It's all about relationships... isn't it? || PLUS App News, Allica Bank, FreeAgent - sponsored by XLedger

[00:00:00] A lot of accountants have lost that relationship with their local bank manager. 47% of people don't feel confident at all talking about business banking with their clients. Only 8% said they proactively talk to their clients about business banking. Getting in contact with relationship managers has become harder.

[00:00:16] Someone said that business coaches are better than accountants of business advisory.

[00:00:21] The MTD for income tax thresholds are dropping down to 20,000.

[00:00:26] A year or two ago, the gap was around 3 billion, but they see it as much more than 10 billion at the moment.

[00:00:32] Mimo have released their get paid feature.

[00:00:35] AMLHQ, launched in the UK.

[00:00:37] A few releases from Plio.

[00:00:39] Cruel Maps, partner structure change. There is now a tiered process ranging from 0% to 30%.

[00:00:45] We're celebrating the UK winners of the Xero Beautiful Business Fund 2024.

[00:00:50] More things from the Xero App Store love doing these bits. Probably bored John and Indi.

[00:00:54] But I'm going to do it anyway before they block me or mute me.

[00:00:59] The gap has now connected into Xero and is listed on the Xero App Store.

[00:01:04] It's a system called Accrete, called Waylog, Memtime, Penfold.

[00:01:08] We want to become the most recommended business bank in the UK.

[00:01:11] And to do that, we know we've got to work really closely with accountants.

[00:01:14] Talk to me more about why you think we're seeing multi-banking becoming much more prevalent in the marketplace.

[00:01:19] Nationally, a huge number of SMEs have been debanked or had their accounts frozen.

[00:01:24] In 2023, over 140,000 businesses had their bank accounts closed, which is just staggering.

[00:01:32] Hello and welcome to another episode of the DigiTools and Accrual podcast brought to you by the Digital Disruptors.

[00:01:38] We've got a fun-packed show, as always, and lots to pack in.

[00:01:42] But a quick shout out to Xledger, who are sponsoring this episode.

[00:01:47] And just in case anyone's not familiar with Xledger, they are a cloud-based finance solution,

[00:01:51] empowering business process outsourcers to enhance their efficiency, scalability,

[00:01:57] and client satisfaction with advanced automation, real-time analytics, and enterprise-grade security.

[00:02:02] By streamlining operations and providing expert support,

[00:02:06] Xledger enables firms to deliver high value services and strengthen client relationships.

[00:02:10] So we highly recommend that you check them out.

[00:02:13] We have, of course, got the usual app news as well in this episode.

[00:02:16] So we've got news and updates from Mimo, from Plio, from ApprovalMax and Xero.

[00:02:20] And we're talking about the relationships in this episode.

[00:02:23] So we've got a little bit of an interview that I did with Sophie from Alica,

[00:02:28] covering accountant and the bank manager relationships and why those are so important.

[00:02:32] We're also speaking to Drew Moyes from Free Agent.

[00:02:35] And he caught up with Indy after our recent awards and talked about community and connection as a friendly app,

[00:02:40] because, of course, they are the friendliest app award winners and have been for a few years now.

[00:02:47] And Ryan recently saw something interesting on this thing too.

[00:02:50] So, Ryan, tell us all about it.

[00:02:52] Well, I had something which was brought to my attention, which I was like, that's surely insane.

[00:02:58] Someone said that business coaches are better than accountants of business advisory because they motivate,

[00:03:04] they flatter and they change people's mindsets.

[00:03:07] I was like, what?

[00:03:08] I heard this before.

[00:03:09] Surely, I'm not calling you Shirley.

[00:03:12] Surely, accountants can do the same.

[00:03:14] But maybe we're too straight-laced.

[00:03:17] Maybe we're too factual and we should be, I don't know, more charming.

[00:03:21] What do you think, John?

[00:03:22] Are you charming?

[00:03:23] Oh, gosh.

[00:03:24] Who knows?

[00:03:24] I mean, I've met a few business coaches and I would completely agree with the sentiment that they are incredibly good at people motivation in terms of holding people to account,

[00:03:34] to get them into the right frame of mind, to run a business and develop it and to focus on the strategic objectives.

[00:03:39] But having said that, I think also sometimes where they tend to fail is around the other business requirements,

[00:03:48] not just finance, but also other things in the periphery that maybe as an accountant you become a bit more exposed to.

[00:03:54] But I do think it's a personality thing.

[00:03:56] And I do think in general, because coaches probably have a little bit more of a challenge to sell themselves,

[00:04:01] they tend to be quite good at selling themselves into a business and sort of demonstrating how they can make an impact with an entrepreneur or with a business in particular.

[00:04:08] And of course, we know that most accountants are pretty terrible at selling themselves.

[00:04:12] So I think there's some merits that argument, but equally, I think that's a challenge for us accountants, right?

[00:04:16] If that's an area we want to get into in coaching, developing that kind of good old advisory conversation,

[00:04:24] then maybe that's something we should be focusing ourselves on in terms of how do we make that better.

[00:04:30] I like this topic because I've had many business coaches and I can safely say that to me,

[00:04:36] I don't find them anywhere near the same sort of role as accountants.

[00:04:40] And I can't speak to what the accountant in an advisory position wants to achieve.

[00:04:47] But I guess that what my expectation is of a business coach is exactly what you said, John.

[00:04:52] There is a personal element to it.

[00:04:54] There is some sense of accountability to myself and being able to achieve certain conversations

[00:05:00] that would help me unlock my own thinking where it comes to working with partners,

[00:05:07] working with business partners in the company, colleagues,

[00:05:11] things that maybe are driving my behavior or not optimized for the business,

[00:05:18] you know, at the stage that it's in.

[00:05:21] But again, I see that as entirely different from working with an accountant in an advisory capacity,

[00:05:28] in particular where it comes to solving like a particular issue around compliance

[00:05:33] or how I could use a better piece of software that would help me capture that data

[00:05:38] or book something that then is better from a tax perspective.

[00:05:42] I don't think I'd ever go to my business coach for that because I don't think they would know it.

[00:05:47] So I think that's really interesting because it depends what in that post,

[00:05:51] I think all the questions that you're asking is very much anchored to like,

[00:05:55] yeah, the motivational side only.

[00:05:57] And then it's more like elements of style because obviously if you had an accountant

[00:06:04] that say like is really like hyper-motivating as a personality, then yeah, great.

[00:06:10] But I don't think that that's most accountants role and they didn't sign up for that in the first place.

[00:06:15] So that's, you know, takes a specific type of person anyway.

[00:06:18] Have you ever used a business coach?

[00:06:20] I have not used a business coach myself.

