accountantscoach

Welcome...

Consider the value that YOU give...To your clients, your colleagues, your organisation. Who gives YOU the same value when it comes to your own career and life in general?
We all need an independent check to see that we are making the most of our assets. Yet all too often we fail to invest precious time to maximise our own potential and make important changes in our lives. Sound familiar? Email us now and get a little time to think about yourself...

Welcome to theaccountantscoach , I'm Carol McLachlan, accountant, NLP Practitioner and professionally qualified coach.  My 18 year career at Ernst and Young as an Auditor and Director of Resources has equipped me with a real understanding of the professional and personal issues that accountants face.  My skill is in enabling accountants and other professionals to tap into their own inherent resources to achieve their maximum potential.  Find out more about my background and philosopy.

theaccountantscoach

Read on if you are an accountant or work with accountants...

You’re a busy accountant.  Over-committed, under pressure, daily challenged.  In an environment of increasing technical complexity.  You want to find ways to work and play smarter.  You long to fulfil your potential in all aspects of your life and work. You want to take control of your career.  Or skill up for the next career move.  How do you find the time to think about any of this?

Who do you turn to when you want to bounce ideas, share your aspirations?  Who can provide a new perspective, a listening ear, a sounding board?  Who can help you make the best of the opportunities you already have, while planning the next move?  You need someone independent of your current career, non-judgemental and wholly confidential. 

The solution: working one-to-one with theaccountantscoach.  To set goals, take action, max your performance. Headed up by Carol McLachlan, all our coaches and trainers draw from their own front line accountancy experience, both as practising professionals and developing other accountants, theaccountantscoach is the only independent to specialise in coaching the accounting profession across the globe. Using cutting edge techniques, drawing on extensive skills from personal experience in the profession, applying certified coaching expertise, you can have a bespoke coaching or training programme designed to meet your unique needs.

Choose between face to face, telephone or the innovative e-coaching programme.  Or invite theaccountantscoach to speak at your conference or design your accountant-centric group development programme.

And did you know that personal development (as well as professional development) coaching can count  towards your CPD requirment.  Think how relevant and valuable your CPD could be. 

Imagine what you could achieve, working one-to-one with a coach, focussed 100% on your goals, your actions, your results……. Email now to book your FREE consultation.

[email protected]

Carol McLachlan BA(Hons) FCA Chartered Accountant NLP Practitioner Results Coach

 

What the clients say:

"I found Carol’s coaching style tremendously helpful to build confidence and to make important decisions in an effective and sustainable way."

"I now realise the talents and skills that I have… The encouragement and support received from my coaching discussions has made me feel 100% more confident in doing the job that I do."

theaccountantscoach is a specialised personal and professional development service designed to support accountants in tapping into their own inherent resources to maximise their personal and career success.  It is run by ex Ernst & Young chartered accountant and coach, Carol McLachan, who can show you that it is often the very smallest changes that can make a really big differences to achieving your potential

Reasons to be Cheerful - part 1

Problem solving: Can we fix it? Yes we can!

Accountants solve problems. From CCAB syllabuses, to job ads, to client expectations, there's no denying that problem solving is a core professional skill. Just think about the problems you solve every day: the thorny tax issue, the holes in the accounts, the judgment call. And yes, other professionals solve problems too. But I'll wager that the sheer depth, breadth and variety that accountants encounter takes some beating. Forget Jim: the accountant'll fix it!

'Problems are to the mind what exercise is to the muscles, they toughen and make strong.' (Norman Vincent Peale)

And what a transferable skill! Think about it. Problem solving per se is a highly marketable competency. Wikipedia extols: 'considered the most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills'.

Let's un-pack this problem solving talent; what does it actually mean in practice?

• To be: systematic, organized, methodical, intellectually dexterous, adaptable, resourceful, objective.
• To do: planning, analysis, practical knowledge, application, prioritization, conflict resolution, assessment, implementation, resolution, surmount obstacles, evaluate, make decisions, use judgment.

Forget problem solving 'per se', just a few of these attributes sprinkled through your C.V, will go a long, long way!

Sharpening the saw

So let's take this inherent strength and make it even stronger. Here's how:

• Leverage your preferred operating style. Are you a visual, auditory or kinaesthetic thinker? Take the test on the website: www.theaccountantscoach.com. Once you've identified your preference, exploit it, seeking new modes working (graphical, audio, applied tools). Merely raising conscious awareness of your style will capitalize on your natural resources, further unlock your potential and achieve synergy.
• Systemise your approach. Figure out your problem-solving processes, pin them down and avoid getting stuck in a circle of solving the same problem over and over again. Not only does this save time, but it boosts performance in unfamiliar or ambiguous situations. And reduces stress.
• Engage the right brain. Add a soupcon of creativity. Beware of pernicious 'left brain accountant' labelling. Mental skills are actually evenly distributed throughout the cerebral cortex and we the potential to develop all our skills. 'Left or Right brain dominant' just means you have not yet developed your full skill set. You are sitting on untapped resources.
• Work your human resources - smarter. Your team, your (life) partner, your kids, your non-accountant mates. Team work means - even more - synergy! New perspectives are invaluable - that's what coaching is all about. And just moving thoughts to words can unlock conundrums.

So there you have it. Celebrate and promote your precious problem solving assets. Then hone them to perfection.

