on a new employee"? This is a trigger for a conversation to help your client with a range of HR-related support services.

In this session, Will Farnell will discuss how Farnell Clarke have rolled out an integrated HR advisory service with our guest panel, including Farnell Clarke's HR Director, Lauren Sanders, and Citrus HR's Rachel Mudd.

This session will give you an insight into the type of services you can offer, how to start, and software solutions available to help - whether you use internal resources to deliver these new services or look to partners with external providers. We will also offer you the key to unlocking new revenue and extra value to your clients.

12pm: Unlock the power of no-code integration with Zapier

In this session, Solvaa's Kelly Goss will help you to understand how no-code app integration and automation can help bookkeepers and accountants. Kelly will explain and answer a number of questions, covering the following concepts:

- What is no-code integration?

- An introduction to the benefits of integration and automation

- Five ideas of what you can integrate and automate in your practice today

- Real-life case studies

- How to get started with integrating your app stack and automating your business with Zapier

After this session, you will be inspired with ideas on how to use integration and automation in your practice and role.

1pm: Human First in a tech-fuelled world

How long before we are at a place where the tech playing field is levelled? Maybe we are already there. Everyone has access to the same technology and the processes adopted by leading firms are well publicised. Therefore, what is it that will differentiate us from the market?

Accounting has gone full circle and the power of human interaction and relationship is the new innovation. We have the opportunity to build deep relationships with our clients again, powered by new insight that technology has enabled to surface.

In this session, we will explore how we adopt human-first approaches to every part of our operations, internally with our team and externally with our clients. Join us to learn new ways to perfectly blend people, process and technology to become a truly Human Firm.

Join Will Farnell, Founder of Farnell Clarke and Co-Founder of App Advisory Plus, as he catches up with James Ashford and Heather Elkington from GoProposal.

2pm: Save hours of App research time and upskill your entire team with AAP

App Advisory Plus was designed and built by the owners of Farnell Clarke as a means of saving time when researching Apps for your firm and your clients. The choice of technology available leads to overwhelm, and AAP allows you to filter down your software choices quickly and efficiently.

In this session, Frances Kay will highlight a number of use cases to save you time and money, as well as providing ways to generate new revenue by helping clients find, evaluate and implement new technology.

3pm: Who pays for the beer? Making the right software choices for your firm and clients

Accounting and bookkeeping firms are facing unprecedented choice when it comes to software options. Even within single categories of technology, the choice is overwhelming and still growing. In this unique session, Will Farnell chats with a panel of practitioners and vendor to discuss the key decisions firms should consider when making software buying decisions.

Our panel will share top tips for selecting the right software and the right time to bring new software into your firm’s tech stack, as well as sharing some of the mistakes made along the way! As part of the discussion around top tips for firms, we will discuss the evolution of 'Product-Led Growth' (PLG), how it compares to traditional sales-led growth and the benefits to firms of partnering with technology businesses who are embracing this approach to growth and answer the key question: Who is paying for the beer?!

Join Will Farnell, Paul Shipway, COO of Joiin, along with Emily Deakin, Cloud Accounts Specialist at Moore Growth Accountants, and Ryan Pearcy, Director of Scrutton Bland for this unique session.

4pm: Getting the most out of your firm's data to track performance and measure future growth

How well do you really know how your accounting firm is performing? Can you accurately predict where you will be next month, next year and beyond?

AAP's Frances Kay will be joined by Rowan Van Tromp, Senior Customer Success Manager at Karbon, and Graeme Tennick of Tennick Accountants to discuss the critical metrics and KPIs every firm should track to understand performance and future growth. Each of these metrics track an individual aspect of your practice and, when combined, will give you a comprehensive view of how you are performing and where you are trending.

5pm: Current and future opportunities for App Advisory with the Digi Tool in Accrual World podcast live

Is 2023 the year App Advisory and digital transformation explodes? The perfect storm of a potential recession, advancement in systems and news articles, such as ChatGPT, have triggered business owners to seek improvements in efficiency through technology.

Investing in people and process can allow accountancy firms to create a new service line that increases revenue both directly and indirectly.

Hear from the digi-tools in accrual world team how firms are delivering this effectively.

