Alex Alexandrou — Leadership, Technology, and What Bookkeepers Need Right Now

Today Sharon is joined by Alex Alexandrou, General Manager of Reckon.

Alex has been with Reckon for more than two decades, which means he’s seen the accounting and payroll software space evolve from desktop to cloud to AI — while staying close to the real-world challenges small business owners, bookkeepers, and accountants face every day.

This conversation goes beyond software.

It’s about leadership, culture, support, industry pressure, and what it really takes to build a more sustainable business in a world that keeps changing.

In this episode we cover:
• Alex’s journey into Reckon and the founder story behind the business
• What strong leadership looks like in real life
• Why authenticity in leadership matters more than ever
• The silent pressure bookkeepers and accountants are carrying right now
• Why compliance is still heavy, even while everyone talks about advisory
• Where bookkeepers and accountants may be underestimating their value
• What Alex has learned about leadership, patience, listening, and energy
• What excites him most about the future of the profession
• How AI and automation may create more space for better client conversations
• How Reckon approaches the market differently from the bigger players
• Why affordability, support, and real relationships still matter
• The power of staying connected through industry communities and partnerships

Key insights:
• Great leadership is clear, honest, and grounded.
• People want to do business with people they genuinely trust.
• Support matters most when pressure is high.
• The future of the profession is not just about tools — it’s about confidence, connection, and better conversations.

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 Questions for the podcast? hello@sharonfrancisco.com

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👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

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Have a question for the podcast? Email hello@sharonfrancisco.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Today I'm joined by Alex Alexandro, general manager of Recon. Alex has been with Recon for over two decades. So he's seen the industry evolve in ways that very few people have. From the early days through to where we are now with technology, compliance, and the increasing demands for business owners. Alex, you're right in the middle of all the change and what business needs to understand right now. So that's why I'm so excited about this conversation. And what I'm really looking forward to in this conversation is going right beyond the tools and understanding what all of this actually means for running a better business and a more sustainable business. Alex, it's great to have you here.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Good afternoon, Sharon. How are you doing? Thank you so much for having me on the Sharon Francisco show. I'm super excited to be on. We've talked about it for a little while and it's finally here. I know.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

It's wonderful. I always say in each, I think in every one of my podcasts, I really love this subject. And I I really love this guest, but it's every time it's true. And I do. I've been so excited to have this conversation.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

You've had some good guests.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Yeah, exactly, including your good self. So, Alex, uh, for anyone who's not listening, uh, who hasn't uh heard of you before, would you like to let us know a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Absolutely, thank you so much. Uh, yeah, so um well done with the pronunciation of my name, Alex Alexandre. Thank you. I work for Recon and uh yeah, Recon is an Australian-owned business. We develop accounting and payroll software. We've been around for almost 40 years, and we're super proud of being Australian. I have been part of the business, as you said, for over two decades, and I was lucky enough to grow in a family, had a small business. So from a young age, I was exposed to what it takes to from a day to day, right? And I understand the the challenges. Um uh mind you, I wasn't responsible much other than stacking a shelf and a and a chill.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

As all good children in family businesses do.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Right. Oh my god, right? Cheap labor as well. Yes, exactly. But but the ins and outs of the small business really stayed with me. And um, it's kind of probably why I'm passionate about supporting small businesses now. And I've been at recon, as I mentioned, for probably 25 years. So, yes, I started really, really young, in case your listeners are wondering. Um, we've seen the full evolution. I've been lucky enough to see everything from desktop software to the cloud, and now what we're seeing with AI and automation. So it's super exciting industry to be part of. Um, initially, when I started, it was really the two key players, and obviously there are a few more players in the market, but it it the landscape has changed, but it's always remained super excited. And also the challenges for small businesses have remained the same. They've not changed, right? The the technology has changed, but the challenges for a small business owner and bookkeepers have remained the same. Uh ongoing.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Yeah, and um, I know I said before off air, you know, I'll probably go on some different tangents and I'm gonna I'm gonna do it straight away. I love I love the founder story, and you know, it's a true story of you know, when you start out in business and and the fact that you're an Australian company and the the founder story, are you able to just tell the founder story a little bit? Is that all right? Is that okay?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Yeah, definitely. So Recon was founded by a gentleman named Greg Wilkinson. Um, he's still involved in the business as part of our board. And the business started off uh with a credit card, a maxed-out credit card, I should say. And and it started off with not much at all in the bedroom of his, you know, one bedroom unit. Um and it was distributing a product at the time called Quicken. Um, so we were known as QuickBooks for the first uh maybe 15 years of our life. And we we really um what we take is a product from the states, we would develop it, localize it for Australian market, and then we would distribute it. And so uh it was really interesting to see that change. We we because we went through it ourselves as a small business, right? Starting off with one person and then growing, eventually distributing through retail. You'd go to Harvey Norman Office Works, you'd buy the box off the shelf. Yeah, um, and then thankfully the cloud came. Um so it's it's uh yeah, it was a really interesting story with Greg Wilkinson starting off, how he started off. And it was and obviously at time introducing a product to the market where there was a need for it for small business to have an affordable product. Yeah, then we've come up with our cloud product, which we'll talk more about anyway.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

