The discussion is led by a panel of experts who all have experience of setting up their own practice: Martin Brennan, Founder of Onside (UK), Anastasia Chalkidou, CFO and Co-founder of Quantum BITS (Greece), Song Liew, Founder and Managing Partner of ANC Group (Malaysia/Singapore), and Amanda Gascoigne FCA, Founder of Amanda Gascoigne Consulting and The Balanced Firm (Australia).

Running your own practice can be enormously fulfilling, allowing you to take control of your own career and future. But it is not a decision that is ever made lightly.

In common with most accountants who have started their own practice, the motivation of our panel members was a desire to shape their working lives in a way that suits them. Some wanted to start a family and wanted a flexible career that could work around family life. Others wanted to apply their knowledge and experience in their own way, working much more closely with clients and making a tangible difference to small businesses and entrepreneurs. 

In each case, our panelists warn that anyone who is thinking of stepping out on their own needs to be prepared to step outside of their comfort zone. Setting up your own practice is a calculated risk; it can be stressful and extremely time consuming, especially in the early days – but none of our panel has any regrets.

The first steps

Taking the initial leap – and saying goodbye to a regular salary – is the hardest part and the biggest worry for accountants who are setting up on their own is making sure that they will be able to pay the bills for the first few months while the business gets up and running. 

There are ways to manage the risk. If the option is available, negotiating a long transition from your current job, or going part-time for a few months, is ideal. Setting up an office at home, if you have the room, will help to keep costs as low as possible while you are establishing a client base (even so, you should have enough savings to see you through six months). Others choose to go into partnership, which can help to spread the risk (and anxiety), but it is important to have a clear unravelling agreement in place if the partnership does not work out.

Building a client base

The scope of services you offer at your new firm should spring from your idea of your ideal client. Think about who you want to serve and work with: Small businesses? Entrepreneurs? Individual taxpayers? Once you have a picture of your ideal client, the services they will need form your core offering.

While this is a good exercise for setting the scope of your services, it is not always possible to be selective when it comes to taking on clients, especially in the early days. For this reason, it is important to review and analyse your client base regularly and move on any clients that don’t fit into your vision of the ideal client base. 

In terms of building a client base, our panel found that most came from existing contacts and networks (in their everyday lives as well as business – ask for referrals from your circle), and from word of mouth. 

Key takeaways

• Be completely sure that owning a practice is the life you want. Running your own practice is not for everyone. It is stressful and requires complete commitment, especially in the early days. 
• Design the practice to suit your life and match your values. It is your business to form in the way that best reflects who you are and how you work. Embrace what is unique about you and do it your own way.  
• Keep it simple. Whether it’s in terms of the services you offer or the software and systems you adopt, it is best to keep it simple. Only offer the services you feel comfortable delivering yourself, and don’t introduce unnecessary complexity and risk into the firm. If a client needs a service that you cannot confidently offer, work with other professionals rather than compromise the quality of your firm.
• Anticipate your staffing needs. Finding talent is the biggest challenge for any new business and when a practice begins to grow, it is easy to end up hiring out of desperation. Think ahead about your staffing needs, mapping out the main needs of the business and the positions that will need to be filled, and work on create an attractive employer brand.
• Trial and error is an acceptable strategy. If something doesn’t work, learn from it and move on.
• There are many invaluable guides and resources available to ACCA members who are thinking of setting up their own firm, as well as a community of like-minded professionals who are ready and willing to act as a support and sounding board.