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 🚀

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

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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

Strategy & GrowthStrategy & Growth

Why does your firm exist? Two frameworks that helped define purpose at flinder

‘Purpose’ can sound a little fluffy until you see the impact: higher retention, loyal clients, stronger continuity and resilience. Great firms are built on more than technical skill. Here’s my take on how to define your ‘why’.

Alastair Barlow

Strategy & GrowthStrategy & Growth

The importance of saying no, and when to say yes

Most firm owners and founders say ‘yes’ too often when they’re just starting out. I know I did at flinder. But over time, you learn it’s an incredibly expensive habit - and one you need to break.

Alastair Barlow

Artificial IntelligenceArtificial Intelligence

GenAI in practice - How firms use AI, featuring Rob Collings

AI can't do rules-based accounting work - but it can build automated workflows to boost efficiency and accuracy. Here’s how Rob Collings is creating and running an ‘AI-native finance team’ using GenAI.

Alastair Barlow

Artificial IntelligenceArtificial Intelligence

GenAI in practice - How firms use AI, featuring Dave Sellick

Dave Sellick’s building a client-facing data and insights app. Six months in, with no engineering background, he’s got his first clients trialling the MVP. Here’s how he’s done it.

Alastair Barlow