Accounting Leaders Podcast

Alasdair McGill, Managing Director at Ashton McGill brings his client Colin Munro, Founder of Miconex, to share the journey they went on together that turned a small, local Scottish startup into growing global business.

• How Alasdair developed a service-oriented mindset at EY (02:00)
• Bringing a bespoke designer approach to accounting at Ashton McGill (04:34)
• Colin's journey from marketing to restaurants to a small business startup (07:30)
• The accelerated consumer desire to support the local economy (17:00)
• How Colin's firm, Miconex, is making it easy to shop local (18:55)
• When an accountant becomes a part of your firm's DNA (26:55)
• Do good work for good people (38:20)
• Where the future lies for Ashton McGill and Miconex (39:00)

Jennie Moore wears two professional hats: one as an accounting firm owner, the other as Ignition's Partnerships Manager. In this episode, Jennie joins Stuart to discuss all things accounting and technology—from what can be done to make the accounting industry attractive again, to how technology can be used to augment accountants' capacity.

• When Jennie met Stuart (00:45)
• Balancing life as Ignition's Partnership Manager and accounting firm owner (02:30)
• 'Numbers accountants' vs. 'purpose accountants' (07:00)
• How to make accounting sexy again (09:45)
• Finding unexpected talent (14:00)
• Technology's role in augmenting accountants' capabilities (18:00)
• Knowing your ideal clients and sticking to your principles (20:00)
• Jennie's plan to ensure data integrity at her firm (24:00)
• How in-person events encourage deeper personal connections (28:50)

Anton Colella's journey in accounting is unconventional. After 18 years as a religious teacher, he joined Scotland's Institute of Chartered Accountants and later became the CEO of Moore Global, one of the world's largest accountancy networks. In this episode, Anton shares his story as a religious teacher, a leader, and a man with a strong sense of a higher purpose.

Episode notes:

• Anton's 18 years as a religious teacher and a sports coach (01:00)
• The profound fulfillment of being an educator (04:00)
• How a major crisis in the Scotland education system incidentally changed Anton's professional path (07:15)
• Transferring his persuasion skills from teaching to management (09:00)
• Changing the world by healing one broken childhood at a time (10:15)
• Anton's mission to bring social responsibility back to the accounting profession (17:30)
• Factors that influence the perception and growth of the profession (19:00)
• The importance of purpose and culture in an accounting firm (28:00)
• A leader's responsibility to help people and organizations go from good to great (34:00)

Candy Bellau grew up with an unconventional father who applied his genius in all the wrong ways. In this episode, Candy candidly shares how others' mistakes enlightened her to live a life of integrity, and what she's doing to maintain work-life balance for herself and her staff.

• Learning how to do bookkeeping at 14 years old (01:20)
• Uncovering major accounting fraud while working as a bookkeeper (03:00)
• How Candy's evil genius father shaped her moral and ethical codes (05:00)
• Reconnecting with her father on his deathbed (12:00)
• Candy's accidental involvement with a check-kiting scheme (18:00)
• A brief stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in Namibia (22:00)
• How Candy put a fraudulent executive behind bars (25:00)
• Finding a new sense of purpose as a coach (29:00)
• Putting family first, not just for the owner, but for every staff member (32:00)

Carla Caldwell, Stuart's long-time friend and ex-colleague, joins him for a delightful conversation about her journey in accounting, accounting technology, consulting, and entrepreneurship.

• Reminiscing together (00:05)
• How family and mentors influenced Carla's accounting journey (01:55)
• Finding her superpower in accounting and technology (05:20)
• The game-changing opportunity to be a part of Xero's early days in the US (12:10)
• Carla's post-Xero venture as technology and process consultant for accountants (21:20)
• Harnessing the power of technology (rather than resisting it) (24:00)
• How the accounting industry might solve the talent challenge (27:30)
• Building meaningful, personal connections with your staff (30:00)
• How the 'Working Geniuses' model uplifts her staff (34:00)
• Carla's most memorable clients (38:30)