And the final words of inspiration from Duke Ellington: "a problem is a chance for you to do your best".

Making happy accountants

So you want to be happy? Simple: just shut your eyes and wish hard! Wham-bang, you’re happy! That’s Positive Thinking, and people (yes even us amongst us cynical Brits?) buy into it.

Do you swallow that? Many don’t. Some people actually blame Positive Thinking for the credit crunch (You wanna house? Have one!), and I bet that soldiers hope their commanders have something better than hard wishing up their sleeves. Or was the Charge of the Light Brigade a disaster because commanders didn’t wish hard enough?

Click here to read the full newsletter

Are you an adult, parent, or child accountant?

What’s your take on Jekyll and Hyde, one-and-the-same protagonists of Stevenson’s tale of a physician and his murderous Other Self? Gothic Horror nonsense? Real human behaviour, albeit psychopathological?

Or something closer to home?

To put it another way, how do you see yourself? Are you a simple, uncomplicated soul? 
Or are you complex? Either way, 
I bet you don’t brag about your ‘multiple personality’, which suggests ‘disorder’.

Click here to read the full newsletter.

Accountants get into the Groove!

 

Two questions for you.

Firstly, when and where
do you enjoy yourself most?

And please, keep it to yourself! Although in fact we already know, because Chicago’s Professor Csiksentmihaly has established exactly when we enjoy ourselves most.

It’s when we’re

• designing, discovering or exploring something new,
• solving problems or overcoming hurdles (real or imagined),
• stretched but not stressed, and
• winning!

Click here to read the full newsletter

RHITG BRIAN OR LTEF BRIAN? WHAT A NO-BRAINER!

If yeou’r rignead tish Nelswetter yeou’r prolbaby an accatnount, therefore a left-brainer. If, however, you successfully decipher these first few lines, you have something of the right-brainer. So contagrulantios, you’re moving towards being a whole-brainer!

And whole-brainerdom is good: it means balance, synergy and fulfilment, and you need to nurture it!

Click here to read the whole newsletter

Confidence without the Tricks (2)

It’s time for the mouse to ROAR - or at least speak firmly without nervously twitching whiskers!
Here are twelve tips on acquiring and developing self-confidence.

Click here to read the full newsletter. 

Confidence without the tricks (1)

Remember Oz, where the mighty Wizard was really an old man pulling levers and speaking through a microphone?
Or the Vikings - fearless fighters, but likely fuelled with drugs and alcohol?
All too often, self-confidence seems like a smoke and mirrors trick: in Oz, you’ll recall, the Cowardly Lion was brave all along! So let’s check some realities, because we all desire self-confidence and we all sometimes lack it

Read the full newsletter right here.

Procrastinate? Me? Can't it wait?

Ah yes, our old friend, procrastination. Thief of time, wrecker of careers, mother of painful regret:
‘If only I’d...’
We’re here again because, once you’ve fixed your goals and deadlines,
you’ve got to make them stick: as emphasised in recent postings! So let’s identify the enemy.

To read the full newsletter, click here

Learn to work your Cerebral Assets

The way you think can be a key factor in your success - and many people are failing to use their intellectual resources in the most effective way.
Read the full article that I wrote for ICAEW's Finance & Management faculty, right here

TopCAATs: the auditor's indisputed leader of the gang

Love the name, love the product.

This is a dream product for 'regular' auditors, like me, with a far from sophisticated IT skillset.  Did you ever baulk (or blow the budget) when expected to wheel out CAATs on a sporadic basis? Despite the costly training, by the time you actually get round to using them for real, you've forgotten virtually everything you've learned and any remnants are wiped out as a big dose of panic sets in.

If this sounds familiar then you must read my interview with Charlie Walker from Reinvent Data Limited.  Charlie has created TopCAATS, a suite of tools within excel, designed to be used by non-specialist auditors and accountants quite simply to make our lives easier.

Time Management not working? Try Time Leverage

The following article first appeared in the ICAEW's Finance & Management journal March 2009.

Have you reviewed your own ROI?

If not, 2009 is the year to get your personal assets working more smartly.  Forget the results by volume approach.  Time Management is just about trying to do more. Progress comes, not from saving time, but leveraging it.  Saving is limited to the hours you save; leverage allows you to multiply the effort applied. 

 Here’s how. 

 What do you actually want to achieve?

It’s imperative that you understand why you are doing what you are doing.  What’s it all for?  What are your goals?  If you aren’t clear, you need to draw up some well formed outcomes.    If you don’t, you are in grave danger of being efficient rather than effective. Efficiency is getting things done. Effectiveness is getting things done, to worthwhile effect, that take you towards your goals. What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it.  Efficiency is irrelevant unless applied to the right things. 

 Pareto and Parkinson

Remember the 80/20 principle?  If

80% of sales/profits come from 20% of products/customers or

80% of the effects flow from 20% of the causes

then

Which 20% of your activities contribute to 80% of your results?

 And then there’s Parkinson’s Law: a task expands to fill the time allocated.  How much do you get done in the week before your holiday? 

 Use these laws together as the bedrock of your leverage strategy.  Identify the critical tasks that contribute most to your goals and then set deadlines.   

 What else? 

 Modelling

Instead of trial and error get some role models.  It’s not easy to find one person who embodies all your values, beliefs and aspirations, so put together an inspirational composite.  How do they get results?  What patterns and behaviours do they use?  Look, learn and model.

