Episode 41

How Accounting Professionals Learn: Stuart Pedley-Smith

Rob Brown welcomes Stuart Pedley-Smith, Chief Learning Officer at Kaplan Financial, to discuss the evolving landscape of qualifications and their relevance in today's finance and accounting profession. Stuart, with over 25 years of experience in accountancy education, shares insights into the changing roles of finance professionals, emphasizing the need to adapt to technological advancements. The discussion explores the importance of maintaining core principles while incorporating new tools and technologies in qualifications. Stuart also highlights the role of technology in reshaping the profession and the potential for technology-based assessments. Overall, the episode delves into the challenges and opportunities facing finance professionals in a rapidly evolving industry.

Stuart Pedley-Smith, a certified accountant, has dedicated his career to professional education. As Kaplan's Head of Learning, he shapes the company's education strategy, advocates best practices, and fosters a culture of learning. With over two decades of teaching accountancy students, Stuart's insights culminated in his book on examinations. His expertise informs engaging talks, a monthly blog, and podcasts on exam success. Stay tuned for Season 4 of the Kaplan Learn Better Podcast, and explore his insightful blogs:

Kaplan Learn Better Podcast (Season 4 coming soon):

https://kaplan.co.uk/learn-better-podcast

Kaplan Learning Blog (General Kaplan Blog):

https://kaplan-learning.com/blog

Pedley-Smith Blog (Exploring evidence-based learning and exam success):

https://pedley-smith.uk/

◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢

The Accounting Influencers Podcast drops every Monday to accounting professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers across 150 countries in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space. To participate in our international virtual speed networking events for the accounting community, go to https://accountinginfluencers.com/events and book your place at the next gathering. Great to build your personal brand and make valuable industry connections.

◣━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━◢

You can watch this episode and more on our YouTube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/@accountinginfluencers

Join the Accounting Influencers community and get invitations to our international speed networking events to build your personal brand and network in the accounting, finance and tech world: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencers

For videos of all podcast interviews and bonus video content: https://bit.ly/AI-youtube

Thanks to our sponsors:

ADVANCETRACK OUTSOURCING. Transform your accounting firm with AdvanceTrack. Our top-tier offshoring solutions free your team from mundane tasks, allowing you to focus on growth and client engagement. Experience seamless scalability and expert support. Visit advancetrack.com and elevate your practice today. https://www.advancetrack.com

ACCOUNTEX. Join us at Accountex London, the pinnacle of fintech innovation, May 15-16, 2024! Discover ground-breaking solutions from 295+ brands and gain invaluable insights at our CPD-accredited sessions. Connect with 10,000+ finance professionals. Elevate your practice – attendance is free, plus earn up to 16 CPD points! https://www.accountex.co.uk/london

DEXT. Streamline your accounting practice with Dext! Our cutting-edge tools, Dext Prepare, Commerce, and Precision, revolutionize data handling, saving you precious time and ensuring accuracy. Connect seamlessly with leading software like Xero and QBO. Join 500,000+ customers transforming their practices. Start your free trial and embrace efficiency today! https://dext.com

If you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrown

Mentioned in this episode:

YouTube CTA

About the Podcast

Show artwork for Accounting Voices Podcast
Accounting Voices Podcast
Accounting Voices helps people in the accounting world stay relevant visible and vocal. Host Rob Brown interprets trends reshaping the profession and gives listeners insight to build authority influence and a stronger voice in firms and markets.

About your host

Profile picture for Rob Brown

Rob Brown

Rob Brown is the founder and host of the Accounting Voices Podcast, the flagship solo show of the Accounting Voices Network. Each episode offers sharp analysis and commentary on the trends, ideas and people shaping the global accounting profession.

Through this Accounting Voices Podcast, Rob helps accounting firm leaders, decision makers and professionals stay relevant and make sense of disruption in areas like AI, automation, M&A, private equity and soft skills beyond the tech. His perspective blends clarity, insight and curiosity, making complex issues relevant and practical for professionals and decision makers across accounting and finance.

He also leads two monthly panel shows, Accounting M&A and Accounting AI, which bring together senior voices to explore consolidation, strategy and the impact of technology on firms and people.

Rob is the author of the bestselling book Build Your Reputation (Wiley) and a TEDx speaker whose talk The Personal Brand of You has more than 400,000 views. Over his career he has hosted and moderated more than 1,000 conversations with accounting and fintech leaders worldwide.

Based in Nottingham UK, Rob is a stroke survivor living with epilepsy, a black belt in kickboxing, a decent chess player and an average player of four musical instruments.