Will Farnell will be joined by Indi Tatler, Chief of Staff at Arex, John Toon, Senior Manager at Beever and Struthers, and Ryan Pearcy, Director of Scrutton Bland for this live podcast to round off Day 1 of Accountex!

Day 2 - 11th May 2023

10am: Creating competitive advantage through App Advisory and system implementation

Technology is playing a bigger role in our lives and client expectations are shifting. The App eco-system provides great opportunities for accountants and bookkeepers to support clients make better use of technology. Helping clients use new technology not only improves your clients business it creates a competitive advantage for the firm and increases client stickiness among many other benefits.

In this session, Frances Kay will question John Toon, Senior Manager of Beever and Struthers, and help share the opportunity for firms in offering App Advisory and Systems Implementation. The panel will discuss how you start and how to price, while highlighting different strategies firms can adopt to meet what will be increasing demand for these high-value, high-profit services.

11am: Advisory starts with compliance - Learn how to use your compliance calendar to drive your advisory offering

Compliance remains critical to all accountants and bookkeepers and is the key that unlocks the door to delivering higher value and higher revenue services to our clients. In this session, Will Farnell discusses how we can leverage the compliance Calendar to identify and deliver greater value to our clients with our vendor and accounting panel.

The session will help you:

- Understand the critical dates that will deliver the best results

- Utilise existing client interactions in an efficient and productive manner and Reposition client relationship for success.

Join us to learn how increasing the frequency and quality or your compliance activity will allow you to deliver firm growth, greater profitability and most importantly better client relationships and experiences.

Sit down with Will Farnell and two representatives of Futrli by Sage: COO Helen Cockle and Head of Advice Dan Daly.

12pm: What’s right for you? Custom versus bespoke App stacks for accountancy practices

As more clients look to get better use out of technology and seek the support of accountants and bookkeepers the big question for firms is do we look to offer custom or bespoke solutions to our clients.

Should we get to know one product in each category and learn it inside out or ensure we can offer a broad choice to meet the specific requirements on a client by client basis? Frances Kay will facilitate a lively panel discussion on the pros and cons of each approach in an attempt to find out if there is after all a right or wrong approach.

Join Will Farnell as he chats to Graeme Morrison, Director of Empowered by Cloud, Miranda Kendall, Director of EMEA at Spotlight Reporting, and Lara Brennan, UK Head of SMEs at Mazars.

1pm: KYC to RKYC - Automate and Humanise your R(really)KYC Process

Know You Customer (KYC) probably gets you thinking about risk and AML, rightly so as we have regulatory requirements to meet. Yet, KYC provides us a unique opportunity to get to understand our client and a broader range of services to meet their specific needs.

In this session, Will Farnell will discuss how we move from KYC to Really Know Your Customer - RKYC. Joined by James Ashford, Vice President of GoProposal, and two accountants in practice, the session will explore how we automate the routine but humanise the part of the process that lets us get deep into the objectives of not only the business but also the business owner. This is a not to be missed session!

2pm: Unlock the power of bookkeeping automation

We all know that advisory starts with great compliance and, if we control the quality of bookkeeping data, we can have more meaningful discussions with clients. With the abundance of tools now available to make bookkeeping more automated than ever before, why isn't it getting easier and more profitable?

This session will explore practical strategies to make bookkeeping automation work better in your practice.

In this panel will be Rowan Van Tromp, Senior Services Manager of Karbon and Director of App Advisory Plus, Jo Wood, Director of Jo Wood Virtual FD Ltd, and Sabby Gill, CEO of Dext (Prepare, Precision, Commerce)

3pm: Save hours of App research time and upskill your entire team with AAP

App Advisory Plus was designed and built by the owners of Farnell Clarke as a means of saving time when researching Apps for your firm of your clients. The choice of technology available leads to overwhelm and AAP allows you to filter down your software choices quickly and efficiently.

In this session, Frances Kay will highlight a number of use cases to save you time and money, as well as providing ways to generate new revenue by helping clients find, evaluate and implement new technology.

Accountex is free to attend, as are every one of our sessions! Pop to our stand as well, no. 1671, where we will be demoing the App Advisory Plus website.