 States of the Mind

Discover what psychologists call flow.  Also known as being ‘in the zone’, flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what they are doing, driven by energized focus. An extremely productive state, you’re at your most creative, sharpest, problem solving best and producing your highest performance.  Flow’s greatest foe is interruption; so bag some blocks of protected time. 

 Mindfulness is the act of consciously paying attention, in the present, on purpose and non-judgmentally. The opposite of being on "automatic pilot’’, mindfulness is efficient, reduces repetition and aids retention and understanding.  Plus the ability to notice what is going on, as it arises, also fosters flexibility in stressful situations. 

Learning/thinking styles

Once you understand your preferred styles you can leverage them.  Are you a visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learner? Do you like to get stuck-in or read and plan first?  What are your dominant types of intelligence?  Are you using mind friendly techniques like mind maps to optimise your learning, understanding and retention of knowledge? 

It’s time to work on the job, not just in the job

Time leverage involves some up-front investment.  It's natural to want to conserve resources but if you don't make that investment you'll lock yourself into the old way of doing things:

 

‘if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got’.

 

Leverage is the art of getting more done with the same, or less, effort.  How far will take you in 2009?

 

Carol McLachlan, FCA is a chartered accountant, executive coach and NLP practitioner.  She’s the founder of www.theaccountantscoach.com supporting finance professionals, both individuals and organisations, in a multitude of development areas:  career planning, work-life balance, time management, performance enhancement, communication.  For more professional and personal development tips, sign up for your free monthly newsletter at [email protected]

 

Time Leverage

ICAEW's Faculty of Finance & Management presents Carol McLachlan, Introducing 'time leverage'

Thursday 30 April 2009 18:00 - 19:00

Chances are 2009 is still ushering in a troupe of challenges, complexities and unprecedented change, not just in the economy but for you, in your own role. As pressure intensifies and the demands from our stakeholders increase, the time has come to take a step back. 

It’s no longer enough to work in the job; you also need to work on the job. What worked for you in 2007 and 2008 probably won't cut it in 2009. You need a new approach and new thinking to deal with a rapidly changing landscape. You need to achieve more with the same or even less resource. You need Time Leverage.

For more details and to book online click here

The Wheel of Life

One of the most powerful coaching tools I use is the Wheel of Life. It's a simple tool which helps determine the current focus of your time and energy.  This in turn can help identify areas of relative neglect and thus define where you would like to make improvements.  The coach helps you consider each area of your life in turn and assess what’s ‘off balance’.

The Wheel of Life is powerful because it gives you a vivid visual representation of the way your life is currently, compared with the way you'd ideally like it to be. It is called the "Wheel of Life" because each area of your life is mapped on a circle, like the spoke of a wheel.  In the example above, the client feels that their highest levels of satisfaction are in the areas of Family and Partner which they have rated at 80% (4/5).  The lower scoring areas are Career and Finances and these are likely to be where they would like to focus and make improvements.

Email me at info@theaccountantscoach to receive your own Wheel of Life template. Or take up the special offer at our sister site,  worksmartplayhard and get your very own Life Audit.

It's February. Running on empty?

Whoopee! It's gone. January, farewell, the accountant's hell, season
of deadlines, screaming fits and stimulant-fuelled all-nighters: our pressure cooker month. At last the pressure's off and we can
sit back and...what?

Go on working like crazy, that's what - because February's just January without deadlines.

So how do you maintain momentum when there’s no pressure?

Read the full newsletter right here. 

Happy or not, it's another new year

Any new year is a different year, and I’m betting 2009 is going to be seriously different: tougher than 2008 and unprecedentedly complex, a proper you-ain’t-seen-nothing-yet year.

So ring out the old, ring in the new, and out with old ways! The French say: autres temps, autres moeurs, which I’ll translate as ‘different times, different behaviours’. Horses for courses: what worked then won’t work now. Today’s problems require today’s solutions.

Read the full newsletter right here

Stressmass, twixtmas and an accountant's worklife balance

Christmas is coming but it’s actually twixtmas and the bleakness of January that are the real killers for many of us accountants.   Our business diaries are black with deadlines; our personal pages are bare. And we say ‘that’s life!’

Accountants? Work-life balance?
No way!

(Actually, it’s now called Life Balance, but it means the same: dual satisfaction with life and work, achieved on your terms, and holistically good for you, your company, everybody.)

But why can’t accountants achieve a balance? Have you heard the one about the frog?  Frog as in rana temporaria, the common frog who, dropped into boiling water, will leap to safety, but boiled up from ambient, will simply cook.

Read the full newsletter right here

Accountants: celebrating our assets

'Walk tall, walk straight, and look the world right in the eye’

(The Popes)

Er, yes, I know it’s a song about a jailbird – but hey! What a fantastic motto for a profession: what a fantastic motto for our profession!

Up until now my focus has been on sharing with you tips and techniques to enhance your personal and professional development. Today, I’m going to change tack. Today, let’s look instead at what’s right about the accountancy profession.  The features that attract over 11% of the nation’s best and brightest young graduates. A powerful technique that I’ve found my clients love.  Let’s celebrate our assets!

Read the full newsletter here

Multi-tasking: eradicating the blight

The sign of the times?
...Banks collapsing?

Or how about a bunch of tourists, oblivious to the fragrant beauty of Granada’s Generalife gardens, absorbed in texting?

