May 31, 2023 • 19 mins
The Public Practice Program (PPP) prepares practitioners for future success as a partner or sole practitioner. It’s designed to empower new practitioners with the practical business management skills, as well as a thorough grounding in the regulatory framework, required for managing a successful practice now and in the future.
The PPP has been revamped - with practitioners in New Zealand and Australia recently getting a taste of the refreshed leading-edge program.
This episode sits down with two facilitators – one from New Zealand and one from Australia – who helped bring the new program to life and are out teaching it as we speak.
Jason Driscole FCA and Kathryn Tarr FCA join Gillian to explain why it’s useful for SMPs.
Check out the Public Practice Program on the Chartered Accountants ANZ website
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gillian Bowen, Host (00:08):
Hello, I'm Gillian Bowen, Public Affairs Manager at Chartered Accountants ANZ,
or CA ANZ. This is Small Firm, Big Impact.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (00:22):
One of the models that's newer that is in in
in the new revamped course is the business model canvas
a way of looking at your practice and really deciding
which of my client segments that I really want to
focus on and then tying that back to your value proposition.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (00:39):
People from all around New Zealand. So they've been waiting
to register and come to this and the networking aspect,
I mean, it's just it's awesome. Like it's so awesome
and I know we're biased.(laughing)
Gillian Bowen, Host (00:52):
It's the podcast giving you and your clients the up
to date information you need to do your jobs each
fortnight are share resources, tools and expert advice provided by CA
ANZ and a range of people across our profession. So
make sure you're following the pod in your favourite pod app.
And if you've got an idea for the show email
podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com Today we have two of our facilitators, teachers involved
(01:21):
in the Chartered Accountants ANZ Public Practice Program (PPP). The topic,
the recent revamp of the PPP. What's new? Why do it?
Why it matters? Kathryn Tarr and Jason Driscole, welcome to
Small Firm, Big Impact.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (01:34):
Fantastic to be here, Gillian.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (01:36):
Thank you for the invitation.
Gillian Bowen, Host (01:37):
I said that I was going to run through your expertise,
but I've decided it's more efficient if you do it. Kathryn,
why don't you go first? What's your expertise?
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (01:46):
Well, Gillian. Well, I've had that just over 30 years
in public practice in Big Four and mid-tier firm, and
as of just just late last year, have resigned from
those positions. And I'm now out on my own for
the first time. So I'm a tax practitioner, so my
trade is tax. But I've also done a lot of
facilitation and training for CA ANZ and other professional bodies over
(02:08):
over the years I've been involved was trying to work
it out for this, something like ten years in the
public practice course, presenting various um, yeah, reruns of it.
So fantastic to still be here and excited to be
talking about it.
Gillian Bowen, Host (02:22):
Okay, brilliant. Jason, how about you?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (02:25):
So I'm based in New Zealand, so regional New Zealand
and a little bit like Kath have been involved in
all iterations of - the old PAS program days. The old. What's
what we're calling now, the old Capstone program. And we've
got the new program and then also the public practice program. Um,
(02:45):
for probably about 9 or 10 years in the public
practice program and probably close to 20 years across different
workshops and marking and facilitation for Chartered Accountants ANZ. I'm
a partner at a business advisory practice in the Manawatu
in New Zealand. So live and breathe some of the
stresses and struggles and challenges that our members that are
(03:07):
going through the public practice program face when they come
into it. And so it's great to be able to
leverage off and interact with those people because we also
pick up some great ideas about our own business as
we're going through it too.
Gillian Bowen, Host (03:17):
Yeah, brilliant. Okay, so I've got the right brains here,
I think, to pick apart for this episode. Kathryn let's
just take a quick step back for those listening along,
if they may not know what the public practice program is,
what is the public practice program?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (03:30):
Okay. So the public practice program is. It's made up
of two components. It's got a digital learning program and
then it's got a two day workshop. So where we
get involved as facilitators in that two day workshop. And again,
it's it's facilitators like us who have who are public practice, people, understand,
as Jason said, the stresses of the world, but it's
(03:52):
really designed to ensure the success of our public practices.
So it's a bit around protecting the CA ANZ's name and
branding and reputation, which helps us all. But it's ultimately
about empowering our practitioners to create those practices which really
run efficiently. They they're resilient, they're flexible for change, and
(04:13):
they operate also into the future. So the public practice
course I guess gives practitioners tools to to think about the
future and how that impacts their practice. It thinks about
business models, it looks at networking with others so that
they can, you know, practitioners that come to the course
will bounce ideas off others and indeed work with others
(04:34):
in the same position to come up with some possible solutions.
