Episode 154: Luke Farren Resources

https://humanisethenumbers.online/episode-154-luke-farren-of-the-modern-firm/

https://vimeo.com/1142378171?fl=ip&fe=ec

1. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm as he talks about his background and time at Cooper Parry.

2. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm. He shares his thoughts on the challenges of change and the need for planning and team buy-in.

3. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm as he discusses the advancement of AI and technology and why the future is positive for the accounting profession.

https://humanisethenumbers.online/episode-154-luke-farren-of-the-modern-firm/

1. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm. Luke talks about his background – working at a boutique firm that was acquired by Cooper Parry, his time there, and then leaving a well-paid job to launch his technology consultancy business, The Modern Firm.

2. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm. Luke talks about the accountancy profession in an advisory capacity. He shares his thoughts that accountants act as interpreters of the numbers for clients and can also provide high value when they deliver more than compliance work. He talks about the importance of accountants being better at the softer skills, and that technology and AI should not be looking to replace the role of an accountant – it should be an enabler.

3. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm. Luke talks about working in and growing the firm Acclivity, how it was acquired by Cooper Parry, and why this niche boutique firm represented a good acquisition for the Cooper Parry portfolio.

4. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm. Luke shares what he believes are the challenges of managing change. He believes you can have the best technology and the best operating model but, if you do not have the buy-in of your team, to quote Luke, 'it's not worth the paper it's written on.'

For any change to be successful, you have to have the full buy-in of your team. If you try to push change on them, they will likely push back. If you take them with you, you are much more likely to succeed.

5. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm. Doug and Luke chat about the role of Private Equity firms and how their acquisition programme will play out over the next five years or so.

Luke believes that acquisitions will continue to happen and shares what he thinks are the positives (innovation, large budgets) and the negatives (people matter less and become part of a machine, decisions take longer, less agility). He goes into more detail – by his own admission 'walking a tightrope', as it might be great for one firm and not so great for another.

6. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm. Luke shares how he came to make the decision to start The Modern Firm, and how he felt he was probably unemployable anywhere else. He talks about the concept of The Modern Firm being in existence for about four years, but that now felt like the right time to actually set it up. He shares what led him to that decision with a mortgage and a young family.

7. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm. Luke talks about some of the frustrations of the accounting profession when it comes to not embracing or adopting tech or AI sooner. He describes many (not all) accountants as having been 'asleep at the wheel' for the last 20 years and being slow to adapt and change. However, many seem to have suddenly woken up because of the pace of the change in technology and the rapid adoption of AI.

He shares a story of a prospect he spoke to recently who is still running everything off Excel spreadsheets, so he recognises there is still work to be done.

8. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm. Luke shares why it is important to adapt and be agile in a rapidly changing environment. Accountants are always in search of perfection, but Luke encourages embracing the fear and failing fast – if something does not work, try again. Doug describes this as 'version one is better than version none'.

9. Listen to this Humanise The Numbers podcast with Luke Farren of The Modern Firm. Luke shares his thoughts on the future of the accountancy profession and his business, The Modern Firm. He has reasons to feel optimistic about both and believes it's an exciting time with lots of opportunities.

https://humanisethenumbers.online/episode-154-luke-farren-of-the-modern-firm/

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Here is a soundbite of the interview with Luke