Archive for January, 2015

How secure are your emails?

Wednesday, January 14th, 2015

If the media is to be believed then your emails are as private as a full page advert in the daily papers. In reality we don’t pay too much attention to our own email security as most of us aren’t in the public eye. However we shouldn’t be complacent for two good reasons.

There are people who devote their lives to breaking into the IT systems of organisations – and not just The Bank of England. Countless small businesses have been victims of hacking. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ 2013 hacking survey found that 87 per cent of small businesses across all sectors had experienced a breach in the last year (source: www.theregister.co.uk). This is scary stuff and especially so when we are the custodians of sensitive or private information belonging to our clients. We can’t afford to be complacent when the reputation of our business is so heavily reliant on discretion.

Much easier to relate to is the issue of human error. It’s a rare person who hasn’t sent an email to the wrong recipient and burned with shame after the fact. According to the same survey referred to above, 36 per cent of the “worst security breaches” were caused by inadvertent human error. Accidentally emailing your HNW client’s latest accounts to your Aunty Maureen may not be the end of the world but imagine if it is sent in error to another client? It’s so easy to do – you will made a big error and potentially lost two clients in the process.

We recommend a secure portal like docSAFE. You communicate through an electronic hub – alerting your client to a new communication that they go and retrieve for themselves. It is managed through state of the art, highly secure technology and eliminates the potential for both of the horror stories above.

Resolve to be better in 2015

Thursday, January 8th, 2015

Well it is January so the inevitable and predictable “new year, new me” blogs are hitting my computer screen from every direction. But what if you stifle your yawns and put away your cynicism for a while and actually consider how you could make your business more efficient, streamlined and profitable?

Part of my planning for last year was to consolidate my IT knowledge, especially within the accountancy sector, and create a new consultancy business that helps business owners. I joined like-minded, time-served people in a growth accelerator programme and have developed a process that helps business owners in a number of ways.

January is a good time for assessment for most sectors – at tax return time it’s probably not ideal for accountants but at least this busy time of year highlights inefficiencies and areas for improvement. I visited one firm last January who were drowning in admin – I set up online signatures up for them immediately and came back in March to do the rest after they had come up for air.

My approach is to take one step at a time, see how it impacts on your team, clients and profits and then move on to the next improvement.

If you’re still feeling a bit ‘January’ and happily resisting all attempts at resolutions for the year ahead, just start in February!

Why should accountants blog?

Monday, January 5th, 2015

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Is blogging another one of those 5 minute wonders that marketeers get excited about for little return? We think not. Blogging is beneficial for all businesses, including accountants, for a few reasons. The 2 main, no-nonsense ones that we think will convince you are that:

a) a well-written blog will position you as a credible, informed expert

b) blogs help you get found on search engines.

There are other reasons but how many do you need? An insightful opinion piece that is just 3-4 paragraphs long (can be shorter or longer, depends on your material) and is highly searchable by Google. Google looks for new content continually and a blog is an ideal way to provide it.

Blogging simply requires a platform to do it on and some commitment.

No hard sell but we can do all this for you – just ask us.

Take the next step, call us today
0121 794 0685