Visitor registration is now open for Accountex 2017 – the UK’s biggest accountancy exhibition and conference of the year, taking place at London ExCeL on 10-11 May.
Annually attracting over 6,500 attendees, Accountex may need little introduction to the profession it serves. It’s frequently cited as the key annual event for discovering innovative new ideas and working solutions. Last year, it enjoyed a significant 24% increase in unique visitors. For 2017, it’s already on track for its biggest edition yet – with 200 exhibiting companies and increased capacity theatres for its 150+ CPD accredited Keynotes, seminars, panel sessions, and interactive workshops.
Reflecting the event’s enormous breadth of appeal, in the past week (since visitor registration officially opened on 24 January) over 1,300 accountants, finance directors, MDs, accounts managers, tax professionals, bookkeepers, and sole practitioners have already added their names to the 2017 visitor list.
Among them (to date) are representatives from leading practices like PwC, Crowe Clark Whitehill, Deloitte, Wilkins Kennedy, Menzies, PKF Littlejohn, Jeffreys Henry, Moore Stephens, Saffery Champness, TaxAssist Accountants, Kreston Reeves, haysmacintyre, LB Group, Shipleys, Simmons Gainsford, Hillier Hopkins, Silver Levene, and Smith & Williamson. Many of the country’s top accountants working in business and industry, banking and financial services, education, and the public sector are also planning to attend.
“Accountex is a great way to see what is new to the market and hear from key people in the industry. It’s also a great place to interact with other accountants and share ideas, which has become so important with all the changes, especially with technology,” says Anoop Rehal, Senior Manager – Assurance and Business Services at Smith & Williamson LLP.
First speakers confirmed
Innovation, growth, profitability, marketing, networking, tech trends, automation, cloud accounting, auto-enrolment, effective pricing, making tax digital, the implications of Brexit, and future predictions are just some of the topics under discussion in the show’s twelve free business theatres.
Among the first speakers to be reconfirmed for 2017 are accountancy strategist Steve Pipe, founder and head of research at AVN, and Mark Lee – regularly ranked as one of the most influential accountants online. While new additions to the line-up include Simon Chaplin, founder of Socks Up Simon and MD of award-winning accountancy firm GreenStones (he’ll be discussing ‘inspiring, challenging and supporting accountants and their teams to be the best they want to be’), and Itzik Amiel, bestselling author of Attention Switch and founder of the Power Networking Academy.
“A strong network of connections is like money in the bank,” says Amiel, who’ll be sharing his seven networking strategies to switch ‘relations to revenue’ at the show.
“Your network can help you build visibility, connect you with influencers, and open up doors for new opportunities. Building and nurturing a network is one of the most powerful things you can do to support your career advancement as an accountant.”
James Ashford, founder of GoProposal and author of Selling To Serve, is also making his show debut. His session, entitled ‘The secret to getting clients to behave as you want them to’, will examine how forward-thinking firms can maximise the value they provide. The relationship between accountants and their clients has changed. The “next major step for accountants,” he says, “is to stop thinking like accountants” and start thinking like “business owners”.
“Only when you start to take yourself out of the ‘accounting world’ and spend full days with your clients, in their world, in their businesses, in their homes, so that you not only understand them, but that they ‘feel understood by you’ will you start to win…and win big,” he says.
Managing change: 2017 and beyond
“To have all the profession’s key innovators, early adopters and leading thinkers under one roof makes Accountex incredibly valuable. As a result it’s an absolutely unmissable event, which is why I’ve been attending since the very beginning,” says Steve Pipe, author of The World’s Most Inspiring Accountants and The UK’s Best Accountancy Practices.
A regular speaker at the show, Pipe will be outlining how inspired, pro-active practices generate more success for themselves, and their clients.
“There is no longer any doubt, technology is changing everything. It is already helping us to do much more for our clients in much less time. But we are also starting to see it polarising the profession, and I believe the gap will get much bigger in 2017,” he says.
“On the one side are those accountants who are rising to the challenge and fully harnessing the power of technology to make them better business advisers. That group will enjoy ever increasing success. But on the other side of the divide is a second group hiding behind the delusion that ‘my clients don’t want it’. But since the ‘it’ in question is faster and better service, more reliable data, improved cash flow and profits, and a more secure and successful business, we can see that belief for the delusion it is.
So the bottom line is simple – if you have more than a handful of clients who don’t want those things, then it’s your fault for not explaining the benefits clearly enough to them. And the solution is equally simple – come to Accountex and really start to understand the benefits, so that you can start to communicate them in a way your clients understand,” he concludes.
“There will be plenty of advice, insights and new ideas on offer at Accountex this year,” agrees popular Accountex speaker Mark Lee. Some will be over the top, some won’t resonate with you but some will be just what you need to hear. Keep an open mind and then you can decide what you will do differently over the coming year to become more successful.”
“I will be encouraging all of the thousands of accountants in my network to attend. From the breadth of speakers to the variety of exhibitors. Everyone’s taste will be catered for – whether you want a reminder, fresh insights or predictions of the future for accountants in practice and business. It’s going to be great!” he says.
Big name speakers from HRMC, Sage, Xero, TaxCalc, AVN, and 2020 Innovation are also soon to be announced.
Free visitor registration now open
For further information, and to register for a free ticket to attend, please visit www.accountex.co.uk and use priority code ACX103 (direct link: https://registration.n200.com/survey/01tyd1rdcvlg1?actioncode=ACX103).
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Notes:
Logo: www.accountex.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Accountex17_logo.jpg
High res images are available on request: www.accountex.co.uk/2016-photo-gallery
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