THE PROFITABILITY BLUEPRINT - IGNITE Practice Management · PROFITABILITY BLUEPRINT INCREASING YOUR OWN FIRM’S BOTTOM LINE Mark is a chartered accountant who built his own highly

© Ignite Practice Management 2018 WWW.IGNITEPRACTICEMANAGEMENT.COM

THE PROFITABILITYBLUEPRINT

MARK LLOYDBOTTOM

WELCOME, FELLOW ACCOUNTANTAre you concerned about managing your business so that it will deliver sustainable and increasing

profits? If so, you are not alone. During the last two years, I have held more conversations and led more

in-house training sessions on this topic than any other. Sole practitioners, partnerships, global branded

firms – firms of all sizes face a seemingly uphill struggle as they watch their margins decline.

The pressures have been well documented and include increasing sta� salaries, training and social

security costs coinciding with a decline in accountants’ traditional revenue streams.

In many countries, the audit has all but evaporated as a source of business for small and medium

practices. At the same time, although technology may have driven down costs, it has now reinvented

itself as a competitor, enabling tax authorities to facilitate online reporting and tax-payers to self-file.

Our profession, led by those o� en well into their 50s, is facing challenges like never before. Re-

positioning technology as a strategic advantage will require time and funds. But where will these come

from, as clients are become increasingly cost-conscious and are prepared to resist fees at current levels –

let alone accept fee increases?

The good news is that it is possible to increase profitability in your firm without increasing fees. In

this 10-STEP blueprint, I show how IMPROVED JOB PROFITABILITY CAN BE ACHIEVED by taking a fresh

look at what you do and by introducing better processes.

Ready to dig in? Here we go…

TEN STEPS TO INCREASE YOUR FIRM’S BOTTOM LINE WITHOUT RAISING FEES

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PROFITABILITYBLUEPRINTINCREASING YOUR OWN FIRM’S BOTTOM LINE

Mark is a chartered accountant who built his own highly profitable and dynamic accountancy business in Bristol, UK, before establishing Practice Track and PracticeWEB – two of the leading companies, providing marketing and website services to accountants.

Mark consults with firms from sole practitioners to the globally-branded firms, showing them how to manage better, increase profitability, reduce lock up (debtors and WIP) and improve client services so that clients are happy to pay more.

His work on improving job profitability began when he was managing his accounting business and that journey has continued. It is now one of his key areas of specialism, valued by clients and audiences.

Mark is recognised and acclaimed by many accounting institutes and by leading consultants to accounting firms.

“Mark is one of the most creative minds in the management and marketing of professional service firms.” Dave Cottle, Consultant (USA)

“I know that his wise counsel is greatly appreciated by all who have been privileged to experience it. His unique style has enabled many to see that improvement is readily achievable.” Ken McManus, formerly of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland

ABOUT MARK LLOYDBOTTOM

As accountants, we are naturally good with numbers. But many of us are caught up in the day-to-day operations of the business. Completing jobs. Getting the bills out. Chasing for payment. Seeing clients. Addressing firm matters, and so on. We only periodically pore over our own figures to identify what we need to improve.

But remember, your firm is your best client – and failing to look a� er this client may restrict your ability to serve your other clients.

It is o� en said that you manage what you monitor. So, what figures should you be measuring? Many of us turn to the profit and loss account to look for answers. We are accountants, a� er all! However, in the first steps of this guide, I explain why the P&L account does not fully reflect what is happening in our firms.

Another limitation of the P&L, of course, is that it’s a historic report, and our aim is to improve future performance. Logically, then, our focus should be on the areas that drive future performance. Do this and you will find that intentional and strategic management of your own business will enable to you to achieve getter profits through improved e� iciency and better processes.

MANAGING BY NUMBERS COMES NATURALLY TO ACCOUNTANTS – BUT WHICH NUMBERS?

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PROFITABILITYBLUEPRINT STEPS TO IMPROVE

JOB PROFITABILITY

STEP 1: RECOGNISE THAT YOUR P&L TOP LINE IS NOT YOUR REAL TOP LINE

STEP 2: CALCULATE, MANAGE AND MONITOR YOUR CHARGEABLE TIME VARIANCE

On one occasion, I was working with a £7 million, seven-partner firm. One of the partners was underperforming significantly. During our coaching sessions, he told me that he felt he could make no real di� erence to the firm’s results due to the size of the firm.

