Last Friday, my managers replaced me for an important AGM meeting at the last minute. This made me think about the different skills needed for big meetings like AGMs, compared to regular audit and tax work.

I asked why being at an AGM is different to my managers.

The answer was that understanding business, not just numbers, is key in these meetings. Business sense means knowing about profits, losses, risks, and planning for the future.

This situation made me wonder why accountants, who are really good with numbers and rules, might not always think about the bigger business picture.

We’re trained to focus on details but not always on making big business decisions.

So, I started thinking of ways to help my management team get better at understanding the whole business, not just the accounting part.