That’s where we were last newsletter. Everywhere technologies crowding in and human wit crowded out. Social interaction wrecked as geeks
(yes that’s us now) fidget with techno-toys.

Read the full newsletter, Multi-tasking: eradicating the blight here

Multi-tasking: modern work place blight

Those Ancient Greek giants with fifty heads and a hundred hands apiece must have been whizzo multitaskers. Computers are. You, if human,are not.

Almost certainly, however, you are expected to be, have claimed to be, or aspire to be, an ace multitasker. You may even believe, mistakenly, that you are one

Read the full newsletter, Multi-tasking: modern work place blight here

An Accountant, a Comedian and a Parrot went to the HMRC

This month, it’s all about me: a true-life case study.   What I’ve done, what it’s done for me and what it could do for you.

I’ve been up to funny business. No, not embezzling clients’ funds.  I’m talking about learning a new trade:  stand up comedy.  Culminating in a live stand-up session at a night-club where I launched a one-woman assault on the stereotype of us accountants as just boring number-crunchers.

Busy being Busy. An Accountants' Parable

We’re busy being busy
Working the whole day through,
Stressed-out accountants
Effective or Efficient,
Which one are you?

You think that last line’s not a showstopper? Oh, yes it is - because strenuous, misdirected effort will eventually stop your show.

How to Grow Your Practice In a Recession

A specially designed Workshop for forward-thinking Partners and Practice Owners     

“How to Grow Your Practice In a Recession” A specially designed Workshop for forward-thinking Partners and Practice Owners

Practice owners and partners, now learn the tried, tested and proven critical success factors you need to implement to keep ahead of your competition, including 61 proven practice-building ideas that are ready to implement in your firm – immediately.

Designed specially for partners and practice owners

This workshop has been designed exclusively for partners and practice owners and aims to help you develop a positive vision for your future in these uncertain times, including:
•    What your prospects and clients really want from their accountancy firm in the current economic climate
•    Why this current global pain gives your firm a ‘once in a lifetime’ business development opportunity
•    How to seize that opportunity with a practical, tailored marketing and sales strategy for the next 12 – 24 months
•    Why Digital marketing is a cost effective ‘must’ for accountancy firms in this new economy
•    How to measure the effectiveness of your new plans and keep your goals on track
Whatever the size of your practice, you’ll benefit massively from the information you’ll receive. These are not impersonal seminars, but small workshop events designed specially for partners and practice owners which give you the opportunity to chat through any specific marketing issues confidentially with one of our marketing consultants. Although the workshop is sales and marketing focused, it requires no prior skills in these areas and you’ll go way with your own tailored action plan and a host of easy-to-implement activities all designed to improve your profitability.
During the course of the Workshop, you’ll discover many proven ideas, including:
•    5 Steps to formulate a Vision for your Practice
•    4 Important steps in creating a sound plan
•    5 Digital marketing ‘must-knows’
•    6 Ways to win and prepare for face-to-face appointments
•    How to profile your prospects’ and clients’ Style of Influence
•    The 10 most common direct mail mistakes
•    8 tips for successful email marketing
•    8 recession-proof ideas that cost little or nothing
•    3 cardinal sins to avoid when communicating with your clients
Plus much more
The Workshops will take place as follows:

London - Tuesday 24 February
Birmingham – Wednesday 25 February
Leeds – Thursday 26 February

Priority notification – first-come, first-served

You’ll need to hurry, though! Places are limited at each venue, so allocation is on a first-come, first-served basis only. We have also deliberately positioned the event at a price affordable for all at just £98 + VAT. As one of the first to hear about the workshops, you have the best chance to reserve your places on your preferred date.

To book, simply click here or for fastest service,
call 0800 803 0826 NOW.

 

100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
This essential workshop is covered by our 100% Full Refund Guarantee, so there’s no risk whatsoever for you. If at any time during the workshop you don’t feel you are getting great value from your attendance, simply inform us and we will give you a full refund, without question.

The Accountant says No! Say it. Mean it. Love it.

A long day gets longer. Interruptions. Phone calls. Endless emails! Your 9 pm dinner date is looking as remote and as jolly as Scott’s Last Camp - and suddenly they’ve called an unscheduled team meeting!

Wow! You’re so popular! But love it or hate it, you’re merely human and there’s only so many hours.
So, what could help on such a day? 

The Emotionally Intelligent Accountant

Emotional Intelligence (EI) or EQ refers to the ability to understand your emotions, responses and behaviours. EI matters.  EI includes self-awareness, impulse/mood control, persistence, personal motivation in the face of frustrations and the ability to keep distress from affecting the ability to think.  Not to mention empathy, seeing others’ points of view and reading and appreciating their emotions.  EI is the key to better business performance.

The first test to developing EI is self-awareness: recognising your personal emotional strengths and weaknesses.  Once you’ve got a base line you can start moving forward. 

This test provides a baseline.  It covers 2 parts of the EI quadrant: Self-awareness and Self-management.  Don’t forget that EI also includes Social awareness and Relationship management, but the starting point has got to be ‘know thyself’!  

Click Download to rate your EI. 

Introducing The Accountants Circle: save time, deliver more

If you haven't found them yourselves, let me introduce you to an exciting new set of services from the fantastic, innovative Accountants Circle.  This is something rather different.  The Accountants Circle offers a unique approach to working with accountants.