I considered that a very lame excuse. To coach him out of this mind-set, I showed him how the firm was grossing not £7 million but £10 million.

He was somewhat bemused to say the least. I explained to him that it was a shortcoming of the double-entry bookkeeping system. £3 million is a HUGE gap, and yet, in this client’s case, it was not unrealistic.

You see, there is real potential for profit improvement if we focus on the £3 million gap. Remember, we manage what we monitor.

The firm’s profit and loss account is the document that

Set chargeable hour targets each year with a good measure of S T R E T C H for each sta� member (including all firm owners). Then monitor actual against budgeted hours… monthly. I did this in my accountancy business by producing a league table every week. This was not the most popular monitoring system I introduced, but it did get those in the bottom half of the league working to up their game.

Your next step is to report monthly on this actual against budgeted hours variance in your profit and loss account (not in an attached supporting schedule). Then ask, “What can we all do to increase chargeable time?”

INCREASING YOUR OWN FIRM’S BOTTOM LINE

KEY ACTION POINT

Recalculate your true top line.

THE REAL TOP LINE 10,000,000

3,000,000

7,000,000

THE GAP

YOUR P&L TOP LINE

all accountants go to first. This is natural; it’s a core component of our makeup. But that P&L account can only handle cash and bank payments, adjusted by journals and accruals and prepayments.

As I see it, there are three key variances between the real top line and the reported top line, which account for the £3 million gap. These are your chargeable time variance, your sales variance write-down and your productivity write-down.

If you were to journal in these three core variances, then I suspect more time would be spent attempting to reduce them. I outline how in the following three steps.

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JOB PROFITABILITY

WRITE-DOWNS – AN INTRODUCTION TO THE NEXT TWO STEPSImagine this scene in the manager’s team meetings when they discuss the issue of write-downs… “The reason why we have write-downs is that the partners don’t have the courage to bill what the job is worth.”

Now come with me down the corridor to the o� ice where, at the same time, the partners are meeting. As it happens, they are discussing the same issue. Here is what can be heard emanating from that meeting... “The reason why we are seeing so many write downs is because the sta� aren’t being managed e� iciently or e� ectively by the managers. There are too many errors creeping in, and sta� are taking far too long.”

This is what I call the black hole of job management – managers hold partners responsible while partners hold sta� responsible. Now, maybe this doesn’t happen in your o� ice, but I can assure you that this is a common issue. No one is taking direct ownership of write-downs, and the blame game is in full swing:


The reality is that there are two very different types of write-downs, and they need to be managed in very different ways.

The first is a sales variance; the second a productivity variance. Let me illustrate with an example.

A manager (John) prepares a budget for £25,000 and goes along to the partner (Sue) who looks at it carefully and, a� er a short discussion, advances the following statement, “I can’t possible charge Des Jones that fee – the maximum we can charge is £22,000”.

This £3,000 write-down is a sales variance.

Some three weeks later, John ventures into Sue’s o� ice with the job complete and ready for partner review and sign o� . John had not been particularly looking forward to the meeting as he had to tell Sue the job had gone over budget. “Sue, we have completed all of our work, but we have also gone a little over budget. The total cost is looking more like £28,000.”

This £3,000 write-down is a productivity variance.

But time-reporting systems rarely have the functionality to document the write-downs in such detail. Yes, the analysis may well be on the individual files, but it is not captured across jobs in any strategic or meaningful way.

Let’s look at these write-downs in more detail in steps three and four.

Watch your chargeable time, particularly for firm owners and managers.

Discuss what needs to be done to reduce the adverse chargeable time variance. For example, require everyone to account for all of their time. Your costing records constitute a retail costing system NOT a billing system.

KEY ACTION POINT


1,000,000

3,000,000

7,000,000

Variances:

CHARGEABLE TIME

Write Downs:

SALES VARIANCES

PRODUCTIVITY VARIANCES

YOUR P&L TOP LINE

© Ignite Practice Management 2018 WWW.IGNITEPRACTICEMANAGEMENT.COM 4



JOB PROFITABILITY

STEP 4: IDENTIFY AND MANAGE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY VARIANCES

Remember, the manager has produced the budget. Well now it is time to make sure that it is adhered to. Good managers prepare good budgets. They should be on the lookout for problems caused by the client, and, like the car service manager, they should ensure that these are brought to the client’s attention – with a price to fix the problem.


