You might associate influencers with photoshopped images of foodies in front of neon signs, but in the last couple of years influencers have started cropping up in each industry – and accounting is no exception.
These inspiring individuals are leveraging social media to demonstrate best practice of technology adoption, compliance efficiencies and opportunities related to rolling out new advisory service lines.
Learning from your peers is an effective way to develop yourself as a finance professional, as well as your overall firm. And it’s certainly more engaging than most of the content produced by the trade bodies.
We’ve picked out seven of the best accounting influencers to follow. And make sure you read our blog on unmissable events for accountants in 2022, because lots of these high-flyers are likely to be there!
1. Lucy Cohen
Twitter: @lucymazuma
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucycohen/
Lucy is the co-founder of Mazuma Money, an innovative tech-led Cardiff based practice focussed on small businesses and sole traders.
At Mazuma, Lucy and her team are building their own bespoke platform to make it easy for her clients to fulfil their compliance requirements.
She’s a frequent contributor to AccountingWEB, and presents their Client Confidential webinar series that explores how to attract, manage and retain clients. In 2021 she won AccountingWEB’s Outstanding Contribution Award winner at the Accounting Excellence Awards.
She’s also the author of two books: The Millennial Renaissance (2017) and the recently released Forget The First Million (2021)
2. Stuart Hurst
Twitter: @stuhurstcloud
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stuart-hurst-cloud/
Stuart is an evangelist for cloud accounting and automation and has converted over 1,000 clients to the cloud.
He’s obsessed with using technology to help clients grow their businesses and believes best practice is demonstrated with regular contact and monthly health checks.
Stuart has a strong following on social media and regularly posts videos parodying what he calls ‘dinosaur’ accountants (and he’s not wrong!) who use desktop software, spreadsheets and paper audit trails.
In 2021 he won Xero’s Most Valued Professional (MVP) award.
3. Della Hudson
Twitter: @dellhudsonFCA
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dellahudsonfca/
Della wears a few different hats, including mentoring accountants, writing books, public speaking and running an accountancy practice.
She has over three decades’ experience as a Chartered Accountant under her belt and successfully exited her first practice Hudson Business Accountants and Advisers, selling it in 2017.
Alongside co-authoring tax planning manuals, Della has published two books; The Numbers Business and Growing by Numbers.
Della holds several accolades, including being featured in Accountancy Age’s Top 50 Women in Finance and Practice Ignition’s Top 50 Women In Accounting.
4. Joe David
Twitter: @crypjo091
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joejdavid/
Joe is one of the profession’s top thought leaders and practitioners of crypto-related accounting.
He’s been running the Cheltenham based digital-first Nephos since 2014, and last year, he started Myna, a side practice that specialises in crypto accounting. The firm offers advisory and compliance services related to the leading cryptocurrencies and works with individuals investing in crypto and businesses that accept it as payment.
Joe is happy to share his wisdom with other accountants and has spoken about his experience and the crypto accounting opportunity for Digital Accountancy and AccountingWEB.
5. Rebecca Benneyworth MBE
Twitter: @rbeccabeneworth
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rebecca-benneyworth-6994b114/
Rebecca is one of the top tax experts in the UK. She has over 30 years of experience as a tax lecturer and providing services to accounting firms, as well as sharing her wisdom with the accounting trade bodies.
Her interpretation of tax legislation is so renowned that she’s also an advisor to HMRC and frequently provides feedback on tax changes.
She also runs Rebecca Benneyworth & Co, a fully digital accounting practice that services SMEs.
6. Carl Reader
Twitter: @carlreader
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlreader/
Small business expert Carl Reader is a force to be reckoned with. His social media reach is extensive – he has over 91,000 followers on Twitter, 33,000 followers.
Carl started his accountancy career at d&t chartered accountants, a firm specialising in franchises, where he is the joint owner and chairman.
However, his time is now mostly spent on motivational speaking, authoring books and providing advice to SMEs through media appearances.
Carl’s most recent book, Boss It, is a WH Smith bestseller and has an accompanying podcast. He’s also the chair of ACCA’s Practitioners Panel.
7. Alex Falcon Huerta
Twitter: @alexmfalcon
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alexfalconhuerta
Alex is a digital nomad accountant who spent the bulk of her time living in Indonesia and Bali during the pandemic.
She can run her main practice, Soaring Falcon, from anywhere due to being an early adopter of technology (Soaring Falcon uses more than 40 apps for their clients), and her outlook has also resulted in her developing a specialism for assisting clients expanding globally.
Last year she set up Smart Offshore, a Sri Lankan based practice offering outsourcing solutions to accounting practices.
Alex won Xero’s MVP in 2017 and is an advisor to the UK government’s All Party Parliamentary Group on technology.