[00:06:23] And I think, well, to this day, I've always been an employee.

[00:06:27] So I've never used an accountant as a business advisor either.

[00:06:30] Well, I guess I've asked John the odd question.

[00:06:33] So I think my aspect on this is that, yes, I think you are 100% right, India.

[00:06:38] I think where accountants are is they're probably evolving more into a bit of coaching.

[00:06:42] And there is a bit more overlap.

[00:06:44] And I agree.

[00:06:46] We're probably more of challenging on the strategy and on the finance.

[00:06:50] Probably more there to ask the challenging questions rather than motivate.

[00:06:55] And I don't think we should change that.

[00:06:57] I think that's, you know, our sweet spot.

[00:06:59] And definitely if it's finance related, it should be us and it shouldn't be a business coach.

[00:07:03] But there's definitely a way for both parties to work together.

[00:07:07] So, no, very good question that was posed.

[00:07:09] And hopefully we've done it justice by trying to answer it.

[00:07:13] I will also say that I have probably spent more money on business coaches in my entire life.

[00:07:18] You know, not me personally, but my companies probably have spent more money on that.

[00:07:23] Which I'm not saying is right.

[00:07:25] But coaches do ask equally challenging questions.

[00:07:28] It's just that they're anchored slightly differently.

[00:07:32] I guess that I would expect the accountant advisory or anything that's a challenging question that comes.

[00:07:39] It's not just pertaining to me as an individual, but the company.

[00:07:43] And I guess in that sense, like the business coach is very much for the individual.

[00:07:48] I don't know that there's a business coach or worse at our company administrative level.

[00:07:54] And maybe that's the point that is the role that the accountant should play is, you know, yeah, you have a business coach for you as an individual, but for a company level, if you want to do it justice.

[00:08:04] And you need a type of coach that is specialized in being able to hyper-optimize your company in the same way that a coach does at the individual level.

[00:08:17] And I guess if that's what we're talking about, then it's more of a mentoring type of relationship, I guess, to a degree then, isn't it?

[00:08:22] In terms of we're talking about helping an individual sort of set objectives to be accountable, et cetera.

[00:08:28] And whilst that has a business impact, you know, that is very different from, I guess, the kind of advisory relationship that an accountant would want to have.

[00:08:35] Because that does tend to be typically more with the business or with the business owners and not necessarily amongst the wider management team, which I guess would preclude certain people.

[00:08:45] Well, anyway, I'm really keen to hear more back from everyone else on, you know, anyone that's employed a business coach or has perhaps had for their own firm even used services in terms of accounting advisory to get that same optimization.

[00:09:01] It's very interesting.

[00:09:02] And obviously, we've got an array of different listeners.

[00:09:04] So if you've got perspective, then please share it with us.

[00:09:08] But thanks for the disruptive topic of the week, Ryan.

[00:09:13] And we'll kick on to that news.

[00:09:19] So I have an interesting update off the back of the budget the other day, which was that the MTD for income tax thresholds are dropping down to 20,000 in the future.

[00:09:31] So that's what's been predicted.

[00:09:33] So for anyone that didn't know, you know, just to remind everyone that we had an initial bracket of anyone with income above 50,000 was going to be in the first wave of MTD for income tax.

[00:09:43] Then that was going to decrease down to 30,000.

[00:09:46] It's now going to decrease down to 20,000.

[00:09:50] And there were some numbers that were released alongside this by HMRC, which included kind of like an impact statement, if you like.

[00:09:57] Plenty of question marks around things like how many sole traders, partnerships, et cetera, are already using software, which we'll maybe come back to in a future episode.

[00:10:06] But really interesting to see that effectively what HMRC are expecting is that almost a million additional people are going to be caught by these changes.

[00:10:17] It's 943,000, which will bring the total amount of people caught by MTD for income tax up to 2.7 million, just above 2.7 million.

[00:10:29] And, you know, that's a fairly significant number.

[00:10:31] There's half a million landlords in there, plus another 300,000 landlords who also have a self-employment on the side.

[00:10:39] But obviously it's not too surprising.

[00:10:41] The vast majority of people are those who have some sort of self-employment.

[00:10:44] Interestingly, well, at least for me, the number showed that there were nearly a million people who have an income of only between 10 and 20,000 who have a sole trader business.

[00:10:58] And it's like, well, yeah, surely that's not worth having, is it?

[00:11:01] If you're only bringing in 10 to 20,000, it's a very small number.

[00:11:05] But, yeah, interesting times.

[00:11:07] The numbers with agents were also a little bit all over the place.

[00:11:09] So probably not too surprisingly, the larger you are as a sole trader or a landlord, the more likely it is you can have an agent.

[00:11:17] So around about 76% of people have an agent at the very high brackets of 50,000 or above.

[00:11:22] When you're in the 20 to 30,000 bracket, it's down to 60% of people got agents.

[00:11:27] So I guess what that shows is like, you know, yes, it's going to have a big impact in terms of overall numbers.

[00:11:32] But maybe for accountants, bookkeepers, there's a bigger opportunity here because we're saying that, you know, in that smaller bracket,

[00:11:38] there's another 40% of the market potentially might need our services and a larger market,

[00:11:44] about another 24% need our services potentially if they're willing to engage with us.

[00:11:48] And I know that there's been some interesting conversations in some of the groups that have been in around,

[00:11:52] how do we start thinking about pricing for MTD for income tax,

[00:11:55] given that we're going to be moving to this quarterly reporting and then obviously, you know,

[00:11:59] the end of year reporting, which will be the tax return and final submission

[00:12:03] and thinking about what does a good structure and a good price for that mean?

[00:12:08] So plenty of food for thought, I think, for a lot of accountants, bookkeepers over the next few months.

[00:12:13] Yep.

[00:12:14] It's good that they've not tweaked or changed it again on the rollout.

[00:12:17] Thank goodness it's saying the same.

[00:12:20] But no, it creates more opportunity, but probably more cost and compliance for small business again,

[00:12:25] which is a frustration for many as we've been rolling through this process.

[00:12:30] How does it work from the software perspective for those really small end of clients that you're talking about?

[00:12:38] Because with that type of pricing, are you then not just looking at the advisory piece for the MTD,

[00:12:46] but also in terms of the software that they're currently using?

[00:12:50] Most of those businesses tend to use things that are free.

[00:12:53] And we saw that with Coconut, where they only really used the software because it was free for them.

[00:12:58] They did not want to pay anything.

[00:13:00] And as a result of the delay, Coconut went pop.

[00:13:04] So what's the...

[00:13:06] Well, something I guess that Sage did brilliantly was hot on the heels of this announcement from, I guess, the budget.

