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Picture an Australian man who undergoes annual routine health checks at the same doctor’s surgery for decades, and wonders whether anyone is truly examining the long-term patterns hidden within the decades of data compiled from his appointments. The man wonders if the doctor, or his colleagues, are actually looking through the data to extrapolate whether he’s headed for chronic disease or any other serious ailment. Usually, one won’t know they’re sick until it happens, and what could be of huge benefit to the man is proactive guidance about whether he needs to modify any lifestyle factors that may be contributing to inevitable ill-health.
The same dynamic exists in business. Many professional services firms, such as accounting practices, possess years of client information. The challenge, moving forward, is to identify relevant patterns before they become problems, or – put another way – opportunities missed.
In a recent episode of the Advisory Advantage podcast, Leaders in Business managing director Brent Szalay says what people will be willing to pay for is “someone who knows, and has seen, hundreds of different businesses, and can tell them something they don’t know”.
“Having the ability to look over and analyse data, interpret it, and be able to understand it, I think that’s what’s missing, and is a fantastic opportunity [for accountants],” he says.
New technologies like AI make that kind of insight from accounting professionals both possible and more accessible. But what is most exciting about this prospect is that the future of advisory is not one in which AI replaces the human judgment of accountants; it is one in which it amplifies it.
Brent Slazay
Leaders in Business Managing Director
In conversation with My Accounts CEO Noel Tiufino on the podcast episode, Szalay discusses how, in the past, accountants have suffered from information overload from the vast amounts of financial information collected from clients, but in the current climate, AI is now allowing them to interpret this data into simple, meaningful insights, and what this means for the role of advisory, as new technologies continue to evolve at an exponential rate.
He talks about his own experience of sitting down with pen and paper to ask clients questions to learn about their businesses beyond profit and loss, which he would then synthesise into tangible insights into the client’s needs. Now, he says, “we’re able to be a bit smarter about it” by collecting information from clients via targeted, tailored questionnaires – which can include SWOT analyses – ahead of time, which can be interpreted during the meeting.
“If you start to ask the right questions in what you’re trying to diagnose, the prompting is the real power,” Szalay says.
“Now, I’ve got all this data coming in, capturing it all, analysing what it means, and interpreting it and putting it into categories, so we can then understand it in a real, simple glimpse.”
What Leaders in Business has done, he says, is developed an advisory workspace built around “our own interpretation, our own strategic framework, our own analysis” to help advisers rapidly assess a business, identify opportunities and challenges, and provide clients with clear strategic guidance and practical next steps. From an efficiency standpoint, what used to take days can now be done within a matter of hours. As Tiufino puts it: “You’re saving a heap of time”.
Szalay says: “If you’ve got the tools, it makes it really easy. Our process to run a strategic client engagement is four hours. That’s it. One hour to do some pre-work, two hours for the session – which is the really meaningful part for building connection – one hour to recommend, and that’s it. That used to take days and days to do.”
Leveraging AI-enabled platforms has an additional benefit in such processes, he went on, in that accountants can record meetings in which they’re asking questions of the client, and then the transcript of that recording can provide further insights based on what was discussed. “So, we’re doubling both the data analysis and the human side of things, to be able to form what feels like a fuller view of what’s going on in that client’s world, and then being able to come up with a recommendation which can be supported by the tools, but also your human experience to take the client forward,” he says.
Amid the proliferation of such technological capabilities, Szalay notes there was a point in time when he could identify what a client might need without even speaking to them. He could form his view, give a recommendation, and proceed accordingly. However, he says, that’s not enough.
What’s missing from such an approach is the need to take clients through a journey, and validate their needs as interpreted from the information-gathering stage. Understanding what it really means for clients to be able to achieve their goals, and why this is important to them, is the emotional gap that is imperative for accountants to be connected to, he says.
Doing this deeper dive allows accountants to be more strategic, as they can start a conversation by addressing a client’s problems, rather than trying to unearth them over the course of a meeting. Continuing the medical analogy, Tiufino notes that “it would feel nice as a patient, if I was going through something, to feel like there was a plan, and that I’m in good hands”.
This, Szalay says, gets to the heart of what he sees as the future of advisory: by leveraging technology to collect, analyse, categorise, and interpret client data, “you’re going in [to a client strategy session] feeling pretty good”, which opens the door to truly getting the necessary, relevant, and meaningful insights from clients about what they most need and want.
“That’s the bit we need to lean into as advisers; to really understand the hurt and pain that they’re feeling in the areas that matter most to them. And, because we’re informed because of the data collection, we can now ask a few more questions and learn more about what they’re really trying to achieve, what’s the motivation, and [put their] values on a wall”.
This, Szalay says, does two things: it makes the service delivery, and corresponding strategy, much clearer; and secondly, it strengthens the connection between the adviser and client, through trust and informed decision-making, meaning an adviser “can go on this beautiful journey of supporting, giving, accountability, tracking and measuring, using data” through the bond that’s been established through a clear, meaningful plan.
AI, therefore, becomes a force multiplier, rather than a replacement for the human element, and – ultimately – the place for a strategic adviser.
To help accounting professionals assess their preparedness for a more advisory-focused role, Leaders in Business has developed the Advisory Readiness Quiz, which measures capability across seven key areas of advisory delivery. The free self-assessment takes just a few minutes to complete and provides an instant snapshot of where an adviser is already strong, where gaps may exist and what steps could help strengthen their advisory offering.
Tools like this and what’s in the advisory workspace, Szalay says, provide further opportunity for practitioners to lean into the power of technology to “really change the game” for themselves as trusted, strategic advisers to their clients, empowering them to go into meetings confident that they’re asking the right questions, as opposed to walking in without any idea what’s going on.
Being better informed and having completed and interpreted necessary analysis, one will be better placed to turn client discussions into something “really valuable”: a strategic roadmap for a client’s future.
“I think, at the end of the day, that’s all they really want: some direction and clarity in a very hard and confusing world of being a business owner,” he says.
To this end, the accountants who thrive in the future may well be those who aren’t just AI-enabled but who leverage such technologies to become more human.
Supported by associations and trusted by advisers across the country, Leaders in Business helps accountants deliver strategic advisory with structure, confidence and commercial value. To learn more, click here. To listen to the full podcast episode featuring Brent Szalay and Noel Tiufino, click here.
Brent Slazay
Leaders in Business Managing Director
Turn ad hoc advisory into structured, paid strategic advisory. That’s the mission behind Leaders in Business. We help accounting and advisory firms build strategic advisory capability through practical training, proven frameworks and a purpose-built advisory workspace. By bringing structure, consistency and scalability to advisory delivery, we make it easier for firms to embed strategic advisory across their teams, create meaningful client outcomes and grow a valuable advisory offering.
Our vision is simple: a future where every small business has access to strategic guidance, and every advisor has the tools, confidence and support to deliver it.
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