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Community playbooks

Teach a job you know. Write a playbook for The Firm.

Community playbooks are written by people who run, or work in, accounting and bookkeeping firms. They sit beside our own playbooks in Education, on the same shelves.

Propose a playbook See a playbook
What it is

What a community playbook is

  1. 3–7 steps, in order Each one says what to do and when it is done.
  2. 1 job, start to finish Price it, hire for it, fix it. The reader ends with a result.
  3. You wrote it, we edited it Your experience and voice, with our editing and checks.

What you get

Your name on work that helps firms

  • Your byline Your name and role on the playbook, linked to your profile.
  • A contributor profile A page on The Firm with your bio, your work and how to reach you.
  • Readers who run firms Shelved in Education beside our own playbooks, where firm owners come to learn the job.
  • An editor in your corner We help shape the steps, check every source and edit for plain English.
The editorial bar

Five things every playbook has

The same bar as our own playbooks. We check each one before anything is published.

  • Practical A few steps the reader can do this month. Each one ends with a "done when" outcome.
  • Sourced Rules, figures and claims link to where they come from: legislation, regulators, published research, your own data.
  • No vendor pitching It teaches the job, not a product. Any tools are named because they help, and any commercial tie you have is disclosed on the page.
  • From experience Written by someone who has done the job, in their own words.
  • Reviewed before it goes live The Firm’s editors review, edit and fact-check every playbook. Nothing is published without that review and your sign-off.
How it works

How it works

  1. Propose Tell us who you are, the job you would teach and why. About ten minutes.
  2. An editor reads it Usually within ten working days. We reply either way.
  3. Plan it together A short call to agree the reader, the steps and the sources.
  4. Draft and edit You write in a shared document. We edit and check every claim.
  5. Sign off and publish You approve the final version. It goes live in Education with your byline.

The jobs readers come to learn

Have a job that doesn't fit? Choose "Something else" in the form.

Propose a playbook

Tell us what you would teach

About ten minutes. You don't need a draft: a title, the result for the reader and a rough list of steps is enough.

1 · Who you are
For example: Director, practice manager, bookkeeper.
So our editors can see your work.
Two or three sentences, as you would want them on your byline.
2 · What you want to teach
Say the job it helps with, e.g. "Move every client to fixed monthly fees in a quarter".
Education is organised by the job a firm owner is trying to get done.
One or two sentences. The result, not the topic: "Every new client signed on a fixed fee with a scope letter".
One line per step is plenty. If you can, say how the reader knows each step is done.
3 · Why you, and why it matters
Where you have done this yourself: firms, clients, years, results you can talk about.
Do you have any commercial ties to what you would write about?Vendor roles, partnerships, referral fees, or products and services you sell. Ties don't rule you out. Undisclosed ones do. We disclose them on the page.
4 · Permission

We use your details only to review your proposal and, if you tick the second box, to send the newsletter. See our privacy policy.

An editor reads every proposal. Nothing is published without review.

Questions

Can I write a playbook if I work for, or sell, a product?

Yes, if the playbook teaches the job rather than the product. Tell us about the tie in the form. We disclose it on the page, and an undisclosed tie is the one thing that rules a proposal out.

What makes a good playbook topic?

A job a firm owner is trying to get done, which you have done yourself, and which can be broken into a few steps with a clear result at the end of each. "Move every client to fixed monthly fees" works. "The future of the profession" does not.

What happens if my proposal is declined?

We email you with a short note on why. You are welcome to propose again, whether it is the same idea reworked or a different job.

Do I need to write the whole thing before I apply?

No. A working title, the reader outcome and a rough list of steps is enough. We plan the rest with you if it is a fit.