It's a true entrepreneurial journey and to go from you know, like maxed out credit card. I love those sort of stories. But you know what's really sort of uh it's really been an obvious thing for me, because I don't know about you, but over the years, you know, when you when you when you're working for companies, you're you know, you're told about the culture and you know, you're coming into a great culture, and and then you get into the company and you go, oh, really? You tricked me. And then I don't know. Obviously, I I'm quite good friends with a few of you guys at Recon. And I remember having a conversation and uh hearing about the culture and how supportive and and family focused it is. And I'm like, yeah, I wonder if that's all similar to the stories I've had. And then I've been obviously to a few of your conferences, and I just feel like honestly, I'm coming home and and the warmth and the the leadership team to me, it there's a level of congruency that you not only hear, but you feel. And I just love that about the company. It just feels congruent in what you're saying behind the scenes, as well as so what you're what the conversations we're having over a wine is actually what's real, and and that's unique. That is unique for for in my experience in corporate. So congratulations. There's there's people doing good things in leadership there.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

So thank you so much for sharing that feedback. It's great to hear that, Sharon, because we we hear that a lot from our business partners, such as yourself, some of the associations we work with. I know that Amanda and Rob from the ICB absolutely love our culture. So we're we're working strategically closely with them. We have a uh network of 7,000 bookkeepers and accountants, and we have a conference that we run every couple of years, and they are seriously like family. Like we don't shake hands when we see each other, we hug them, we know stories about their children, and you know, their children come into their business, or um we're friends with them on Facebook. So there's some really good, strong relationships that we've built with our business partners um and our professional partners, uh, as mentioned, bookkeepers and accountants. And internally, we've got we do have an amazing culture, and it's something that we are really blessed with. Probably 35% of the staff here have been at Recon for over 10 years. Wow. Then we've got another maybe 30% over five years, and then the other uh, what is it, 35% have been are here under five years. But we used to have a 10-year club um that you'd go out to lunch, and now that club's too big. So we're not gonna shut down the business to take out and go out.

SPEAKER_02 7:17

Take out for lunch.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

Exactly. But we've been super lucky with our culture, and it's uh really led from the top from our CEO, Sam Aller, and his approach to supporting and giving people space to grow, which we've been really lucky with. Um, but we've also been lucky enough to win the great place to work with and placed in the top 20 of Australia's best workplaces in technology for 2025.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

And our overall employment engagement number, uh uh percent. Sorry, let me say that again. Uh, overall employee engagement score when we do a survey every six months is at 85%. Um, and the industry standard is at 69. So that's staff saying they are super happy to be here. We're really, really happy that you see it. You come into the office and we do a lot of social events, you know, but we celebrate birthdays, we uh have birthday cakes, we have you know food um that comes in, we we bring in a couple of times a month, and we come to the office three days a week, and the team really do um, you know, you we've got such a great working relationship with each other.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Fantastic. I love it. And I know Alex you said that's you know, you're very lucky. And you know, I heard many years ago the way that you spell luck is W-O-R-K. And and you know, it takes work to build a culture like that. It does, it's it's intentional and you can really feel it. And and that's uh such a it's such a big accolade for you guys and what sort of culture you built there.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

So thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

All right, we are on question two. All right, before titles and roles, Alex, who were you who were you before this career and how did you end up in uh Wreckham?