Firm owners are usually responsible for agreeing the price for the assignment.

Managers are responsible for producing a proper and full budget for the work to be undertaken. To the extent that the price for the work is less than the budget, you have a sales variance.

Your objective should be to target a sales variance of not less than 95 per cent. So, yes, we are looking to eliminate productivity variances. Not possible? Read on...

STEP 3: IDENTIFY AND MANAGE YOUR SALES VARIANCES


1,000,000

1,000,000

3,000,000

VARIANCES:

CHARGEABLE TIME

WRITE DOWNS:

SALES VARIANCES


7,000,000YOUR P&L TOP LINE

KEY ACTION POINT

Calculate your sales variances and resist the temptation to ask sta� to complete a job that fits what you think can be charged.

KEY ACTION POINT

Managers/sta� are responsible for managing productivity variances and then ensuring that they are reported on monthly, with everyone focused on reducing the size of the variances.


1,000,000

1,000,000

3,000,000

VARIANCES:

CHARGEABLE TIME

WRITE DOWNS:

SALES VARIANCES


7,000,000YOUR P&L TOP LINE

1,000,000

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JOB PROFITABILITY

THREE ACTIONS TO RECEIVING CLIENT RECORDS COMPLETE AND ON TIME:

Write to the client eight weeks before their financial year-end, detailing the records required to enable you to perform your work. This should be client-specific, not a generic list.

KEY OBJECTIVE: To have your clients deliver their records complete and on time – and to have a follow up process that ensures that missing information is received before the job starts.

Two to five days before the records are due in, send the client a reminder by text message. This is no di� erent from the practice of the dentist, the optician or even the doctor; they are all seeking to minimise the risk of non-attendance.

How to do this? Go to your preferred search engine and enter the search term ‘text so� ware’.

When the records are received, make sure that someone (maybe a non-chargeable team member?) checks the records in and makes sure they are as complete as possible so that they are ‘good to go’ for the accounts/audit team.

While you have a client who needs serving, your client has a customer who needs excellent customer service. That is you!


Do all that is possible to ensure you know when you can expect the job to start and to give your sta� the best possible chance of having all the information they require.

KEY ACTION POINT

STEP 5: IMPROVE TIMELINESS – STARTING WITH YOUR RECORDS IN PROCEDURES

In Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly E� ective People, he identifies habit number two as ‘start with the end in mind’, so let’s just do that. Our objective is to take greater control of our work-flow and to minimise the incomplete submission of records. These processes apply regardless of whether the work is undertaken in your o� ice or at the client’s site.

In this letter, you should state the date you expect the records to be ready. A� er all, you have to make an appointment to take your car in for a service, and you have to make an appointment for your dental treatment. So, why not set an appointment for your incoming client records?

KEY ACTION POINT

ACTION 3 ACTION 1 ACTION 2

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JOB PROFITABILITY

Here are four important budgeting actions:


STEP 6: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A ROBUST JOB BUDGETING PROCESSTwo questions:

(1) Do your managers/sta� create a budget on which they can deliver?

(2) Does everyone in your firm budget consistently? Is best practice understood and applied?

The reality is that many managers are optimistic budgeters. They assume the job will go according to plan. But, that is not always the reality. Problems arise. How to minimise them? Here is a key business rule – ‘it is not the people that needs fixing it is the processes’.

Make sure that managers produce budgets that enable them to get the job done on budget. Recognise that jobs don’t always go to plan by including a (modest) contingency to accommodate those extra tasks that may not be envisaged at the outset.

Negotiate fees early. Never leave agreeing the fee until just before the job is due to start – or worse a� er the job is finished. In both instances, you massively diminish your negotiating power and increase the under-recovery.

Partners, when you do your budget review, do not instruct sta� to do the job for less than budget because, in your opinion, the client will not agree to the fee. That approach takes away the ownership of the budget from the manager. The key is to give the manager the agreed budget and then require that they keep to budget. Any partner write-down is, as previously mentioned, a sales variance.