[00:13:15] They reiterated that they are committed to their free product for tiny businesses.

[00:13:21] They didn't use the word tiny.

[00:13:22] They used a better word, but I can't remember what it was.

[00:13:26] So they're basically saying, look, if you want something, you can come to us.

[00:13:30] It's free.

[00:13:31] I believe the filing element might not be, but don't hold me to that.

[00:13:36] But yeah, essentially businesses can use a Sage product and manage their records digitally for free.

[00:13:43] Yeah, I think, as you say, Andy, it's quite well known that the smaller you are,

[00:13:48] probably the more likely you are to lean towards a freemium kind of products.

[00:13:52] Yeah.

[00:13:53] And as Ryan said, you know, we've got Sage in the mix.

[00:13:55] Free Agent, obviously, if you've got a Metal account, are also in the mix.

[00:13:58] You know, they're products free.

[00:14:00] And no doubt we'll probably see a few more pieces of software spring up and things.

[00:14:04] And yeah, I mean, I guess the question for a small sole trader who's maybe turning over £21,000 is like,

[00:14:13] is it worth you spending, I don't know, £10 a month on a zero subscription or something else?

[00:14:19] Does them remain compliant?

[00:14:20] And how do you balance that off against what you might then pay an accountant or put keeper to do that?

[00:14:26] Because, you know, I guess if we're saying that 40% of people in that very lowest bracket already don't have an accountant,

[00:14:33] so that you could imply from that that they don't value paying for that kind of service.

[00:14:39] How are we going to convince them to pay a bit more and how are we going to get them to do something?

[00:14:44] But they are going to have to be compliant because they're going to have to have some way of providing these quarterly updates

[00:14:48] because you can't go through the HMRC portal.

[00:14:51] So something's going to have to give there.

[00:14:52] They're going to have to find something.

[00:14:54] Whether that improves quality and achieves the aims of what MTD is ultimately about, really difficult to say.

[00:15:00] But I think there's been probably a fairly big question mark over the impact that MTD for personal tax is going to have

[00:15:06] when we know that the tax gap is actually in the corporation tax space and that's what needs to be addressed.

[00:15:12] You were just talking exactly about the debate I had with my brother, who I rarely see on the weekend,

[00:15:18] who works for the revenue.

[00:15:19] And again, it was to that point because obviously most of this is in corporation taxes

[00:15:25] where the money is to be made from HMRC's perspective.

[00:15:29] That gap has grown substantially.

[00:15:32] So he was talking to me about how actually where maybe a year or two ago,

[00:15:37] the gap was being declared around $3 billion, but they see it as much more like $10 billion at the moment.

[00:15:43] And I think just one final point on that is like, you know,

[00:15:46] the reality is that the extension of MTD for VAT, the logical place for you to go next with that

[00:15:52] would have been to corporate taxpaying businesses.

[00:15:55] Because even if they are, you know, even if they're smaller and potentially under the gap threshold,

[00:15:59] quite a lot of them will voluntarily register.

[00:16:02] And also just they were talking about an extension just of a reporting regime that would work.

[00:16:08] Right. Okay.

[00:16:09] On to something a little bit more positive.

[00:16:10] So we're celebrating the UK winners of the Zero Beautiful Business Fund 2024.

[00:16:15] There were four categories that the winners ran across.

[00:16:19] So it was upskilling for the future, innovating for sustainability,

[00:16:22] strengthening community connection and trailblazing with technology.

[00:16:26] And the initiative provides more than 350,000 funding globally to all of the small business customers

[00:16:33] across the UK, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the US.

[00:16:37] There were 28 overall winners and there were four in each country.

[00:16:41] And then the entry was roughly 90 seconds long.

[00:16:45] It was a video entry and they spoke.

[00:16:47] The entries required the businesses to talk about how they would use the funding to support the future business goals.

[00:16:53] I'm super excited to see that some of the ones that went through had won 10,000 in funding each in the UK.

[00:17:00] And the CodeZone, which was one of the four global prize winners, won an additional 25,000.

[00:17:10] So the CodeZone was one of those that focuses on teaching valuable coding and computing skills to children aged six and upwards

[00:17:17] through online and in-person coding clubs.

[00:17:19] It's an interactive platform that's got lots of games and they are tailored to help all of those younger members develop key digital skills

[00:17:31] and gain confidence with that.

[00:17:33] And there was innovating for environmental sustainability.

[00:17:36] The winner was Capta and mother and son, Duo, who dedicated the businesses transforming material waste into new opportunities.

[00:17:44] So they collected offcuts, leftover pieces, say from fashion and interior designs, textile weavers and mills,

[00:17:52] and then repurposed them into new products like notebooks, bags and sleep moths.

[00:17:56] With that, they've been able to prevent more than 10,000 meters of fabric from entering landfills.

[00:18:02] And then they've also started tackling an even bigger challenge around post-consumer waste

[00:18:08] in terms of an AI system that can automatically detect garment composition and enable more effective recycling in the UK.

[00:18:17] And then Primary Care, who was the winner of the trailblazing with technology.

[00:18:21] Primary Care International is a social enterprise to enable people-centered, integrated primary healthcare.

[00:18:28] And so it's something that's not only for equipping healthcare workers with skills and resources,

[00:18:34] but they create learning opportunities to bridge the healthcare gap between the lower resource and the high income settings.

[00:18:41] And then finally, strengthening the community connection was Artworks in South Yorkshire.

[00:18:47] It's a not-for-profit creative arts organization helping inspiring adults with learning disabilities

[00:18:55] to reach their potential and providing opportunities to participate in workshops run by creatives

[00:19:01] and helps those who have learning disabilities and autism celebrate their own creativity.

[00:19:09] So well done to all those winners.

[00:19:11] Yeah, I love the beautiful business fund that Xero's done.

[00:19:16] And I think long may it continue.

[00:19:19] I have something from Mimo, Money In, Money Out.

[00:19:24] Since, I think, April this year, they've purely been focusing on Money Out.

[00:19:30] They were, I guess, nicknamed Mo.

[00:19:32] But now they have Money In in place.

[00:19:34] They have released their Get Paid feature.

[00:19:36] So they can, I guess, completely acknowledge their full name.

[00:19:40] So what works with the Money In phase, the Get Paid element,

[00:19:46] is you can connect it to Xero QuickBooks.

[00:19:49] It will suck in your invoices and then you can send them out via WhatsApp or email

[00:19:53] and request instant payments through that, including a flexible pay later element.

[00:19:59] You know, Mimo from the payments outside had this flexible way of working

[00:20:04] so that if you didn't have the funds, you could essentially loan money to pay it,

[00:20:08] obviously for a fee.

