Accountants have access to more data, automation and reporting tools than ever. But most business owners do not need another report they struggle to interpret. They need help understanding what the figures mean, which decisions matter and what to do next.
My move towards strategy has not taken me away from accountancy. It has taken me closer to the part of the work where I believe the greatest value now lies.
More information is not the same as more understanding
A monthly pack can be accurate, timely and beautifully formatted, and still leave an owner no clearer about whether to hire, raise prices, drop a service line or slow down. The numbers describe what has already happened. The decisions sit in front of them.
The skill that matters is not producing the figures. It is reading them well enough to say what is actually going on: where profit is being lost, which work is carrying the business, which customers are quietly expensive, and what the next sensible move looks like.
Automation raises the floor, not the ceiling
Software has taken over much of the recording, reconciling and reporting. That is a good thing. It also means the technical output is no longer where the value sits, because everyone has access to the same tools.
When producing the report is easy, the judgement about what it means becomes the scarce thing.
What this looks like in practice
It looks like fewer pages and better questions. A short conversation about what the owner is trying to achieve, an honest view of what the figures suggest, and a small number of decisions worth making this quarter.
That is the work I am most interested in, and it is why my practice has moved towards strategy rather than away from the discipline that taught me how to read a business in the first place.