Imagine that having completed the job, you were asked to redo exactly the same job. Would you be quicker second time around? In response to this question, most people would say “of course”. So, let’s capture that knowledge in what I call a Job Postscript. This is a simple form that asks the individual responsible for undertaking the work to record “the three things you need to do di� erently to beat the time we took to do the job last time”. The Job Postscript is used by many firms to great e� ect in providing insight for sta� the next time around.

ACTION 3 ACTION 1 ACTION 2

ACTION 4

Review and improve the accuracy and e� ectiveness of your job budgeting system.

KEY ACTION POINT

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JOB PROFITABILITYINCREASING YOUR OWN FIRM’S BOTTOM LINE

STEP 7: DISCOVER A BETTER WAY TO MANAGING CHARGEABLE TIME

This table highlights the three primary components of time accumulation on a job. The chargeable time amounts to 11,000, but the fee is just 10,000. So, which 1,000 have been written o� ? The fact is we cannot tell; there is inadequate information. So, what we will now do is to examine and address each of the three core time components.

TIME BEFORE THE JOB STARTS: 1,000Again, imagine how the manager and partner conversations might sound.

Manager: “Oh my word, look how much time has been dumped on the job before it even starts.”

Partner: “Time dumped! They have absolutely no idea about how valuable that time was and the interactions with the client during the past six months…”

So, here is what needs to happen here. Before the ‘fog of the job’ descends and you and the client have dimmed memories regarding the value delivered/received please bill this time out. Waiting until the job starts and then billing means that, yes, you might have reduced the work in progress but this is really only masking embedded time that may not be recoverable.

PARTNER REVIEW TIME: 1,000Now, as a former partner, I can recall picking up jobs and finishing the job o� with no time le� . But your time is very, and I mean very, important. This is not just you signing o� on the job; it is your time face-to-face with the client. This is time that needs to be invested – not squeezed because of time-cost pressures.

I am, therefore, going to conclude that this time is not responsible for the write down, which leave us with…

THE TIME ON THE JOB: 9,000I am going to assume that the budget was 8,000.

Time management systems typically accumulate time. But the accumulation of time does not seem to have much impact on job management. It’s as if the attitude is ‘jobs overrun and that’s the way it is’.

TIME BEFORE THE JOB STARTS TIME ON THE JOB PARTNER REVIEW

TIME TOTAL TIME

1,000 9,000 1,000 11,000

KEY ACTION POINT

Bill the time out before the job starts.

KEY ACTION POINT

Make sure that this partner time is ring fenced within the budget.

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Consider though if the budget were to be depreciated instead of accumulated. Here is an example:

THREE KEY FACTORS THAT RESULT IN JOB OVERRUNS – DO THEY NEED FIXING IN YOUR FIRM?

The e� ect: Perhaps a sharper focus to complete the job in week 4 - maybe even in less time than budgeted.

Balance of time into week 4

Time on: week 3

Time on: week 2

Time on: week 1

Job budget8,000

3,000

2,000

1,000

2,000

5,000

3,000

Not having the information you need to start the job.

Bad budgeting

But you are employing good managers – they must learn how to budget and then deliver on budget.

Problems caused by the client

Let’s look at this in a little more detail in step 8.

01

02

03

Ensure sta� know that they must deliver in accordance with the budget they have prepared.

KEY ACTION POINT

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JOB PROFITABILITY

STEP 9: BETTER MANAGE THE COST OF THE EGO TRIP

When managing my own accountancy business, I recall finding it frustrating to learn that a well-managed firm realises about 85 per cent of standard time. This meant that when the job lands up for partner review and sign o� , the time budget is all but fully expired. Not exactly the greatest of motivators if you think that your (valuable) time is not going to be recovered.

For one moment, assume that a job has been properly budgeted and that any client-related problems have either been within the boundaries of the unforeseen budget (usually about 5 per cent of the total budget) or the client has agreed to be billed for the extra work.

O� en the higher-level (partner and manager) time towards the back end of the job can run away with what little budget remains. What do we call this time? It is


The day has arrived when you are due to take the car in for a service. You set o� perhaps a little earlier than usual, and, at 8am, you arrive at the service reception desk. You are warmly greeted and asked for your car registration number. A� er handing over the keys, you head o� in the pre-arranged courtesy car.