Gillian Bowen, Host (04:39):
Okay. Right. Jason. So who normally goes through the program?
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (04:43):
I just want to touch on what Kath said. I
love that word empowering. I think that's, that's a brilliant word. And,
and that, that is why we're here with this, with
this program so fundamentally and it's funny, we talk at
the start of the session, we're like, oh so why
are you here? And you always get the cheeky while
I'm here because I have to be here because I
want to get my certificate of public practice. And yet
there is that regulatory aspect, like a lot of parts
(05:06):
of chartered accountants, ANZ, you know, there's aspects where we
have to do certain things to get a certain either qualification, certificate, license,
whatever it might be granted, Yeah, totally. But this session,
so much more than that. And so not only is
it people who are going out in their own as, sole practitioners,
so they're about to embark on that massive challenge and
(05:27):
set up their own practice, or maybe they're buying into
an existing business that, you know, could be a large
multinational firm or might be a smaller firm with with
1 or 2 partners or somewhere in between. And then
also we do have the odd occasion. We have senior
leadership people coming through. And we have probably in the last,
(05:48):
particularly the last few years seen firms get associates going
through the program, mainly because they're getting to the point
where maybe they're signing off sets of accounts and they
need to to make sure that that they are meeting
their requirements under that aspect. So generally speaking, we're talking
about partners, aspirational partners, sole practitioners or yeah, senior leadership
(06:09):
people and firms.
Gillian Bowen, Host (06:10):
Kathryn Let's hone in on that then. And Jason mentioned
it there. We are talking to SMPs today. So why
would why should they be interested in this?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (06:22):
I think think Gillian for me. And I think for
the feedback we get as well is that it gives
them a chance to over two days to really focus
in on their business. Now, as a leader, principal or
a partner in practice, you generally don't have a lot
of time. Okay, so this course, if nothing else, gives
(06:43):
you two days to really focus on your business, your
practice and how it's operating, what can you know, what
might need to change, what might need to change into
the future. But it gives you two days to focus
on it with the assistance of a whole bunch of
other practitioners and partners and principals. Yeah, great. So that
(07:04):
sharing of knowledge, Gillian, is absolutely key to some of
the takeaways being really strong.
Gillian Bowen, Host (07:10):
So we've talked about then what it is in general,
why people do it. So the other reason why we're
talking about this now is that the PPP has had
a revamp. Jason What's that involved exactly?
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (07:23):
It's funny you should say that. I was thinking about
this this morning of all times when I was brushing
my teeth. Actually.
Gillian Bowen, Host (07:29):
I do a lot of my thinking in the shower.
I get it right? Totally.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (07:31):
The bathroom is a great individual space where you get to
focus on what you're doing for the day. Um. It's not.
It's we haven't we haven't taken a digger to the
site and completely knocked it all over and cleared the
whole section. All we've done is just done up the bathroom,
in the kitchen, in the house. So fundamentally, the foundations
were there, they were strong. And all we've done is
(07:54):
improved a bit of the flow. And then, for want
of a better word, just refreshed the content to get
it back up to where it needs to be for
current 2023. As Kath noted, this public practice programme has
been around for about 19 years or so and it
was written, you know, slightly prior to that. So some
(08:14):
of the, some of the material and some of the
date references we had even just a, you know, real
granular level, we're a little bit outdated. But then also
we've adopted some different thinking. We've we've leveraged off some
of the great work that some of the public practitioners
have either seen in their groups or doing in their
own businesses. We've now adopted a little bit more content
(08:35):
that's a bit more contemporary and also just, I suppose,
adjusted for where we are in life, you know, which
obviously had come along, that's changed the landscape massively. We
talk about in the programme about how it's turbocharged some
of those changes and so we really just needed to
get it back up to date to where, you know,
where businesses are are and how they're operating with their
(08:57):
with their teams and clients.
Gillian Bowen, Host (08:59):
Kathryn, do you want to add on that? Yeah, yeah. Go.
