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The profession needs to unlearn the notion that public practice is poorly paid, says the head of accounting at Intuit QuickBooks, Shaye Thyer.
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Accountants ‘miss a trick when it comes to sales’
28 November 2022
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10 minute read
Public practice accountants need to change their mindset around how they are rewarded and become better at selling their services, says the head of accounting at Intuit QuickBooks, Shaye Thyer.
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Speaking on the latest Accountants Daily podcast, Ms Thyer said accountants lacked a skill that could change the game.
“We have a whole bucket of missing capability around sales — asking for the sale, asking to be rewarded for what we do, being really clear about our value proposition and the value that we offer in X service or Y service,” she said.
The price-by-the hour habit had outgrown its usefulness and was storing up trouble for small firms, she said.
“I just can’t hammer enough unlearning and disconnecting from this roll up of hours. It just does not reflect the value of what we do. It never really has.
“It’s so important that we do it because one of the things that just breaks my heart is seeing small firms struggle to attract and retain talent with all of the holistic benefits of working in a small firm — you are a person with a name and a family, and you’re recognised, and you get to work closely with leadership, all those things you do not get in a big firm.
“And there’s this barrier, because as small firms, we see challenges around paying our team enough. It’s tricky.”
Part of the solution might involve greater collaboration between firms at local level, she said.
“What I would love to see is more community from these firms to get together. There’s lots of really, really savvy operators that are doing some of this stuff really well. Get together, share your story, share your struggles, learn from each other, because there are enough clients to go around. And if we can have more firms nurturing their talent, we can all do better work and it helps bring the tide up all together.
“I feel quite panicked by what’s happening in the industry now. Because if we don’t have enough team, we can’t service our clients and we might be in a bit of trouble as a profession.”
But there was an opportunity to “think outside the box”.
“I think we need to unlearn that we were brought up not paid very well in public practice. That’s the first thing because we can’t help but have a little bit of baggage around that and be, ‘Well, I had to work hard when I was an intern or whatever level it was, I worked really hard. And I thought my salary was a bit skinny. So you know, these millennials coming through now they can do some hard work, too.”
“I wish we could sort of wipe the memory on that one — very Men in Black! — and pretend we never learned that because I think it’s actually in the way of us thinking holistically around the value that every team member brings to the firm, to the organisation.”
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