The Naked Accountant
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Strategy & Growth

Strategy & Growth

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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

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

The £8 investment that won us a client (+ other sales plays - part 2)

I’ve heard too many accountants say, “Selling isn’t for me”. But Sales and Marketing are critical functions of any sustainable business. We can’t rely on referrals.

Alastair Barlow

How to convert £3 million in revenue from LinkedIn (+ other sales plays - part 1)

I’ve heard too many accountants say, “Selling isn’t for me”. But Sales and Marketing are critical functions of any sustainable business. We can’t rely on referrals.

Alastair Barlow

We thought we were too cool for timesheets. We were wrong.

I’ll admit that flinder once thought it was too cool for timesheets - until we started using that data in a different, and much more powerful, way.

Alastair Barlow

Why the best goals only last 90 days (an intro to OKRs)

It might sound counterintuitive. But limit your goals in terms of scope and timeframe, and you might find you achieve more thanks to focus and accountability. That’s the logic and value of using OKRs.

Alastair Barlow

Okay, you’ve built a firm. But did you build a business?

Firms need to operate - and earn - like businesses, but many of them don’t. Here’s what the industry’s leading accountants would do to fix that.

Alastair Barlow

Vending machine or butler: how should a ‘firm of the future’ serve its clients?

Accounting is changing. New tech. New ICPs. And new service models. But do firms face a fork in the road — and a decision to make about how they serve clients in the future?

Alastair Barlow

The business case for advisory as AI adoption grows

If AI is a “threat” to traditional accounting. What next? Advisory relies on human intelligence, but AI can help support and improve your delivery.

Alastair Barlow

Looking to grow existing clients? These are the exercises I rate

1 workshop, 2 hours, 3 exercises: an Account Planning Workshop might be one of the fastest and most powerful ways to expand revenue within existing clients. These are the APW exercises I use, and how to run them well.

Alastair Barlow

The one workshop you need to deepen your understanding of clients and help grow the firm

A deep understanding of what clients want and need, today and in the future, is crucial for retention. As is having the proposition(s) to match. Enter: the Account Planning Workshop.

Alastair Barlow

How we built flinder’s advisory-first offer

Advisory was a clear, logical fit for flinder from the start. But building it right took time. We had to learn about clients and earn their trust. So let’s take it back to the beginning: what did we prioritise and why?

Alastair Barlow