I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying…
“Leaders are readers”
And there’s some truth to it. Books can be a great source of learning new & interesting ideas and ways to do things.
You can benefit from learning from people who have either experienced something, or spent a long time studying something in order to know it in great detail.
So with that in mind, here are 23 books for accountants to help you future-proof your firm.
We’ve broken them up into 3 main categories (plus a special bonus book at the end!):
- General business books
- Marketing books
- Accountancy firm specific books
General business books
Below are a selection of general business books, not written specifically for an accounting audience, but written to help businesses and the individuals running those businesses to think and act differently.
1. Cali Ressler & Jody Thompson - Why Work Sucks & How To Fix It
Are you and your team tired of racing into the office each morning, sitting through endless meetings and having to ask permission to leave early to pick up your children? What if you and your team could work whenever and wherever, providing the work gets done? In this book, the authors show how a Results-Only Work Environment not only makes employees happier, but also delivers better results.
2. Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson - Remote
With all the recent technological advancements in the accounting profession, it’s now easier than ever for team members to work remotely or from home a few days a week. In this book the authors lay out a convincing case and entertaining narrative that will convince you that working remotely increases both productivity and innovation!
3. Gary Keller - The One Thing
You want to have fewer distractions in your life, the amount of emails, text messages and meetings can be overwhelming. And at the same time you want more. More productivity, more income, more satisfaction. In this book, Gary Keller shares how you can cut through the clutter, achieve better results in less time and deliver extraordinary results in every area of your life.
4. Phil Knight - Shoe Dog
Nike are one of the biggest brands on the planet, but their journey to the top wasn’t always easy. Along the way they encountered many crossroads moments and setbacks that almost made them fail. In this memoir, the man behind the swoosh Phil Knight shares lessons about building something from scratch, overcoming adversity and ultimately leaving your mark on the world.
5. Michael Gerber - The E-Myth Revisited
Just because you understand the technical work involved with your business, does it also mean you understand how to run a business that does that technical work? In this revised version of a classic, Michael Gerber dispels the myths about starting your own business. He walks you through the business lifecycle from infancy, to adolescence, to maturity - sharing what it takes to succeed at each stage.
6. James Clear - Atomic Habits
Most people think that to change your life you need to think big. But James Clear thinks differently. He’s discovered that real change comes from the compound effect of lots of small decisions over time. He calls these Atomic Habits. In this book, he shares exactly how these small changes can lead to life-changing outcomes.
7. Simon Sinek - Start With Why
Have you ever wondered why some individuals and companies are more innovative and successful than others? According to Simon Sinek, it doesn’t matter what you do, it matters why you do it. Based on one of the most watched TED talks of all time, this book is for anybody that wants to be inspired or to inspire others.
Marketing books
In this next section we’ve highlighted some of our favourite marketing books to help you build a reputable brand, tap into digital marketing opportunities and generate new clients for your firm.
8. Donald Miller - Building A Story Brand
How you connect with your prospects and clients is crucial if you want to grow your firm. In this book, Donald Miller shares the seven elements of powerful stories to provide you with the ultimate competitive advantage, uncovering the secret behind why you help your clients and what the true benefits of your services are.
9. Marcus Sheridan - They Ask You Answer
Do you know you should be doing content marketing but unsure where to start? In this book, Marcus Sheridan lays down a simple framework for producing quality content that drives new business. How? By answering the questions that your prospects and clients are already asking you.
10. Daniel Priestley - Key Person Of Influence
In every industry there are key people of influence. They are the people whose names come up in conversations and get asked to speak at all of the events. Most people think it takes years of hard work and good luck to become one of these key people of influence, but in this book Daniel Priestley shares a strategy for fast-tracking your way into the inner-circle of whatever industry you’re in.
11. Dan Kennedy - Magnetic Marketing
Written by one of the all-time marketing greats, Dan Kennedy, Magnetic Marketing shares a radical and different change in the way that new clients are attracted to you and in the way your business should be advertised. There is no fluff in this book, it’s a step-by-step proven system for generating new clients in any industry.
