3 Minutes with John Toon

John is Tech Advisory Lead at Beever & Struthers, Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors and also hosts the UK’s fastest-growing accounting tech podcast.

How did you get into the profession?

I kind of fell into accounting. I was expecting to pursue a career in sports science but gave up on going to university after working for PGL and other outdoor companies for 3 years. I got to a point where I had to make a decision about whether I wanted to stay in the industry or not and I’d started studying AAT part time. I found the study really easy but interesting so started looking for trainee roles. I applied to hundreds of firms and got one interview! On the day I was offered the trainee role I was also offered the chance to run a water sports centre in Cork, Ireland with free board and a salary about 4 times bigger than the trainee salary. Who knows if I made the right decision…

What do you see as key trends for the accounting sector in the coming year?

The AI conversation isn’t going to go away any time soon so expect to continue to hear more about that, although I’m hoping the conversation will turn into more actionable insights rather than the doom mongering, we currently have to deal with. We should expect to see more acquisitions of accounting tech – there are lots of people with deep pockets who can make big returns from good investments. The learning conversation is likely to change as CPD requirements and qualification syllabus changes from ICAEW/ACCA etc start to kick in.

What’s the best part of your job?

The variety! Getting to meet different people every day, discovering new challenges and more recently the opportunity to travel and speak (as well as listen) to audiences

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