Welcome to Season 1 - Episode 4 of Reality Cheque

Thanks to our Access Offshoring for their support of Reality Cheque.

Access are ‘The Offshore Accounting Recruitment Specialists’, if you're interested in learning more about hiring high quality accountants overseas, learn more here.

1.00 Nothing today is pure WOG or BOG, somewhere in the middle

1.20 Automation in Audit. 

Lots of clunky software still in place, huge reliance on repetitive grunt work done by humans instead of the tech. Resource stretching and boring work creates an environment of errors and rush through. 

There is a rolling AFR article tracking audit issues at the big4: https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/court-actions-against-deloitte-ey-kpmg-and-pwc-20190404-p51avg

Greater adoption of technology can help lift burden from humans and AI can be used to look for exceptions and detect anomalies. Good friend Sholto Macpherson wrote a great article in acuity: https://www.acuitymag.com/technology/automatic-audit

Some of the tech that exists now includes: 

MindBridge - Explainable AI and Audit

Dext Precision: https://dext.com/au/products/precision

Xbert: https://www.xbert.io/



10.30 Conferences bringing people together

Shaye & Beccs womance began at XeroCon

Intuit Connect in Vegas is a known as the biggest and best conference in the accounting world

Xerocon

DreamForce

https://quickbooksconnect.com/



13:45 Having the freedom to choose family over work

Choosing between Tayah’s graduation and QuickBooks Connect (in Vegas no less) was a no brainer for Shaye.  No fear, complete safety, complete support from her boss and organisation.  

Shaye now feels safe enough to make these choices after years of working in an industry that made her feel frightened to prioritise family. 

Becc shares regrets over earlier choices and actions where work was chosen over family. 

This kind of inclusivity costs nothing - it's all about culture.  So why does our industry still stigmatise prioritisation of family?  Biiiiig miss for millennial parents…. Biiiiig miss for the sustainability of our industry.  Worst on Ground for the rehab required after leaving public practice ;)

DE&I at Intuit

23.50 Insolvency causing nightmares 

Beccs client going through insolvency is cause actual nightmares

Did she do enough?

Where is the education in our industry to help identify businesses in strife - haven't seen anything since the beginning of covid - but the issues are happening now?

How do the membership bodies decide what education to push out?

29:40 Imposter syndrome - something wrong with Becc

30:40 Xero & Intuit coming together to educate the masses on eInvoicing. 

The man, the legend, Simon Foster, suggests that Intuit and Xero demo together on an eInvoicing webinar with the CA ANZ, and earns Shaye’s undying love and respect hahaha

https://store.charteredaccountantsanz.com/Are-you-eInvoicing-Its-secure-and-efficient-but-is-it-for-everyone?quantity=1&custcol_lll_eventdate_opt=18&custcol_lll_eventyear_opt=7&Location=Online&custcol_lll_eventmonth_opt=8



Shaye & Becc shout out to Damien Greathead https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/ for being a great human

Welcome to Season 1 - Episode 4 of Reality Cheque Thanks to our <a href="https://accessoffshoring.com.au/">Access Offshoring</a> for their support of Reality Cheque.
Access are ‘The Offshore Accounting Recruitment Specialists’, if you're interested in learning more about hiring high quality accountants overseas,<a href="https://accessoffshoring.com.au/"> learn more here.</a>
1.00 Nothing today is pure WOG or BOG, somewhere in the middle
1.20 Automation in Audit. 
Lots of clunky software still in place, huge reliance on repetitive grunt work done by humans instead of the tech. Resource stretching and boring work creates an environment of errors and rush through. 
There is a rolling AFR article tracking audit issues at the big4: <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/court-actions-against-deloitte-ey-kpmg-and-pwc-20190404-p51avg">https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/court-actions-against-deloitte-ey-kpmg-and-pwc-20190404-p51avg</a>
Greater adoption of technology can help lift burden from humans and AI can be used to look for exceptions and detect anomalies. Good friend Sholto Macpherson wrote a great article in acuity: <a href="https://www.acuitymag.com/technology/automatic-audit">https://www.acuitymag.com/technology/automatic-audit</a> 
Some of the tech that exists now includes: 
<a href="https://www.mindbridge.ai/blog/explainable-ai-and-audit-transparency-and-trust-webinar-recap/?utm_campaign=2022+Q3+Webinar+Explainable+AI&amp;utm_source=linkedin&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_term=explainable+AI&amp;utm_content=xAI+Webinar+Recap&amp;hsamp_network=linkedin&amp;hsamp=bryNA5jop9N3">MindBridge - Explainable AI and Audit</a>
Dext Precision: <a href="https://dext.com/au/products/precision">https://dext.com/au/products/precision</a>
Xbert: <a href="https://www.xbert.io/">https://www.xbert.io/</a> 
10.30 Conferences bringing people together
Shaye &amp; Beccs womance began at XeroCon
Intuit Connect in Vegas is a known as the biggest and best conference in the accounting world
<a href="https://www.xero.com/au/events/xerocon/sydney/">Xerocon</a>
<a href="https://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/">DreamForce</a>
<a href="https://quickbooksconnect.com/">https://quickbooksconnect.com/</a>  
13:45 Having the freedom to choose family over work
Choosing between Tayah’s graduation and <a href="https://quickbooksconnect.com/">QuickBooks Connect</a> (in Vegas no less) was a no brainer for Shaye.  No fear, complete safety, complete support from her boss and organisation.  
Shaye now feels safe enough to make these choices after years of working in an industry that made her feel frightened to prioritise family. 
Becc shares regrets over earlier choices and actions where work was chosen over family. 
This kind of inclusivity costs nothing - it's all about culture.  So why does our industry still stigmatise prioritisation of family?  Biiiiig miss for millennial parents…. Biiiiig miss for the sustainability of our industry.  Worst on Ground for the rehab required after leaving public practice ;)
<a href="https://www.intuit.com/company/corporate-responsibility/diversity/">DE&amp;I at Intuit</a>
23.50 Insolvency causing nightmares 
Beccs client going through insolvency is cause actual nightmares
Did she do enough?
Where is the education in our industry to help identify businesses in strife - haven't seen anything since the beginning of covid - but the issues are happening now?
How do the membership bodies decide what education to push out?
29:40 Imposter syndrome - something wrong with Becc
30:40 Xero &amp; Intuit coming together to educate the masses on eInvoicing. 
The man, the legend, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjfoster/">Simon Foster</a>, suggests that Intuit and Xero demo together on an eInvoicing webinar with the CA ANZ, and earns Shaye’s undying love and respect hahaha
<a href="https://store.charteredaccountantsanz.com/Are-you-eInvoicing-Its-secure-and-efficient-but-is-it-for-everyone?quantity=1&amp;custcol_lll_eventdate_opt=18&amp;custcol_lll_eventyear_opt=7&amp;Location=Online&amp;custcol_lll_eventmonth_opt=8">https://store.charteredaccountantsanz.com/Are-you-eInvoicing-Its-secure-and-efficient-but-is-it-for-everyone?quantity=1&amp;custcol_lll_eventdate_opt=18&amp;custcol_lll_eventyear_opt=7&amp;Location=Online&amp;custcol_lll_eventmonth_opt=8</a> 
Shaye &amp; Becc shout out to Damien Greathead <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/damiengreathead/</a> for being a great human