[00:20:10] Now from the money coming in, you can also offer that out to your customers.

[00:20:14] So you can still receive your money, but they are essentially loaning your customer

[00:20:20] to be able to pay you.

[00:20:21] They've then got their Get Paid feature, which is a payment portal.

[00:20:25] So a live digital statement with your supplier, sorry, with you and your customer.

[00:20:31] And that's really good.

[00:20:33] I love the fact that things are moving more towards portals on the small business space.

[00:20:36] You see a lot of this in the larger, I guess, more ERP systems.

[00:20:40] And the fact that we're now getting that in the small business space is something I've been wanting

[00:20:44] for a long time.

[00:20:45] So I'm really grateful that Mimo brought that out.

[00:20:48] They are essentially charging 50p per transaction, but they have said that depending on how you

[00:20:54] collect the money, if you're using a direct debit facility and that's fully integrated,

[00:20:57] such as GoCardless, you're probably going to also suffer their additional fees, maybe around 2%.

[00:21:01] So there is a charge for doing this.

[00:21:04] But if on any of these services it increases the chance of you getting the money in and

[00:21:08] getting it in quicker, then it's always worth looking at because it means you're not paying

[00:21:12] money up further down the line and chasing debt.

[00:21:15] So that's what they brought out.

[00:21:17] Finally, which all of these systems do is they've fully integrated reconciliation.

[00:21:22] So as the money comes in, it will automatically find the invoices that is due to be paying based

[00:21:27] on what's been triggered from the portal side.

[00:21:30] So reconcile it inside Mimo and then push that reconciliation down into your finance system,

[00:21:35] being at the moment, Xero and QuickBooks.

[00:21:38] So I know they promised a lot.

[00:21:40] They're starting to develop this and roll it out.

[00:21:42] And now with both money in and money out, they're focusing on OCR next.

[00:21:47] So yeah, watch out OCR tools.

[00:21:50] I think that's really fascinating and a whole bunch of additional exciting features there,

[00:21:55] Ryan.

[00:21:55] And then I also echo your point in terms of having that kind of portal to see things is

[00:22:00] really interesting because like you say, it's not something we see very often in the kind

[00:22:03] of SME space.

[00:22:04] And I wonder maybe if they've got a view on e-invoicing coming down the track.

[00:22:10] We know that's coming in Europe.

[00:22:12] It's coming in Australia.

[00:22:13] And I don't know what's for the places.

[00:22:14] It's already there in some of those markets.

[00:22:15] And now, of course, we reported recently that it's coming into the UK now that we've got

[00:22:19] this consultation.

[00:22:20] But you can see in some of those other countries that have e-invoicing portals are kind of where

[00:22:25] people are starting to interact with things like this.

[00:22:28] And so maybe this is a really clever advanced move by Mimo to kind of get ahead of the game.

[00:22:32] I would argue it's a really clever way of deploying lending.

[00:22:36] That's what I would argue.

[00:22:38] Because actually, in the past where invoice factoring and financing has not been as widely

[00:22:47] encouraged in some of the accounting sector, there's been many players come and gone.

[00:22:51] And I know firsthand working with ARIX, that's something that from an accounting advisory perspective

[00:22:57] has not been something that's been easy to seed in to most accounting firms.

[00:23:03] What I really respect here is the fact that they have been able to find not just the need

[00:23:11] of accounts receivable on the chasing element, but instead to then say, well, actually, we'll

[00:23:16] just loan you the money because we can see that you're good for it.

[00:23:19] And then you are, in effect, taking a haircut on that.

[00:23:23] But the fact is, you have the cash flow sorted sooner.

[00:23:27] And I think that what they're doing is it's almost redeploying something that should have

[00:23:33] been like there in the first place is part of the makeup of your cash flow.

[00:23:38] But they've just put a new skin on it.

[00:23:41] And I like the way that they've done that.

[00:23:43] And they've badged it around getting, you know, the bit is just around receivables, payables,

[00:23:47] money in, money out.

[00:23:48] We'll do the middle brokerage in effect by also deploying our own balance sheet or capital.

[00:23:55] And then you take a haircut on that because that's what, in effect, what this is.

[00:23:59] And I really think it's clever that they put the technology there around it and have that

[00:24:03] servicing element.

[00:24:04] So it removes the need to have the friction later on and chasing things up.

[00:24:08] Okay, moving on to something slightly different.

[00:24:11] Another launch into the AML space.

[00:24:14] So we have an Irish product called AML HQ launched in the UK in the last few days and effectively

[00:24:21] aimed at accountancy practices.

[00:24:24] Standalone product, you're basically doing all of the sort of standard AML tasks that you'd

[00:24:28] expect.

[00:24:29] So doing ID verification, client and firm wide risk assessments, some alternations around alerts

[00:24:35] and the ability to build and design your own AML policies and procedures within the product.

[00:24:41] These guys are from Dublin originally, so over in Ireland, founded in 2021.

[00:24:45] And the guys behind it have worked in the AML space before and worked for various different

[00:24:50] technology companies in that space.

[00:24:52] And they've already accumulated around about 300 firms across the UK and Ireland.

[00:24:57] And I reckon that they've onboarded about 35,000 clients.

[00:25:00] So not shabby numbers for something that's only been around for about three years.

[00:25:05] But their official launch is now in the UK, even though they've already got a few clients

[00:25:10] over here.

[00:25:11] And yeah, looking to push into this space.

[00:25:14] Pricing starts at £45 a month for firms with up to 100 clients, then builds on top of

[00:25:19] that.

[00:25:19] And pricing is available from the website.

[00:25:22] So it's fairly clear what you're committed to.

[00:25:26] And they've also got included within the platform the ability to do your CPD and cover the essentials

[00:25:32] that you would have in the roles, both for client-facing staff, for non-client-facing

[00:25:37] staff, anyone that's in a dedicated compliance role.

[00:25:39] And I think that's one of the bits that quite often gets missed from some of the other platforms

[00:25:44] that are in this space.

[00:25:46] Of course, they are jumping into a space that's pretty busy at the moment.

[00:25:50] You've got the likes of FirmCheck and Xamler who've been around for a reasonable amount

[00:25:53] of time.

[00:25:54] Probably the market leaders, I would say, in this space.

[00:25:56] And then a whole bunch of others in the periphery doing other things connected to AML, but probably

[00:26:02] not ticking all of the boxes, I would say.

[00:26:04] And then, of course, you've got the ID verification systems as well in the background, but it would

[00:26:09] be very familiar to a lot of accountants.