SPEAKER_00 9:01

I love uh this question. So look, yeah, I guess from uh uh an early age, as I mentioned, we had the family business. Um we we I should say we my family came out to Australia as refugees, and so that ethic of working hard and do what you need to do, because no one's gonna hand it to you. It's always been installed in me, right? And just figuring out as you go. I prior to wrecking, I worked in retail, in fashion retail, which was a lot of fun. Yeah, and that was a completely different type of learning. So you're dealing with people all day, you know, different personalities, different expectations, face-to-face, you're not hiding behind the computer. So you learn very quickly to read situations and you know, how do you adapt and and how do you keep things moving, you know, focusing on things like sales and making sure that you're supporting the team. So I never had this master plan of this is what I'm gonna do. I've never been like, oh, this is where I want to get to in the corporate world. So it it was more about following the opportunities that felt right for me. And you know, um, coming into Recon has been amazing because that's you know given me the opportunity to grow and learn along the way. And each each different role that I've had, you know, in and specifically more in sales. I for the big most part of my time at Reckon, it was looking after this distribution through retail and harvey knowing and all the retailers. Before we had things like AdWords, so I'm really showing my age now. Um but that gave me working, looking after those retailers really gave me the you know, people, skills, and resilience. And then, you know, just coming into this role kind of brought it all in together.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Yeah, nice. I love that. You you know, talking about those leadership roles. Um, I know a lot of uh people I talk to when I talk about, you know, growing their bookkeeping and accounting businesses and taking that leadership role and setting their businesses up so they can start leading it and working on it rather than just in it. And yeah, quite often what I hear is, I shouldn't I'm not a leader. And I think a lot of the times we believe that we're not leaders because we don't have the traditional sort of hat that we, I guess people sort of our age would say what was a leader back when we were working in corporate and things like that. But now I think the whole the whole um world has changed around the leadership role and and what that looks like. So was there a moment in your career where you realize leadership was something you genuinely loved and not just something that because a lot of the times in corporate you you know you're kind of put into roles just because you've been there a long time, but obviously it was strategic for you to step into the general manager's role. So how do you feel about leadership?

SPEAKER_00 11:50

A really good question. There was probably not a specific defining moment. Um, so it's kind of like something that was built over time for me. And uh for me it was just really about focusing on you know doing the the work and you know challenging the system and how do we do things better rather than just kind of ticking the box, doing nine to five, really putting the time in. Um, along the way, I think I was just super fortunate to have people around me who were able to, I guess, maybe see something in me that I didn't see. And, you know, starting with the founder, Greg Wilkinson, putting me in that position of looking after retail, and then a number of great mentors along the way, even now working along our CEO, Sam Alett, being able to be challenged and supported and to and pushed to think bigger and push slightly out of your comfort zone as well. So that kind of mentorship never really just keeps evolving, right? It doesn't stop. So I think where it really clicked for me was where I started seeing impact on individuals. So, you know, having a previous employee that worked me with me for years to send me a message on LinkedIn saying, you really helped shape my career and and you know, your mentoring really helped. And and so it's not just about the business outcomes, but personal growth and and watching someone step into that confidence and being able to give them that space to to grow. Um I'm it's I'm privileged to be able to replicate some of those same opportunities that I had, yeah, in in in leadership. So it's been an evolving kind of journey.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

But I think Alex, so I I mean, I remember the first time we met, the authenticity and the relationship. It was like we'd known each other forever.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

And that's that's right.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

It's it's it's really interesting, isn't it? When you come to the room, and I know, you know, you bring a strong presence of that authenticity into rooms.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

And it just feels it does, it makes you feel really comfortable and that you belong. And that's we all, you know, I I read a book one time and they said, if you could just put a sign on everyone's head that says, make me feel significant. And I I honestly went the first time I met you, I was like, Oh, you I could feel it. You made me feel like I belonged in the room, which is a that's leadership, right? So, how important do you think authenticity and leadership is today?

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Oh, well, firstly, that thank you. That's so kind of you to say, Sharon. I felt the same. Like as soon as I met you, I felt where have you been all my life? And like I've known you for so long.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 14:18

And like you too, like you bring you the your energy you have, you're talking to the person, you're focusing on them, you're not um you know, thinking of what to say next. You're not a million miles away. So I've been so lucky to get to meet you and why it takes so long, by the way. We need to figure that out. I think uh it's a great point. I think all authenticity is really non-negotiable. I think people are really good at picking up with someone's performing and and not really being real, and um, but also you know, you wouldn't want to be in a position in a role where you're performing. You want to, you know, uh sorry, as in not being authentic. Yeah, um so for me it's it's not about being perfect. I've had to embrace my quirkiness and and areas where I, you know, weaknesses and and and kind of go, well, you know, I'm just I think it's what consistency that matters more than perfection. Yeah, and I agree. I think stability and being genuine is what keeps it builds confidence over time, right? So it really comes down to trust and coming from a place that people can move with confidence and speed and and go, okay, I they I trust you, not gonna second guess you. So they don't sit in the background trying to interpret what you're saying. They can just focus on the work, get the support they need and and really move forward. I don't think you need to have to be polished as a leader, um, they just need someone who's gonna be clear, honest, and grounded. Um is really the key, the key thing. So yeah, authenticity cuts through the noise and just gives people the place they need to focus on and move forward.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Yeah, I love that. Clear, honest, and grounded. I love that. And it's a and that comes across, right? When you meet people, you get that feeling right from the from the outset. Which, you know, when you're in business like we are, I mean, that's that's the whole thing is to make people feel like that. And if we can get a good relationship happening and a good outcome for our business at the same time, hallelujah.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Absolutely. Well, you know, as you know, Sharon and many of your listeners would know, you want to do business with people that you like.

