Episode 115: Time Management for Accounting Practice Owners

In this week's episode of The Wize Guys Podcast, Brenton Ward with Ed Chan and Jamie Johns delve into the common challenges faced by accountants and bookkeeping practice owners in managing their time effectively. 

Ed shares his personal journey, explaining how his early career experiences in the production division shaped his time management mentality. He discusses the pivotal moment when he discovered Dr. Stephen Covey's principles, which helped him transform his approach to running a business. At the same time, Jamie reflects on how Covey's teachings influenced his own practice. 

Together, they explore practical strategies for applying time management theories to create a more efficient and sustainable accounting practice. Tune in for valuable insights and tips on transitioning from a time-poor practice to a business that runs without you!

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:20 How accountants manage their time
• 2:46 Understanding the context of Dr. Stephen Convey's time management quadrant
• 4:43 The importance of applying what you've learned

Transcript

Brenton Ward: 0:02

From Wize Mentoring is The Wize Guys Podcast, a show about accounting and bookkeeping practice owners and the many stories, lessons, and tips from their experience of transitioning from a time- poor practice to a business that runs without them. I hope you enjoy and subscribe. When we come into the professional environment, what are you seeing in terms of accountants managing their time or grappling with the issue? Is it the same as what you experienced all those years ago?

Ed Chan: 0:32

Yeah, absolutely. Exactly the same. We all grew up following the same pathway. We spent time in Division 4, which is the production division. So that shapes the way we think. And Division 4 means that you're working in Quad A and we'll talk about A, b, C, and D or 1, 2, 3, 4 later on.

Ed Chan: 0:54

But you know you need to work in Quad A and when you leave from that Division 4 environment because you're on the production line, if you like, like, and then you come in and run your business, then you run your business with the same mentality as you ran it when you're in division four on the production line. That's the reason for it and every accountant goes through it. And unless you can break out of that and see the light, if you're like like me and you took Dr. Stephen Covey to make me see the light, then you're going to be able to interpret that and then apply it to your practice because often you might know the theory but you don't know how to apply it in the business, such as ours because Dr. Stephen Covey talks about the theory but often the how is missing. It's up to you to interpret it. So absolutely, we all went down the same path and that's why we all ended up in the same, except for the few who've been able to get out of that situation, absolutely.

Brenton Ward: 1:49

So, on that note, I think we should dive into the actual strategy that we're going to cover off today. There are many different time management strategies. There's many different ways people like to look at this topic, but this is one that's very close to you because it's one that has dramatically changed the way in which you operate. So take us back to the origins of you, coming across Stephen Covey's quadrant, what sort of state you were in at the time, and how this affected you and the journey since yeah, I mean, my practice was really, really small and I was working like 100 hours a week.

Ed Chan: 2:25

And then I don't know if many of you remember this, but BRW used to have a section where they used to interview a very successful accountant. And you know I used to read that because that was in my field, talking about fellow accountants. And anyway, there was this particular story about a guy that I used to work with, you know, side by side, and we worked with the same employer and his business was 10 times the size of mine. And then you know, I found out that he worked a fraction of the time that I worked and I couldn't understand how he could do that.

Ed Chan: 2:58

And then he put me onto the book and then, you know, the quadrants and all that sort of came from there because I was just looking, I was at a crossroads and I was looking at, I was trying to find an answer to how I could get around this problem, because I was only 30 at the time and I couldn't see myself sustaining another two years of the work I was doing, let alone another 30 years, because I was just in my early 30s. So he started me on this journey by recommending that I read the book, but the book is quite difficult to read. I had to read it several times, which is very, very. He uses a lot of deep psychology and he doesn't use a lot of examples with your own business and your own practice, so a lot of it, then. The interpretation of that is my own interpretation.

Brenton Ward: 3:45

I see. So, Jamie, I'll cut to you for a second, because you've read Stephen Covey's book as well over the years, and when Ed introduced this topic to you when you were at a certain point in your journey, had you thought about your time management in this light before, or how were you considering your time at that stage?

Jamie Johns: 4:06

yeah, I hadn't considered it in terms of Dr. Stephen Covey's time management quadrant and it's I think it goes back to what you said earlier, Brenton like we're not educated in how to manage or how to manage your own time, other than you know what you might do in your private life or even if you go to university and you've got to manage your time and your schedule like that. So once I started working with Ed, it took me back to 1991, actually, when I first read The 7 Habits, and took me back then. But the difference with when I started working with Ed was how it applied to an accounting practice, how it applied to a service firm, and then how it applied to myself and the leaders that I was trying to develop within my own firm. So I think the key is the theory is the one thing, but I want to emphasize what Ed said. It's about the practical, everyday application of the theory and Ed, to his credit, worked that out. How did it apply to Ed and therefore how does it apply to all of us?

Brenton Ward: 5:10

Thanks for tuning in. If you liked this episode, please remember to subscribe and leave us a five-star review For more practical wise tips on how to build a business that runs without you, head over to wizementoring. com/ podcast to download a free copy of the Accountant's 20-Hour Workweek Playbook. We've included a link in the show notes below. See you on the next episode!