[00:26:10] So it's a busy place to be, a busy offering.

[00:26:13] I haven't seen the product myself, but some of the screenshots of the product look pretty

[00:26:17] slick and pretty clean.

[00:26:19] At some point in the not-too-distant future, I will try and get a demo and have a bit of

[00:26:23] play around and see what the product's really like and what it's up to.

[00:26:27] Maybe it's one for us to add to the list of products that we might consider in the future.

[00:26:31] A few releases from Plio.

[00:26:33] Single sign-on and the ability to log on through one sign-on.

[00:26:39] They released some things around ensuring the secure access and making it a little bit

[00:26:44] easier for you to set that up.

[00:26:47] You can also track invoices in real time and track the spend with a budget.

[00:26:51] So you'd set up a new budget and then add the associated tag to an invoice to keep a

[00:26:57] track of how much money is left in the pot.

[00:27:00] And then also vendor card enhancement.

[00:27:02] So you can now manage clear vendor cards on the go with the mobile app, just like your

[00:27:08] password, Plio cards and manage yearly subscriptions with annual limits on vendor cards as well.

[00:27:15] So a few little releases from Plio.

[00:27:19] Yeah, I think it's good to see more vendors are now enabling that single sign-on.

[00:27:24] That's becoming more of a mandatory requirement for a lot of accountancy firms.

[00:27:28] So if you are an app listening to this and you do not have single sign-on in place,

[00:27:32] it should be in your roadmap.

[00:27:34] You should have it, put it there, make sure it's prioritized.

[00:27:37] Well, I've got a couple of things.

[00:27:39] I've got firstly, a bit of a reminder about Approval Max.

[00:27:43] So earlier in the year, they would reach out to all of their, I guess, partners, referral

[00:27:48] partners to say the pricing was changing, but the partner structure would also change.

[00:27:53] So instead of what used to be a flat partner discount and a very nice flat partner discount

[00:27:58] at 35%, there is now a tiered process ranging from 0% to 30%.

[00:28:03] That hits in December.

[00:28:05] Alongside this, they're also increasing their subscriptions at the same time by 10%.

[00:28:10] So if you're on an old Approval Max partner agreement, you are going to get doubly hit

[00:28:17] by an annual prize increase and your partner agreement changing.

[00:28:21] So look at the subscription you've got, see what tier you're in, make sure you've communicated

[00:28:25] with your clients because it could be quite a hefty jump to make sure they're comfortable

[00:28:29] with the system and the new functionality it's got because it's rolled out a lot in the last year.

[00:28:35] And they may be using other tools such as Invoice Capture that they might be able to now

[00:28:39] just bring straight into Approval Max because they've got capture and pay elements.

[00:28:45] So worth looking at it.

[00:28:46] Please do.

[00:28:47] More of a reminder than anything new.

[00:28:49] Also, want to jump in with more things from the Xero App Store.

[00:28:52] Love doing these bits.

[00:28:53] Probably bore John and Indy to it, but I'm going to do it anyway before they block me or mute me.

[00:28:59] So there's been a few releases through October.

[00:29:02] Firstly is a system called Accrete, which is a new CRM system, which is focused mostly on

[00:29:07] growing sales rather than, I guess, other marketing elements that you can get in CRM systems.

[00:29:13] You've got a new system called Waylog, which enables businesses to secure working capital

[00:29:18] for the purchase of inventory.

[00:29:20] It's very specific, but we are seeing a lot more finance-based or financing-based apps

[00:29:26] integrate into Xero.

[00:29:28] I know going back a while, so you've kind of blocked these, but it's opened it out.

[00:29:32] You obviously still have to go through the whole tick in the boxes to be registered on the Xero App Store,

[00:29:38] but we are seeing more of these come through.

[00:29:40] So Waylog, if you're in the inventory space and you do need to secure funding,

[00:29:44] it's probably worth exploring this if you use Xero.

[00:29:47] Then got another system called MemTime, which is an automatic time tracking software for Windows,

[00:29:52] Mac, and Linux.

[00:29:54] Now, I love these.

[00:29:55] So if you're working in a web browser, if you're working in emails, you're working on programs,

[00:30:00] or you're doing anything on your calendars, it will essentially automatically log what you've done,

[00:30:04] and then you can use it to put it into whatever system that you're tracking time on.

[00:30:10] I don't know if it integrates into other things apart from just Xero for time tracking.

[00:30:15] Probably I'm going to explore this after this because I love the automatic systems that do this.

[00:30:19] So I know we've got some others in the practice management space,

[00:30:25] I guess, in the accounting area, but I've not come across MemTime before.

[00:30:31] Another one for the UK is Penfold.

[00:30:33] If you've not heard of Penfold, it's a new place for workplace pensions doing something,

[00:30:38] I guess, quite different.

[00:30:39] They're modernizing it.

[00:30:40] We've, I believe, talked about it on the show before.

[00:30:42] If we haven't, we should have.

[00:30:43] I've come across it probably six months ago now, and they finally got onto the Xero App Store.

[00:30:48] So look at that.

[00:30:50] But apart from that, the only other one that I wanted to flag is that the Gap has now connected

[00:30:56] into Xero and is listed on the Xero App Store.

[00:30:58] Now, if you've not heard of the Gap, it's a business advisory platform for accountants.

[00:31:04] I'm not entirely certain why they've integrated into Xero and then registered on the App Store

[00:31:09] because you have to basically take a cut or pay some money to be on the App Store.

[00:31:12] So I'm not entirely sure why they've done that if they're targeting accountants specifically.

[00:31:16] But they're on there.

[00:31:17] If you want to kind of do more with the Gap, then hopefully your data will be sucked out

[00:31:21] of Xero across your client base and you can interact with them through there.

[00:31:26] The inventory funding app sounds quite interesting, but I wonder, you know, is integrating into

[00:31:32] Xero the best place?

[00:31:34] Because I suspect if you've got a reasonable amount of inventory or it's remote complex,

[00:31:38] it's not going to be sitting in Xero due to the lack of capability of the product.

[00:31:42] So you're going to be in an unleashed or a SIN 7 or something like that.

[00:31:46] And I wonder if that product plugs into those platform because that's going to be where the

[00:31:51] detail of your stock holdings and how long you're holding them for and the quantities

[00:31:56] and values is going to be because what you're going to get in Xero is only going to be a very

[00:32:01] sort of high level pieces of information, isn't it?

[00:32:04] Yeah.

[00:32:05] My gut is it's looking at, you know, what is your balance sheet looking like?

[00:32:08] It's sucking in real time data to supposedly create more trust.

[00:32:12] Now that very much depends on how reliable the Xero finance data is.