SPEAKER_01 16:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

So it's you know, having that connection, building rapport with people is not negotiable. I think you have to, um, you have to, but it's a good thing that, you know, people like you and I love people and we love building relationships and getting to meet new people, and we genuinely look for a connection with with you know whoever we're dealing with.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

Exactly. Yeah, which is so important. So uh, thanks, Alex. So, what do you think bookkeepers and accountants are silently struggling with right now that nobody's really talking about? The elephants in the room, so to speak.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Yeah, I had to think about this one for a bit. Um so it kind of went in my mind first I would went down the traditional things that everyone talks about. How do they, you know, change their business model to advisor and so on. But I think if you ask most people, they'll say things like compliance pressure, regulatory changes, the workload, and all that is really valid. But I think what's not being talked about with what bookkeepers and accountants are silently strongly with is the weight that they carry around all that. Yeah. Um they're sitting in the middle of everything. Think about the stress they were under, and I know that from a lot of the close partnerships we're we've got with our bookkeepers. You know, the stresses that they're under during COVID. Yeah. Um, you know, but even now they've got clients on one side who need that support and who are often SMEs are under pressure, as we know. Um they've got regulators on the other side with increasing expectations. You know, we've got uh Payday Super coming in on the 1st of July. And then layered on top of that is that technology, new platforms, new tools, constant change, AI, and so they're expected to stay on top of all these changes. And so what I see a lot of people quietly carrying that pressure without calling it out. And there's an assumption that this is just the job, but you know, then you add that other layer of tech fatigue, and there's so much noise in the market right now. So, yeah, I think I think the final part on top of that is also the emotional load. So they've got they've got relationships with their clients, right? They're not just dealing with numbers, they're dealing with business owners who are stressed. Um, and sometimes they're struggling, and they've got a lot of the time they absorb that, and we hear that a lot as well. So the goal for for I guess us isn't to add more noise, it's really about how do we reduce that pressure. And so we, you know, from our perspective, we try and do our part by running a lot of our partner programs. So uh we've got a national roadshow coming up on the 15th of April. We'd love to see any of your listeners, and that's going national, and it's really about you know how do they how do they get through with some of these things like Payday Super? What can what can we offer them, you know, such as you know, we talk, we do talk about our products which are the most affordable on the market. And we also have a wrecking conference, another area for them to be able to have the opportunity to connect with other partners.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Yeah, nice. And it's um, I feel like the thing that I hear consistently that not many people are talking about is this whole push on, which I'm guilty of, you know, like saying that advisory is the next stage, compliance is disappearing. I mean, we've been hearing this for years and years. And every year they just seem to be getting busier and busier and busier with compliance. It's like, well, when's this magical time going to happen when there's no compliance? Because we're getting more and more need for compliance and for it to get for them to get it right. So that's right. This quiet thing happening in the background. It's like, yeah, well, I need to work on my skills to make sure that when compliance does sort of start slowing down a little bit, have I built the skills around being able to have different sorts of conversations with with clients? So I think that's kind of for me the silent thing that I'm I'm feeling more so rather than hearing in the background. It's like, well, yeah, all that's important, Sharon, but I can't keep up with the compliance at the moment, let alone even trying to hone my skills on advisory.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

Absolutely. You're absolutely right. And we hear it a lot with the hours that bookkeepers and accountants are working. They're not doing nine or five, you know. Um, and it's it's a challenge. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Yeah, so and the hours that they're doing is like the bleeding into the nights and the weekends and things, and especially around those bounced deadlines and end of financial year, it's like it's a lot. So yeah, what's a lot? It'll be interesting to see how it unfolds as things start more and more in the AI world.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Exactly. And I mean, I guess you know, that's where with the compliance, that's where we try and come in and hopefully be able to um support them in whatever way they need. We we do run a lot of webinars, whether it's you know product driven or whether it's um soft skills, but and and run these events as well. Sometimes we just run, you know, the uh I mean and also the you know, the the our offering around our partner program, you get someone that you you can contact if you need to understand what is this new legislation that's coming up. You know, we want to be there to help and educate and take take some of that pressure away with it's not just about selling our cloud accounting and payroll software for us, it's really about being able to support bookkeepers and accountants and small business owners outside of that.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