Go for it.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (09:02):
Sorry. I was just going to. Yeah, exactly. Add to
that that, you know, ask ourselves, you know, revamping the
PPP and as I say, it didn't involve changing everything
but making some really beneficial changes. It's a bit like the
practitioners who are going to come to the public practice course,
who have worked in a firm for, you know, ten,
(09:23):
15 years. Again, there's always time to sit back and say, well,
what do we need to change? Okay. We have people
like that come into the practice or the course. We also have
our new principals who are starting off on their own.
But this constant piece around revising what you're doing, you know,
don't make it static. What can we change to improve?
And I think that's what we're done with the public
(09:45):
practice recently, and that's what practitioners should be thinking about
for their businesses as well.
Gillian Bowen, Host (09:49):
And Kathryn, what I was going to ask and it's
touching on what Jason said in the sense of, you know,
making the content relevant. What are some, do you have
a couple of specific examples there for those listening along
that might want to go, well, what is it that
I'm going to learn this time around?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (10:02):
Yeah, okay. So lots!
Gillian Bowen, Host (10:06):
How long is a piece of string?! Yeah, sorry. Yeah.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (10:09):
I think one of the models that's newer that is
in the in in the new revamped course is the
business model canvas, which you, you know, some practitioners may
already have heard of a way of looking at your
practice and really deciding who are my, which of my
client segments that I really want to focus on. And
(10:30):
then tying that back to your value proposition and saying, well,
what can I do? What am I doing now? What
can I be doing better in the future to really
meet the needs of those client segments? And then the
business model canvas for those that know it then goes into, well,
how does that affect your communication channels? How does that
affect the resources you need, the assets that you need,
(10:53):
the partners that you might partner with in delivering, you know,
in running your practice, the cost structure, all of that.
So it gives you a a visual model that you
can tweak your practices and say, well, if I change this,
what what impact is it over here? And and that
is a really valuable model that we've got in there.
(11:16):
We also look, Jason, I think it'd be fair to
say we look if I described it as a bit
more wellbeing and positive mindset and psychological safety and some
of those bits around the team, but also for the
practitioners themselves. So how, how are you looking after yourself
as you're running your practice and how are you looking
(11:38):
after your team members and some of the models and
theory and research that we talk about there is far
more perhaps modernised than what we had before.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (11:49):
Yeah, just sort of touching, I suppose, the psychological drivers,
how you adapt or how you face changed. Are you
front footing change? Are you reactionary, Are you doing it
under pressure or are you doing it when you absolutely
have to? How do you deal with conflict? We've sort
of updated the the conflict. Yeah. Managing aspects of the
program as well, which is great. And it's yeah, like
(12:10):
Kath said, a bit more contemporary and a bit it's
leveraging off more up to date and more modern either
models or things that people are probably either seeing or
hearing or doing already.
Gillian Bowen, Host (12:20):
And look for those listening along going, well, where do
I get all this? I will be putting links to
where it is on our website so you can read
all about it in the show notes. This is just
a bit of a sprinkling to give you a taste
of what's going on so then you can go forth
and find the information that you need. And Jason, you've
been running this newer version in New Zealand. How's it? Going,
What's the feedback been like?
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (12:39):
So we've undertaken one workshop virtually, and then also one
workshop face to face. So we do have the two
different offerings virtual and face to face. The virtual is
done over a two and a half day, but sort
of two slightly bridged days. So same sort of timing.
That's the big question. Obviously, virtual, as we know with
(13:00):
the post-COVID era, virtual is great. It's convenient. It suits
people in regional and rural aspects of or areas of
New Zealand and Australia granted. Yeah.
Gillian Bowen, Host (13:10):
Yeah. Gives them access.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (13:12):
And you know, you can you can connect from home,
work wherever is convenient for you, but the face to
face side of it I suppose as one aspect that
we do really enjoy and embrace and nurture and value
and that's something that we're trying to make sure that
the virtual is as effective and as impactful as what
(13:34):
the face to face is. And sure, the face to
face session that was run by one of my colleagues
up in Auckland last week, he had people from all
around New Zealand, so they've been waiting to register and
come to this. And the networking aspect, I mean, it's
just it's awesome. Like it's so awesome and I know
we're biased.
This program.
Gillian Bowen, Host (13:53):
Look, as long as you declare it, I argue no problem.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (13:58):
Well, I don't know.
Gillian Bowen, Host (13:59):
It's good to be proud of your program.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (14:01):
In New Zealand when I qualified and got my certificate of
public practice, I went to a large event at a hotel.
