The Profitable Accountant Podcast

This week I'm back from a week in the mountains of Oman. And I want to show you how AI has completely changed the gap between having an idea and actually getting it done. Inside this episode you'll discover: How I recorded an ad on a hotel balcony and had it edited, approved and ready to upload before the end of the day Why I no longer wait 10 days to 3 weeks for an editor to turn work around The...

This week, I share the message I gave my managers in a meeting yesterday. AI can now do most of what we do day to day in an accounting firm. The real challenge isn’t the technology. It’s getting your team to use it. I break down: The DOCTORS framework Claude helped me build for sales calls, and why prescription without diagnosis is malpractice Why accountants keep giving away free advice on sales...

In this episode, I lift the lid on something I haven’t enjoyed admitting. The Google enquiries that built Capture Accounting have taken a nosedive. So I’m doing something I’ve avoided recommending to accountants for years. Running paid ads again. I break down: Why our enquiries dropped from 5 to 7 a week to just 1 or 2 in the last 6 months Why SEO isn’t dead, it’s become search everywhere optimisa...

This week, I'm tackling something every firm owner hears on repeat. "We're busy." But busy doing what? And is it productive busy, or inefficient busy? I break down: Why timesheets won't tell you who's really productive (and what will) The revenue allocation tracker we use to split every client fee across the team The exact percentages we give each role, starting with 35% to the client manager The...

In this episode, I share a conversation I had with a coaching client this week that took me straight back to my PwC days. A firm still billing every client from timesheets, and losing up to 2 days a month just deciding what to invoice. With the owner stuck as the pricing bottleneck. I break down: Why billing by the hour means the faster AI makes you, the less you get paid What my PwC days taught m...

In this episode, I share what's been happening inside my firm this week. A hiring decision, a tough conversation about accountability, and a simple AI idea that could change how your firm reviews work. I break down: Why your average performance drops to the level of your lowest performer What tolerating mediocre work quietly does to your best people Why you should strip a process back to the bare...

This week, three people left my firm within weeks of each other. A client manager. An onboarding manager who didn't last two months. A bookkeeping manager. All while we're trying to grow. So I got dragged back into the one thing I try hardest to stay out of: hiring. I break down: Why you will only ever have two real problems in your firm, no matter how big you get The reason finding good people fe...

In this episode, I give my take on the Xero advert that set the whole profession off last week. The one where an influencer said she'd stopped paying her accountant £800 a month because she'd connected her cloud accounting. I'm not angry about it. I think it's a useful mirror. I break down: Why the software houses were never really "accountant first", and why that shouldn't surprise anyone The rea...

This week I'm talking about the pillar most firm owners ignore until it starts costing them money. People. I've just got back from two and a half weeks in South Africa, and the firm carried on perfectly well without me. That doesn't happen by accident. But I'm not going to pretend it's all perfect. We've had people leave because they couldn't handle their roles, we're recruiting again, and we're p...

In this episode I sit down in a Southampton studio with Alex Norian of IWN Accountancy. Five years ago he was made redundant, had no savings, a newborn daughter and a wife who had stopped working. He's now on track for seven figures in his fifth year of trading, with a team of 12 and not a single office. Inside this episode you'll discover: Why being made redundant in the middle of a pandemic turn...

This week, I'm talking about something I rarely cover on here. Not how to win clients. How to keep them. We spend so much time obsessing over pricing, positioning and winning new work that we forget the thing that quietly makes or breaks a firm: whether our existing clients stay, and whether they shout about us to everyone they know. I break down: Why "we get their stuff in on time" is the bare mi...

In this episode, I'm talking about the thing that stops more accountants from winning clients than any lack of skill ever will. Fear. Specifically, the fear of putting yourself out there. Sending the message. Posting the content. Being seen. I've just finished a 10 week accelerator cohort, and the last two weeks were all about activation, which meant outreach. I hadn't realised quite how hard peop...

