Catherine Pemberton is the Managing Partner of Pemberton Lowe, a firm of accountants and business advisers with 58 people in Exeter and Plymouth. Client work fills most of every partner’s week. In Headwater, the work that builds the firm has an owner, a quarter, and a check every week.
Every week at Pemberton Lowe is full of client work. Client jobs and their deadlines, time sheets, working papers, and billing stay in the systems the practice already uses for them. Headwater does not replace any of those systems, and nothing is copied between them and Headwater.
Headwater holds the work that builds the firm, such as new advisory packages, the next intake of trainees, and moving clients onto online bookkeeping. None of it is billable, so it always loses to client deadlines unless it has an owner, a quarter, and a weekly check. In Headwater, each piece of it is a climb with one owner and a due date in the quarter, and the owner checks in on it every Monday. Problems in the way go on a team’s issues list.
Choose a team to see which of its work stays in the practice’s systems and which is in Headwater.
- Reviewing and signing accounts and returnsEvery week
- Client meetingsMost days
- Billing and feesEvery month
- Client emails and documents
- Start monthly 1:1s for every qualified accountantCPOn trackCompany
- Sign 15 clients to monthly advisory packagesAWOn trackCompany
- Move 60 tax clients onto online bookkeepingFSOn trackCompany
- Fill the four trainee places for September 2027NBOn trackCompany
- 1Managers can’t spare an hour for the advisory trainingAW6 days
- 2Trainees have no study days before the December examsCP11 days
- 3January leaves no time for climb workFS4 days
Choose a team to see where its work goes.
A climb is an outcome the firm wants by the end of the quarter. It has one owner, a done when line that says when it is finished, and milestones, which are the dated steps towards it. Headwater lets each person set up to three climbs a quarter. At Pemberton Lowe, everyone with a client load sets one.
Each climb has four to six milestones, about two weeks apart, so every step fits around client work. Holly’s climb supports Catherine’s, and Kieran’s supports Alex’s. Their milestones count towards the climbs they support.
Headwater marks a climb behind pace when its progress is more than 25 points behind the time gone in the quarter. With small milestones, a step that slips shows within a week or two. Kieran’s training for the Exeter managers has moved twice, and in week 8 his climb shows behind pace, with six weeks of the quarter left.
Move through the weeks to see each climb change, and open a climb to see its milestones.
The three partners and Niall Brady, the practice manager, are Pemberton Lowe’s leadership team. They huddle every Tuesday from 8:30 to 9:30, before the first client meetings of the day. Catherine and Alex join from Exeter, and Farah and Niall from Plymouth, all on the same screen.
The climbs are already up to date from Monday’s check-ins, so most of the hour goes on the issues list. The partners rank the top three and solve them from the top. Solving an issue can record a decision, and a standing rule goes in the Rulebook. An issue that can wait for next quarter moves to long term, and the partners go through those at quarterly planning.
Work through the Partners list for Tuesday 17 November.
- 1Managers can’t spare an hour for the advisory trainingAW6 daysOutcome
- 2Trainees have no study days before the December examsCP11 days
- 3January leaves no time for climb workFS4 days
- Plymouth has no room for client reviewsNB2 days
Solve each issue from the top, or move one to long term.
Personal tax returns are due on 31 January. At Pemberton Lowe, January is the busiest month of the year, and it falls in Q4, which runs from January to March. The partners plan Q4 at their planning session on Friday 18 December, and they know how busy January will be.
Each partner sets one small climb for Q4 with three milestones, and most of the milestones fall in March, after the returns are filed. This quarter the partners’ climbs have 22 milestones between them. Next quarter’s have 12, and only one of them falls in January.
Headwater compares each climb’s progress with the time gone in the quarter, so these climbs will show behind pace in February. Behind pace appears next to the status and does not change it. Each owner keeps their climb on track as long as they expect to finish it by the end of March.
Switch between the two quarters to see where the milestones fall.
Switch quarters, or open a climb to see its milestones.
Most of Pemberton Lowe’s fees come from accounts, audits, and tax returns. The vision is for a third of fees to come from advisory work by 2029, and Grow advisory is one of the firm’s three pillars. A pillar is one of the few goals in the plan.
Launch monthly advisory packages is an initiative, a project that runs from July to March. Last quarter, Alex’s climb was to design three packages, and it is done. This quarter, his climb is to sign 15 clients to them. Kieran’s climb supports it by training eight client managers to sell the packages, because the managers see clients every week.
Progress comes from the milestones. Each milestone ticked on Kieran’s climb counts towards Alex’s climb, the initiative, and the pillar.
Tick a milestone to see each level move.
Done when Forty clients pay for a monthly advisory package.
- Design three advisory packagesJul to Sep · 4 of 4 milestonesAWDone
- Sign 15 clients to monthly advisory packagesCompanyAWDue December40%
- Supports Sign 15 clients to monthly advisory packages
- Train eight managers to sell advisoryIndividualKWDue December20%Behind pace
Most of Pemberton Lowe’s accountants join as trainees and study for their exams while they work. Trainees have always had a 1:1 with their manager each month. Once they qualified, the 1:1s stopped, and many of them left within two years.
A firm people want to join is one of the three pillars. This quarter, Niall’s climb fills four trainee places for September 2027. It is due in December, so the offers go out before January. Catherine’s climb starts monthly 1:1s for every qualified accountant, and Holly’s climb, which supports it, starts them for the six audit seniors.
A 1:1 page is laid out in the order the meeting runs, with the notes from last time, what the person has finished since, their climbs, and their open issues. Saving it keeps a record that only the person and their managers can read. When Lucy said her December exams clashed with two audits, the partners solved it in their huddle with a standing rule for every trainee.
Choose Lucy or Gemma to open Holly’s 1:1 with them.
- 1Last 1:122 October
Lucy’s December exams clash with two audit deadlines. Holly asks the partners about study days.
- 2Open issues12Plymouth has no quiet room to studyAudit6 days
- 3Notes
- 22 OctoberLucy’s December exams clash with two audit deadlines. Holly asks the partners about study days.
- 24 SeptemberFirst 1:1 since Lucy joined. Went through the audit team, the study plan, and how check-ins work.
Choose Lucy or Gemma, write a note, and save the 1:1.
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