Now, you are well into your morning, and, at 9.25am, there is a call from the car dealership. It’s one you hoped not to have to take. It’s the service reception advising you that they have received a report from the service engineer. You are undoubtedly familiar with such a call. Firstly, you are informed of the problems the engineer has identified, and, then a� er you have digested that news, you brace yourself for the price to rectify each fault. It’s how the service system works, and we all accept it as good practice.

Contrast that with how many accountants work. O� en, it is “let’s sort out the problems and then discuss the costs with the client a� er the job is finished”. But, by then, it is too late to agree anything other than a contribution to the cost. A� er all, we do not wish to upset the client – they might go elsewhere.

STEP 8: LEARN FROM YOUR CAR SERVICE PROVIDER

Compile a schedule that accounts for 80 per cent of client-related problems that arise in your o� ice and establish a minimum and maximum price for fixing one. Then if a problem occurs, have your managers call the client, quoting the price to rectify it.

KEY ACTION POINT

review time. So, why call it the ego trip? Because to a large extent, that is what it is...

COME WITH ME AND CONSIDER THIS SCENARIO...The job has been finished and is now on the manager’s desk. The manager is not going to review the job straight away, so sta� move onto their next job – either inside or maybe out of the o� ice.

Now, it is time for the manager to perform the review. This is, of course, where the manager displays his/her skills – their higher level of professional expertise. How does the manager proceed? The first page yields the first review point, and this is reported as review note 1, “You need to...”, or “Schedule 1 needs to...”. Now the creative juices are flowing as is the frustration with sta� who

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should know better. Soon we are onto the second page and then the third. As the file review comes towards its climax, the manager looks and sees that the fourth page is all but complete. “Can I possibly make it onto a fi� h page? They really should have done better than this!”

Now, you may or may not recognise that scenario, but, trust me, I know from the faces I see when I go into ‘sketch mode’ at seminars that it really happens. But wait I have not finished...

The sta� are hauled o� their current job and look aghast at the notes – “How could there possibly be so many review points?” the sta� think. So, conscientiously they set to work on responding to the manager’s review points. Sarcasm is o� the agenda, but if the person’s brain could be hooked up to loudspeakers, there would need to be a sensor on hand to bleep out all those dark inner thoughts.

Review points duly completed, the work is returned to the manager who promises to clear the file very shortly. The next week the sta� find out that there are just a couple more review points...

NOW IT IS TIME FOR THE PARTNER TO SHINEEventually, with pride and satisfaction, the file is sent onward and upward to the partner’s o� ice. The partner smiles and mentions that the file had been expected and that it will be looked at shortly.

A few days later, time is found to review the file. Now we are at the highest level of the firm, where expertise is at its peak. As the partner opens the file and starts the review, there is a real sense of excitement coupled with unbelief. “How could this have been overlooked?” the partner wonders.

Sometimes the review points reach to the foot of the page, and, on other occasions, a second page is required. At the end, the partner senses that the review points reflect superiority – the higher level of expertise that partners collect when entering the gates of partnerhood.

You think that is far-stretched? None of that happens in your o� ice? Well done. But if it does, what is the e� ect?

And more importantly, what is the remedy?

The e� ect?

Time and money. Probably a lot of it.

TIMEHow long does it take from the time a job is finished to when it is completed (reviewed and billed)? Let’s take an example of a job that from start to completion and billing takes 40 days. I o� en suggest that the first part of doing the job occupies about 20 per cent of the time (in this example, eight days of solid time) while reviewing the job (manager and partner) and finally completing it can occupy as much of 80 per cent (32 days) of the time. Given that timeliness is key, tightening the time spent on job reviews is increasingly important and an area where job profitability can be improved.

I was once the manager of an audit team of 12, who were engaged in the audit of a major UK footwear manufacturer. The sta� were on site with me for three weeks, and, by the time they le� , I had not only reviewed all the audit work but also attended to all the partner review notes. As we le� , the job was complete – even the London-based tax manager had been on-site finalising the tax provisions.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:• What is the average length of time (in days) from

a job being finished to being completed and billed for? Consider selecting a cross selection of types of job to establish your performance in this area.

• How many hours are charged to finish the job o� ?

• Calculate your finishing e� iciency.

Hours to complete x 100 = Finishing efficiency Days x 7.5** Insert your standard day in hours if different from 7.5

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MONEYYou could look at the cost of the manager/partner review in total. But, for the purposes of establishing the cost of the ego trip, it is important to look at the chargeable cost of reviews that exceeded their budgeted costs. Note, partners should have a budget for review that is separate from their budget for meetings to discuss the financial statements with the client.

