Action Required: Does CAANZ deserve a pay rise?


This is one of the hardest episodes we've recorded. Both David and Paul have such pride in achieving our CA designations, the quality of the CA program and the effort it took to complete the program.

We feel that the current CAANZ doesn't represent the needs, interests or wants of public practice members and the board asking for votes at the AGM for a 15.8% payrise has understandably upset members. Many members believe this is unwarranted and want to do something about it.

CAANZ Board Assessment Process

David and Paul have discussed their views on CAANZ's strategy and values with a public practice lens and we believe the pay rise isn't warranted. 

To be fair to the board, our plucky hosts have reviewed CAANZ strategy and assessed each pillar based on their own opinions. 

Get the CAANZ Strategy here https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/about-us/what-we-do/vision-and-strategy  or see the picture below

 

Why bother?

If all accountants do is complain amongst ourselves, and ignore opportunities for impact, we will eventually be pushed aside and taper off into further anger and frustration. 

We encourage you to do the same prior to casting your vote. We are not campaigning a no vote, we are campaigning for you participate. 

We encourage members in public practice to make their own decision, but if you have a view, don't leave it to other voices to drown you out, vote. 


Next Steps

Members will have received an email entitled "Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand 2022 Annual General Meeting"

There is a link to register your proxy with a no vote and assign it to the president to table at the AGM. This email also contains your Unique Identification Number (UIN) that you'll need to register your vote.

While members who feel the organisation is being mismanaged can't do a lot to be heard, we CAN do this.

This isn't a call for resignations or mutiny, it's simply another attempt by members with real passion for the industry and pride in our designation to be heard.

Xerocon: Coachella or Community for Accountants?

It's a nervous feeling as we get ready for for the biggest gathering of the industry in 3 years with the 3,000 odd attendees slightly eclipsing the 13 odd people who went to the IPA crypto conference. 

This is the retail junket we have all been looking for, the most accessible one that has sold out by attendees, was over sold to sponsors and stands to re shape the energy in the industry. 

And we discuss, if we don't expect major product announcements, and if the content is more wokey, techy, thoughy leadershipy stuff you could get anywhere then why did it sell out? And why are we so excited?

Well, because this is the greatest peer accounting community in the region and the industry clearly craves coming together. 

In this years preview Dave and Paul cover:

Is this a tech conference or an accounting conference?

What we're looking forward to 

What we want to learn

Who we want to meet (hint, it's you). 

Software Vs Accountants Futsol Penalty Shootout

Want to kick a ball at the head of a software vendor (And be ok with them kicking back)?

Software Vs Accountants Futsol penalty shoot out will go ahead live at

Time 2.00 PM

Day 2 Wednesday 

If you want to attend send Paul, Dave or Trent a message on social media or email summit@fromthetrenches.com.au 

 

Subscribe to the #1 podcast shows for accountants working in public practice

Have you caught up on our latest episode’s?

Best on Ground

Tyler Casky takes the Moral High ground on paid influencers https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tylercaskey_i-love-little-innovations-like-this-they-activity-6964724147667025920-k72D/?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web 

The rise of Workplace TV

Pauls Rant  got 50k Linked In views -  but is he right? 

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6963277532511043585/ 

Progress on the Gender Pay Gap at the Big 4 

https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/financial-review-consulting-salary-guide-2022-23-20220808-p5b815 

Paul

Excel formula’s: ​​https://www.linkedin.com/posts/asifmasani_financial-modelling-formulas-ugcPost-6965610625259454464--7kU?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

We need a Recession so tech staff find out what hard work looks like https://twitter.com/JohnWRichKid/status/1561023740577779713 

Worst on Ground 

David

Quiet quitting isn't real - we used to call it being lazy, this is just the old gen thinking the new gen work less

This is what 16% homeloans look like - Literally  https://www.linkedin.com/posts/james-n-nicol_these-are-not-high-interest-rates-this-activity-6968392410934501376-kJ4j/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop 

Nonsense Mission Statements getting called out https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/management/ashurst-should-accept-its-purpose-is-not-extraordinary-20220722-p5b3qc 

Paul

CPA too late on capacity to pay letters 

https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/17328-avoid-capacity-to-pay-letters-warns-cpa-australia 

Chartered Accountants Launches another review  - we don't care, what matters is implemented changes.

Intuit has rebranded to a simpler font. Why? https://www.intuit.com/blog/news-social/unveiling-our-new-intuit-logo/?cid=soc_employee-ambassador&utm_channeltype=LinkedIn 

 

 

Episode Description

How did year end reviews go for your team?  Did you anticipate the asks from the team? What does that mean for this coming year’s profitability?  Because accountants are standing up and asking to be valued!

