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This pipeline walk-through with Taxopedia will give you ideas and food for thought.
Pipeline Walk Through with Taxopedia
A general word about pipeline walk-throughs. Nobody has an ideal set-up. There are always things that could be done better. But we learn a lot by walking each other through our pipelines from the first lead to the very end.
We hear of apps we might not have heard about before. And how others use them. We share common problems. And how others have solved them. And most importantly it makes us reflect on our own pipelines.
So with this introduction, we urge you to listen to this pipeline walk-through with David Fitzgerald of Taxopedia and Factor 1 in Melbourne.
Here is what we learned but please listen in as David explains all this much better than we ever could.
To listen while you drive, walk or work, just access the episode through a free podcast app on your mobile phone.
Pipeline Walk Through with Taxopedia
We really won’t do this interview justice. Here are just some very minor points. So please listen in to get all the insights that Taxopedia shares with you.
At some stage in this episode, we briefly talk about Taxopedia’s team structure. And that was really just briefly. There is a lot more that we cover in the interview. But here are some excerpts from the interview about the ideal team structure.
Ideal Team Structure
When you think back to episode 200 Ed Chan of Chan & Naylor and Wize Mentoring where Ed Chan outlines the so-called ‘Ideal Team Structure’. And of course, that is just a model, a theory, and you can structure a team in many different ways, but Ed Chan’s model is very helpful.
Team of Seven
The ideal team structure consists of seven team members, five grinders, two minders and then the finder above this.
Five Grinders
You have five grinders who do the actual work – the ‘production work’ – and they can be based in Australia or offshore, but are often based overseas. One of these five grinders is the production manager who keeps the production on track and manages who does what and so on.
Two Minders
Then you have the client manager assisted by an assistant client manager, and these two manage the communication with the client. They are the ones based in Australia, who speak with the client, meet with the client, address any issues and are the central point of contact.
And this team of seven – five grinders plus the client manager and their assistant – these seven manage a fee volume of AUD 1m. With inflation that is probably AUD 1.1m or AUD 1.2m now, but for let’s stick to AUD 1m because that is going to work just nicely with our math when we talk about David’s structure.
One Finder
Above the various teams that each manage AUD 1m of fees, you have the partner. So for a fee revenue of AUD 3m, you would have 3 teams. And for AUD 5m, you have 5 teams. From memory, Ed Chan suggested up to 5 teams per partner, so $5m of revenue per partner.
Taxopedia’s Team
Taxopedia has a feel volume of AUD 4.2m. So they need 5 teams. And that would give them the free capacity for another AUD 800k of fees.
David and Terry have 46 staff, but 2 of these are marketing, 1 HR and 1 IT. So they have 42 accounting staff. And that’s exactly five teams. 5 teams times 7 staff in each team is 42.
So David and Terry are spot on with their team size, giving them a capacity for another $800k of revenue.
So this was just a very short excerpt of one point we discuss. But there is a lot more, so please listen in.
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Disclaimer: Tax Talks does not provide financial or tax advice. All information on Tax Talks is of a general nature only and might no longer be up to date or correct. You should seek professional accredited tax and financial advice when considering whether the information is suitable to your or your client’s circumstances.
Last Updated on 04 April 2023
Tax Talks spoke to David Fitzgerald - Managing Director at Factor 1 Accountants & Advisers - for more details.