The file review by both managers and partners is an essential aspect of professional practice, but the accumulation of review points is evidence of work perceived by sta� to be incomplete. Raising a review note takes time, answering it takes time and reviewing the action to clear it takes time. Can review time be reduced? I believe it can, and, in doing so, the overall time to completion will also be reduced.

How?It is important to establish your recurring review points (RRPs). You may need to review 10 to 15 files to establish a firm-wide list of top RRPs. These should include both manager and partner RRPs.

Then, a goal should be established to work towards eliminating these review points.

Hold a training session and discuss the RRPs with sta� , so that they know why each review point is raised and what they need to do to ensure it does not reappear in future reviews. This focus should include all manager RRPs and as many of the partner RRPs as sta� can justifiably be held accountable for.

It is probably better not to cover more than 10 RRPs in any one session so select those that recur regularly. Next this needs to be reinforced, here are some options:

• Including a RRP checklist on each file,

• Posting your RRP checklist together with any additional commentary on your intranet,

• Getting a graphic designer to create a poster of your key RRPs and displaying it in the sta� o� ices. Personally, I like this approach as it is creative and reinforces o� ice practice.

The key then is to hold each member of sta� accountable for ensuring the RRPs are not seen on any of their jobs.

Now onto partner RRPs. The first ask is for partners to move on from being nitpickers. [Ouch!] So, let’s avoid RRPs that are not important. Now, there are the important ones. O� en managers have the same qualification as partners or, at least, are qualified by experience. And as with the sta� , managers need to take steps to eliminate partner RRPs.

KEY ACTION POINT

Work towards minimising review time and eliminating RRPs.

STEP 10: IMPROVE YOUR STAFF JOB TRAINING

Decide how you will action and maintain your firm’s commitment to reducing review time.

KEY ACTION POINT

Now it’s your time to create your own future profitability plan. Review the 10-point summary of the Profitability Blueprint actions to see what steps you need to take to improve job profitability to take to deliver on your aspirations.

SUMMARY CHECKLIST FOR DEVELOPING YOUR OWN PROFITABILITY BLUEPRINT

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PROFITABILITYBLUEPRINT PROFITABILITY

CHECKLISTINCREASING YOUR OWN FIRM’S BOTTOM LINE

PROFITIBILITY BLUEPRINT - CHECKLISTSTEP 1: Determine what your “true” top line is.

STEP 2: Monitor and manage firm owners and managers chargeable time in particular. Discuss what needs to be done to reduce the adverse chargeable time variance. For example, require everyone to account for all his or her time. Your costing records constitute a retail costing system NOT a billing system.

STEP 3: Calculate your sales variances and resist the temptation to ask sta� to complete a job that fits what you think can be charged.

STEP 4: Managers/sta� are responsible for managing productivity variances and then ensuring that they are reported on monthly with everyone focussed on seeking to reduce the quantum of these variances.

STEP 5A: Write to your clients detailing the date you expect the records to be ready. A� er all you have to make an appointment to take your car in for a service and you have to make an appointment for your dental treatment. So, why not make an appointment for your incoming client records.

STEP 5B: Do all that you possibly can to ensure you know when you can expect to start and for your sta� to have as good a chance as possible of having all the information, they require to do the job.

STEP 6: Is your job budgeting system fir for purpose? How can this be improved?

STEP 7A: Bill the time out before the job.

STEP 7B: Make sure that this partner time is ring fenced within the budget.

STEP 7C: Ensure sta� know they have to deliver in accordance with the budget they have prepared.

STEP 8: Compile a schedule that accounts for 80 per cent of the client-caused problems that arise in your o� ice. Then establish a minimum and maximum price for fixing and have your managers call clients and quote the price when these client-caused problems arise.

STEP 9: How can you minimise review time and eliminate your RRPs?

STEP 10: Decided how you will action and maintain your firm’s commitment to reducing review time.

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Documents

THE PROFITABILITY BLUEPRINT - IGNITE Practice Management · PROFITABILITY BLUEPRINT INCREASING YOUR OWN FIRM’S BOTTOM LINE Mark is a chartered accountant who built his own highly