In this episode, I'm back after a few weeks off, walking along the beach in Fareham on a 28 degree UK evening. And I explain exactly why the podcast disappeared. It wasn't discipline. It was friction. I break down: The real reason I stopped recording for weeks (and why it had nothing to do with motivation) The four criteria every habit needs before it will ever stick Why environment design beats w...

This week, I'm tackling a question I get asked more than almost any other. Which social media platform should you actually be on? And what on earth should you post once you're there? I break down: Why a podcast feels lonely while social media doesn't, and what that taught me about marketing The reason it now takes 7 or 8 touch points before someone trusts you enough to get in touch Why "when you c...

In this episode, I share how AI is transforming the way I work, market, create content, build systems, follow up with prospects, and even prepare accounts and tax returns. More importantly, I explain what this means for accountants and firm owners. Inside this episode you'll discover: ✅ Why I believe many accountants are still only scratching the surface of AI ✅ How I'm using Claude to save hour...

This week, I’m diving into one of the biggest bottlenecks inside accounting firms. Pricing. More specifically, why most accountants are still pricing from gut feel, comparing themselves to firms that also don’t know how to price properly, and unknowingly leaving huge amounts of value on the table. I break down: • Why charging by the hour makes less sense than ever in the AI era • Why your real val...

In this episode, I go from talking about loneliness as a firm owner… to where AI is rapidly taking the accounting profession. I share my thoughts on: • Why most accountants still feel stuck despite working harder than ever • How joining the right community changes your standards and beliefs • Why human relationships still matter in an AI world • The real reason some firms grow fast whilst others s...

  In this episode, I break down what actually moves the needle in your firm. The fundamentals that drive money, time, and freedom. You’ll discover: → Why AI only works when you have a proper system behind it → The 3 core systems every firm must build first → How to attract high-quality clients without relying on referrals → Why pricing systems unlock serious profit (especially with existing c...

In this episode, I’m recording from a different setup (back in the car, like the old days), and it got me thinking about how much environment shapes how we show up. But the real topic today is something I see holding so many accountants back… Money mindset. If you’re struggling to raise your prices, it’s rarely about tactics. It’s about belief. I break down why we project our own views about money...

Inside this episode: Why you don’t need to be “special” to build a freedom firm The real skills that actually grow a business (hint: not accounting) How AI is changing everything and why now is the best time to build The hiring ladder and how to buy back your time step by step The trap of chasing too many ideas (and how to stay focused) Why most accountants are racing to the bottom… and how to avo...

In this episode, I share what’s really been going on behind the scenes. From building software to running accelerators, and how AI has completely changed the way I work, build, and deliver results. This one is raw. Practical. And a glimpse into where things are heading. You’ll discover: → How I’ve used AI to help accountants generate leads within weeks, not months → Why knowing what “good” looks l...

In this episode, I share what I’ve been building over the past few weeks and why it’s completely changed how I see business, software, and even entire professions. I’ve gone from zero coding knowledge to building a full SaaS product in a matter of days. And it’s opened my eyes. You’ll discover: → Why the AI hype is not hype at all and what most people are getting wrong. → The different levels of A...

In this episode, I share how I think about KPIs in my own firm, what I measure, what I ignore, and why most firms are still tracking the wrong things. You’ll discover: → Why I believe KPIs should help you make better decisions, not just create more admin. → Why I don’t believe timesheets tell you anything useful. → How I think about measuring team output and capacity properly. → The revenue alloca...

In this episode, I’m sharing how AI is changing the game for accountancy firm owners and why I genuinely think the firms that lean into it now will have a huge advantage over the ones that don’t. I also give you a bit of a behind-the-scenes update on life in Qatar, what’s been going on over here lately, and how that has affected my routine over the last few weeks. I’ll walk you through: 💥 How I’v...

In this episode, I break down the real reason most accountants stay stuck on low fees. It is not your market. It is not your clients. It is your pricing confidence. I share a simple story from home that proves the point. If you do not ask for a higher price, you will never get it. You’ll discover: → Why pricing is emotional first, logical second → How your self belief sets your fee ceiling → The q...