GoFi8ure

Businesses are closing left and right.
And I'm not being dramatic.

Right now, in the towns and cities I work in, businesses are closing their doors every week.

Eateries, hairdressers, trades, services - nobody's immune.

You've got rising costs on one side,
Less money flowing through on the other,
And somewhere in the middle, business owners who've been wearing 13 hats for years and finally running out of road.

It's hard out there, and I think it's worth saying that plainly, without dressing it up.

But here's what I also know:

The businesses that are still standing are the ones that got smart about their numbers early.

They know what it costs to keep the lights on.
They know their margins.
They know which clients are worth keeping and which ones are draining them.

So no, tough conditions don't have to mean the end.
But they do demand clarity.

People often ask me what I do.

They expect me to say I'm an accountant.

I usually do.

But that's not really true.

I don't help business owners understand their numbers.

I help them understand what their numbers are trying to tell them.

Because numbers don't speak.

Until someone knows how to listen.

Xero keeps putting its prices up.

And every time it does, I get a version of this question:

"If the software is doing more, why are your fees going up too?"

Here's my answer.

Xero is a car.
A very good car.

But you still need a licensed driver behind the wheel.

You wouldn't put a three-year-old in the driver's seat and expect them to parallel park.

The software processes the transactions,

While the accountant applies the judgment.

They know what's deductible and what isn't,

When a figure looks wrong,

What IRD will and won't accept,

And how to defend the numbers if it comes to that.

Software gets better, and that's a good thing.

But it doesn't make professional judgment obsolete.

If anything, it makes it more important!

I’m going to toot my own horn for a moment. 📣

I was recently named one of the Top 50 Women in Accounting globally — and one of only two women from New Zealand recognised on the list.

Two.

And I’m one of them.

I’ve realised we can be remarkably quick to move past our own achievements.

There’s always another client, another deadline, another problem to solve and another thing requiring our attention.

So I’m not rushing past this one.

I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve built, the way I’ve chosen to build it, and the clients and people who have trusted me along the way.

Running an accounting practice in real time isn't always polished.

There have been experiments, difficult decisions, boundaries, successes, mistakes and plenty of figuring things out as I go.

And somehow, that journey has put this Kiwi accountant amongst 50 incredible women recognised globally in our profession.

That deserves a moment.

So today I’m taking the bow, accepting the well dones and allowing myself to say:

This is pretty bloody cool.

And to my clients — yes, you can absolutely tell people your accountant is globally recognised. I won’t stop you. 😉

An X-ray doesn't heal anyone.

It simply shows what's happening beneath the surface.

Financial statements are much the same.

They're not there to impress the bank.

Or satisfy IRD.

Or sit in a drawer until next year.

They're there to reveal what's really happening.

Is your business generating cash?

Or just working harder?

Are you growing?

Or simply getting bigger?

Can you afford that next decision?

Or are you hoping the numbers will somehow work themselves out?

After nearly 35 years, I've learned that preparing the reports is only the beginning.

The real value comes from understanding what they're trying to tell you.

Because numbers don't change businesses.

People do.

And people make better decisions when they finally see their business clearly.

Financial statements don't change your future.

The conversations they start can.

We've become very good at counting dollars.

We've become much less good at asking what those dollars can actually do for us.

Business owners proudly tell me they're earning more than ever.

Revenue is up.

Profit is up.

Their salary is up.

Then they tell me they still feel like they're running harder than ever.

That's because bigger numbers don't automatically create a better life.

More revenue doesn't guarantee more freedom.

A higher income doesn't always mean greater financial security.

A growing business isn't necessarily a healthier business.

Somewhere along the way we started measuring success by the size of the numbers instead of what those numbers make possible.

Can you spend more time with your family?

Can you take a holiday without worrying the business will stop?

Can you sleep at night knowing there's enough cash in the bank?

Can you choose to work because you want to, not because you have to?

Those are the numbers that matter.

After nearly 35+ years in the industry, I've learned that money is rarely the goal.

It's what money gives you that's valuable.

We've become very good at counting dollars.

Perhaps it's time we started measuring what those dollars are buying us instead.

I've been thinking about something lately: how good are we at celebrating the success of our peers?

Small business can be a strangely competitive place — and perhaps accounting even more so.

We watch each other's businesses grow, see the appointments, awards, milestones and brave decisions, and inevitably compare some of it with our own journey.

But someone else's win doesn't take anything away from ours.

One thing I've really appreciated recently is the people who take a moment to say, "That's fantastic — well done."

No analysis, no comparison, no qualification.

Just genuine acknowledgement of something good happening for somebody else.

And it has made me wonder whether we could do more of that within our profession.

Not performative engagement.

Not liking everything that passes through a feed.

Just being generous when something genuinely deserves celebrating.

Because perhaps being secure in our own success also means being able to recognise someone else's.

There's plenty of room for all of us to do well.

April, May, June, July.
Every year, same stretch.

Annuals being compiled.
GST filing.
Provisional tax approaching.
Clients needing their numbers by August.

And somewhere in the middle of it all, the 9pm emails.
The private Facebook messages asking if I'm free to chat.
The client who got their urgent request quickly turned around last time, and now expect it every time.

I've been in this industry long enough to know this season passes.
Once September comes, the pace slows and there's room to breathe again.

But right now, in the depths of winter, in the peak of the compliance season?
It's relentless.

And I think it's worth saying that out loud.

Because if you're a business owner feeling the same weight right now,
You're not imagining it.

Regardless of where your business stands or where your priorities lie,
It's a heavy time of year - for all of us.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the difference between caring and carrying.

For years, I probably thought being a great adviser meant caring as much about a client’s business as they did.

Sometimes, if I’m honest, more.

You see the numbers before they do.

You see the cash flow problem coming.

You know the conversation they need to have, the decision they’ve been avoiding or the behaviour that needs to change.

So you explain it. You challenge it. You follow up. You worry about it.

And somewhere along the way, their problem quietly takes up residence in your head.

I don’t think that is good advisory anymore.

I think good advisory is being willing to tell someone the truth, give them the best information you can, help them understand their choices — and then respect that the choice is theirs.

Because it’s their business.

Their risk.

Their decision.

And ultimately, their responsibility.

That doesn’t mean I care less.

Actually, I think I’m becoming a better adviser because I’m learning where my responsibility ends.

There’s a sentence I keep coming back to:

I can care about your business, but I cannot care for it more than you do.

That boundary has changed the way I work.

It has changed which clients I work with.

And, perhaps most importantly, it has given me back some of the energy I was spending carrying things that were never mine to carry.

Good advisers care deeply.

Good business owners take responsibility.

The best relationships need both.