It’s that time of year again when thousands of accountants and finance professionals make the journey to ExCeL London for the biggest accounting exhibition in the UK.
There are so many great things to see and hear at Accountex and it only lasts for two days – which is not much time at all! To help you make the most of this special 48 hours, we’ve created a guide to Accountex including what to do before you go, what to bring with you, and a select list of who we’re really excited to visit throughout the two days.
Before you go – plan your day
It can be tempting to wander around the hallway agog at all the accounting wonders on display within the four walls of the exhibition centre. But the best way to approach Accountex is to think about what you want to achieve before you get there.
Try thinking about the answers to the following questions to get you started.
- Are you looking for any particular service/product?
- Are you looking for information or advice on a particular problem you’re having?
- Is there anyone in a particular field that are you are keen to meet?
Once you’ve answered these questions, you can go to the exhibitor list and the attendee list to have a look at the companies and people that match your requirements. For example, if you’re looking for a product that could save you time on your business expense woes, then you could speak to Receipt Bank.
It’s worth making a list of all the companies and people you’d be interested in speaking to (as well as their stand numbers – ours is 1170 to start you off…), so that you’ve got this list as a reference for when you get there.
You don’t need to militantly schedule your day. It’s busy at Accountex and it can take longer than you anticipate to get around different stands, so don’t try to cram too much in. However, having an outline of what you’d like to achieve can help you to make sure you leave with more than just a free t-shirt.
Before you go – what to bring
Once you get to any exhibition, there will always be something that you wish you had brought with you. Our go to checklist is as follows:
- A phone charger
- Bottled water
- Notebook and pen
- Plenty of 4G/a WiFi password
- Your best networking chat!
- Comfortable shoes
- A friend/colleague (ideally someone who is both)
Whilst you’re there – our recommended talk timetable
With so many incredible speakers – how are you supposed to decide where you want to spend your time? It’s impossible to go to everything. Never fear – follow our schedule and you can’t go too far wrong!
Day 1: Wednesday 23rd May
11.00-11.45am – A cloud lifestyle
Nicola Anderson, GoCardless
How To Theatre
12.00-12.45pm – Artificial intelligence and machine learning: what is it and what does it mean for accountants?
Caroline Plumb, Fluidly
Future & Development Theatre
1.00-1.45pm – How to afford a thoroughly disgraceful retirement
Justin Urquhart Stewart, Seven Investment Management
Main Theatre Keynote A
3.00-3.45pm – Putting bookkeeping at heart of growing your practice
Gary Carter – Institute of Certified Bookkeepers
Business & Finance Theatre
4.00-4.45pm – Changing the face of the accounting practice – panel discussion
Glen Collins – Head of Technical Advisory, ACCA
Clive Webb – Head of Business Management, Professional Insights, ACCA
Sharon Pocock – Founder, Kinder Pocock
Will Farnell – Founder, Farnell Clarke
Main Theatre Keynote A
Day 2: Thursday 24th May
10.15-10.45am – Beyond cloud: the rise of the connected advisor
Damon Anderson, Xero
Main Theatre Keynote A
11.00-11.45am – How access to data is transforming the accounting industry
Damien Greathead, Receipt Bank
Future & Development Theatre
3.00-3.45 The future is now: the role of real-time in advisory
Caroline Plumb, Fluidly
Heather Townsend, The Accountant Millionaire’s Club
Paul Bulpitt, Xero
Steven Kühn, Baldwins Accountants
You can see the full list of speakers here
Whilst you’re there – Stands to visit
Although there is a lot to be said for free notebooks (incidentally, come and check out ours, stand 1170), there is more to visiting an exhibition that collecting free stuff.
We want everyone to be hanging around us, all the time obviously (although we do only have so many notebooks), but we suppose you’d better visit some other people too…
- ACCA – Stand 110
Our friends at the ACCA, as well as being one of the biggest global accountancy bodies, are always brimming with information about the future of accountancy.
- AccountingWEB – Stand 670
The go to place for a wealth of accounting news, analysis and practical advice about accounting.
- Receipt Bank – Stand 660
Receipt Bank have built a tool that extracts all the important data from invoices, and speeds along your invoice payment process.
Whilst you’re there – visit Fluidly!
We’re really excited to be exhibiting at Accountex – we can’t wait to chat to you all about our auto-magical cashflow forecasting. We’ll be at stand 1170.
You’ll be able to see live videos of the product on the day, and you’ll be able to schedule a personal live demo with one of the team for afterwards, where we will use your very own data set.
As well as visiting our stand, you can check out Caroline’s speaking appointments. She will be talking about the future of accountancy and artificial intelligence.
