“I’m Stu, and I’m not an accountant. Actually, I’m something far worse. I was once your nightmare client.”
Right from the start, Stu McEwan isn’t afraid to call out the elephant in the room. He isn’t standing on stage pretending to understand your world; he openly admits he was once part of the problem. A business owner too busy to care about compliance, taxes, or bookkeeping. And now? He’s dedicated his career to fixing exactly those problems.
As a product manager at FreeAgent, Stu spends his days immersed in the challenges faced by accountants and bookkeepers. But what sets him apart isn’t just his tech savviness. It’s empathy, born from having lived both sides of the story.
Change Hurts—Until it Doesn’t
When Stu speaks about Making Tax Digital (MTD), he knows your first instinct might be dread. More admin, more client education, more tech, change upon change. Stu acknowledges it openly: “Change is hard. Accountants and bookkeepers thrive on balance and order. But resisting this change could be far more painful.”
Instead, Stu suggests a radical idea: what if this new wave of change isn’t a burden but an opportunity? What if it’s your chance to redefine relationships, streamline your business, and reclaim time?
Five Challenges, Unlimited Opportunities
Stu identifies five challenges with MTD IT. Adapting to new tech, educating clients, admin overload, cost management, and constantly evolving legislation. Each of these could overwhelm any practice. Yet, he calmly lays out how to turn each into a strategic win:
- Embrace training and invest in your team: Skilled teams don’t just cope, they excel.
- Choose technology thoughtfully: The right tools transform complexity into simplicity.
- Work with vendors as partners: Use their insights, support, and resources.
- Speak your client’s language: Turn jargon into clear, actionable advice.
- Automate, automate, automate: Focus your energy on relationships, not tasks.
Quarterly Connections and Human Touch
Stu’s advice for turning MTD quarterly updates into moments of value goes beyond ticking boxes. “Don’t just submit the data, use this as a reason to talk with clients.” he urges. It’s a built-in excuse to deliver advice, provide clarity, and reinforce your role as a trusted advisor.
He speaks from personal experience as that former client who rarely listened to his accountant, until he realised it wasn’t just about categorising bank transactions. It was about real-world impact on his business.
Software: Revisit Your Assumptions
Stu isn’t here to sell one software over another. Instead, he challenges you to revisit what you think you know about software. “When was the last time you explored what other platforms offer?” he asks. Technology evolves faster than our perceptions. Revisit, reassess, re-choose.
Future-Proofing Your Practice
For Stu, MTD isn’t just about compliance, it’s about making sure your practice thrives tomorrow. As younger, digital-first entrepreneurs enter the market, they’re looking for accounting practices that match their pace and embrace technology as they do.
The Mettle-FreeAgent Revolution
Finally, Stu shares excitement around a groundbreaking partnership between FreeAgent and NatWest‘s challenger bank, Mettle. Imagine automatic tax savings, seamless accounting integrations, and instant reconciliation all built into your banking app. “If I had this as a small business owner,” Stu says earnestly, “it would have genuinely changed my life.”
Stu McEwan reminds us that behind every challenge lies an opportunity, one that transforms your practice, your relationships, and your future.
Watch Stu McEwan’s full talk here:
