For years, accountants and bookkeepers have focused primarily on compliance—but is that enough to sustain your firm’s future? The landscape is shifting, and businesses need more than just tax returns. They need advisors who can help them navigate financial, commercial, and management challenges.

The Warning Signs Are Clear

At Xerocon 2022, former Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan issued a blunt warning:

“Work requirements will drop off due to the ATO’s uptake of technology.”

“If your business model is high-volume, low-margin, and tax-focused, it won’t be viable in 3 to 5 years.”

And just recently, Mark Wickersham, Chartered Accountant and Value Pricing expert, emphasised:

“Compliance work as we know it today will disappear before the end of this decade!”

“How can we create more value…accountants need to deliver more value services.”

Are You Positioned as a Trusted Advisor?

SMEs are actively seeking financial guidance, business strategy, and forecasting insights. If you’re not offering these advisory services, your clients may look elsewhere. The time to adapt is now.

How ESS BIZTOOLS Can Help You Transition

ESS BIZTOOLS provides ready-to-use Business Advisory resources, templates, and strategies – allowing you to deliver high-value services without starting from scratch.

What’s included in the ESS BIZTOOLS Starter Package?

✅ Advisory Training & Readiness: Equip your team with the right skills

✅ Client Communication Tools: Branded newsletters, mentoring modules, webinars

✅ Financial Advisory Resources: Business due diligence, predictive accounting, pricing calculators, debtor management, succession planning & more

Don’t Get Left Behind—Future-Proof Your Firm

The demand for advisory services is growing, and your firm can start earning from them within weeks.

✅ Get started today at www.essbiztools.com.au

💡 Join our free webinar on Wednesday, 26 March at 10 AM AEST

REGISTER HERE

Visit our website – www.essbiztools.com.au – to discover the detailed overview of the services provided by ESS BIZTOOLS. You are also welcome to contact us on 0418 190 181 or email .

Discover Systems to Assist SMEs Achieve Success

Join us for an exclusive webinar series, free of charge, where we will dive into powerful solutions designed to give your firm a competitive edge. Discover how our innovative tools can help you streamline operations, enhance advisory services and drive success for your SME clients and, in turn, your firm. Register to your preferred webinar below.

Starter Package – Wednesday 26 March at 10am AEST

Advanced Package – Wednesday 2 April at 10am AEST

Financial Forecasting Package – Wednesday 9 April at 11am AEST

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain actionable insights and explore how ESS BIZTOOLS can transform the way you support your SME clients.

ESS BIZTOOLS Podcast

In this episode of The Accountant's Minute Podcast, Peter Towers, Managing Director of ESS BIZTOOLS, delves into The Future of Accounting – a crucial topic for accountants, bookkeepers, and business advisors working with SMEs. With over 2 million small businesses in Australia facing increasing financial pressures, is your firm ready to evolve beyond compliance and tax return services?

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST

Listen to more Accountants Minute Podcast episodes here

Want to know more?

Visit www.essbiztools.com.au.

If you would like to have a discussion about how this concept of virtual CFO services can be supplied by Australian accounting firms please ring our Managing Director, Peter Towers, on (07) 4724 1118 and we will arrange a complimentary 45-minute Zoom meeting to discuss your firm’s position and to give you our advice.

We believe that this is the blueprint for the delivery of an enhanced range of services by Australian Accounting and Bookkeeping firms to assist SME businesses to add value to their businesses and to assist accountants and bookkeepers not only to attract but to retain outstanding talent who want to be involved in the delivery of “real accounting services”.

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