3 Minutes with Rachel Harris

Rachel Harris is disrupting what it means to be an accountant, a business owner and an employer. She is a TEDx speaker, content creator, author, business owner and most importantly… an accountant!

We grabbed 3 minutes with Rachel ahead of her seminar sessions at Accountex London in May.

1. How did you get into the profession?

I did an apprenticeship straight from school, I wasn’t sure whether to go to university or head straight into work and then when I found out I could complete a professional qualification at the same time and building work experience, an apprenticeship felt right for me. I started working in the Finance Department of my local council completing an NVQ level 2 in Business Administration whilst attending night school to complete AAT! Since then, I’ve been a huge advocate for apprenticeships and I love promoting the different options surrounding not going to university as it always felt to me that the schooling system weren’t geared towards apprenticeships.

2. What do you love most about the accounting and finance industry? 

I love the ability we have to make a difference. Very often, that part of finance is overlooked! For so many people, their finances are very closely linked to their mental wellbeing and how they feel about their numbers sometimes means more than the numbers themselves. So, building a practice that is surrounded by financial education has always been so important to me.

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

The ability to support small business owners through a recession and the cost of living crisis. For us, that looks like providing support on how to price yourself properly, how to increase your prices, how to do cash flow forecasting, how to support your employees and delivering all of that content with the person at the centre is key.

4. What one person or business in the industry do you really admire and why? 

How do I choose one?! I can’t answer this question without mentioning the sunshine in my life, my husband. I run the practice with James, my husband and his technical skills, determination to improve the industry every day and his sunshine in my life keeps me going!

5. How important is Accountex to you and the sector? 

It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet the accounting friends you’ve made during the year and finally find out how tall they are after only chatting on zoom during the pandemic! We can also meet all of our suppliers, get demos and build real life relationships.

Rachel will be speaking at Accountex London, taking place at ExCeL on the 10-11 May 2023.

You can register for your free ticket here. 

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