3 Minutes with Bev Flanagan

Introducing Bev Flanagan, a qualified accountant of 27 years. Bev founded, grew and successfully sold her accounting practice after 17 years. Her goal is to ampower accountants and bookkeepers to boost their accounting practices for profitable future exits.

How did you get into your profession?

I did a BTEC in business and finance in college and one of the topics was accountancy. I knew I loved accountancy when I got my trial balance to balance in an exam at college and jumped up and shouted “yes”!

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the profession?

For someone just starting out in the accounting profession I would say my top 5 tips would be to:

1) Embrace technology – this will be your biggest asset!

2) Don’t undervalue your skills and expertise by undercharging for your services.

3) Don’t say yes to every lead that comes in – make sure they are the right client that you want to work with.

4) Enhance your communication skills – don’t only talk to your clients every quarter or once a year.

5) Don’t feel alone – reach out and ask for help – we are a very friendly bunch of people in the accountancy world that want to help.

What’s your biggest achievement?

Only one! that’s difficult as I have had quite a few big achievements throughout my accountancy career so far, but one big highlight was winning Yorkshire Accountant if the Year in 2021.

What do you see as key trends for the accounting sector in the coming year?

I believe one of the key trends in the accounting sector this year is AI. I believe along with the synchronisation with other accounting softwares, it will play a big part in our world to save time and improve efficiencies.

How important is Accountex to you and the sector?

Accountex is THE show that everyone in the accountancy profession actually looks forward to. It’s a massive part of our lives. You get to liaise with old connections, get to meet new ones, get up to date with the latest industry news and vendors and overall, it leaves you with an amazing feeling of motivation and passion within yourself and for your business.

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