The focus is on value, and how that value is delivered.  While The Accountants Circle provides accountants with quality website development and a variety of outsourced services, it's actually the guts of their membership concept that is really different.

At the moment many of you in practice, particularly the smaller practices, use a variety of tools and templates sourced from all sorts of people and places to help you deliver your service. It can be great to get your hands on something that helps, but often these require a fair knowledge of Excel and changes to formula each time they're used... so they can still be time consuming.  Sometimes you or your team spend time creating new templates to do this when nothing else seems easily accessible.

The Accountants Circle start with the premise that most accountant-provided services are not greatly different from one other.  So as a member of the Circle you can access tools designed by accountants for accountants.  And stop re-inventing the wheel!  The Accountants Circle draws on the experiences of its own team, along with the input and demand of its members in providing you with an ongoing development service. This is peer-based collaboration and leverage at its best, albeit with a small monthly membership fee.

As this venture grows, I'm quite curious to see just what they'll be able to offer accountants.  At the moment some of the tools are certainly interesting and should prove great value for many accountants in practice, especially those that deal with SMEs.  These do come personally branded for the practice and can make for some great marketing/promotional tools too.

Examples?   Where shall I start?  Let's try, templates for: preparing management accounts, providing budgets and projections, managing assets and their depreciation.  Remember, if these templates don't suit your needs, you can have them  modified by The Accountants Circle.  The same goes for new templates. If you are looking for a template that's not there yet, ask them to do it for you!  In other words, a bespoke service.   For such a modest monthly membership contribution, it shouldn't be hard to quickly recoup the cost against the value gained in terms of time saved, plus quality and assurance.

So, what are you waiting for.  Just click here and see for yourself.

 

Compliance Problems? Compliance Solutions......

theaccountantscoach is delighted to introduce and recommend PCP.  PCP Limited provides training and consultancy support for accountancy practices worldwide. They offer a range of technical products, courses and on and off site consultancy services to help you to cope with the current vast array of regulatory pressures.  PCP have now teamed up with theaccountantscoach to offer these services and products to visitors to the accountantscoach.com. For more information visit the PCP website at www.pcplimited.com or speak to Michael Scott on 0044 151 625 7042

A problem shared - a problem solved

Click on the link to read  the first re-vamped newsletter from theaccountantscoach - May 2008.  To get personal and professional development tips, especially for accountants, direct to your inbox, email me at [email protected]

Mind Maps for Accountants

• A system to remember your presentation so you don’t have to read your notes
• A technique that helps you take a project, see the big picture, focus on the key areas and understand all the inter-connections
• A means of making note taking from journals, books, e-articles, quicker, more logical, better organised
• A method for brainstorming that presents ideas logically structured
• An approach to time management, enabling you to focus on your priorities, make efficiencies

How would you like to spend just 10 minutes learning a new skill that will help you in all of the above areas?  In the last year, Mind Mapping has given me all of these rewards and truly revolutionised my approach to knowledge, learning and business.  Read on for the accountant’s introduction to Mind Mapping. 

From BeanCounter to LionTamer: smashing the accountant stereotype

From Beancounter to Liontamer was the subject of my most recent contribution to Accountingweb. You can read the full article here. 
However, the topic of accountant stereotypes is also the subject of my first short stint in stand up comedy.  This summber I've been working with Take A Stand to learn a new trade.  You can read about my exploits in my  monthly newsletter.  To sign up for future newsletters on personal and  professional development technques especially for accountants, email me at [email protected].

Health coaching to optimise your well being

Poor concentration?  Fatigue?  Mental fog?  Suspected food sensitivities? Faulty sleep patterns?  Susceptible to every bug that’s going around?  
Sound familiar?
Or perhaps you have multiple health niggles.  Individual niggles which seem too trivial to see a doctor, but en mass they’re affecting your wellbeing. 

If this sounds like you, then I’m delighted to introduce you to someone who can help: Helena Ederveen – my friend, colleague and a past client.
Helena’s a highly experienced Clinical Nutritionist, and Associate Member of the Australasian College of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine. She’s lectured all over the world and collaborated with other experts, as passionate as herself, to create her unique solution-focussed service as a Health Coach Adviser.
Helena’s approach is holistic.  Your body works as a system; so merely concentrating on one or more ‘fragments’ such as weight management or sleeping disorders will only take you on the proverbial ‘wild goose chase’!
Her service uses comprehensive biochemistry testing in order to establish what is impairing your health.   In her own words: 'Once you understand what is challenging your health, you can then take charge of your health.  You have an amazing body that will do everything to support you. But you need to listen to your body.’ 
Helena will teach you how to listen to your body.  And once you understand your own biochemistry, you can take your first pro-active steps towards creating beneficial change in your well being.  Helena’s expert, in depth consultation will introduce you to a new way of thinking and set you on the road to a healthy, happy future. 

And there’s more.  By tacking these small niggles now you could be taking the preventive route to avoid: cancer, heart attack, depression, diabetes and many more life-threatening disorders. 
I’m proud to be introducing Helena to my client base in the UK and Europe.  But wherever you are based in the world – she is now able to offer her unique service.  And we’ve collaborated to offer you a very special package. 
To take advantage of this offer and book a free consultation, go to her website A Holistic Health Coach Approach and click on the Contact tab, quoting CMcL as your very special discount code.
Helena’s passionate about health and wellbeing.  Share her passion.  Just imagine what it could mean to you when you learn how to take charge of your own health: working one-to-one with a health coach, focussed 100% on your goals, your actions, your results….

