One of our specialist areas here at Energy is financial PR. We have worked on a number of brands from investment companies, credit shows, to accountancy firms. Therefore, over the last 5 years a lot of my time has been spent reading and putting together articles around the bank crisis, and economic downturn.
In my opinion, a far too little-discussed feature of the financial debacle of the last few years is the role of flawed accounting and auditing in bringing the financial system to its knees.
I hardly see anything on this in the press, yet given the centrality of financial reporting to good investment and regulatory judgments, and the critical role of the auditor in underpinning the integrity of the capitalist system, it begs the question…why aren’t accountancy firms quoted as much as they should be in the media!?! Are they simply not talking to the press?
Speaking with the personal finance writers and business writers from the Nationals, plus the accountancy media also, they are just as puzzled as me as to why accountancy firms aren’t contacting them enough.
Perhaps its budget, time, or maybe they just think they’re too smaller a piece in the puzzle for their views and opinions to be considered important enough.
Although times are hard, marketing shouldn't always be the first thing firms cut down on. You can't stop spending on marketing in a recession. These days it's a question of focusing your marketing.
There are always opportunities out there even during the recession, particularly for accountants that can provide a range of services to businesses during these uncertain times. There are plenty of things to be commenting on, from the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), to mark-to-market accounting.
So to all you accountancy firms…get talking!
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