Accounting professionals on this side of the pond who know or use Dext for their accounting prep needs may see a familiar face as their connection to the product maker. That’s right, the word is out: Rachel Fisch, CPB, has taken on the role of General Manager, North America at Dext, which is looking to deepen its connection to accounting professionals here.
While, as of this writing, it hasn’t been officially announced, social media is abuzz with the news since she updated her profiles to reflect the change. Essentially, Rachel will be the primary bridge between Dext and the accounting profession here in North America.
For a while now, I’ve stated and currently advocate for relations to improve between accounting-related vendors and the customers they serve, directly and indirectly. In other words, if you are a vendor or service provider and have any interest at all in building a relationship with accounting professionals to sell to or through, you need to do a better job of prioritizing that relationship full stop.
One clear way to accomplish that goal, in my view, is for said product makers and service providers to either have a dedicated committee of advocates, such as a board of accountant advisors, or a program for them to be more directly involved in product development or marketing to the profession.
In short, this is someone who understands the issues accountants and their clients face on a regular basis, as well as their own needs for efficiencies, integrations, and so forth. Rachel checks all of those boxes. She has a history as an accounting professional, a firm owner, a technology advocate, and a Dext user. She also hasn’t shied away from criticisms of accounting technology platforms, with a keen eye towards them serving the profession in the best ways possible.
Some may recall the days of Receipt Bank (Dext’s former moniker) and Damien Greathead, who served in a similar capacity for the product maker. From where I sat, he was the prime driver for the brand and its connection to the profession. He helped elevate a level of trust and connection between the company and accounting professionals here that, no disrespect meant to his successors, really had not been seen since his departure.
Rachel has an opportunity to achieve the same and more for Dext, which, in my personal view, could use the lift among accounting professionals and the small business clients they serve.
Expect a full release on this news to come out soon. I certainly wish her and the company much success. Expect to see them both at a variety of live and digital events this year and beyond.