What’s our purpose?
Our purpose is to use our knowledge in our area of expertise to provide solutions to businesses.
Work context
According to the ACCA, the principal forces driving change in the twenties are digitization, regulation, and stakeholder expectation. Stakeholders expect more business oriented and forward-looking information.
At SCG, we accept these forces bring opportunities and pose significant threats, so we must respond. We must look beyond the numbers and make useful business contributions.
Your role in how we get work
An accounting firm grows by getting better-paying clients and providing new service. With over 250 accounting firms providing similar services, to stand a chance of doing interesting work and growing, we must differentiate the firm and build a powerful brand.
To build a powerful brand, we must consistently deliver meaningful results, build strong relations with our clients, and engage in marketing activities.
The people on assignments hold the keys to our reputation. The quality of their performance and their relationship with the clients affects both fees and opportunities for additional work.
Growth is important. A growing firm has opportunities for promotion and better remunerations. So, the growth of the firm concerns us all, not just the partners.
Life in the firm
Everything we do to build the firm is done by one of us. It is a place of proactive action. We are not afraid to start something imperfectly and then continuously improve. You should be ready and open to learning digital tools, as that is an essential competency.
There is constant pressure to learn, develop processes, and deliver work to clients. We also must make space to develop new skills and products. Our staff don’t just crunch numbers, they do other things such as contribute to marketing, researching issues, take part in various business meetings.
Let’s not mince words—training to be an accountant whilst working is tough. It takes determination and purpose.
Attributes of Success
The attributes people who succeed here are:
- They take responsibility
- Love to learn and apply concepts
- Are curious, ask questions and form opinions
- Are open to learn digital tools
- Persevere in the face of difficulty
- Aspire to high standards
Some Profiles
Data analytics—we didn’t have data analytic capabilities three (3) years ago. Now we do, thanks to James. James invested the time to learn the various tools, develop processes and deployed CaseWare Idea and MindBridge in the firm. Now data is an important input in our audits, and the data team has done some interesting work for the tax team. He is working to creating awareness of data and its use in the firm.
Pension audit—we’ve formed a team to prepare the firm to go into pension audits. William has been working on developing an understanding of the industry, its risks and supporting materials for doing a pension audit.
GRA platform—GRA introduced the Gov.gh without preparing the public and directed its use for filing and making payments. A small team from payroll learned to use the platform and trained others in the firm to use the tool.
Marketing—we transferred Amos, who is originally an accountant, to help us with marketing. He had no prior marketing knowledge and is on the journey of developing marketing skills and supporting our marketing effort. We have an active marketing effort and are improving our understanding of digital marketing.
All these people confront challenges and build capabilities to solve the problem. They start imperfectly and continue to improve.
For us, it is about knowledge, perseverance, caring about results and adaptation, not certificates. We take pride in our work.
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