[00:32:17] I've worked with many accountants.

[00:32:18] It can work so many businesses where it can be from perfect to an absolute waste of time

[00:32:23] to, you know, use it to verify any finance for a business.

[00:32:28] But yeah, that's my gut.

[00:32:30] That's why they'd be integrating.

[00:32:31] But I agree with you, John.

[00:32:32] They probably should be integrating into the inventory management systems as well.

[00:32:36] Yeah.

[00:32:37] Yeah.

[00:32:37] As well as to suck different elements of data down and way log.

[00:32:41] If you are listening to this episode, check it out.

[00:32:45] We can direct you to some of the, some of the, uh, the apps that are important for you.

[00:32:52] Okay.

[00:32:53] So here I am again, delighted to be joined by, uh, Sophie Hassack at the, um, head of partnerships

[00:32:58] at Alica Bank for another, uh, quick, uh, summary of where the banking sector is, how

[00:33:03] Alica are fitting themselves into the, uh, overall SME, uh, banking marketplace and what

[00:33:07] their views are on a bunch of things.

[00:33:09] And this one is going to be covering a recent sort of, uh, set of insights and, and, and,

[00:33:15] uh, detail that came out of an ICAW webinar that, uh, Alica run in association with the

[00:33:19] Institute talking to accountants, chartered accountants in particular, uh, about, uh, how they

[00:33:24] feel about the marketplace, how they feel in particular around talking to their clients.

[00:33:28] Around business banking and some really interesting insights.

[00:33:30] Um, but briefly, I'll just hand over to you, Sophie, you can introduce yourself and, uh,

[00:33:34] and maybe we can dive straight into the key finding that you found, which is all about

[00:33:38] how confident accountants feel when talking to their clients about business banking.

[00:33:42] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:33:43] It's great to be here.

[00:33:44] Thank you, John.

[00:33:44] So one of the main reasons I was asked to join Alica was really to look at how do we

[00:33:49] work with accountants up and down the UK?

[00:33:51] So we want to become the most recommended business bank in the UK.

[00:33:54] And to do that, we know we've got to work really closely with accountants.

[00:33:58] who are advising, supporting and helping their SME clients with a whole array of different

[00:34:02] topics.

[00:34:03] Um, but we're really conscious that over the last 10, 15 years in particular, a lot of

[00:34:09] accountants have lost that relationship with their local bank manager, particularly because

[00:34:14] if they're working in the high street, the high street branch might've closed down.

[00:34:18] The bank manager might've left.

[00:34:19] Getting in contact with relationship managers has become harder and accessing that kind of

[00:34:23] point of contact has become more challenging.

[00:34:26] So our big kind of aim at Alica, particularly with our accounting partnerships team is to

[00:34:31] bring that back.

[00:34:32] So accountants have someone they can talk to, ask questions of, find information from in

[00:34:37] a really easy and accessible way.

[00:34:39] And you're right.

[00:34:40] We ran a webinar with the ICAW a couple of weeks ago, and we like to get feedback.

[00:34:46] We like to ask questions.

[00:34:48] We like to run surveys and polls.

[00:34:50] And the first one we asked was how comfortable and confident are the accountants on the webinar

[00:34:55] with talking about business banking with their clients?

[00:34:57] And over 170 people responded.

[00:35:01] And they're kind of the three key options where they feel very confident.

[00:35:05] They proactively talk to their clients about it.

[00:35:08] They're comfortable.

[00:35:08] The second option was they feel somewhat confident, but they reactively speak to clients.

[00:35:15] So when their client comes to them with a challenge or a problem or a question about banking, then

[00:35:21] they'll have the conversation.

[00:35:22] And then the third option was that they don't feel confident at all and that they've lost

[00:35:26] the contact with their bank manager.

[00:35:28] So they don't actually know really how to approach this conversation with their clients.

[00:35:32] So we asked those, that question, we asked those kind of three points.

[00:35:36] And it was staggering, but perhaps not surprising, but 47% of people on the webinar said they

[00:35:43] don't feel confident at all talking about business banking with their clients.

[00:35:47] And it becomes really hard when you're sitting in a room with somebody and you don't feel

[00:35:53] confident talking about a topic.

[00:35:54] And I understand why.

[00:35:56] And just for some context, the remaining respondents, 46% said that they discuss it

[00:36:01] reactively.

[00:36:02] So when a client comes to them with a problem.

[00:36:04] And we know that accountants like to be problem solvers.

[00:36:07] You know, we know that they like to know the answer.

[00:36:08] We know they like to help as part of their mission and their purpose.

[00:36:12] But only 8% said they proactively talk to their clients about business banking.

[00:36:16] So there's clearly a discussion here that we can help and support accountants with.

[00:36:20] So that's what we're aiming to do.

[00:36:22] Interesting.

[00:36:23] Interesting.

[00:36:23] And I know that you guys have kind of built a bit of a playbook for accountants to try

[00:36:28] and help break through the noise, if you like, and provide a little bit of a resource,

[00:36:32] I guess, for people to rely on and maybe help to build this confidence back up.

[00:36:37] Can you sort of dive into that a little bit more in terms of what's in there?

[00:36:40] You know, why should accountants go looking for that?

[00:36:42] Or even bookkeepers go looking for this?

[00:36:44] And I guess what will it give them apart from some nice orange branding and some bowler hats

[00:36:48] that they might be wanting to see?

[00:36:50] Everyone loves a bowler hat.

[00:36:52] So everyone is more than welcome to have a bowler hat.

[00:36:55] So I suppose, yeah, it's a really good point.

[00:36:56] We've developed kind of a couple of points within this playbook to help accountants

[00:37:01] and, as you say, bookkeepers to start to feel more confident about having this conversation,

[00:37:05] both so they're prepared.

[00:37:06] So if it is happening reactively, they feel that they're able to have it more confidently

[00:37:10] than they do today, but also that they can start to proactively help their clients

[00:37:15] and add that extra value in that discussion that they'd be having with them.

[00:37:18] So the first thing is, don't assume that all banks are the same.

[00:37:22] You've just mentioned that actually the challenger banks, they offer a whole array of different

[00:37:27] products now, financial products that can help and support clients.

[00:37:30] So actually understanding what the banking landscape now looks like is really important.

[00:37:36] The idea that not all banks are equal.

[00:37:39] So not all banks offer the same products.

[00:37:42] Not all banks offer the same interest rates.

[00:37:44] Not all banks actually cater for the same type of SME.

[00:37:48] You know, at Alica, we're really specific.

[00:37:50] We work directly with established businesses.

[00:37:53] So those are typically the businesses with between five and 250 employees.

