Anna Nikolovska started her practice in 2018 and signed up with AM on day one. The following year, Anna appeared at our Accountex stand laden with chocolates. A tasty testament to how much she values the software and our ‘brilliant, brilliant customer service’. AM’s Jonathan Stobart caught up with Anna to see how she’s getting on.

A side hustle becomes a full-blown practice

Anna had initially planned to just do the books of a handful of clients, but those clients were so happy, they spread the word. “I was just planning to treat it like a part-time job,” Anna tells us. “But it started growing very fast and the more clients I got, the more they recommended me to their friends. Now I have an office, bookkeepers working with me and we’re still growing.”

Digital by name, strictly digital by nature

At Digital Accounting, that’s exactly what you get. “We don’t deliver services to clients in any other way than digital and we do refuse clients who don’t want to use the technology that we suggest – because it just wouldn’t be efficient for us. As a minimum to become our client, you need to add things to ReceiptBank (now Dext Prepare). We don’t accept any spreadsheets or receipts. It makes our job much, much easier.” 

Laying the foundations for an efficient, profitable business – from day one Continue reading...

Before launching Sterling Finance 20 years ago, Kamlesh Rajput was the CFO of a multinational – a role that frequently took him around the world. Noticing the stark difference in customer service and satisfaction between the UK, US, Europe & Middle East – and the unfair advantage of large corporations – led Kamlesh to help turn the tide for SMEs once and for all.

Sterling Finance just goes to show that ‘older’ practices aren’t all stuck in their ways or reticent change. As part of his commitment to delivering an excellent client experience, Kamlesh has embraced cloud technology to find new ways to help and support his clients. In 2019 Sterling Finance won the prestigious National Award, the British Accountancy Award and in 2020, Sterling Finance was a finalist in another National Award, the Accounting Excellence Awards. Kamlesh spoke to AM’s Jonathan Stobart about life with AccountancyManager and bridging the gap between the UK and emerging economies.

A realisation leads to a new career 

“When I went abroad as a CFO, I used to travel quite a lot to various countries and in particular the US. I saw the quality of the customer service and the commitment to customer satisfaction. When I came back to the UK, I realised that large businesses receive so much support from their accountants (usually the top five, 10 or 20 accountants in the country)…”  Continue reading...

Beth Jackson at 2 Sisters Accounting mainly attracts clients through social media – which is where AM’s Jonathan spotted one of her unusually candid videos. Turns out, 2 Sisters signed up for AM last summer and they’re finding huge value – despite not turning on automated emails yet…

Beth and her ‘big’ sister, Jessie set up 2 Sisters Accounting just over three years ago after following two very different career paths. “Jessie went to uni, did business studies then qualified at KPMG. I left school at 16 and worked my way up in payroll bureaus and small accountancy practices, learning on the job.”

“She was working in industry. I was working in practice. And you just think… oh, my gosh, this is slowly but surely killing me. I can’t do this anymore.” 

Neither Beth or Jessie enjoyed sitting in an office, working 9 – 5. “There’s nothing like that feeling when it hits 2.30pm, you’ve done everything and you have to stay until five, horrendous. We just figured, forget the fear and give it a go. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. And thankfully, it seems to have worked. We both absolutely love it.” 

They must be doing something right, 2 Sisters was a finalist for New Firm of the Year at 2020’s Accounting Excellence Awards. Continue reading...

Will Sterling, one of the owners of Sterling Accounting Solutions (SAS) in Kings Langley just outside Watford, Hertfordshire, grew his team at an impressive rate over lockdown. He spoke to AM’s Jonathan Stobart in early January about 2020, life with AM and his plans for the future.

Will started out by training in audit with BDO before trying out industry – neither of which he particularly enjoyed. “I lasted nine months [in industry]. Doing the same thing, for the same company, every month just didn’t excite me. I wanted to get back into practice, but not with one of the big firms. There, if you want to get to partner, you have to sell yourself for 15+ years. I wasn’t interested in doing that.”

