​The Business Growth
Accounta​​​​​nt

‘If you’re serious about growing and developing your accounting business, then Paul Shrimpling’s book is essential reading. Don’t just read it, take action. Do nothing at your own peril.’

The Business Growth Accountant is a treasure trove of advice on how to move your firm up the value curve – by giving your customers the services they need and want. In addition to Paul Shrimpling’s sage advice – and here I will reveal my bias – be sure to pay particular attention to three more Pauls quoted in the book: the late Paul O’Byrne, RIP, and his partner, Paul Kennedy, who continues to run what I believe is the most innovative accounting firm in the world, O’Byrne & Kennedy; and, of course, Paul Dunn, the man who blazed the trail and helped thousands of firms fulfill the transformational journey that is energetically articulated throughout this book.

“For any firm that is looking at staying ahead of the inevitable ‘march of automation’, this is the book for you.

Sharing knowledge and facts is no longer the role of the advisor, Google will do that far better. Your ability to remain relevant in the new digital age will depend on your skills in questioning, building rapport and connecting with your clients at a far deeper level.

As machines get better at answering questions… you need to get better at asking them. Paul’s book shows you just how to do that.”

“Paul has packed this book with great detailed practical advice on a modern accounting business. It's jam-packed with insights on what you need to do to take your accounting business from where you are today, to where you want to be in the future. It's a must read, but more importantly, must action.”

Paul provides many answers to the mysteries of how to deliver advisory services in his book, The Business Growth Accountant. Accounting professionals have been being told for years to be an advisor, with no real training on the path to get there.

Paul provides the steps with his "Higher-Value Route Map" in his book, as well as, real life scenarios from experienced accountants that deliver advisory services from around the world. This book will help you take the steps needed to be comfortable with the critical conversations that are necessary to be a truly value-added strategic partner to your client that they couldn’t imagine living without.

“Just read Paul’s book through and found it to be very engaging and, in places, challenging (in a good way). I think the footnotes with links to online material really add to the value and I really liked the section on “Numbers To Grow By”. Lots of material there that I will use. I thought the Rugby story was a particularly excellent example of how changing the scoring (measuring) can change behaviour.”

"Having worked with Paul from afar, I can see that the dedication to his work is truly making a difference and inspiring the accountant's he works with. Which in turn is having an amazing impact on the client's that those accounting firms are working with. Do yourself a favour, pick up this book and learn how you can create meaningful impacts in your accounting business which allow you to grow profitably. "

I was inspired to be a Chartered Accountant by seeing what a business-savvy accountant called David did for my parents and their business. My parents worked hard, but the success of their business enabled me to enjoy a better life and certainly an upgrade on my holidays! They never made a major decision without David’s input. He was their sounding board, corporate finance man and friend.

One summer in his office David showed me he had a team delivering numbers. A team that meant he could spend his time understanding the numbers, talking to clients and using them to bring greater success to his clients.

Firms need to understand that being just an accountant was never enough and now, in the world of cloud accounting, the need to demonstrate you add value is more important than ever.

This book won’t make you into a business savvy accountant, but it will challenge everything you’ve learnt and done in the profession to date. And then show you how others have done it successfully so that you can follow their lead.”

“This is a truly brilliant Inspiring, Challenging and Supporting book from Paul that is a must read for every accountant in practice.

Even if you are not looking to become a “Growth Accountant” there are masses of ideas, tools, and tips you can implement in your practice to make your life easier and deliver a better experience to your clients.

Paul’s story around “Canary-like” KPIs will stick with me forever and the section on “Blind, deaf and dumb pricing” has helped me challenge the team on their communication skills. If you are in practice and want to make more of an impact in the lives of those around you this is a must-read book.

"Paul has an enviable reputation as a thought leader in the accounting world, and this book just goes to show why that is the case. He makes a compelling case for all accountants, large and small, demonstrating why they need to be looking at being advisors, not bean counters or tax return filers. What's more, he gives some simple nuggets of advice that are priceless."

“Paul’s timely book – very readable and well presented – is another wake up call to the accountancy profession.

Change fast or become irrelevant. Your call. Simple as.

And Paul shows you how you can make significant change quickly so you will thrive. His guidance and advice has always been first class.”

“This book tells you everything good about Paul Shrimpling’s approach and contribution to the accountancy profession. Anyone who has seen him present would vouch that Paul can never be accused of being half-hearted, and this book oozes passion and wholehearted advice from the first page. The book is filled with straightforward and common-sense advice, and Paul’s credibility comes not only from his thousands of hours one-to-one with accountants looking to improve their businesses but also his ability to get others to open up about the secrets of their success. This is a must-read for any accountant looking forward to the digital age with a little trepidation.”

I have just read your fantastic book and have been inspired to re-write completely our internal business advisory manual.

The firm has 58 staff now and we are attacking the MTD market at the moment with a training package for clients using Quickbooks, Sage and Xero together with an in-housed data processing solution using the same software but within LP.

We have been providing outsourced FD services for over 12 years with 80% of the practice now providing higher level tax planning (30%), business advisory(30%) and financial services advice (20%) to the client base.We are exploring creating two brands/practices - one for compliance services and the other Business Advisory first and accountancy a close second.

I am really inspired by your book and thank you so much for writing it, it has been a life changing experience.

"Paul Shrimpling has done an awesome job of identifying what it takes to be a Business Growth Accountant and how important it is as accountants to embrace the change from compliance work to business advisory. Whilst it's easy to read, it's packed full of detailed information. This is essential reading if you want your accounting practice to thrive in the future."

“In my opinion this book is essential reading for any owner of an accountancy practice in these times where the pace of change is the fastest it has ever been. I have read a few books on the current issues facing the accountancy profession by different authors. The way this book has been put together, pooling a vast range of resources, ideas and research, provides a very good framework for re-modelling a traditional accountancy practice into a relevant advisory service business.

Paul’s undoubted knowledge, experience and passion to help improve the accountant’s role comes across in every chapter of this book.”

“Inspiration comes first and that is exactly what Paul’s book provides, along with his positive and realistic enthusiasm teamed with his refreshing energy to transform your accountancy practice into a more valuable one”

“A lot of “Has Beans” style accountants are blindly burying their heads in the sand, blind to the fact that traditional accountancy work is rapidly disappearing out of their to do list. Paul’s book provides a practical route map to a valuable way of delivering profitable advisory services to business clients.”

In this book Paul brilliantly articulates the key issues facing our industry and the most effective solutions to them from people who have done it already.