How much do accounting firms really stand in their own way when it comes to the path to awesome?  A lot, is the answer.  How much pain do we really need to be in to recognise that the time to change traditional practices is NOW?


Becc 

Spriggy Helps your kids learn about money.

https://www.spriggy.com.au/

Best on Ground

PWC appoints first ever chair WOMAN!

https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/pwc-s-first-chairwoman-pledges-to-focus-on-firm-s-culture-20220714-p5b1qf

Greater adoption of AI is critical, like, right now.

https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/education/the-ai-challenge-must-start-in-schools-20220624-p5awbn

https://dayofaiaustralia.com/

Worst on Ground

PWC’s chair appointment was super critical - especially given the concurrent scandal around another PWC partner (who has since resigned) busted for men-only gatherings (including strip club outings) where allegedly the five most attractive women in the firm were rated.     https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/pwc-partner-accused-of-rating-female-staff-leaves-firm-20220713-p5b17l 

Shaye

Accountants democratizing access to financial education is awesome - looking at you Rebecca White!

https://www.bdo.com.au/en-au/financial-education 

Best on Ground

Accountants ask to be valued - payrise please!  But some firms have other ideas….. https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/appointments/17149-accountants-chase-pay-rises-above-6

Worst on Ground

Women’s participation in the workforce is at an all time high - but the accounting industry still snoozes on access to this key talent pool.

https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/silver-linings-the-surprising-way-the-pandemic-has-helped-women-at-work-20220717-p5b26z.html

Shout out to amazing gender equity aly Peter McCarthy - love your work!






Cheating at KPMG | Ethical Difference Makers| Xero Reports

What a week to make worst on ground. No matter how hard you tried, some other company did it worse.

Xero are pulling their much loved version 1 reports. That was a show until…

KPMG got caught cheating their internal exams preparation and CAANZ did barely anything about it. That was a show until…

CAANZ took 18 months to do what little they did causing all three accounting bodies to get a please explain from the Professional Standards Authority and somehow found a way to defend their actions and blame their processes instead of any one person. Surely it’s the CEOs job. What exactly does Ainslie van Onselen do?

Sounds like the type of unaccountable culture that could lead to….say……systemic ethical breaches.

Best on Ground

David

Xero’s Emotional Tax Return Campaign https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joseph-lyons-au_running-your-own-business-is-an-incredibly-activity-6949868389066514432-7Qly/?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web  

Accountants Daily new Editor Phil King is capturing the mood of the industry with tech news and industry voice

Paul

New Xero product - Xero go. Interesting given the current app already has a lot of the functionality.  https://www.xero.com/blog/2022/07/xero-go-for-uk-based-sole-traders/ 

Beta testing new tech is good for the customer. 

AI in Food - https://www.afr.com/technology/pizza-giant-gets-into-maths-of-preparing-food-before-orders-arrive-20220713-p5b1g0 


Worst on Ground

Paul

CA can’t uphold the ethics of the profession 

https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/professional-regulator-blasts-shocking-delay-in-kpmg-cheating-probe-20220718-p5b2jn 


Perception that CA treat big firms better than small may not be true 

  1. CAANZ blame their processes, but what about their people? Who is actually responsible?

  2. The by-laws can’t punish the right entities

  3. How important is being part of the Professional Standards Authority? 


ANZ - MYOB - Suncorp - Myob

https://www.arnnet.com.au/article/699933/anz-drops-myob-acquisition-talks/ 

David

Rezza hood manages to upset accountants and bookkeepers in one overly salesy post

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rezahooda_accountants-accountingandaccountants-activity-6953303419453378560-b5xX/?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web 


Mass Media Fear mongering on interest rates makes us dumberhttps://www.linkedin.com/posts/michaelhutchens_australias-mass-media-reporting-of-the-reserve-activity-6949950144876290049-rnjx/?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web 

Atlassian is so unprofitable but we worship them

https://www.smartcompany.com.au/startupsmart/analysis/atlassian-unprofitable-valuation-adam-schwab/ 


Why VCFO Fails https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6947990583122513920/  VCFO association is part of the solution they spend their time trying to educate on the difference 

https://vcfoassociation.com.au/ 

IPlAte | Xero still the big pull? | Tech Staff Changes

Best on Ground

Accounting Coaches that prove their value – with a p and l!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sharonsnetwork_business-accounting-coaching-activity-6923203081497182208-EN8M/?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=android_app