Urm, Dad… can I borrow your address book?

In a story similar to AM’s James Byrne, it was Will’s dad’s career that inspired his path. “My dad’s a chartered accountant and he’s worked in the industry for God knows how many years, 40+. In that time he built up really good relationships, particularly within the construction industry, but he’d just work with one or two businesses at a time as a Finance Director. So although we started with only a couple of clients, myself and my brother Tom, who is also involved in the family business, did have an address book full of successful business owners.” Continue reading...

Andy Sullivan knows his stuff when it comes to business technology. He also happens to be an accountant. Only two years in and business is good. Really good. Find out how Andy uses tech in his own practice and how AM is inspiring his clients to introduce their own efficiencies.

Everyone we’ve interviewed for AM in Practice has proven that the stuffy, serious accountant/bookkeeper stereotype is wildly inaccurate. None more so than Andy Sullivan, owner of Complete HQ. Andy – dressed in a t-shirt revealing his impressive tattoos – spoke to AM’s Jonathan Stobart – dressed in a more seasonally appropriate, though no less formal, pink hoodie.

Phenomenal growth in under two years

Andy setup Complete HQ in 2019 and has experienced rapid growth ever since. Fast forward to 2021 and Andy has a team of seven, including accountants, bookkeepers and marketing support. He also outsources some work. “2020 started and clients just kept coming, which is amazing,” he says. “We got contacted by a lot of businesses whose accountants weren’t able to service them properly or give them the best advice, possibly because they furloughed staff or because they were massively overworked, I don’t know, but we grew substantially as a result.”

A technophile at heart – and now by trade

Andy always planned to have a fully remote practice, all of his team work from home and one lives in Portugal, so he’s an avid user of cloud-based software. But his interest and skills in technology have quickly evolved into consultancy for his clients. 

“That’s what I enjoy doing, helping people take a step back and putting systems in place to give them more freedom.”  Continue reading...

Khyam Chudhry is the proud owner of a fully digital, paperless practice that doesn’t experience ‘the panic thing’ every January: Fortuous Limited. He also has strong convictions when it comes to advisory. He’s been with us since our very beginnings and AM is the only software he has no plans to switch.

When self-employment is in your blood

For most families, a successful job in professional services would be more than enough. Not in the Chudhry household. “My whole family has been self-employed and has never gone into jobs. Since my great-grandfather, I’m the first one. My dad would say ‘so you’ve started a job, what’s the plan next?’”

“You need hard work and you need a bit of luck to make it. So that’s what Fortuous stands for.”

Khyam was working as an accountant at a large property management company, when, in 2015 he made his big decision. “It was coming for many years. I was always itching because there’s no freedom and you’re always limited. So I said, ‘OK, I need to start something on my own.” 

No shoe boxes or filing cabinets allowed

Khyam always knew he didn’t want to be a traditional accountant with a traditional firm. “I wanted to deliver services to businesses in a more proactive, productive way and that’s where the idea of going completely digital came from. Xero was making a lot of inroads at that time. So Xero was our initial partner and ReceiptBank came on board very early.  Continue reading...

AM’s Jonathan Stobart caught up with Ben Steele – AccountancyManager user and owner of Bristol-based firm, Steele Financial. On top of his accounting and people skills, Ben is quite the technical guru. In fact, he’s been offering so much free advice to clients around the best technology to use, he’s started to commercialise it.

Steele Financial – accountants and certified app advisors

Ben Steele founded his firm in 2017, after years spent growing other people’s practices. By his own admission, he started out with ‘no clients, no bank account and pretty much no clue’. Now, with a team of five (soon to be seven) and a clientbase of 350, it’s clear – that wasn’t the case. 

“I was managing small practices for other people and then it hit me one day. I seem to be doing quite well, so why don’t I create my own?”

Ben has clients all over the UK, from local plumbers to a global space agency and everything in between. Recently, Steele Financial has seen an influx of hospitality clients too, as word has spread amongst Bristol’s tight-knit foodie scene.