The accounting industry is at a cross roads. We need practitioners and software executives who care enough stand up for what they think is right.

As the institutions we rely on continue their failure to listen - From the Trenches is proud to provide the voices from those who want to be heard.

Becc and Shaye are 2 more plucky Chartered Accountants who will bring you the real stories ‘from the trenches’.

This no holes barred, feisty, yet humorous take on the Accounting landscape will be entertaining while sending a message to the scaremongers, that the FAKE NEWS must end. By following the trenches podcast formulae, Bec and Shaye will deliver rapid value straight to your earphones. 

About the Hosts

Rebecca Mihalic is an Australian Registered Tax Agent and a Chartered Accountants Australian & New Zealand member. Rebecca was a founding partner of Aptus Accounting & Advisory, a cloud-based accounting firm and the winner of ‘Innovator of the year’ at the 2018 Australian Accounting Awards for their use of technology to support clients & the firm’s growth.  In 2019 Aptus joined businessDEPOT to expand the firm's service offerings to their clients and Rebecca now leads their Sydney based operations. Rebecca has earned a reputation for her leadership in the accounting industry, winning ‘Thought leader of the year’ in the 2021 Australian Accounting Awards.



Shaye Thyer is an outside-of-any-box CA with a diverse and notably non-traditional accounting career to date in Australia. Recently she was responsible for creating a future-fit accounting division for a large national firm delivering a premium client experience. Using technology to optimise internal efficiencies, data to power client insights, training to transform the team, and scalable frameworks to amplify the huge depth of expertise withing the firm. Shaye is the Head of Accounting at Intuit 

The accounting industry is at a cross roads. We need practitioners and software executives who care enough stand up for what they think is right.
As the institutions we rely on continue their failure to listen - From the Trenches is proud to provide the voices from those who want to be heard.
Becc and Shaye are 2 more plucky Chartered Accountants who will bring you the real stories ‘from the trenches’.
This no holes barred, feisty, yet humorous take on the Accounting landscape will be entertaining while sending a message to the scaremongers, that the FAKE NEWS must end. By following the trenches podcast formulae, Bec and Shaye will deliver rapid value straight to your earphones. 
About the Hosts
Rebecca Mihalic is an Australian Registered Tax Agent and a Chartered Accountants Australian &amp; New Zealand member. Rebecca was a founding partner of Aptus Accounting &amp; Advisory, a cloud-based accounting firm and the winner of ‘Innovator of the year’ at the 2018 Australian Accounting Awards for their use of technology to support clients &amp; the firm’s growth.  In 2019 Aptus joined businessDEPOT to expand the firm's service offerings to their clients and Rebecca now leads their Sydney based operations. Rebecca has earned a reputation for her leadership in the accounting industry, winning ‘Thought leader of the year’ in the 2021 Australian Accounting Awards.
 
Shaye Thyer is an outside-of-any-box CA with a diverse and notably non-traditional accounting career to date in Australia. Recently she was responsible for creating a future-fit accounting division for a large national firm delivering a premium client experience. Using technology to optimise internal efficiencies, data to power client insights, training to transform the team, and scalable frameworks to amplify the huge depth of expertise withing the firm. Shaye is the Head of Accounting at Intuit

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