On the 26th of May at the Sofitel Sydney, Australia’s accountants met to take measure of their colleagues in the industry.

On the night, one of our top clients took out the Innovator of the Year Award – no easy feat in a competitive field where true innovation is often hard to come by.

So how is the Innovator of the Year award defined?

Innovative businesses, at a time of intense disruption and evolution, are capitalising on the ever-growing opportunities in the accounting industry, and securing their success as long-term players.

This award recognises the most innovative business in the accounting industry in Australia, acknowledging the business that best developed and capitalised on innovation during the 2016 calendar year.

All hail, the monarchs of innovation!

We are proud to announce that O’Connels OBM triumphed in the face of stiff competition to take the award out.

In an era where the ‘death of accounting’ is being touted as an unavoidable part of an automating world, accounting practices are scrambling to provide fuller, wider and more specialised services. O’Connels OBM have this front of mind and has fuelled them to pursue innovative practices to remain competitive.

Adam Dierselhuis, Director at O’Connells OBM, said firms that aren’t ready to embrace innovation and change will inevitably get left in the rear-view mirror, as clients continue to expect their accountants to deliver services beyond simply managing the debits and credits.

“It is easy for all of us to fall prey to the “do what you’ve always done” trap when we get busy with compliance work, but the reality is that innovation benefits all of us – our teams, our clients, and our businesses,”.

Dierselhuis said after accepting the award.

“You don’t have to be revolutionary or world changing to be innovative and to create new opportunities. As in our own experience – innovation really is about incremental changes and shifts in the way we work – and it starts with simply asking the question – is there a smarter way?”.

Partnering your way to innovation

Enlisting and working with smart people and smart technology is one of the best ways to pursue innovation. Oftentimes it is not a world cracking idea or an inversion of reality that creates innovation – but simply the thoughtful procurement and intelligent use of existing tools. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to innovate.

“It starts with simply asking the question – is there a smarter way?”

Smarter Business Processes – a technology firm – partnered with O’Connels OBM to provide FuseDocs®, a piece of Robotic Process Automation software designed to tap into the existing processes commonly used by professional and financial service firms to do the heavy lifting when it comes to repetitive, low value tasks.

The idea for FuseDocs® came about after Dierselhuis “jumped on the tools” to carry out a client task he hadn’t done in over ten years. The realisation from that exercise,

“we were asking smart people to do dumb things, because that’s what our systems were asking them to do. If you’re wondering where to start innovating – get frustrated!”

“Take the time to sit with your team, understand what’s really happening in your engine room, what processes and systems are driving your team crazy?”

So there you go, among many other innovative moves in the market the guts of it lies in being smart, and enlisting smart people and smart technology. Do it better, do it more, do it in a new way. Just do it.

The award reel

Aside from O’Connels OBM, we also had a fair few of our other Reckon APS clients represented this year, including; Pitcher Partners, Power Tynan, Deloitte and Moore Stephens.
Hats off to them all for their well deserved recognition!

Here is this year’s list:

Graduate Program of the Year Presented by Thomson Reuters,
Power Tynan

Accounting Student of the Year Presented by Macquarie Gordon & Co Arlen Dabinett,
Pitcher Partners

Community Engagement Program of the Year Presented by Act2 Solutions Leenane Templeton,  Chartered Accountants & Business Advisors

Bookkeeper of the Year Presented by Receipt Bank Diane Lucas,
Direct Management

Bookkeeping Firm of the Year Presented by Receipt Bank Carbon,
Bookkeeping Deloitte

Auditor of the Year Presented by Thomson Reuters Jo Heighway,
Deloitte

Innovator of the Year Presented by Intuit Quickbooks,
O’Connells OBM

Rising Star of the Year Presented by BT Financial Group Dean Sammut,
MMT Accountants + Advisers

Professional Development Program of the Year Presented by Macquarie Gordon & Co,
Pitcher Partners

Office Administrator of the Year Presented by Momentum Intelligence David Keith,
Collins Hume

Marketing Program of the Year Presented by Accountants Daily,
Altus Financial

New Partner of the Year Presented by Thomson Reuters Christopher Tinta,
Link Advisors

Partner of the Year Presented by ThinCats Australia Bert Girle,
Agilis Accountants & Advisors

Partner of the Year (Boutique Firm) Presented by Receipt Bank Peter Fowler,
Collins Hume

Young Accountant of the Year Presented by BT Financial Group James Fitzgerald,
Moore Stephens

Executive of the Year Presented by Act2 Solutions Natasha Chambers,
Wilson Pateras

Thought Leader of the Year Presented by Receipt Bank Trent Mclaren,
Intuit Australia

Editor’s Choice Award Presented by Accountants Daily Chris Hooper,
Accodex Partners

Diversified Firm of the Year Presented by ThinCats Australia,
businessDEPOT

New Firm of the Year Presented by Intuit Quickbooks,
Dexterous Group

Fast-Growing Firm of the Year Presented by Thomson Reuters,
SiDCOR Chartered Accountants

Business Advisory Firm of the Year Presented by Standard Lending,
SMART Business Solutions Accounting

Boutique Firm of the Year Presented by Thomson Reuters,
Wilson Pateras

Firm of the Year Presented by BT Financial Group,
Pitcher Partners

Accountants Daily Excellence Award Presented by Accountants Daily Peter Fowler,
Collins Hume