The Naked Accountant

A series of ramblings on how we built flinder and the lessons along the way | The only newsletter dedicated to growing an outsourced finance function 🚀

M&AM&A

Time kills deals. So why do so many acquirers leave sellers waiting?

Weeks of radio silence, details that shift without warning, and overly enthusiastic claims - the M&A process has a communication problem, and it’s costing sellers and buyers alike.

Alastair Barlow

FaaSFaaS

3-week reporting cycles are a choice - why not aim for a zero-day close (part 2)?

If you’re here without having read Part 1 on zero-day closes, I’d recommend you start there. Here we’re picking up where that newsletter left off.

Alastair Barlow

FaaSFaaS

3-week reporting cycles are a choice - why not aim for a zero-day close (part 1)?

No firm wants to scramble around every month-end close. flinder’s close process worked so much better for us and our clients. Here’s part one of how that looked.

Alastair Barlow

Brand & marketingBrand & marketing

What 100+ speaking events have taught me about purpose, confidence, and appealing to your audience

After 10 years of interviews, panels, podcasts, and fireside chats, I’ve learned that the best speakers aren’t always the ones who speak most often.

Alastair Barlow

People & TalentPeople & Talent

Why even the best accountants can still lose clients to poor communication

Slow communication is more than annoying; it’s a commercial risk. And responsiveness, on the other hand, can be a competitive advantage.

Alastair Barlow

Artificial IntelligenceArtificial Intelligence

+1+1

4 (more) reasons why AI isn’t replacing accountants soon

AI replacing accountants makes for a great news hook. But from my conversation with Damon Anderson, an independent software analyst, I’m only more convinced that the profession is safer than headlines suggest.

Alastair Barlow

Strategy & GrowthStrategy & Growth

Why customer experience makes a firm more competitive (and how to get it right)

Clients are comparing your firm to the best customer experience they’ve ever had, not just the last accountant they used.

Alastair Barlow

Strategy & GrowthStrategy & Growth

Volume vs value: weighing up two ways to grow a firm

Have you considered that your firm might not need more new clients, but fewer, better ones?

Alastair Barlow

Artificial IntelligenceArtificial Intelligence

Everyone says AI will replace accountants. The economics says otherwise.

The idea that AI will replace accountants ignores some basic economics. The question we should be asking is: what happens to demand when the cost of accounting changes?

Alastair Barlow

Strategy & GrowthStrategy & Growth

Visionary or Integrator: the co-founder dynamic that built flinder, and what you can learn from it

Choosing a co-founder is one of the most important business decisions you’ll make. Here’s what I’ve learned about what makes a good team.

Alastair Barlow

Artificial IntelligenceArtificial Intelligence

GenAI in practice - How firms use AI, featuring Justine Marshall

Why wait for software vendors to ship the features we need? It took Justine Marshall just three weeks to design a client-facing app for her firm. GenAI made that possible.

Alastair Barlow

Artificial IntelligenceArtificial Intelligence

We could be serving agentic clients in five years. What does that mean for firms?

What value can firms and accountants offer when a client has more agents working for them than people? It sounds like a far-off reality, but it could happen sooner than we’d think.

Alastair Barlow