CPDStore

10:00 - 11:40

Marketing That Pays for Itself

Speaker: Callum Macrae - JE Consulting

Marketing shouldn’t feel like a gamble. Yet for many accountants, it’s hard to know which activities are working and which are just noise. This practical masterclass will walk you through the core marketing channels firms need to consider in today’s market, explain how each one contributes to visibility and growth, and help you understand how to track and measure return on investment.

Whether you’re a practice owner, senior manager or fee earner, this session will arm you with the clarity and confidence to make better marketing decisions and finally get your marketing spend working as hard as you do.

In this session Callum Macrae will cover the following topics:

• The modern marketing mix: What firms actually need to be doing in 2025
• From digital marketing to the importance of AI search, learn the key channels and how they work together.
• Which channels deliver results and which ones often don’t
• Discover what actually works for accounting firms
• How to track marketing performance
• Simple metrics that help you know what’s working, and what’s not.
• How to build a sustainable marketing plan that supports firm growth
• Align your marketing with your business goals to ensure it delivers long-term value.
• Marketing is an investment, not an expense
• Shift from a cost mindset to a return-on-investment mindset and learn how to turn your marketing into a genuine growth engine

By attending this session, you will:

• Understand how the different marketing channels work and where they fit in your overall strategy
• Learn how to prioritise your marketing budget for the biggest return
• Gain the confidence to have more informed conversations about marketing spend internally
• Leave with a clear set of actions to improve visibility, leads, and results from your marketing

This session will be of most interest to:

• Practice owners and managing partners
• Marketing managers
• Client relationship and business development teams
• Fee earners involved in growth or client acquisition
• Anyone responsible for or involved in firm marketing decisions

Course level: Intermediate
Designed for those who are already doing some marketing but want to improve results and gain clarity around what really works.

12:00 - 13:40

Find Your Voice - How To Truly Be Heard!

Speaker: Nick Elston - Forging People Ltd

From client meetings to team briefings and public presentations, communication is at the heart of success in practice. This session is for accountants and bookkeepers who want to elevate their confidence in public speaking, presenting and sharing their message with clarity and authenticity — whether that’s in a boardroom, online, or on stage. Learn how to overcome the fear of speaking and start owning your voice like never before.

In this session Nick Elston will cover the following topics:

• How to overcome the fear of public speaking and speak with genuine confidence
• Building a strong personal presence — whether speaking 1:1, in meetings or to large audiences
• Storytelling as a powerful tool in accounting and finance – connecting through the numbers
• Practical tips to improve presentations, pitches and everyday communication
• How to handle nerves, tough questions and high-stakes speaking situations with calm and clarity

By attending this session, you will learn how to present with confidence, communicate with impact, and speak with purpose — whether to clients, colleagues or wider audiences. You’ll leave with tools and strategies to elevate your voice, boost trust, and make your message land.

This session will be of most interest to accountants, bookkeepers, finance professionals and practice owners who want to improve their public speaking, communication, and presentation skills — at events, online or in everyday business settings.

Course level: Intermediate

14:30 - 16:10

Why Your Team Never Does It Right (and What To Do About It)

Speaker: Mark Swindale - The Accountants Mastermind

Struggling to get your team to “just do the thing” without chasing, correcting or re-explaining?

You’re not alone. Most accountancy practice owners I speak to are frustrated that their team doesn’t consistently follow systems and processes, even when they’re written down and clear.

This session will help you understand why that happens and what you can do about it. It’s not about hiring better people. It’s about building better systems that actually get followed and knowing how to keep them fresh and relevant as your team and practice evolve.

You’ll walk away with a straightforward process to reduce errors, increase accountability and build a practice that runs smoothly even when you’re not there.

In this session Mark Swindale will cover the following topics:

• Why your team don’t follow your systems and why it’s not their fault
• What to do before writing any new process to make sure it actually works
• How to create clear systems your team will consistently follow
• How personality types affect process adoption and what to do about it
• How often processes should be updated and the best way to review them

By attending this session, you will:

• Understand why systems fail even when they seem “right” on paper
• Learn how to write and roll out processes that stick
• Know how often to review and update systems to keep them useful
• Gain insights into tailoring your approach based on personality types
• Walk away with practical tips to embed new habits and reduce your stress
• Know how to identify the most important process to start with so you can make immediate progress

This session will be of most interest to:

• Practice owners
• Managing partners
• Directors of small to mid-sized accountancy practices

Especially those who are tired of fixing the same problems week after week and want to reclaim their time without lowering their standards.

Course level: Intermediate
This session is designed for practice owners who already have team members and basic systems in place but are still dealing with inconsistencies, errors or bottlenecks.