Especially for accountants

You’re a busy accountant.  Over-committed, under pressure, daily challenged.  In an environment of increasing technical complexity.  You want to find ways to work and play smarter.  You long to fulfil your potential in all aspects of your life and work. You want to take control of your career.  Or skill up for the next career move.  How do you find the time to think about any of this?

Who do you turn to when you want to bounce ideas, share your aspirations?  Who can provide a new perspective, a listening ear, a sounding board?  Who can help you make the best of the opportunities you already have, while planning the next move?  You need someone independent of your current career, non-judgemental and wholly confidential. 

The solution: working one-to-one with theaccountantscoach.  To set goals, take action, max your performance.  This is much more than Life Coaching.  Drawing on a long Top 4 accountancy career, both as a practising professional and developing other accountants, theaccountantscoach is the only independent to specialise in coaching the accounting profession across the globe. Using cutting edge techniques, drawing on extensive skills from personal experience in the profession, applying certified coaching expertise, you can have a bespoke coaching programme designed to meet your unique needs.

Choose between face to face, telephone or the innovative e-coaching programme.

And did you know that personal development (as well as professional development) coaching can count  towards your CPD requirment.  Think how relevant and valuable your CPD could be. 

Imagine what you could achieve, working one-to-one with a coach, focussed 100% on your goals,, your actions, your results……. Email now to book your FREE consultation.

[email protected]

Carol McLachlan BA(Hons) FCA Chartered Accountant NLP Practitioner Results Coach

What the clients say
"I found Carol’s coaching style tremendously helpful to build confidence and to make important decisions in an effective and sustainable way."

"I now realise the talents and skills that I have… The encouragement and support received from my coaching discussions has made me feel 100% more confident in doing the job that I do."

theaccountantscoach is a specialised personal and professional development service designed to support accountants in tapping into their own inherent resources to maximise their personal and career success.  It is run by ex Ernst & Young chartered accountant and coach, Carol McLachan, who can show you that it is often the very smallest changes that can make a really big differences to achieving your potential

Accountants' CPD - The other P in CPD

CPD at this time of year? Well, why not? Last year's declarations are out of the way. You are on the home stretch deadline-wise. It might be time to start reminding yourself of your tentative CPD plans for the year. But have you asked yourself recently, what exactly is it? CPD, that is. Take the DTI’s description: ‘CPD is defined as the holistic commitment to structured skills enhancement and personal or professional competence’.

Did you know that? CPD encompasses personal development too.

Accountancy Training & Development - revised, reborn, refurbished. How you can maximise your ROI on your own Accountancy Training & Development

Accountancy Training & Development. We do lots of it, us accountants, do we not?  Starts with our professional exams, flows on into CPD.  It gives us the technical know-how to achieve our expert status with updates galore. And maybe even a sprinkle of management training thrown in for good measure. And what have you got at the end of it? A pretty generic Accountancy Training & Development programme, that's what. The recipe?  Good old Pareto: 80% technical, 20% softer skills. Bob's your uncle, job done.   

But how often do we consider what our job is really about?  Or look at skills development that would really serve us well?  Or put another way, how often are we sitting through courses or read bumph, that's pretty much irrelevant to real life at the coalface?

I've recently completed a survey of my own accountant coaching clients.  I wanted to understand the one skill or improvement which, if honed, could really be the difference that makes the difference.  What do you think I got back?  Well it wasn't intimate knowledge of IFRS 3 (revised) or nurturing their passion for corporate tax.  This is what they said:

Accountants, are you visually, auditory or kinaesthetically preferred?

You'll know by now that we each have a preferred thinking and learning style, from my recent articles.

And now you have the opportunity to identify your own preferences in 3 simple steps:

1. Click and download the list of indicators here: Visual, auditory, Kinaesthetic, which are you? .
2. Switch on your conscious awareness for the next 48 hours.  You are looking to pick up words and phrases you use in both domestic and business environments.  Mark the list as you identify your habitual patterns.
3. At the end of the 2 day period, review your data.  You will discover your tendency towards one or more of the modalities.  

How can you best use your findings?  Contact me at [email protected] to find out how coaching can help you leverage your individual style. 

Accountants Continuing Professional Develpment. CPD - Banish the Fear!

Accountants, stressed about your CPD?  Do not be afraid ...... you have very probably completed the CPD requirements of your professional body without consciously realising it.  Let me tell you how......

Blended Living™

Blended Living™ is a brand new innovation in work life balancing for the 21st century.  Quite simply Blended Living™ is a methodology which enables you to maximize the opportunities of modern living, while taking control of the demands and conflicts. Blended Living™ is for anyone and everyone.

Let Blended Living™ help you maximize your personal investment in the 21st century. 

Email me at [email protected] for more information

Read on to discover the definitive guide to Blended Living™ and how it can help you. 

Coaching. It's not just for FDs!

Accountancy Age published an article on coaching last week called 'Personal Touch'.  As a coach and accountant myself I warmly welcomed this article which gave an excellent overview of the full spectrum of coaching and its benefits. 