All the people that were qualifying at that point in
time did it. It was very it was very rules
sort of based. We talked about some practical things that
you need to know about what you need to do
and your practice, how much share capital you needed to
(14:22):
have and P.I. insurance. So it was all very, you know,
practical and that sort of part how to deal with
some ethical decisions and issues. And sure, there's the elements
of that in this current program because we have to because,
you know, people.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (14:36):
They're important .
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (14:37):
... and we're part of a membership body that we
need to adhere to those rules. But it's, it's so
much more than that. We like Kath said, we focus
the first day very much on the future, building a
practice that's going to be hit here both now and
into the future. How do we make you and your
team resilient? How do we look at what business models
(15:00):
are coming through and embracing those? But the second day
and look, we've got we've got technical training up the wazoo.
If you want technical training on anything, you can find
it at Chartered Accountants ANZ, you can find it at another provider.
That's great. But the second day is on those softer skills,
the leadership skills, managing people internally. Externally. Yeah. And I
(15:21):
don't know whether we get much exposure to that and
to have an environment over two days with your peers, with,
you know, highly successful people who are all there for
a common goal, the stuff that comes out of the
session is just awesome. And like I said earlier, we
walk away going, Oh, that's such a great idea. I'm
going to do that in my own business afterwards. So yeah,
(15:43):
it's just awesome.
Gillian Bowen, Host (15:44):
Yeah.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (15:45):
There's really a course that goes by, I think you
said it at the start, Jason, that we don't get
some benefit as facilitators as well. And just thinking about,
you know, somebody had an idea that they said, which
was just like, Wow. And everyone stops and goes, Oh yeah,
so simple. But why haven't we thought about that before?
Gillian Bowen, Host (16:02):
Well there's a lot of power in collaboration.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (16:03):
Yeah, absolutely.
Gillian Bowen, Host (16:05):
And Kathryn, here in Australia, I'm not going to to
make people feel bad. They don't live in Australia. So
let me rephrase that. Kathryn, You've just started to teach
the new program in Australia. How's it going?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (16:19):
Yes, we recently ran the first online offering of the
public practice course and it was terrific. But I think
in talking to practitioners, you know, they were really engaging
in the new program. They seemed to enjoy the models
as a different way of thinking about it. So as
a facilitator, I felt that people were getting involved and
interested in the content. And again, it was an online piece,
(16:43):
but as Jason said, we do the online pretty well.
So again, there's networking opportunities, lots of use of breakout
rooms and those sorts of things. So you're working with
4 or 5 others and we mix those groups up
so that the idea is that you're still meet everyone
in the in the session, which will be about 25
people over the course of the the five online sessions
(17:04):
over the two and a half days. So it was
it was terrific. Again, you know, we offer face to
face as well and that'll be terrific. But equally as
beneficial for both if if you're a face to face person,
come to the face to face. If you're happy to
do it online, then online might be your option.
Gillian Bowen, Host (17:24):
Yeah, that's good that there are option. I think that's
that's the key. The key point there, Jason, if you
want to get if people are listening along to this
and they want to get involved or they know a
member who should or a colleague, what's the next step
for them? From your side of the ditch, as people
like to say. And then I'll get Kathryn to answer
the same thing.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (17:42):
Well, from my understanding everything's pretty similar on both sides
of the ditches. Um, so members, when they when they
log in, can go through the process where they register,
they gain access to the material. Like Kath said earlier on,
there is some essentially like pre-work to the workshop. So
there's the modules that they go through beforehand and work
through and that just really sets the platform up so
(18:03):
that then when we are coming together over either the
two days face to face or the two and a
half days virtually, we are all on the same level.
We've all done the pre-work and we can then leverage
off that to maximize our time together to really, I suppose,
maximize the outcomes and the networking opportunities that exist.
Gillian Bowen, Host (18:21):
Kathryn, anything you'd like to add?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (18:23):
No, no. Simply follow your
links on the CA ANZ site and that'll get you through
to registering it etcetera and encourage you to do so.
Gillian Bowen, Host (18:31):
That is all we have time for. If you want
to find out more about the public practice program and
learn from Jason and Kathryn, I'll put a link from
our website in the show notes. Follow the pod in
your favorite pod app or you can check out the
show's page on the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand website.