Even when McKinsey stuffs up they win

https://twitter.com/MattZeitlin/status/1517279854135107584

What happens after you sell your payroll app? Richard McLean (@richviking99) / Twitter

If you work for a tech company and rely on your shares instead of your wages/bonuses you’ll probably lose out

https://investing1012dot0.substack.com/p/valuations?s=r

 

Paul – Not best or worst, just really interesting seemingly lots and lots of LinkedIn new job posts. Not great resignation but Great Movement. Divipay have 14 jobs open! https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6936623969076658176/

ChangeGPS have 3 open positions Work with Us (changegps.com.au)

Worst on Ground

Power to accountants doing what the bodies aren’t

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6927750334123556864/

Meanwhile the IPA and CA submissions were dated AFTER the advertised due date after having 6 years to get their act together!

If Benny Hill music had a font type it would be the new sage logo https://www.business-live.co.uk/professional-services/software-giant-sage-unveils-new-23796099

Accounting Bodies Out of touch with the urgency of s100a 

Xero Roadshow Review

Systemic Failure of the Accounting Bodies | Tinder for Tax | Fast Collapse

Best on Ground

Paul

Tech wont change your life much in the next ten years - here’s why https://twitter.com/sweatystartup/status/1505125330817802244 

Fast Collapse:

https://www.axios.com/fast-checkout-startup-collapse-029d1601-6d4f-43a4-b816-bd4b15771bbe.html 

AccountexAU launch 

What it needs to prove: That it can make a fair profit for it’s substantial risk with the available quality content providers https://twitter.com/AccountexAus/status/1511555738430500864 

Farewell Craig Walker https://twitter.com/storminwalker/status/1509699836463005698 

David

A new Practice Manager Consideration

I recently got asked if the practice management solutions actually solve a problem (so many firms just use excel) - CAA use Karbon. Paul uses excel and XPM and we hear about FYI docs all the time but PWC has chosen….Monday https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mondaydotcom_global-alliance-with-kpmg-ugcPost-6902266804081958912-8qPt/ 

Tinder for tax

Gofar making FBT simple and is calling itself Tinder for Tax 

https://www.gofar.co/ 

How GoProposal gets it’s staff to work in the office https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6917789747926949888/?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A(ugcPost%3A6917789738972110848%2C6917964958639030272) 

Even Jerry Seinfleid knows big firms aren’t better https://twitter.com/buccocapital/status/1510249981789282304 

 

Worst on Ground

Dave

Frustrated how we seem to keep printing money? Monopoly has your answer https://twitter.com/biancoresearch/status/1510254967113748485 

 

The war in Ukraine - and the impact on accountants with clients doing business in Russia https://www.linkedin.com/posts/daniel-rosenblatt-trade-law_sanctions-russia-belarus-activity-6905150591698644994-Vdha/ 

 

Accounting Bodies are Failing. 

Accounting Bodies gloss over their systemic failures around talent and there aren’t enough accountants to lodge returns. 

  1. They are the accountant makes

  2. There aren’t enough accountants

  3. We lose the battle for talent on campus

  4. We focus on mental health after the damage is done and do nothing to stop the system that creates the mental health issues s100a retrospective changes is the best example

  5. Who will lodge the tax returns in 10 years? CPA seems to focus on their total members not their tax lodgers.

https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/16806-accountants-turning-from-technicians-to-problem-solvers/amp 

Small Practitioners don't have a voice - s100a proved it - No seat at the table yet again

ATO says industry asked for s100a guidance? But who asked? Who is actually your voice here? Check out who sits on the ATO’s consultation group. Did they represent you? https://www.ato.gov.au/general/consultation/consultation-groups/stewardship-groups/private-groups-stewardship-group/ 

The current advocacy system is designed to get you to comply, not to represent you.

Independence? IPA CEO appointed to TPB Board making a judge, jury and executioner 

https://www.tpb.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/tax-practitioners-board-welcomes-two-new-members 

  1. The TPB accredits the IPA - From their website

    1. Professional associations may be accredited by us as a recognised tax agent or BAS agent association if they meet certain requirements in the Tax Agent Services Regulations 2022 (TASR).

  2. The IPA Accredits Accountants - From their website

The IPA is a professional accounting body which sets professional and ethical requirements for its members, which they are required to uphold.