I am to let my audience know that I I was so um tough when I saw at a conference, and I think there was a lady that had feedback, and I can't remember her name, and you'd actually gone ahead and done the you took the feedback and you applied it to the to the uh the platform. Platform based on what she wanted. I was like, wow, I don't think I've ever heard of that before.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Oh, that's great. Yeah. I mean, look, the good thing with being a smaller business is we can be nimble. There's a lot of things that we want on the roadmap and developed in the product, but we do listen to our bookkeepers and our accountants and clients because we want to be able to make sure that they're getting the most out of the package. It was designed for small businesses and bookkeepers to be able to operate as effective and intuitively as possible.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Yeah, no, I it's I was super impressed. It's like, I don't think I've ever seen that before. It's like, oh, okay, that's an idea. Well, just put that in there. Okay. Yeah, yeah. And she was in the room. She's like, yeah, that's it. Thanks. I was like, oh, how cool is that?

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Yeah. So where do you see people? I know for me working with bookkeepers and accountants, one of the main things that I like to focus on is helping them understand their value and aligning that value not only with how they communicate with their clients, but also around their pricing. So where do you see in our profession bookkeepers and accountants underestimating their value on what they uh contribute to the business community?

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Yeah, I think when I think of bookkeepers and accounts, it's where they underestimate their value. I think it's a bit more complex in than that. A lot of the cases, they hopefully they know the value they bring. Um they're obviously they know more than they're just processing transactions. They see the insights on what's happening in the business, they've got the finger on the pulse, right? I think the challenge might be that they might operate in a model that doesn't always make it easy to realize that value or even know the next step. They're busy, they're dealing with compliance, as we said, client expectations, day-to-day, and then advisory while everyone talks about it, requires time and space. What what how do you talk to clients, you know, about that and uh having those different types of conversations with their clients? So there's probably tension between what they could be doing and what the business model allows them to do because they're snows so snowed under.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Yeah, exactly. And I think that's where you know the the amazing things that you do with uh bookkeepers, it really comes into it and be able to help them to go. Here's a structure of how you would go about pricing and how you would go about this and that. So I think there's a big confidence piece there. It's not in the capability, it's really about how they position that value and how they charge for it. And they'll bring clients on for that journey. So yeah, I think uh it's less about people understanding, uh addressing themselves and more about navigating that system, you know, where they're trying to catch up with all the work.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

That's it, like catch up on their work and understand uh how to communicate more of the, I guess, those soft skills to be able to get the outcomes.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Exactly. It's the soft skills, right? And that's I think that's what you do really well and be able to support them with that. And I, you know, I've seen your talks. I know that what you offer is their instrumental, like step-by-step actions I can take to slowly gradually move towards that.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

And that's where a lot of the confidence comes from is that okay, well, what's the next step? And you know, what sort of what how can I what how can I say that particular thing and not sound too aggressive or whatever? So it's it's really knowing those soft skills to be able to help get the outcome. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

So leadership often looks very glamorous from the outside, Alex. What has leadership taught you about yourself that's actually surprised you?

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Um, yeah, what look I've put on, I think the first thing I think is probably it's not as glamorous as it looks from the outside. There's obviously you get long hours and lots of thought and um and planning. What surprised me most, I guess what uh what's taught me is it comes down to the simple things. So it's really about uh consistency and uh patience is probably a big one. So you realize pretty quick that not everyone moves the same way or at the same pace or process things the same way that you do. And so if you don't allow for that, you end up creating friction rather than progress. So you have to accommodate for that as well. Um, I think listening is super important, not just listening to wait to respond, but actually understanding where someone's coming from. Um, because a lot of the time the answers in the room, you just need to create space for it to come up. And then probably the last one is really energy. So what you say really matters, and you know, how you show up matters every day, not just physically. People take cues from you. So, you know, you could walk in, punch back, shoulders down, head down. Um, so especially when things are unclear and and you're under pressure, you need to remain calm and grounded because if you're not, that does carry through. People see that. So that's probably the biggest shifts for me. And so realizing that leadership wasn't about having all the answers. Um, it's really about creating the environment to work with your team and work with people to leverage up each other's strengths.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Yeah, nice. I love that. I remember hearing a saying one time, Alex, the person with the most emotional flexibility will steer the direction of the outcome of, you know, whether it's two people or whether you're yeah, isn't it great? The the person with the most emotional flexibility, meaning, you know, if you're in a heated situation, having that emotional sort of stability where you can hold the space for the person, not go, you know, if they're angry, not go angry, just let it let it be more even paced and having showing that emotional flexibility, which is, I guess, a really unique uh leadership skill to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Yeah, absolutely. I think you have to have a level head and be able to work with so many different types of people and you know, whether it be internal or external, uh, you're just not going to get anywhere if you have that calm demeanor. It's necessary.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Yeah, definitely. So this next one's a big one because our profession is heading in a really interesting direction. You know, we're we're I I I feel sorry for bookkeepers and accounts with all the change that's been thrown at them. And I know that we've all been sort of thrown a lot of change, but in specifically in in our industry with AI, with all the things that are happening in the world at the moment, let's talk about the positive with all of that. What excites exactly what excites you most about where it's going?