The podcast has an email, so feel free to get
in touch. Podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com Let's start a conversation. Thank you Kathryn Tarr
(18:54):
and Jason Driscole for being my experts on Small Firm,
Big Impact.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (18:58):
Thanks. Thanks Gillian.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (18:59):
Thank you so much. Cheers.
Gillian Bowen, Host (19:01):
Bye bye.
Hello, I'm Gillian Bowen, Public Affairs Manager at Chartered Accountants ANZ,
or CA ANZ. This is Small Firm, Big Impact.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (00:22):
One of the models that's newer that is in in
in the new revamped course is the business model canvas
a way of looking at your practice and really deciding
which of my client segments that I really want to
focus on and then tying that back to your value proposition.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (00:39):
People from all around New Zealand. So they've been waiting
to register and come to this and the networking aspect,
I mean, it's just it's awesome. Like it's so awesome
and I know we're biased.(laughing)
Gillian Bowen, Host (00:52):
It's the podcast giving you and your clients the up
to date information you need to do your jobs each
fortnight are share resources, tools and expert advice provided by CA
ANZ and a range of people across our profession. So
make sure you're following the pod in your favourite pod app.
And if you've got an idea for the show email
podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com Today we have two of our facilitators, teachers involved
(01:21):
in the Chartered Accountants ANZ Public Practice Program (PPP). The topic,
the recent revamp of the PPP. What's new? Why do it?
Why it matters? Kathryn Tarr and Jason Driscole, welcome to
Small Firm, Big Impact.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (01:34):
Fantastic to be here, Gillian.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (01:36):
Thank you for the invitation.
Gillian Bowen, Host (01:37):
I said that I was going to run through your expertise,
but I've decided it's more efficient if you do it. Kathryn,
why don't you go first? What's your expertise?
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (01:46):
Well, Gillian. Well, I've had that just over 30 years
in public practice in Big Four and mid-tier firm, and
as of just just late last year, have resigned from
those positions. And I'm now out on my own for
the first time. So I'm a tax practitioner, so my
trade is tax. But I've also done a lot of
facilitation and training for CA ANZ and other professional bodies over
(02:08):
over the years I've been involved was trying to work
it out for this, something like ten years in the
public practice course, presenting various um, yeah, reruns of it.
So fantastic to still be here and excited to be
talking about it.
Gillian Bowen, Host (02:22):
Okay, brilliant. Jason, how about you?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (02:25):
So I'm based in New Zealand, so regional New Zealand
and a little bit like Kath have been involved in
all iterations of - the old PAS program days. The old. What's
what we're calling now, the old Capstone program. And we've
got the new program and then also the public practice program. Um,
(02:45):
for probably about 9 or 10 years in the public
practice program and probably close to 20 years across different
workshops and marking and facilitation for Chartered Accountants ANZ. I'm
a partner at a business advisory practice in the Manawatu
in New Zealand. So live and breathe some of the
stresses and struggles and challenges that our members that are
(03:07):
going through the public practice program face when they come
into it. And so it's great to be able to
leverage off and interact with those people because we also
pick up some great ideas about our own business as
we're going through it too.
Gillian Bowen, Host (03:17):
Yeah, brilliant. Okay, so I've got the right brains here,
I think, to pick apart for this episode. Kathryn let's
just take a quick step back for those listening along,
if they may not know what the public practice program is,
what is the public practice program?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (03:30):
Okay. So the public practice program is. It's made up
of two components. It's got a digital learning program and
then it's got a two day workshop. So where we
get involved as facilitators in that two day workshop. And again,
it's it's facilitators like us who have who are public practice, people, understand,
as Jason said, the stresses of the world, but it's
(03:52):
really designed to ensure the success of our public practices.
So it's a bit around protecting the CA ANZ's name and
branding and reputation, which helps us all. But it's ultimately
about empowering our practitioners to create those practices which really
run efficiently. They they're resilient, they're flexible for change, and
(04:13):
they operate also into the future. So the public practice
course I guess gives practitioners tools to to think about the
future and how that impacts their practice. It thinks about
business models, it looks at networking with others so that
they can, you know, practitioners that come to the course
will bounce ideas off others and indeed work with others
(04:34):
in the same position to come up with some possible solutions.
Gillian Bowen, Host (04:39):
Okay. Right. Jason. So who normally goes through the program?
