Author: Heather Townsend, founder of The Accountants’ Growth Club

Publish Date: 24th May 2025

Your mindset for your accounting firm’s growth is the biggest challenge to growing your firm. Here’s how to overcome the psychological barriers holding you back.

Here was my experience with my inner critic

We’d just finished an all-team meeting. Everyone popped up on Google Meet, so many faces that we actually ran out of slots on the screen. I sat there and just thought, “whoa, I’ve got a little, big train set here”. For the rest of the day, I was buoyant. The practice was growing nicely, and it all felt good.

And then, later that evening, the small voice of doubt set in. It’s corrosive, isn’t it?. One minute you feel on top of the world. The next, you’re questioning if you have what it takes.

Imposter syndrome for accountants is real

This feeling is a classic case of imposter syndrome for accountants. If this sounds familiar, I want you to know you’re not alone. I’ve been battling my inner critic ever since I became a firm owner over 15 years ago. It has become particularly intense in the last five years as I’ve grown the firm and constantly pushed myself out of my comfort zone.

For me, the delights of perimenopause and some nutritional deficiencies have made anxiety my constant companion. That anxiety amplifies the self-doubt. It feels like someone has put petrol on the fire that can be my mental state.

The small voice of doubt is normal

That voice is a normal part of the journey to grow and scale your firm. But it’s an uncomfortable voice, and it has caused untold damage to my goal of growing my firm. We often try to run away from or silence this voice. But meditation and mindfulness will only go so far when you are trying to have the right mindset to grow your accounting firm.

The goal isn’t to silence it forever. Instead, you need to understand where it comes from and learn how to manage it. In this article, I’m going to share my battle scars. I’ll also share my top tips on how you can make that small voice of doubt your friend.

Read: How to have the right mindset for growth (when you can see so many businesses struggling)

This article was based on session “beating the inner voice of doubt” from our Amplify Your Growth Event in 2022. Here is the full recording

Why Overcoming Growing Pains in a Practice is So Hard

Your inner critic thrives on the challenges of growing an accounting firm. It’s hard work, and the ground is constantly shifting underneath you.

Your role is always changing

For a start, your role is always changing. You likely started your firm because you were a great accountant. But as the practice grows, you get pulled away from the technical work. You also have to deal with constant changes to tax rules and AML regulations. Your role is no longer just about preparing accounts and tax returns. It’s about managing forecasts, building a great team, and leading them effectively. This transition from accountant to business owner is hard, especially when you are continually pulled back into client work.

One of the categories in our free Growth Assessment is to check that you are now focusing on the right things for your stage of growth. Here is a link to our Growth Assessment – it will take you 15 minutes to complete. You’ll get a personalised report showing where you need to focus your efforts going forward.

You need to learn new skills all the time

On top of that, you have to learn new skills all the time, because nobody teaches you this stuff. You have to learn how to have difficult conversations. This could be telling a client their fees are increasing, chasing them for records, or managing an underperforming staff member. You often have to go through an acrimonious exit with a team member to truly learn the importance of getting the people stuff right.

You can’t be good at everything

Your natural talents also play a huge part. Many accountants are brilliant at detail. But the “entrepreneurial squirrel” mindset you need to drive a business forward can feel unnatural. I am that “entrepreneurial squirrel”. I’m great at the big picture and seeing how we can make one plus one equal five. My team hate me because I regularly change my ideas and plans. But the detail and the admin? I’m not great at that. This constant pressure to wear multiple hats creates the perfect breeding ground for self-doubt.

What Causes the Inner Voice of Doubt?

So what’s really going on in your head? It’s not a personal failing. It’s your brain trying to keep you safe.

There’s a small part of your brain called the amygdala. It evolved to protect us from saber-toothed tigers. The problem is, it equates the fear, uncertainty, and doubt of running a practice with the same level of threat. Your brain sees the fear of losing a client, the uncertainty of cash flow, or the doubt about hiring someone as predators hiding in the trees.

As a firm owner, you are always being pushed out of your comfort zone. You live in a state of uncertainty and are constantly facing new situations. You wonder, “Can we do this?” or “What happens if I try this?”. Because of this, your amygdala is often permanently switched on, ringing loud in your ears. That’s when the little voice on your shoulder starts up.

How to Manage the Voice You Can’t Ignore

Here’s the thing you need to understand. You can’t just shut the voice up. In fact, trying to fight it just makes the voice get louder. This continues the vicious cycle.

The founder of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dr Aaron T. Beck called these intrusive thoughts ‘NATs’. This stands for Negative Automatic Thoughts. They are pesky and unhelpful, yet we all have them. For accountants, they can sound like this:

• Black-and-white thinking: “My team made a mistake on that client’s VAT return; we’re hopeless”.
• Catastrophising: “That client complained about their bill. They’re going to leave, tell everyone, and my firm’s reputation will be ruined”.
• Perfectionism: “The client has been poor at getting their information to us. But I feel duty bound to work long hours to file it before the deadline, even though I told them they would miss it”.

Resilience starts with challenging these thoughts

The key to building resilience is your ability to challenge these thoughts. First, identify if they are rational or irrational. Then, you can flip the mindset. Thank the voice for alerting you to something important. For example: “Thank you for alerting me that our cash flow is getting tight and we need to get onto our credit control”.

