From an early age I have been fascinated by businesses generally and what could be done within them to achieve a better life for those involved. Accountancy felt like the natural position to start from to make a difference, and I have never veered away from this since. But if I wasn’t an accountant, I’d probably be a footballer – although being honest, I wasn’t good enough.
I set up our firm in 2012. I started out in a small accountancy practice, moved on to PwC, then worked in the public sector where I worked up to interim finance director. Our firm today is a team of 14 looking after companies up and down the country.
The challenge/opportunity we face, as for so many other firms, is bringing the blend of the traditional skills of an accountant from generations gone by with the possibilities that technology now offers. While all this is going on, we must respect that clients for so long have been taught that compliance was enough, whereas now they need so much more. This is an opportunity we welcome and embrace.
Clients for so long have been taught that compliance was enough, whereas now they need so much more
Technology is now enabling accountants to provide better and more varied services than ever before. It is also creating opportunities both geographically and operationally that might not previously have been possible without a significant investment of time and money.
Given the advances and speed of all this, we are on a continuous digital transformation journey. The acknowledgement of this is a major milestone in itself. Embracing technology has taken us out of our comfort zone. When I first started in practice, the only technology was desktop software.
My biggest achievement to date is being awarded ‘best digital accountant’ at the Digital Accountancy Show. This is especially pleasing given we only really started fully embracing technology about three years ago.