Going global – thanks to Xero expertise

In the last year, Steele Financial has gained clients from around the world. “It started off with a UK company. We did such a good job for them, they financed us to help look after their global branches. Then, because we know Xero so well, they asked us to look after Xero and related queries from the different countries too.”  Continue reading...

This week’s case study took an unexpected turn. Buhir Rafiq gave AM’s Jonathan Stobart an in-depth tour of his practice management set up. It was a fantastic way to see how Total Books has evolved thanks to time saved by automation and the visibility of data. Get comfortable. Buhir is using almost every feature of AM, with many customised flourishes…

Meet Buhir Rafiq, owner of Total Books

Buhir Rafiq owned a small business in the late 90’s before retraining to become an accountant. He then spent 10 years working up the ladder, half in practice, half in industry. His LinkedIn page boasts firms such as Critchleys and Haines Watts as well as the UK National Audit Office.

“I always enjoyed consulting and had a dream of being an accountant. I’ve been advising people about their businesses since the late 90s.” 

Buhir started Total Books as an AAT Licensed Practicing accountant 10 years ago in Bristol and moved to Cardiff two years later. “I started at home, with receipts all over the floor, a computer in the kids’ bedroom and I’d be ringing HMRC, asking them to talk me through a tax return. Even though I had 10 years of experience as an employee I still learned a lot as I went along. My first year was as a bookkeeper. The second-year I rebranded to being an accountant and never looked back. I have firm faith in God and good ethics and this has helped along the way.”   Continue reading...

This week, we take the virtual train up from Warwick to Eccles to meet Carolyn Cullen from Monton Green Accountancy Ltd. Currently under local lockdown, Carolyn spoke to us from the home office she’s sharing with her husband. Due to a case of coronavirus in one of her daughter’s year groups, Carolyn is also still having to home school. Though this time round, with daily deadlines for homework, she’s finding it a bit easier.

“I class my two, at school, as fairly diligent and reasonably intelligent. At home, with home-schooling, there were no signs of either of those characteristics!”

“Home-schooling was the least favourite part of lockdown, I have to say. It was hard work. And they don’t believe that I could possibly know how to do fractions! Apparently I can’t and I don’t teach it right… That was a struggle, but I know I’m not alone in that.”

Carolyn’s journey from KPMG to practice owner

Carolyn has spent many years both in practice and in industry, before striking out on her own three years ago. “I’ve been a chartered accountant for a long time. That makes me feel old. Twenty years? I qualified with KPMG in Manchester and worked there for eight years in audit. Then I went into industry at Swinton Insurance, in the finance team. I did 10 years with them before I decided, ‘no, I’m going to set up on my own’ and never looked back.” Continue reading...

This year has been full of feature releases for AccountancyManager, around 16 in the last three months in fact. But there are always ongoing projects bubbling away in the development office too. (There may be plans to start barricading the door so James can’t ‘pop in’ with more ideas for the road map.)

Customising AccountancyManager for the Irish market

One project we’ve been working on behind the scenes is a version of AccountancyManager for Ireland. Although the general processes are the same as in the UK, instead of HMRC and Companies House, Ireland’s accountants and bookkeepers answer to Revenue (Irish Tax and Customs) and CRO (Companies Registration Office). 

The tax year in Ireland runs, arguably more sensibly, from the 1st January to the 31st December. Instead of a UTR or NI number, you have a PPSN (Personal Public Service Number). And there are a few more tax initialisms thrown in for good measure, like PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance) and USC (Universal Social Charge). As you can see, it’s not quite as simple as adding euros to our currency section.

Getting help from an expert insider

A few months ago, we asked Irish AccountancyManager user Paddy Quinn, at Paddy Quinn & Co Chartered Accounting to give us a hand. 

“I’ve been dealing with Rachel quite a bit, getting the Irish system working as best as possible. I can see you guys have been focusing on it recently, so that’s great to see.” Continue reading...