The view from Sarah Whale FCCA

I work for a small practice whose clients tend to be businesses selling sustainable products and services. The opportunities are significant once we can overcome the challenge clients have in understanding the relevance of sustainability to all types of businesses.

The pandemic has uncovered not only the challenges around areas such as the wealth divide and gender inequality, but also the opportunity we have to make change rapidly when we absolutely need to.

I launched an SME financial consulting challenger business in the middle of a pandemic. Probably my best example of stepping outside my comfort zone!

As a startup, we’re establishing from scratch, so we have been able to embed digital from the beginning. Technology is making life easier and us more efficient. But I do believe there are too many SaaS (service as a software) options available, all reliant on integrating with each other. It is a headache for those of us who are not tech gurus.

As the world becomes more complex and sustainability becomes embedded into reporting, it will be tough for sole practitioners to be experts in everything they need to be experts in.

My biggest career achievement so far is establishing a football coaching franchise area. It got thousands of young children physically active and then I sold it for a 24-fold return. The people who have had the biggest impact on me are Simon Sinek (author of Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action), in terms of leadership, and my children, who pushed me to set up Profit Impact.

My parents were the ones to suggest I go into accountancy, as I was good at maths. But if I wasn’t an accountant, I would have loved to have pursued a career in photography. And if I had law-making powers, I’d make sure that every business, regardless of size, is taxed on its negative social and environmental impact.

Outside of work I enjoy yoga, gardening, and photographing nature and architecture.