But why the focus on FTSE 100 FDs?  The underlying assumption is that coaching is the domain of the highest earners, unaffordable, out of reach and irrelevant to the rest of the profession.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

All the benefits that accrue from coaching FDs are at least equally relevant to the rest of the profession: from time management and worklife balance support, to setting career goals and boosting professional performance.  Not to mention the unique qualities of coaching as a methodology.   It's highly bespoke (and hence time efficient), flexed to individual needs. It's utterly results driven.  And as a client you are buying 'accountability' and don't underestimate the power that has on motivation. Plus it provides a truly non judgemental forum.

The reason that coaching can be so affordable is that it is easily accomplished remotely (telephone or email).  Many of my clients, for example, are individual accountants who are seeking an unbiased listening ear, independent of their employer or business.

So come on Accountancy Age, less of the elitism please!  Coaching is available to, and attainable by, all of us accountants! 

To find out how coaching can benefit you or your organisation, email me at [email protected] to book your complimentary taster session.

Read the full article 'Personal Touch'

Accountant jokes ...... and others

Wondering about the heading?  Not as slick as my usual style?  Well, did you know that 'accountant jokes' ranks as one of the highest keyword effectiveness terms with the search engines.  Basically, this means lots of people are looking for accountants jokes but there's not much competition out there.  So forgive me for a Little exploitation.

To check out the latest accountant jokes from the wonderful book 'It's Grin up North' go to www.pro-manchester.co.uk. Packed full of 'professional humour', you'll find full exploitation of popular stereotypes from barristers, consultants and of course, accountants. And I think you might like the lawyer jokes too.  Here's a taster: 'It was so cold last winter, I saw a lawyer with his hands in his own pockets'and 'There are three kinds of accountants in the world.  Those who can count and those who can't'. And I can't resist ' What's the definition of a good tax accountant?'.  Someone who has a loophole named after them.'
You can access the book via at www.pro-manchester.co.uk.  Donations are requested for the Wood Street Mission, a charity which helps alleviate poverty in children and their families.

Time Management Top Tips for Accountants 2

Short and simple.  Each month I provide  3 new top tips on time management.  If you are looking to improve your work life balance and/or time management, my suggestion is this: read the 3 tips and undertake to try out just one new one each month.  Just try it, it may not work for you, but there will be loads more to try.  And I'm only suggesting you try one new one per month. Why?  Well, you know that feeling you get when you are so busy, you know what you should be doing, you know there is a better way, but just can't find the time to introduce any new changes into your schedule (change usually means investment of some sort doesn't it, surely time investment is the last thing I can afford right now).  Well that feeling is permanent with some of us, we are always too busy to change.  So, try just one thing for one month, that's not a huge extra time commitment is it? Here goes, 3 top time management tips:

CPD for Accountants

I recently stumbled across a new site, cpdwise.com, which can provide us accountants with all things CPD online.  cpdwise.com is the brainchild of Diarmuid O'Donovan, FCCA , who serves on the International Assembly of the ACCA.  Most of the professional accountancy bodies now allow flexibility in the types of learning that constitute CPD (check out my article, CPD - banish the fear), and cpdwise can offer e-learning which can flexibly, efficiently and economically fill this gap. Diarmuid recognises that while many of the accountancy professional bodies and many of our employers offer some CPD learning opportunities, for most accountants, their learning needs will not, and cannot, be met wholly from these sources.

Check out cpdwise.com to satisfy your CPD requirements, the e-learning way.  And remember that you can also email me at [email protected] for bespoke one to one or group coaching on specific CPD needs.  Here are a few examples of topics on which I have coached accountants:

• Communication skills.  Assertiveness.  Managing conflict
• Performance enhancement. Skills audit. Confidence building.
• Career planning
• Work-life balance. Time management
• Leadership skills.  Team building
• Change management

Any Accountants for the Dragon's Den?

Being a bit of an entrepreneur myself, I received this invitation to apply to the Dragon's Den.  I'm not going for it this time round, but what about you, my fellow accountants? I'd love to see the accounting profession represented a bit more robustly on one of these businessy competitive TV shows.  And come to think of it, I don't think I've seen an accountant participating on The Apprentice, to date, either.  Well, whatever your tipple, Dragon's Den or The Apprentice, lets put a call out for the accountants. Come on down. First up, the Dragon's Den.  Read on for details on how to enter....

Accountants, let's audit our image

Accountants, I'm sure you know how that first impression is absolutely crucial.  You know what they say; people make up their mind about you within seconds of seeing you for the first time.  OK, first impressions can be undone, but it takes time, energy and money.  Why go through all that hassle when you can get it right first time?  That's why over the coming weeks I'm working with specialist image consultants, ALTER EGO.  As I go through my own personal image audit, we don't you share my journey, pick up the tips and techniques that I learn along the way. And learn some of the image consultancy trade secrets from ALTER EGO themselves.

If you can't wait that long then find out more about ALTER EGO now.  More info unfolds below.

The Secret

Now, I've know about the 'The Secret' for a while.  But this week was the first time that I watched the film in its entirety and, inspired again as I was, I couldn't resist sharing it with a wider audience. Its billed as 'The Secret to everything - the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love, youth: everything you have ever wanted'.  A tall order maybe, but I've been using The Secret to great effect in my business dealings, so I suggest you give it a go too, whether in your career or in any other part of your life. 