12. Robert Cialdini - Influence
One of the biggest parts of marketing is understanding how people think and act, and being able to influence that. In this book, Dr Robert Cialdini, an expert in influence and persuasion, shares the psychology behind why people say yes, and also how to apply this psychology in an ethical way to business situations.
13. Russell Brunson - Dotcom Secrets
If you understand the opportunity that digital marketing presents, and you want to learn more about the technical how-to, then this book is for you. Russell Brunson has spent the last decade starting and scaling multi-million dollar companies online and in this book he takes everything that he’s discovered and breaks it down into a simple process anybody can use.
Books specifically for Accountants
As well as the generalist business and marketing books, a number of books have been written specifically for accountants & CPAs from people that are working closely in the profession. Here are a few:
14. Rudi Jansen - The Highly Profitable Accountant
As a practice owner is your lock-up too high? Are your profits not where you want them to be? Do you wish you could spend less time in your practice? If this sounds familiar then this book is for you. In this book practice owner and coach Rudi Jansen shares some simple yet overlooked ideas for taking control of your practice, making more money and getting your life back.
15. Heather Townsend - Accountant’s Millionaires Club
Do you have ambitious goals for growth in your firm? In this book written by Accountant’s Millionaires Club Founder, Heather Townsend, you’ll get the confidence, motivation, inspiration and all the information that you need to build a successful, highly profitable one million pound accountancy practice.
16. Will Farnell - Digital Firm
How digital is your firm? Are you truly maximising cloud accounting and the variety of tech that’s out there? In this book, Will Farnell shares his own experiences of adopting end-to-end cloud accounting in his accounting firm, Farnell Clarke. He’s included his mistakes, case studies of other firms that have adopted different approaches and also the advice of some experts that he respects.
17. Della Hudson - Numbers Business
Do you want to start and grow a successful cloud accountancy practice? Having applied her corporate experience to building her own modern firm, Della Hudson presents a roadmap to help you do the same. She shares her own hard-earned knowledge so that other accountants can grow their own successful and scalable businesses.
18. James Ashford - Selling To Serve
Do you want to deliver more value to your clients and charge higher fees for it? In this book, James Ashford will introduce you to logical techniques and proven strategies that can help you to grow your firm more profitably by leveraging your team and putting your sales process on autopilot. Done right, you’ll never have to sell again.
19. Amanda C Watts - The Pioneering Practice
There are practices that are pioneering their way forward whilst their competitors are still doing things in a traditional way. These pioneers are creating opportunities, attracting a-grade clients and benefits from greater profits and freedom. In the pioneering practice, Amanda C Watts lays out 9 key marketing strategies for you to implement to become a pioneering practice.
20. Shane Lucas - What’s Next For Accountants
With technology changing the way that accountants work, what’s next on the horizon for accountants? In this book, Shane Lucas shares everything an accountant needs to know and do in order to position themselves as the expert at changing the numbers in the eyes of their customers and change the perception that they’re ‘just an accountant’.
21. Doug LaBahn - The Pacesetters
What are some of the leading firms doing differently that you can do? What makes them the pacesetters? The Pacesetters is the story of how the UK’s top accounting practices used cloud accounting software to become more efficient, find more time, help more clients, and make more money – and how you can do it too.
22. Paul Shrimpling - The Business Growth Accountant
Everybody’s talking about advisory services, but what are they? How do you deliver them? In this book, Paul Shrimpling shares how you can transform your accountancy practice into a profitable and valuable advisory business.
23. Mark Wickersham - Effective Pricing For Accountants
Pricing is always such an interesting topic for accountants, with a variety of ways to do it in your firm. In this book, Mark Wickersham shares a thorough and practical review of pricing strategies that can be applied to the accounting profession. It dives into areas such as value pricing, menu pricing and risk reversal, giving you a complete pricing overview.
So there you go, 23 books for accountants to future-proof your firm.
You've read this far, so do you want to know OUR favourite book for accountants?
24. Pixie - The Practice Owner's Playbook
OK, so not as much of a book as the others, but in this playbook we interviewed 26 different accountants to find out how they do things in their firm. We covered everything from marketing, to recruitment, to systems, to pricing. It's an all-you-need-to-know guide for starting, running and growing a firm. You can download your free playbook here.