Suddenly, the thought is no longer a catastrophe. It’s the nudge you need to nip a problem in the bud.

Practical Ways to Build the Right Mindset for Accounting Firm Growth

I know what you’re thinking. “When am I supposed to find time for exercise and journaling when I’m firefighting client queries and getting ready for year-end?”.

Managing your mindset is an active process, not a single magic bullet. To avoid burnout, the key is to build a toolkit of strategies you can turn to when that voice gets too loud.

It starts with self-care and the four foundational habits

For me, it starts with the non-negotiables: the four foundational habits of self-care. These are exercise, sleep, nutrition, and recharge time. When you’re stressed, your brain floods your body with hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Exercise helps burn off that excess cortisol. It tells your brain that you’ve escaped the tiger and everything is fine.

Sleep is essential

Likewise, getting good quality sleep is essential. It helps you cope with stress and think rationally. This is because your brain is literally flushing itself of toxins while you rest. The more tired you are, the harder it is to have a rational response to the day’s challenges.

Building habits that support your mental state

Beyond these foundations, you should proactively build habits that support your mental state. Our brains love habits because they are energy-efficient, working on a simple loop: a trigger, an action, and a reward. I’ve built a strong habit around morning exercise. So, when I wake up, my brain craves the reward it knows it will get. This is a conscious choice to manage my state.

Journalling

Journaling is another powerful tool for creating headspace. It gets the worries out of my subconscious and onto paper. This helps me figure out what’s a real problem and what’s an irrational fear. When I journal, I even give myself marks out of 10 for my anxiety levels to help me track patterns.

Meditation

Meditation also makes a huge difference. If I feel myself getting ratty and scrolling on social media, I know that’s an unhelpful habit. Stopping for 15-20 minutes to meditate can completely quieten that inner noise.

Coaching

Working with a coach for accounting firm owners such as on of our Growth Experts can help you understand why you are struggling with self-doubt and the limiting beliefs that are holding you back.

Ask yourself this one question

Finally, it’s about consciously shifting your mindset. A simple but effective model is to ask yourself one question when doubt creeps in: “Is this helping or hindering me?”. I learned this powerful technique from the Go MAD Thinking framework. It’s a simple way to change the dialogue in your head.

I remember once I was driving home for an hour and a half in the dark, pouring rain, which is something I really don’t like. My mind was full of “I don’t like this,” so I asked myself, “Is this helping or hindering?” It was hindering. What would help? Focusing on the road. It’s a simple way to change the dialogue in your head.

Know where your problems are

There is no such thing as a perfect accounting firm. Particularly when you are aiming to grow your accounting firm, things break all the time! But more importantly, as your role changes and shifts, so do your priorities. What may have been a nice-to-have, such as a 12-18 month capacity plan, now becomes essential. In fact, the plans you have and how much you use them to drive your actions and focus are one of the things we check for with our free Growth Assessment. It takes 15 minutes to complete, but will give you a personalised report to show you the areas you need to focus on to grow and scale your accounting firm.

Note your progress

It’s also vital to look back and note how far you’ve come. I was with a member of The Accountants’ Growth Club recently who was almost apologising for the state of his practice. I had to remind him that just two years ago, he couldn’t have taken a holiday without his firm falling apart. He’d just had three big holidays. Gaining perspective is a great way to get the confidence you need for scaling your firm.

For example, our club member Natalie Binstead-Wey, BW Business Accountants and Advisors did that earlier in the year after busy season. She realised how far she had come in a year:

Last January, I was stressed and burnt out.

The team at The Accountants Growth Club have been instrumental in helping me turn things around. I now work a 4-day week, put in place healthy boundaries, streamlined my processes and have a good team around me.

The business is growing rapidly with the right type of clients – we even signed up 2 great clients in January. This busy season has been very different, and my awesome team has ensured we have had a stress-free month.

The growth I have had personally and professionally via being a member of The Accountants’ Growth Club has been mind-blowing.

The Accountants’ Growth Club Quarterly Review

All our members have a Quarterly Review with the club’s relationship manager. This is our members’ opportunity to note their progress and reset their plans.

Final Thoughts

That small voice of doubt is just your brain trying to do its job. It may feel like a bug, but it’s actually a helpful feature when you listen to it without judgment. In many ways, it’s a sign you’re pushing yourself and stepping into the unknown. This is exactly what growing a practice requires. You can’t eliminate your inner critic, but you can make friends with it. Listen to what it’s really telling you, and then you get to choose what to do next.

Your next steps!

Uncertainty breeds self-doubt and allows your inner critic to set up camp in your brain. To stop this uncertainty being your constant companion complete our free Growth Assessment. It will take you 15 minutes to complete. You’ll get a personalised report showing exactly what areas you need to prioritise.

Author bio:

Heather Townsend is the founder of The Accountants’ Growth Club (established in 2018) and the published author of The Accountants’ Millionaires’ Club, The Financial Times Guide To Business Networking (published by Pearson) and The Go-To Expert. (Published by Pearson) She has personally helped 100s of accounting firm owners over the past 20 years grow and scale their firm. She has spoken at the largest accounting conferences in the world, i.e. QB Connect in San Jose and Xerocon UK.

This article is a version of the article published on Heather’s substack From Start Up To Grown Up.