SPEAKER_00 28:51

Look, I think it's obviously it's for me, it's always been an exciting uh industry to be in, you know. Um, and that's what's kept me around for so long. I think what excites me most is so for a long time, the the big part of profession has been anchored in compliance, and we talked about that, and I think that's always going to be there getting things right, meeting the obligations, making sure things are accurate and on time. That's obviously critical and that doesn't go away. Um but we're what we're starting to see now is with you know automation and AI is uh a gradual removal of a lot of that manual effort, and that hopefully creates some space, um, space for you know better conversation and space to actually sit back and look at what are the numbers telling you, not just producing them. I think it gets really interesting because we start the value starts to become not what happened to what should we do next. And that changes the dynamic between the you know advisors and their clients and it becomes less transactional and more of a partnership. And I I think the other thing that excites me is also the profession gains more it is gaining more influence. I think you know you when you're close to decision making and you're supporting it, you're not just supporting a business, you're actually shaping it. Um and I I think I don't think this is gonna happen overnight, but us we're still in transition understanding what does AI mean for all of us. Um, we hear so many conversations now, and and I'm sure you've been to a thousand talks about AI already, as as I have. Um but it's a transition period, and not everyone you know moves at the same pace, but the direction is very clear. I think it's it's gonna be removing that manual effort behind the state.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Yeah, I actually I actually think that it's going to be an opportunity, and I could be naive with this, but it's going to be an opportunity to shape the kind of world that we want to be in. So if we want to do more sort of advisory sort of work where we're helping our clients sort of get better outcomes and things like that, we've got time to learn the skills on how to have those conversations in a way that they find meaningful and that you're able to help. But you know, that sort of skill doesn't happen overnight. So we do have time, and I always say this to my clients, we've got time to learn all this. It doesn't have to happen overnight. But we then get to shape, I believe, and again, maybe naively, I believe that we'll get to choose the kind of path that we get to go down. And there'll be a bunch of different paths we can actually choose to go down with this with the base skill of understanding what makes businesses tick and understanding their numbers and things like that. I don't think it'll be just like I am a compliance bookkeeper or I am an advisor. I think there'll be lots of different opportunities for different paths to go down, depending on what your interest level is.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

Yeah, absolutely. I agree. Because you're removing that that requirement of doing things manually when you've got that automation and AI built in. So that is truly exciting. And I think we'll see um that transformation happen very quickly.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Yes, yeah, definitely. Definitely. All right, so let's talk about the elephant in the room. We love talking about the elephant in the room.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Zero and water while we do this.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

Zero and Mile are obviously huge players in our world. How does Recon approach competing in that environment? And what does Recon deliberately choose to do differently to the big players?

SPEAKER_00 32:16

If that's okay, that's a great question. Good, good. Sorry, beg your pardon.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