To watch The Secret online for $4.95 right now click here.  Or read on to get the flavour of The Secret from my summarised version.  Could it change your life forever...........................You'll never know unless you find out more................

Second Life - the accountants have landed

Did you know that the Dutch affiliate of Baker Tilly International are the first European accountants to open a virtual office in Second Life. Accountingweb ran the full story, pointing out that the Americans got there first.  But there's still plenty of scope for consulting, budgeting and accountant coaching, I believe.

What do we accountants think of this? Are you tempted?  I am.  I''ve had a look round and as another manifestation of web 2.0 phenomenon, its pretty enticing.  But what puts me off is the ROI.  I can see it being addictive.  I'm scared of being sucked in. Much like my 10 year old son has been with Runescape, totally immersed in character. On one level its' a bit of fun but many are now taking it seriously as a commercial venture and that's where lil ol' 'risk adverse' me is baulking from taking the plunge.  Bear in mind that I am the obsessive type, there's not such thing as a dabble for me, I'm in there with two feet. 

Accountants, what do you think?  Any takers?  Who wants a strategy meeting in Second Life hosted by theaccountantscoach.com.  Will you join me?  Dare we?

Win-Win Negotiation - Finding a fair compromise

Here's another great article from James Manktelow at Mind Tools.  Regular readers will know I am a big fan of Mind Tools and I chose this article because it could well help you with negotiation at work whether with colleagues or as service receiver or provider.   Read on to learn the win-win negotiation method, introduced by Dianna Podmoroff's 'thought for the day'

Thought for the Day
Do You Need to Be Right?

Based on “Thought for the Day: Do You Need to Be Right?” By Dianna Podmoroff
Thought for the day is a regular feature at the Mind Tools Career Excellence Club.

Is being right more important to you than reaching agreements, or getting along with others? In a world where knowledge and education are valuable commodities, it’s easy to get caught up in wanting to be right all the time. You’re smart and educated, so why shouldn’t what you say be right?

Think about this – even if you ARE right, if asserting that fact results in damaged relationships, failures to reach agreement, or excessive time wasted arguing, is being right really worth it?

When you allow others to be right, you open yourself up to other perspectives, and you are perceived as a person who is willing to negotiate and reach agreements; not just argue to the death.

When you are experiencing conflict try saying, “You are right.” Watch how the dynamic of the conversation changes. Certainly there are times when being right is the only path to pursue: But when being right becomes your mantra on every point, every time, that’s when you need to step back and ask yourself why it is so important.

Try finding ways in which the other person is right: It’s a great starting place for negotiating your win-win solution!

Business Kissing – The Accountants Guide

Accountants, to kiss or not to kiss?  That is the question. 

Accountancy - Shape up or Ship out

Have you been following the AccountingWEB online debate, Accountancy - Shape up or Ship out?

Want to know who thinks what, among us ordinary accountants, not to mention a few movers and shakers?  Well if you do, and you haven't already been party to the debate, here's a quick whistlestop tour of the salient points. 

It all started at the end of February when AccountingWEB posed as its question of the week Accountancy - Shape up or Ship out?. The gist was to counsel member opinion as to whether accountants need to be more innovative, looking forward to a future as business consultants.  Or, for those with a longstanding reliance on compliance, to ship out of the accountancy profession, as their traditional compliance base is eroded and they're burdened with an ever-increasing regulatory load. 

Thinking about a career in Accountancy?

You're a student considering Accountancy as a career, but don't know where to begin and don't know how you're going to find the time to do your research.  Or maybe you've already set your sights on a career in Accountancy but are not sure how to choose the type of firm, the Accounting body, or the discipline.  You're possibly considering a career switch and not sure if a career in Accountancy is right for you. Perhaps you're a school leaver who needs to know whether to do a degree or go directly into Accountancy. 

And there's more......

Who can you turn to for guidance on application form completion, interview and case study techniques?  Who can mock interview you, give you feedback and coach your interview performance? 

www.theaccountantscoach.com, that's who!  With 18 years of Top 4 accounting firm experience: screening, interviewing, assessing accountancy applicants, not to mention planning and implementing accountancy recruitment campaigns.  With current experience of working with small local firms and middle tier, coaching and training accountants.  With the professional background of practising as a chartered accountant plus being a trained professional coach and NLP practitioner.  There is no one else who has this unique mix of skills to help you plan your accountancy career and take your first steps to getting your dream accountancy job.

Email me now for the special student rates at [email protected]

Imagine what you could achieve, working one-to-one with a specialised accountancy coach, focussed 100% on your goals, your actions, your results.

Email me now at [email protected] to set up a no-commitment call to discuss your preferred method of coaching: face to face, telephone, or email/instant messaging. 

''Carol has helped me to gain confidence in myself through her unique coaching style.  She has supported me in developing the self belief that will ultimately lead me to a successful career in accountancy''.  SF, Student accountant

Really effective Time Management

Mark Forster is a writer and life coach, specialising in personal organisation.  He recently gave a lecture on Time Management for the ICAEW's Faculty of Finance & Management.  And I was lucky enough to attend; my very first visit (21 years into membership) to the hallowed rooms of the Chartered Accountants' Hall in Moorgate Place.  It's a great place to meet in London and now I've finally discovered its history-steeped charm, I can see it becoming a regular haunt. Read on for a summary of Mark's guide to Really Effective Time Management.