Change the reason your firm exists | ReckonOne growth |TikTok Regulators | IPA's Junket strategy

Best on Ground 

Paul 

Real time dashboards are overkill https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lukalovosevic_data-automation-realtimeanalytics-activity-6889545309546938368-XEzY/  

ReckonOne is more popular than most of us think, great results from Reckon

https://www.reckon.com/au/media/half-year-financial-report-2021-reckon-delivers-strong-results/

The IPA SHOULD host their tax deductible junket conferences in Fiji otherwise we can't justify any benefit at all to Australian members for this https://www.accountantsdaily.com.au/business/16650-ipa-and-the-fiji-institute-of-accountants-announce-partnership 

 

David

Baker Tilly Changes it’s purpose away from lodging tax returns https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alan-whitman-357ab91_purpose-nowfortomorrow-activity-6896447373279911936-9rV3/ 

We don’t celebrate raises often but HNRY raising 16m at a 100m valuation is good for Australian Accountants https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/127646547/wellington-startup-hnry-eyes-expansion-after-securing-16m-investment 

The IRS joins Tik Tik - hilariously https://twitter.com/dhtoomey/status/1488270707406614528 

Poor accounting leads to $5billion in extra rail payments https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-09/nsw-government-criticised-over-accounting-by-auditor-general/100816682  and Lance Rubin responds https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6897288212595798016/ 

 

Worst on Ground

Paul 

More traditional accountant bashing:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6897992721726795776?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A6897992721726795776%2C6898074647389175808%29

 

David

The busted client https://twitter.com/IraGilligan/status/1487146713949343753 

The connected/Xero/Tech Savvy accountant is still news to the average business owner even though it’s ten years old https://digitalmag.theceomagazine.com/anz/march-2022/innovate/nick-urry/ 

Outdated Hiring Practices - We are not who we worked for we are what we do https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-6897313048122544128-qS8U 

Quotes from the Episode

“I don't know how people can attract anyone to the profession when for 20 years they said the profession is not going to exist.” Paul 

“One thing that's hard to replicate in the accounting industry is the relationship.” David

“Financial models are wrong because the drivers are wrong” David

“There’s a difference between a model being wrong and the actual application of accounting standards.” David

“We are not who we worked for. We are what we do.” Tyler 

 

Elon Musk is an Accountant | Award Winners go to Jail | Stop Polling us

Listen to hear Paul Meissner flinch as someone who clearly isn't an accountant get's called on and these other fine stories.

Best on Ground

David

There are a lot of acquisitions going on

https://www.datadear.com/blog/2021/09/we-are-pleased-to-announce-the-technology-acquisition-of-datadear-by-intuit/?fbclid=IwAR0D2o4544adL3nTl8CZkh0G1pgC5oKN2suk0WZWdMs1kQDPcmCuyB8eO5o 

https://www.enterprisetimes.co.uk/2021/10/05/sage-buys-proposal-software-vendor-goproposal/ 


https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/hub24-to-triple-customer-base-with-class-deal-20211018-p590sr 

 

Elon Musk is an Accountant 

https://www-businessinsider-com-au.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.businessinsider.com.au/elon-musk-productivity-hack-daily-routine-5-minute-slots-2021-10/amp?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a6&usqp=mq331AQIKAGwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16342519063940&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com  

 

Paul

 

ChangeGPS is Xero's Practice App of the Year https://www.linkedin.com/posts/davidboyar_xeroawards-unbeatableaccountants-activity-6853906282974474240-0Z7M  

Practice Protect Cloud Apps report is one glorious set of actual data that let's you know what apps firms are using. https://hub.practiceprotect.com/cloud-apps-report-2021 

Orange Girl herds Xero's sh*t fixing team in a glorious corporate response https://twitter.com/orangegirlnz/status/1443927056669155364  

 

Worst on Ground

David

When award winners go to jail https://twitter.com/eringriffith/status/1443563933357395978/photo/1 

ITR pricing is too cheap

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-6849466529642352640-lqAH/  

Paul

A 5 year old blog isn't relevant anymore so don't post it on socials 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markwickersham1_the-3-reasons-you-should-have-a-brochure-activity-6845718677178851328-cvLy 

 

Linked in Polls need to stop

What Happened To Receipt Bank?

Copy of Trenches Site (3).png

What happened? It was Orange, it was loved, now it's Dext, it's three things not one and got dealt a savage hand by pockets of the social media world. 

But the strategy makes sense if you dig in to it. 

Listen to David Boyar ask Paul Lodder - Product Domain Expert (and a seriously accomplished accountant), What happened to Receipt Bank?

Want more? 

Register for Paul's session at Trenches Summit " https://summit.fromthetrenches.com.au/talks/dext-keynote/