[00:37:57] We're the bank built particularly for that audience.

[00:38:01] So really understanding is the bank that you have, that you're working with, that you can speak with,

[00:38:06] the right bank opportunity for your client?

[00:38:08] That's the first thing.

[00:38:09] The second thing is really trying to build that two-way relationship.

[00:38:13] So the more the bank knows about you and your clients, the better they are at being able to support and help.

[00:38:19] And that two-way conversation can then start to be built up over time as well.

[00:38:23] Now, I know that's really challenging if you can't speak to a bank, if you can't get through to anybody

[00:38:28] and you're stuck on a chat box.

[00:38:29] So I'm totally aware of that.

[00:38:31] But there are alternatives that actually, you know, Alica is a great example of that.

[00:38:34] We're building a team who work directly with firms to help them and their clients.

[00:38:39] And that two-way conversation is really key.

[00:38:42] The third thing that I think is really important is around leading by example.

[00:38:49] So accounting practices and bookkeeping practices, their businesses are in their own right.

[00:38:54] And actually how they lead by example, how they manage their own banking relationships,

[00:38:59] whether they're getting the right rates or they're on the right products, really important.

[00:39:04] So being able to confidently talk to their clients about their own banking as an example, as best practice is key.

[00:39:12] And something we've seen particularly over the last 18 months is that becoming multi-banked is a more suitable thing to do now.

[00:39:22] So it's prudent.

[00:39:24] It's wise.

[00:39:24] It's actually a really good best practice to have at least two current accounts available to a business and a business owner.

[00:39:31] Yeah.

[00:39:32] Something that we saw in particular, I guess, as a consequence maybe of some of the bank failings and then the FSCS rules coming in,

[00:39:38] which protects balances up to 85,000.

[00:39:40] I know those limits are different depending on certain arrangements and things.

[00:39:45] But that's something that I think became top of mind for organizations, particularly charities a good few years ago.

[00:39:52] But increasingly, again, as we've seen kind of like fintechs and challenger banks come into the space,

[00:39:57] we're increasingly seeing your organizations maybe picking up your foreign currency accounts with a challenger bank or with a fintech

[00:40:07] because they get much better exchange rates than they would with a traditional bank.

[00:40:11] And then having that maybe connected into an e-commerce site or something else to kind of manage the flows of money.

[00:40:18] But there are limitations and there are issues around doing that sometimes,

[00:40:21] which is sometimes challenging to kind of get your head around conceptually.

[00:40:24] But talk to me more about why you think or why you're seeing multi-banking becoming much more prevalent in the marketplace.

[00:40:31] Yeah, I think you've given a really good example there of understanding how the business operates

[00:40:36] and actually what's the best way of using that money or receiving that money in which account I think is really important.

[00:40:44] The second thing is we've seen nationally a huge number of SMEs have been debanked or have their accounts frozen.

[00:40:52] So in 2023, over 140,000 businesses have their bank accounts closed,

[00:40:57] which is just a staggering number of businesses.

[00:41:00] And the impact that has on how they operate, they won't be able to pay their suppliers.

[00:41:05] They won't be able to pay their team.

[00:41:06] They won't be able to be paid.

[00:41:08] All of those things really have a knock-on effect,

[00:41:11] which is worse if they've only got one account that they're running it from.

[00:41:14] So this idea now of having two accounts,

[00:41:17] not only to make sure you're benefiting from the way you're working,

[00:41:20] but also as almost a blanket security, that hygiene factor, I think is the second key point.

[00:41:27] Fascinating.

[00:41:27] Well, Sophie, as ever, thank you for your insights.

[00:41:30] It's really great to speak to you.

[00:41:32] Lots of food for thought, I think, for accountants and bookkeepers there.

[00:41:35] And, you know, if I think, was it about 90, 92% of accountants and bookkeepers just,

[00:41:42] you know, really don't have too much confidence talking about business banking.

[00:41:45] That's something that can definitely be addressed.

[00:41:46] And I guess just very quickly,

[00:41:48] if someone wants to get access to things like the playbook and things,

[00:41:51] where would they go to to find that?

[00:41:52] Yep. If you come to our website, that's alica.bank.

[00:41:55] And if you go to the accountants tab, that's right at the top,

[00:41:58] you can contact our team or you can email us directly at accountants at alica.bank.

[00:42:05] Amazing. Thank you very much, Sophie. That was great.

[00:42:07] Thank you.

[00:42:09] I do have a question for you, Indy, though.

[00:42:11] I do want to pick something up.

[00:42:12] What page of the Kama Sutra is accountant in the advisory position on?

[00:42:17] What page?

[00:42:18] This is such a big question.

[00:42:21] Where do you have this to it?

[00:42:23] What page of the Kama Sutra is the...

[00:42:28] Accountant in the advisory position.

[00:42:31] Accountant in the advisory...

[00:42:35] Saying it slower doesn't make it make more sense.

[00:42:37] It doesn't make any sense.

[00:42:38] I'm going to say something really silly, like on the balance sheet,

[00:42:44] you know, or something like that.

[00:42:47] Probably more accurate, to be honest.

[00:42:53] It's friendly.

[00:42:55] Yes.

[00:42:55] Friendliest software.

[00:42:57] Yes.

[00:42:57] Friendliest accounting software.

[00:43:00] I'm okay with the friendliest accounting software.

[00:43:03] I'm not nervous.

[00:43:04] I am.

[00:43:05] At all.

[00:43:05] There's a lot of pressure to be friendly, though.

[00:43:08] Really?

[00:43:08] There's a lot of pressure to be friendly with the friendly agent accounting software.

[00:43:11] There is.

[00:43:11] There is.

[00:43:12] So much pressure.

[00:43:14] How did you find tonight?

[00:43:15] Absolutely amazing.

[00:43:16] It's been so much bigger than we ever anticipated.

[00:43:21] It would be great to see such a wide community out here tonight.

[00:43:25] Accountants and vendors mixing together, having fun, which is great.

[00:43:30] You know, honestly, I think the free agent does such a good job of being able to bring, like,

[00:43:37] the bookkeeping community together.

[00:43:39] The accountants are like, it gets its crop these days.

[00:43:42] Were you happy to avoid the Ditchwater of the Year award?

[00:43:49] Massively.

[00:43:50] Massively.

[00:43:50] You have no idea how nervous we were sitting there.

[00:43:55] But we've been in such a great place this year, so we were quietly confident, sitting

[00:44:01] there quite smug.

[00:44:02] But, no, very happy where we are tonight and where we have been the last couple of years.

[00:44:08] So, all going good.

[00:44:10] All going good.