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (04:43):
I just want to touch on what Kath said. I
love that word empowering. I think that's, that's a brilliant word. And,
and that, that is why we're here with this, with
this program so fundamentally and it's funny, we talk at
the start of the session, we're like, oh so why
are you here? And you always get the cheeky while
I'm here because I have to be here because I
want to get my certificate of public practice. And yet
there is that regulatory aspect, like a lot of parts
(05:06):
of chartered accountants, ANZ, you know, there's aspects where we
have to do certain things to get a certain either qualification, certificate, license,
whatever it might be granted, Yeah, totally. But this session,
so much more than that. And so not only is
it people who are going out in their own as, sole practitioners,
so they're about to embark on that massive challenge and
(05:27):
set up their own practice, or maybe they're buying into
an existing business that, you know, could be a large
multinational firm or might be a smaller firm with with
1 or 2 partners or somewhere in between. And then
also we do have the odd occasion. We have senior
leadership people coming through. And we have probably in the last,
(05:48):
particularly the last few years seen firms get associates going
through the program, mainly because they're getting to the point
where maybe they're signing off sets of accounts and they
need to to make sure that that they are meeting
their requirements under that aspect. So generally speaking, we're talking
about partners, aspirational partners, sole practitioners or yeah, senior leadership
(06:09):
people and firms.
Gillian Bowen, Host (06:10):
Kathryn Let's hone in on that then. And Jason mentioned
it there. We are talking to SMPs today. So why
would why should they be interested in this?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (06:22):
I think think Gillian for me. And I think for
the feedback we get as well is that it gives
them a chance to over two days to really focus
in on their business. Now, as a leader, principal or
a partner in practice, you generally don't have a lot
of time. Okay, so this course, if nothing else, gives
(06:43):
you two days to really focus on your business, your
practice and how it's operating, what can you know, what
might need to change, what might need to change into
the future. But it gives you two days to focus
on it with the assistance of a whole bunch of
other practitioners and partners and principals. Yeah, great. So that
(07:04):
sharing of knowledge, Gillian, is absolutely key to some of
the takeaways being really strong.
Gillian Bowen, Host (07:10):
So we've talked about then what it is in general,
why people do it. So the other reason why we're
talking about this now is that the PPP has had
a revamp. Jason What's that involved exactly?
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (07:23):
It's funny you should say that. I was thinking about
this this morning of all times when I was brushing
my teeth. Actually.
Gillian Bowen, Host (07:29):
I do a lot of my thinking in the shower.
I get it right? Totally.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (07:31):
The bathroom is a great individual space where you get to
focus on what you're doing for the day. Um. It's not.
It's we haven't we haven't taken a digger to the
site and completely knocked it all over and cleared the
whole section. All we've done is just done up the bathroom,
in the kitchen, in the house. So fundamentally, the foundations
were there, they were strong. And all we've done is
(07:54):
improved a bit of the flow. And then, for want
of a better word, just refreshed the content to get
it back up to where it needs to be for
current 2023. As Kath noted, this public practice programme has
been around for about 19 years or so and it
was written, you know, slightly prior to that. So some
(08:14):
of the, some of the material and some of the
date references we had even just a, you know, real
granular level, we're a little bit outdated. But then also
we've adopted some different thinking. We've we've leveraged off some
of the great work that some of the public practitioners
have either seen in their groups or doing in their
own businesses. We've now adopted a little bit more content
(08:35):
that's a bit more contemporary and also just, I suppose,
adjusted for where we are in life, you know, which
obviously had come along, that's changed the landscape massively. We
talk about in the programme about how it's turbocharged some
of those changes and so we really just needed to
get it back up to date to where, you know,
where businesses are are and how they're operating with their
(08:57):
with their teams and clients.
Gillian Bowen, Host (08:59):
Kathryn, do you want to add on that? Yeah, yeah. Go.
Go for it.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (09:02):
Sorry. I was just going to. Yeah, exactly. Add to
that that, you know, ask ourselves, you know, revamping the
PPP and as I say, it didn't involve changing everything
but making some really beneficial changes. It's a bit like the
practitioners who are going to come to the public practice course,
who have worked in a firm for, you know, ten,
(09:23):
15 years. Again, there's always time to sit back and say, well,
what do we need to change? Okay. We have people
like that come into the practice or the course. We also have
our new principals who are starting off on their own.
But this constant piece around revising what you're doing, you know,
don't make it static. What can we change to improve?
