Paul Kennedy
O’Byrne & Kennedy
Goffs Oak, UK
P: +44 1707 876 876
M: +44 7973 540 274
Paul Kennedy and Paul O’Byrne have experienced just about every practice management course put on in the UK and are graduates of the Accountants Boot Camp, and many Ron Baker seminars.In their two-partner, ten-person practice in just outside London, England, they have implemented many of the lessons Ron Baker teaches and can explain what they have adapted, abandoned and benefited from. They are candid about the traumas faced in abandoning timesheets and introducing fixed price agreements for all clients – and why they are so glad they did!Since meeting Ron Baker in March 2000, Paul and Paul have challenged and argued with Ron’s views until they found it easier to go along with (most of) it. Since then they have preached – and practiced what they preached – the lessons in The Professional’s Guide to Value Pricing and The Firm of the Future. They come with first-hand experience and examples of how the message can be explained in a practice setting and the effects it has within the firm, to clients and prospects, and to fellow professionals. They have a core competency in sacking clients, having disposed of 80% of their clients between 1997 and 1999. Their story of this and trashing timesheets are included in two of Ron’s books for the ACCA and in this website in the Trailblazers case studies.Their firm now has one-third of its growing income from compliance work, and negative lock-up (work in progress and debtors). Both partners’ work in the firm is almost entirely consulting, advising, coaching, training and speaking. They have authored eight courses on subjects ranging from practical personal finance to mind mapping.Taking the lesson of intellectual capital, in 2003 they created the “GOBS MBA” course. This is a year-long ten three-hour session course of modules that O’Byrne and Kennedy clients (owner-managers of businesses) should have been taught if only they’d been taught it.Paul Kennedy, ACA is a British Chartered Accountant and an essayist. He wrote the Essay on timesheets in Value Pricing 6th edition beginning “I write as reformed sinner…”A proud father of two and still a keen soccer player, Paul is married to a fitness instructor and won’t have that slice of cake, thank you. He has enjoyed traveling to New York and New Zealand as well as old Australia speaking on VeraSage matters and has initiated course on accountant to consultant as well as designing the VeraTrak software for a professional firm to operate in a timesheet-free zone.
