Episode 153: Gareth Burton Resources

https://humanisethenumbers.online/episode-153-gareth-burton-chief-impact-officer-and-auditor/

https://vimeo.com/1142363010?fl=ip&fe=ec

1. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK, as he talks about the importance of KPIs.

2. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK, as he shares his journey towards becoming a niche pension auditor.

3. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK. Gareth discusses the importance of spending money on marketing and then sticking with it.

https://humanisethenumbers.online/episode-153-gareth-burton-chief-impact-officer-and-auditor/

1. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK. Gareth shares his journey – from working with the Big 4 audit firms, to establishing his own pension audit firm and then his own accountancy firm. He talks about his passion for pensions, finding a niche, and wanting to run a business that was not boom or bust.

2. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK. Gareth shares the importance of the humans behind the numbers, whether this is your team or your clients, and why it's all about the close relationships, timeliness, communication, understanding, and listening. He stressed the importance of never forgetting that businesses are run by people.

3. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK. Gareth talks about the value of empathy, putting yourself in another person's shoes and taking the time to look at the view from where your clients are.

4. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK. Gareth talks about the importance of knowing your own value and ensuring that what you're delivering is hitting the spot and is of value to your clients. In his own firm, he did this by getting – and listening to – feedback, working very closely at the beginning with clients to gain an understanding of their pain points, delivering a hassle-free service, and ensuring they had the appropriate technical knowledge.

5. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK. Gareth shares that he is a naturally curious person, wanting to constantly learn. This curiosity led him to have a great coach who showed him 12 strategies, which he still refers to today, the most important one being to make time for life.

This then resonated with how hard he was working at the time and the comments his godfather made when he came to stay with him.

6. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK. Marketing is something that Gareth takes seriously and he admits that he probably invests in it more than most accountants. But he talks about the work involved compared to the reward, and feels that you have to do much more than you think and then stick with it. He talks about why, even if you don't think it's working, you should not give up, as most people give up too quickly. Try it, adjust, and go again.

7. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK. When it comes to having client conversations about what things to measure, Gareth talks about the key things that provoke those conversations. These include new business, an emergency fund, client satisfaction, employee satisfaction/employee engagement, amount invoiced, and cash collection. This led his firm to implement the 'Profit First Methodology', which Gareth discusses in more detail.

8. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK. Gareth and Doug talk about working lean – refining and improving your systems and processes. Gareth also shared the changes he wants to make to their offices to improve the environment for the team.

9. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Gareth Burton, Chief Impact Officer at Progress Accountants and Auditor at Assure UK. Gareth shares his thoughts on the profession as it is now and how it serves small businesses, as well as the future of the profession, including the implications of AI and MTD.

His general belief is that most accountants don't charge enough and are too busy. He does feel, however, that accountancy is a lucky profession. It is in a privileged position to view the rise of AI and the introduction of MTD as a massive opportunity to let the tech do a lot of the work so they can deliver higher value advisory services, develop better relationships with clients, and charge more for that.

https://humanisethenumbers.online/episode-153-gareth-burton-chief-impact-officer-and-auditor/

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Here is a soundbite of the interview with Gareth