And I think that's what we're done with the public
(09:45):
practice recently, and that's what practitioners should be thinking about
for their businesses as well.
Gillian Bowen, Host (09:49):
And Kathryn, what I was going to ask and it's
touching on what Jason said in the sense of, you know,
making the content relevant. What are some, do you have
a couple of specific examples there for those listening along
that might want to go, well, what is it that
I'm going to learn this time around?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (10:02):
Yeah, okay. So lots!
Gillian Bowen, Host (10:06):
How long is a piece of string?! Yeah, sorry. Yeah.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (10:09):
I think one of the models that's newer that is
in the in in the new revamped course is the
business model canvas, which you, you know, some practitioners may
already have heard of a way of looking at your
practice and really deciding who are my, which of my
client segments that I really want to focus on. And
(10:30):
then tying that back to your value proposition and saying, well,
what can I do? What am I doing now? What
can I be doing better in the future to really
meet the needs of those client segments? And then the
business model canvas for those that know it then goes into, well,
how does that affect your communication channels? How does that
affect the resources you need, the assets that you need,
(10:53):
the partners that you might partner with in delivering, you know,
in running your practice, the cost structure, all of that.
So it gives you a a visual model that you
can tweak your practices and say, well, if I change this,
what what impact is it over here? And and that
is a really valuable model that we've got in there.
(11:16):
We also look, Jason, I think it'd be fair to
say we look if I described it as a bit
more wellbeing and positive mindset and psychological safety and some
of those bits around the team, but also for the
practitioners themselves. So how, how are you looking after yourself
as you're running your practice and how are you looking
(11:38):
after your team members and some of the models and
theory and research that we talk about there is far
more perhaps modernised than what we had before.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (11:49):
Yeah, just sort of touching, I suppose, the psychological drivers,
how you adapt or how you face changed. Are you
front footing change? Are you reactionary, Are you doing it
under pressure or are you doing it when you absolutely
have to? How do you deal with conflict? We've sort
of updated the the conflict. Yeah. Managing aspects of the
program as well, which is great. And it's yeah, like
(12:10):
Kath said, a bit more contemporary and a bit it's
leveraging off more up to date and more modern either
models or things that people are probably either seeing or
hearing or doing already.
Gillian Bowen, Host (12:20):
And look for those listening along going, well, where do
I get all this? I will be putting links to
where it is on our website so you can read
all about it in the show notes. This is just
a bit of a sprinkling to give you a taste
of what's going on so then you can go forth
and find the information that you need. And Jason, you've
been running this newer version in New Zealand. How's it? Going,
What's the feedback been like?
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (12:39):
So we've undertaken one workshop virtually, and then also one
workshop face to face. So we do have the two
different offerings virtual and face to face. The virtual is
done over a two and a half day, but sort
of two slightly bridged days. So same sort of timing.
That's the big question. Obviously, virtual, as we know with
(13:00):
the post-COVID era, virtual is great. It's convenient. It suits
people in regional and rural aspects of or areas of
New Zealand and Australia granted. Yeah.
Gillian Bowen, Host (13:10):
Yeah. Gives them access.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (13:12):
And you know, you can you can connect from home,
work wherever is convenient for you, but the face to
face side of it I suppose as one aspect that
we do really enjoy and embrace and nurture and value
and that's something that we're trying to make sure that
the virtual is as effective and as impactful as what
(13:34):
the face to face is. And sure, the face to
face session that was run by one of my colleagues
up in Auckland last week, he had people from all
around New Zealand, so they've been waiting to register and
come to this. And the networking aspect, I mean, it's
just it's awesome. Like it's so awesome and I know
we're biased.
This program.
Gillian Bowen, Host (13:53):
Look, as long as you declare it, I argue no problem.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (13:58):
Well, I don't know.
Gillian Bowen, Host (13:59):
It's good to be proud of your program.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (14:01):
In New Zealand when I qualified and got my certificate of
public practice, I went to a large event at a hotel.
All the people that were qualifying at that point in
time did it. It was very it was very rules
sort of based. We talked about some practical things that
you need to know about what you need to do
and your practice, how much share capital you needed to
(14:22):
have and P.I. insurance. So it was all very, you know,
practical and that sort of part how to deal with
some ethical decisions and issues. And sure, there's the elements
of that in this current program because we have to because,
you know, people.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (14:36):
They're important .