If that's if that's okay for me to ask.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Yeah, of course it is. Yeah, absolutely. Uh yeah, look, Sharon, they're big players, um, and they've both done a lot to move the industry forward. You know, they're they're obviously really successful, and you know, Zero's done a great job in changing the landscape, you know, bringing things from desktop to the cloud. Um, we've always taken our own approach at Reckon, and we've always been very clear on who we are. We're an Australian business building for Australian and New Zealand businesses, and we really understand the local environment, the regulations, the day-to-day reality of SMEs here in Australia and New Zealand. And that's been core to how we've always operated. And we've been quite deliberate in making sure that we are the most affordable in the market, that we've got the most affordable cloud accounting package, which is Brecken One. Would love for your listeners to jump on our site and have a look at that. Whether it's an accounting package or a payroll package thereafter, you'll see that we are the most affordable in the market. Because we want to provide that accessibility to our small business customers. So small businesses don't have unlimited time or budget. So what we've built has to be practical, um usable, and affordable. And then the big one for us is we touched on earlier, it's about relationships and support. So we don't believe you just buy the product and then we'll let you figure it out. So we're there if you need help, you get a every client, every customer will get an account manager. And if you need support, whether that's we we offer it through our community, 24-7 support through the community. Whether you want to pick up the phone and speak to a human, we offer that as well. And it's that's very popular. So even though we offer chat, we offer our community, we offer other ways that you can get in contact. Customers love calling us, and a lot of the time they uh actually will. I I still talk to someone from you know that I used to speak to on the phone from 20 years ago. So I love that. You know, how still sends three photos uh every now and then of uh of uh her family as they're growing. Um, but yeah, for us it's you know, and and I should say, you know, our phone support is less than 20 second wait of wait time. So is that right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

How interesting. What company could say that? What company could say that in Australia? We just sat online. We just sat online. We've got um my friends that I run with said to me the other day, Sharon, are you ringing your private health company to see if they can give you uh discount? I said, What do you mean? They said we do it every year. You get like one or two months off every year. I said, So I just rang and I was on hold for a long time and I got six weeks off. And my husband just did the same thing, but he was on hold for an hour just now this morning, and he's got um uh a discount as well. So there's there's the hot tip, but both of those little exercises obviously took a long time. Whereas what is how long was your wait time?

SPEAKER_00 35:20

Less than 20 seconds.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

Less than 20 seconds, that's so cool. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

We we can't even uh put a message on hold for for for customers to listen to because uh we your your call's gonna get uh picked up straight away. And we we do have a dedicated bookkeeper and accountant support team as well. So they will, you know, if there's a direct line to them. Of course. You've got it all. Well, yeah, absolutely. It's super important, right? To support our bookkeepers and accountants. It's just one of the other ways that we want to make sure we're taking the pressure off as well. Uh, and often we get messages on Facebook, you know, after hours or whatever, we'll organize for to you know to try and support those as pressures as possible.

SPEAKER_01 36:04

Yeah, I love it. And do you know what I think too, Alice? As we kind of you know, evolve and grow within our industry, that's I mean, I'm 56. I like to speak with a human. I like to speak with somebody to get that kind of feedback. And I feel like somebody's heard me. When I'm chatting on a bot, I think it's like, really? Is this gonna happen? Is this gonna actually be actioned? Or it feels a bit sort of weird. And I know the young people are like, yeah, you just do it like that. And they've got no problem for it. But as our as our population ages, we we're very relevant players in the game who we want that communication. And and your company is obviously providing that in a real real sense to be able to pick up the phone, speak with the somebody within 20 seconds, and an accountant bookkeeper there, give feedback for your platform. And so I I feel like that's really for me. That's I want I want that for every company. That's a fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

It's important. I'm with you. I want to be able to pick up the phone. I was on um a chat the other day looking, you know, talking to a business, and I had to say, Are you a chat bot or you're a good person? Right? Yeah, I know. Yeah, but I I think it you know matters more than people think, right? Especially when something goes wrong and you're under pressure and you want to know that there's a person there who can who can help you, and that's what we bring. And I think for us, it's not trying to be in answer to your question, it's not trying to be the loudest in the market, it's trying to be the most reliable and most accessible. So we want to show up for our partners and our clients where it really counts, not just about selling selling them the package. So um, for us, yeah, it's really about offering something that's affordable, the most affordable in the market, something that's feature rich, and also being there to support them, whether it be through training or whether it be on boarding or whether it be through our support team.

SPEAKER_01 37:51

Yeah, I love it. Wow, that's awesome. All right, for our big last one, uh, we've got two more questions, but uh, this is our second last one. If you could sit across from every bookkeeper and accountant in Australia and give them one piece of honest advice based on your 20 plus years of experience in our industry, what would that one piece of advice be, Alex?

