business focus EXECUTIVE EDUCATION From vision to


action: Lessons from coaching research


As part of our plan for 2018, many of us will be considering all the things we intended to do or achieve last year, but did not manage to fit in. How are we going to make time for that coaching course we wanted to take, resume our fitness regime, or get to grips with social media for our business?


OPEN PROGRAMMES BE EXCEPTIONAL. THE HENLEY WAY.


Chartered accountants Haines Watts presents a series of articles based on its blogs. It offers analysis, reviews and comments and welcomes your feedback at hwca.com/blog


of the m of th


Cloud accounting is your friend


writes Matthew Farrant, partner, Haines Watts henley.ac.uk/open


Although the concept of the cloud has been around since at least the 1970s, it has become mainstream over the past decade. New jobs are being created as old ones are increasingly being done by machines, so where will the accounting function be in 10 years’ time and how will its relationship with business change?


Before we know it, however, most of us will start to feel overwhelmed and demotivated and it will all be delayed or forgotten once again.


That feeling of not being able to fulfil our aims further undermines our confidence in our ability to take action, and focusing on the gaps we have yet to bridge can trigger a spiral of negativity that decreases our problem- solving capability and motivation. Many of us have been conditioned to focus on our weaknesses, so we forget the good things we achieved along the way. Psychological research on coaching and behavioural change tells us that a different thinking approach can be more effective in moving us towards our goals.


Diana Richards 01491 418767 exec@henley.ac.uk www.henley.ac.uk/coaching @HenleyExecEd


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018


This alternative approach, called ‘coaching with compassion’, creates a positive picture of where we want to be in the future, enhances our ‘can do’ attitude and helps us to think creatively about how to plan our actions.


So reflect on your successes, and remind yourself of the things you can be grateful for. Visualise the great things that the future holds and your vision of the person you want to be. You will find yourself energised, creative and resourceful.


(And when you think again about that coaching course, you may realise that now is exactly the right time.)


This year, Henley’s Professional Certificate in Coaching (PCiC) programmes will include a weekend intake starting in February.


Due to intelligent learning, document recognition software and cloud


accounting systems such as Xero and QuickBooks, our roles as accountants are evolving because computers can do the mundane, routine tasks, leaving us to provide a value-added service.


It’s important that businesses understand how this software can help them and we’ve provided a number of our clients with additional guidance and advice on the subject. For example, both parties can now look at the same dashboard at the same time if there is a query to be resolved. It’s easy to retrieve the source documentation as it’s all electronically stored. Also, key management information can be at your fingertips 24/7 for a slicker decision-making process.


For companies trying to assess the viability of future work and projects, software can enable the collation of historical information for easy analysis. The main human involvement then


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becomes the emotional and intellectual assessment needed to decide what to do.


Accounting technology can detect fraud more efficiently and storing data in the cloud can serve as a good back-up. It’s absolutely vital though to protect your data and your systems from attack and you should have a business continuity plan in place.


The future looks bright. I can provide my clients with the higher-level strategic and commercial advice that they find valuable and we are there when we’re needed, wherever the client happens to be.


For further information: hwca.com


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