[00:44:10] You know, and actually, we had a lot of feedback for these awards, which is really interesting

[00:44:15] because definitely I think that some of the feedback from the judges was there maybe is

[00:44:21] a larger act.

[00:44:22] It's quite hard to win a category because you have so many customers.

[00:44:29] And it can go half an inch one way, half an inch the other way with whether you make a

[00:44:35] pricing change or a new release or something that, like, doesn't quite resonate with the

[00:44:40] community in the right way.

[00:44:42] So, you know, you must feel it in terms of, like, being able to sit here and join the awards

[00:44:47] and, but then you have so many customers that would probably sing your crazies and then at

[00:44:53] the same time there's no category that can unanimously apply for every one of the big accounting

[00:45:00] tech apps that exist.

[00:45:01] Yeah, I think we have tried to strive to change in the last couple of years.

[00:45:07] We're seeing massive changes in the industry and how we've changed as a product as well.

[00:45:13] Going back to, you know, where Fraygen started off to where it is nowadays is huge.

[00:45:19] It's a massive contrast of change.

[00:45:21] So, we know we're stepping in the right direction.

[00:45:24] We're getting that feedback from guys like yourselves, you know, lots in the community,

[00:45:29] and other communities as well.

[00:45:31] So, we certainly know that we're moving in the right direction, which may come in tonight

[00:45:36] much easier, especially the Ditchwater Awards.

[00:45:39] So, no, certainly we know we're moving in the right direction.

[00:45:43] We're certainly being able to support the larger practices and that's where the conversations

[00:45:50] have led over the last, you know, few months.

[00:45:53] So, we're definitely getting in the right direction.

[00:45:55] And next year is probably a big year for Fraygen with MTD.

[00:46:00] Absolutely.

[00:46:01] You know, where Fraygen is, we're not going to forget about where we're starting and how

[00:46:06] simple Fraygen can be.

[00:46:08] And that lays great foundations for all these vector clients that need something simple,

[00:46:14] but also on a cost-effective matter, which is, you know, cost has been a massive thing

[00:46:20] for the last few years.

[00:46:21] And we know, you know, we've not had a massive price change in any formats in a long time,

[00:46:27] but we've got the massive benefit of our partnership with NatWest and also metal as well.

[00:46:33] And that can lay great foundations for these small business clients that start off and

[00:46:39] grow, that they don't have that big, massive change.

[00:46:42] So, it certainly is a great foundation for us to go forward.

[00:46:45] And so, for MTD, because with MTD for self-assessment, one of the clear things that you need is as, like,

[00:46:53] someone that's like a sole trader or a small business entity, the business bank account needs

[00:46:59] to be linked to the accounting tech software.

[00:47:02] You're so unique in that respect.

[00:47:05] So, as you said, you have NatWest, metal, free agent.

[00:47:09] The fact that those all coincide and you can open, therefore, a business account at the same

[00:47:14] time as making sure that you have a compliant software.

[00:47:18] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:47:20] Like you've said about the overall NatWest group and the metal, it's great from a

[00:47:26] perception for these clients that are, you know, looking to save some money.

[00:47:29] But our bank feed is very unique in the industry as well in the fact that we build our own,

[00:47:35] which then leads us to use a lot of that smart information to make it so much easier for,

[00:47:41] you know, the transaction values getting categorized easy enough, which means for any client of any

[00:47:48] bank, we're able to do that.

[00:47:50] We build our own things so it makes it much, much easier.

[00:47:52] NatWest is just that added big bonus and from a cost perspective, it's huge.

[00:47:58] And that, especially since, you know, there's been such talk about some of the neobanks or at

[00:48:05] least those banks have maybe recently been granted banking licenses or and the kind of risks that go.

[00:48:16] I mean, half of the job really is what we're talking about is risk management for accounting.

[00:48:21] And the fact that you're able to provide something where it's been running for you,

[00:48:27] you have the history of the relationship with NatWest.

[00:48:31] I think it's going to be a really big year for you.

[00:48:34] And I know obviously you sponsored the awards tonight, you sponsor us as digital disruptors.

[00:48:40] So it's really difficult for us to make sure that we allocate awards to creative.

[00:48:46] But next year, we're coming for you.

[00:48:49] Yeah, definitely.

[00:48:50] I think there's been a few things that have been in the background that we've kept a little bit quiet and we're making a much bigger splash.

[00:48:58] So hopefully this time next year, we're seeing us more on stage for receiving than giving.

[00:49:03] But, you know, from our side, we are doing so much that we want to make the lives of our accountant and bookkeeping partners so much easier.

[00:49:13] And that comes down to the releases that we do, the connections that we make.

[00:49:16] These events are fantastic that we get to meet so many additional partners that are out there and build that relationship,

[00:49:24] not only from a personal perspective, but actually how we can all work together to make the life of our accountant and bookkeeping partners so much easier for their clients.

[00:49:33] So, yes, we'll definitely be on the stage next year, but more receiving than giving.

[00:49:39] But still giving.

[00:49:40] Still giving.

[00:49:41] And my final question is just a tiny question.

[00:49:46] What do you think about the last debate?

[00:49:48] Are you going to name and shame for us any of the influencers that you think in this space are probably not doing it justice?

[00:49:57] The friendliest software in accounting is not going to name anyone negatively.

[00:50:02] So I'm going to add to that as like a no.

[00:50:05] But let's then hear who do you think is influencing positively?

[00:50:10] Do you know, I think from yourselves and, you know, a lot of people that we do this week, I've just spoke with Lucy a moment ago,

[00:50:18] and Joe just a moment ago.

[00:50:20] And, you know, it's great to hear the feedback that comes in.

[00:50:25] So we want to get that going.

[00:50:27] We're friendlies for a reason.

[00:50:28] It's because we're amazing people and happy people.

[00:50:30] But, no, it's great to hear the feedback that comes in.

[00:50:34] And, yeah, we want to make a lot of people much happier.

[00:50:39] Thanks for joining us.

[00:50:41] Thanks for supporting us.

[00:50:42] Thanks for helping us bring these amazing rewards to all the people that have at least been recognized.

[00:50:51] Thanks for joining us on today's episode.

[00:50:53] If you've got any feedback or you would like anything in particular covered on the next episode of Digital's In The World,

[00:51:00] then please drop us a note.

[00:51:02] Get in touch with either myself, John, Ryan or Lee.

[00:51:05] We're more than happy to look through or take your perspectives on how we can feed back into the podcast and make it a little bit better.

[00:51:14] So if you haven't already done so, please like, share and also follow our podcast because that really helps us then track the numbers.

[00:51:22] And we hope to catch you on the next one.