SPEAKER_00 38:12

Oh, it's a good question. These are all good questions. I almost don't want to end. Um I love it. Sorry, sorry, listen, this is gonna be a two-hour podcast. No, it's all good. We're loving it. I'd say um the advice I'd give is probably staying connected. So whether it's through organizations such as the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers or Joanning Reckons Professional Partner Program, which is free and having that network around you that matters more than people realize, I think, especially when you're going, you've got all these pressures on and you there's you know changes in legislation. Um, it gives you perspective, it gives you support, it helps see what's possible beyond your own day-to-day, learning off others, also sharing the same challenges, right? Um, and that's where again people like you, Sharon, come into it and that the work you do with bookkeepers plays a big role in giving people the confidence to make those changes in ways that are realistic and not just you know a big you know pie in the sky dream. Um I don't know if that's a saying, but because once you start taking control of your time and how you work, everything else starts to open up. And I think by being able to work by being connected, you're able to get that support, whether it's learning how others are doing it or going, hey, I'm not the only one in this. Um yeah, our partner program, free to join, get in contact with us.

SPEAKER_01 39:41

Yeah, that's nice. So you uh though your partner program offers. Could you want to just tell a little bit more about that with the partner program?

SPEAKER_00 39:47

Yeah, absolutely. So we uh offer our bookkeepers and accountants the opportunity to be able to earn commission. Yeah, you have the opportunity to be part of our webinars, uh, or come to be invited to our conferences. Our roadshow, for instance, that's coming up as well. Um, I think I might mention that starts in in mid-April. Um, so there's a and also having a an account manager, a customer success manager who can support you. And uh so I think that's yeah, definitely definitely beneficial and be able to support you navigate some of these changes that are coming up as well and give you and help you with what's the best product for your clients.

SPEAKER_01 40:28

Yeah, that's really unique in our industry as well. As I said, uh in a lot of businesses, we don't get that like the allocated person to talk to, and being sort of getting answers under 20 seconds is pretty pretty amazing. So being able to connect with somebody, a real human in under 20 seconds is amazing. So, Alex, this has been a wonderful conversation. I would love to uh hear from you where people can find out more about you and connect with you.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Yeah, I'd loved our conversation. And like I said, I don't want it to end. Uh the best place. I'm more than happy for people to reach out to me via my email. Um, I'm on LinkedIn, but you know, happy for people to get in contact with me at alex.alexandru at reckon.com at reckon.com.

SPEAKER_01 41:14

We'll put it in the show notes as well, guys.

SPEAKER_00 41:16

So oh, fantastic, great. Or please come along to some of the events that we're running across the year. You know, we're accessible. As I mentioned, it's important for us to make a point of of showing up in different ways. We're not just online, we're in person as well. And relationship is is what we thrive on uh and what I love as well. Uh, nothing like a face-to-face catch-up. Yeah, uh, otherwise we wouldn't meet amazing people such as yourself. Exactly. Um, so if people generally want to reach out, please reach out to me. We'd love to hear from you and and share what you're seeing in your world. I'm always open to that.

SPEAKER_01 41:50

Yeah, I love it, Alex. It's uh I think of Alex and I think of fun. And whenever I see you, I think, yeah, this is gonna be fun. And today's conversation has been no exception to that. So some of the words that have come through and things that I've gleaned from today is I love the clear, honest, and grounded leadership, Alex, which is really cool. Consistently listening to what people need. And then obviously the energy that people bring. Also, the other words, authenticity, affordable support, all of those things. It's been consistent through our whole conversation, which has been absolutely magical. And can I say unique? It's this is unique now. It's what we kind of expected years ago. Now it's kind of unique, this real human warmth and connection. And uh certainly Recon and certainly you as a general manager of Recon really bring that to the front. And it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on the Sharon Francisco show, Alex. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00 42:47

Thank you so much for having me on the show. I've loved it. I've really enjoyed our conversation and the work that you're doing in this space to make a genuine difference. I think you know, these important conversations are super important to have and it gives space to what's actually really happening out there, right? Not just on the service level. So yeah, thank you for that. And I think, you know, that we're at at a defining moment in the profession. So, you know, our bookkeepers and accountants play such a critical role uh in in our overall economy. The small businesses are the backbone of the economy, and but the people supporting them are really critical to that. Um, and there's a lot of change, and with that comes a lot of opportunity. So for us at Recon, you know, we're super proud to be part of that journey and what work alongside our bookkeepers and accountants. And whether that's through tools like Recon One or the support that we, you know, we wrap around that, it's really about making things simpler and more accessible for Australian SMEs and and their advisors. So yeah, thank you very much for having me on the show. It's been amazing.

SPEAKER_01 43:47

Thank you, Alex. It's been fun. And I'm sure we'll be getting back together again on the San Francisco show at some point.

SPEAKER_00 43:53

I hope so. I'm looking forward to it. I'm open to it anytime.

SPEAKER_01 43:58

That'd be awesome. All right. Well Thank you very much and we'll talk soon.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

Thank you to you and your listeners. Bye-bye.