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (14:37):
... and we're part of a membership body that we
need to adhere to those rules. But it's, it's so
much more than that. We like Kath said, we focus
the first day very much on the future, building a
practice that's going to be hit here both now and
into the future. How do we make you and your
team resilient? How do we look at what business models
(15:00):
are coming through and embracing those? But the second day
and look, we've got we've got technical training up the wazoo.
If you want technical training on anything, you can find
it at Chartered Accountants ANZ, you can find it at another provider.
That's great. But the second day is on those softer skills,
the leadership skills, managing people internally. Externally. Yeah. And I
(15:21):
don't know whether we get much exposure to that and
to have an environment over two days with your peers, with,
you know, highly successful people who are all there for
a common goal, the stuff that comes out of the
session is just awesome. And like I said earlier, we
walk away going, Oh, that's such a great idea. I'm
going to do that in my own business afterwards. So yeah,
(15:43):
it's just awesome.
Gillian Bowen, Host (15:44):
Yeah.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (15:45):
There's really a course that goes by, I think you
said it at the start, Jason, that we don't get
some benefit as facilitators as well. And just thinking about,
you know, somebody had an idea that they said, which
was just like, Wow. And everyone stops and goes, Oh yeah,
so simple. But why haven't we thought about that before?
Gillian Bowen, Host (16:02):
Well there's a lot of power in collaboration.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (16:03):
Yeah, absolutely.
Gillian Bowen, Host (16:05):
And Kathryn, here in Australia, I'm not going to to
make people feel bad. They don't live in Australia. So
let me rephrase that. Kathryn, You've just started to teach
the new program in Australia. How's it going?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (16:19):
Yes, we recently ran the first online offering of the
public practice course and it was terrific. But I think
in talking to practitioners, you know, they were really engaging
in the new program. They seemed to enjoy the models
as a different way of thinking about it. So as
a facilitator, I felt that people were getting involved and
interested in the content. And again, it was an online piece,
(16:43):
but as Jason said, we do the online pretty well.
So again, there's networking opportunities, lots of use of breakout
rooms and those sorts of things. So you're working with
4 or 5 others and we mix those groups up
so that the idea is that you're still meet everyone
in the in the session, which will be about 25
people over the course of the the five online sessions
(17:04):
over the two and a half days. So it was
it was terrific. Again, you know, we offer face to
face as well and that'll be terrific. But equally as
beneficial for both if if you're a face to face person,
come to the face to face. If you're happy to
do it online, then online might be your option.
Gillian Bowen, Host (17:24):
Yeah, that's good that there are option. I think that's
that's the key. The key point there, Jason, if you
want to get if people are listening along to this
and they want to get involved or they know a
member who should or a colleague, what's the next step
for them? From your side of the ditch, as people
like to say. And then I'll get Kathryn to answer
the same thing.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (17:42):
Well, from my understanding everything's pretty similar on both sides
of the ditches. Um, so members, when they when they
log in, can go through the process where they register,
they gain access to the material. Like Kath said earlier on,
there is some essentially like pre-work to the workshop. So
there's the modules that they go through beforehand and work
through and that just really sets the platform up so
(18:03):
that then when we are coming together over either the
two days face to face or the two and a
half days virtually, we are all on the same level.
We've all done the pre-work and we can then leverage
off that to maximize our time together to really, I suppose,
maximize the outcomes and the networking opportunities that exist.
Gillian Bowen, Host (18:21):
Kathryn, anything you'd like to add?
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (18:23):
No, no. Simply follow your
links on the CA ANZ site and that'll get you through
to registering it etcetera and encourage you to do so.
Gillian Bowen, Host (18:31):
That is all we have time for. If you want
to find out more about the public practice program and
learn from Jason and Kathryn, I'll put a link from
our website in the show notes. Follow the pod in
your favorite pod app or you can check out the
show's page on the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand website.
The podcast has an email, so feel free to get
in touch. Podcast@charteredaccountantsanz.com Let's start a conversation. Thank you Kathryn Tarr
(18:54):
and Jason Driscole for being my experts on Small Firm,
Big Impact.
Kathryn Tarr CA, Public Practice Program Facilitator (18:58):
Thanks. Thanks Gillian.
Jason Driscole CA , Public Practice Program Facilitator (18:59):
Thank you so much. Cheers.
Gillian Bowen, Host (19:01):
Bye bye.
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