Guides for accountancy firm owners.
Practical, no-jargon answers on running a better firm — fractional COOs, operating discipline, founder dependency, SOPs and pricing. Written by operator Andy Jackson.
What is a fractional COO?
The role explained for accountancy firm owners: what a fractional COO does, why practices use one, and how it differs from a consultant, coach or practice manager.
Read guide →Fractional COO vs full-time COO vs practice manager
Three ways to add operational leadership to your firm — and how to tell which one you actually need right now.
Read guide →7 signs your firm has outgrown the way it operates
Growth hides operational cracks until it doesn’t. Here are the signals that your firm’s systems have fallen behind its size.
Read guide →How to make your firm less founder-dependent
A firm that can’t run without its owner is worth less and harder to enjoy. Here’s how to change that, in order.
Read guide →How much does a fractional COO cost?
A straight answer on pricing — what you’d expect to pay, what changes it, and why it’s still a fraction of a full-time hire.
Read guide →How to build SOPs in an accountancy practice
SOPs are how a firm stops depending on people’s memories. Here’s how to build ones your team will actually follow.
Read guide →What does a COO do in an accountancy firm?
The COO role, translated for a professional-services firm: what they own, what they don’t, and why it matters.
Read guide →How to increase capacity without hiring
Before you post another job ad, look at how much capacity is trapped in the way the firm currently works.
Read guide →How to move from compliance to advisory
Everyone talks about advisory. Far fewer firms actually deliver it well. Here’s the operational reason — and the fix.
Read guide →Why busy firms aren’t always profitable
Being busy feels like success. But activity and profit are different things, and the gap between them is almost always operational.
Read guide →How to run an operating review
The single most useful habit for a growing firm: a regular, honest look at how it’s really running.
Read guide →Common workflow bottlenecks (and how to fix them)
Most lost capacity isn’t about how hard people work — it’s about where work gets stuck.
Read guide →How to succession-proof your firm
The best time to make your firm sellable is long before you want to sell it.
Read guide →Fractional COO vs management consultant
Both bring outside expertise. Only one stays to make sure it actually happens.
Read guide →Using AI in your firm’s operations
AI is everywhere in accountancy marketing. The firms getting value are quietly wiring it into how they actually work.
Read guide →How to price advisory services
Most firms underprice advisory because they price it like compliance. Here’s a more deliberate approach.
Read guide →Is a fractional COO worth it for an accountancy firm?
A straight look at whether the retainer earns its keep — what a fractional COO actually returns to a founder-led firm, how to work out the payback, and the firms it doesn’t suit.
Read guide →Can I trust a COO who also owns accountancy firms?
The conflict-of-interest question, answered head-on: how confidentiality, information barriers and a no-poaching commitment protect you — and why someone who runs firms of their own sees the problem more clearly than a generic consultant.
Read guide →How to build a management layer in your accountancy firm
The point at which a founder-led firm stops scaling is usually the owner’s decision queue. Here is how to move those decisions one level down — and what it costs to do it properly.
Read guide →What is operating discipline?
Every firm knows what good looks like. Operating discipline is the far harder business of doing it in the eleventh week, in February, when everyone is busy.
Read guide →Interim COO vs fractional COO
Both put a senior operator into your firm without a permanent hire. They solve different problems, cost very different amounts, and end in very different ways.
Read guide →How to choose practice-management software
Most firms choose on the demo and the per-user price. Those are the two least useful pieces of information in the decision.
Read guide →How to onboard clients consistently
Every firm has an onboarding process. Most firms have one per person, held in their heads, and only discover the gaps when something goes wrong at the year end.
Read guide →KPIs every accountancy firm should track
Most firms measure fees, headcount and the bank balance. All three are true, all three are history, and none of them tells you what is about to go wrong.
Read guide →How to delegate effectively as a firm owner
Most firm owners have been told to delegate more. Very few have been told what to hand over first, how much authority to attach to it, or what to do when it lands back on their desk a fortnight later.
Read guide →Prefer to just talk it through?
A confidential, no-obligation call to understand your firm, where it’s stuck, and whether Optivo is the right fit. If it’s not, I’ll tell you.