Technology when applied appropriately enables and transforms businesses and people to be more efficient and perform at their best.
Small Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst says: “Research shows that boosting productivity could unlock £100 billion for the economy and helping small businesses make better use of technology will enable them to seize the opportunities of scaling up in new markets when we leave the EU.”
It is well understood that accountants are the trusted adviser for small businesses and with the right digital technologies are best placed through their relationship to:
improve the quality and punctuality of record keeping
save small businesses time through streamlining workflows
drive opportunities for revenue growth
reduce business risk and potential failure
If you are an accountant with a client facing role and would like to receive up to 4 hours training on key topics such as app advisory, business data analytics, CRM and tools to surface strategy conversation, then this project trial is essential for you.
We are investigating whether accountants, as trusted advisors, can drive digital adoption and management best practice and therefore increase SME productivity.
We are asking two research questions:
Do accountants, as trusted advisors, facilitate digital adoption in their SME clients?
How do accountants, as trusted advisors, facilitate digital adoption in their SME clients?
The study will run for 12 months
During the trial it is business-as-usual, and you will be invited to join a four-hour training workshop, or if you prefer, an online webinar.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits will be available to participants in the project (more details will be available during the coaching day)
1. You will be asked to identify up to 5 SME clients who would be interested in taking part
2. You will be assigned unique identification codes for you and your clients so that throughout the 12 months of the study, all data is anonymous.
3. You will be asked to provide productivity data (for 8 quarters) for up to 5 of the selected SME clients (we will let you know how to submit this data).
4. Accountants will attend a four hour training workshop.
5. Accountants provide coaching to their SME customers, augmented with digital adoption cues from the specific training workshop that the Accountant received e.g. Accountants who received workshop A will use materials from that training in their advice to SMEs.
6. Accountants provide survey data for the selected SME clients following the training workshop.
The workshops will be arranged for your convenience as much as possible. The workshops are a fantastic opportunity for you to network with other accountants and Sage, although you will have the option to join online training.
The training workshop will prepare Accountants to discuss digital adoption suite of materials with their SME clients. The workshop will be practice based and will look at barriers to adoption and how they might be addressed and overcome.
Accountants will also have access to online resources to support the training workshop.
Post training – a repeat questionnaire
To express your interest in the trial please complete the form below. Following completion a member of the Northumbria University team will contact you by phone in the next 10 days to confirm that you agree to participate in the study. Instructions about the data to be submitted and the workshops will be sent to you at this stage.
If you have any queries regarding the trial or would like to opt out of the trial, please email bl.made@northumbria.ac.uk
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