What made you want to start your own business?
We’re guessing it wasn’t the promise of spending your weekends filling out mountains of paperwork, stressing over tax deadlines, and worrying about your cashflow.
Unfortunately, that’s the way things tend to turn out for a lot of business owners. In a tough economic environment, with various tax and regulatory obligations to keep up with, many people end up spending all their energy just staying afloat.
Running a business is always going to have its ups and downs, but we don’t think it has to be a thankless struggle all the time.
That’s why we make it our goal to save our clients time and stress, by putting efficient processes in place and supporting them with thoughtful, personal advice.
1) Accounting in real time
In 2021, no business can be truly efficient without the right digital setup – and for us, it all starts with Xero online accounting.
We’ve been working with Xero for more than ten years, and in that time we’ve helped hundreds of businesses to transition from other accounting systems or older software.
Working in real time using this software is so much easier than going back over all your records every quarter, copying information out into spreadsheets, and filling out paperwork from there.
Instead, you’re collecting information in the system as you go, and most of it is pulled through automatically through daily bank feeds or integrations with your other software.
That means at any point in time, you can open the Xero app and get an immediate overview of your financial position. There’s no uncertainty, no guesswork and no stress.
With Xero set up, our clients are also compliant with Making Tax Digital, which already applies to most VAT-registered businesses and is set to extend to self-assessment taxpayers, and eventually companies, in the future.
2) An integrated digital system
Xero’s not the only piece of software that can make a difference to your business. Add-on options like Receipt Bank and Chaser can make your life so much easier too, cutting out the time you spend going through paper receipts or chasing invoices.
Picking out the right software can be difficult with such a range to choose from, but our experience working with various business apps means we can suggest an option to suit your needs.
We also aim to make sure everything’s joined up for our clients – that their payments app integrates with their accounts on Xero, for instance, and that their financial forecasting app draws on their Xero figures automatically.
This means they should never have to enter the same information twice, and can let the systems do the work instead.
If you’re looking for some more app ideas, we’ve put together a list of our top eight Xero add-ons here.
3) Data-driven business advice
Once our clients have a smooth-running system in place to collect all their vital financial information, the next step is to use that data to achieve their business goals.
We’ve been supporting small businesses at Evans & Partners since 1943, so this is where our team’s expertise really shines through.
After analysing the numbers in-depth, we speak to our clients about the steps they can take to meet their business goals, focusing on three key areas: knowledge, growth and profits.
Our business advice service is called Love My Business because that’s ultimately what we want – for our clients to love their business and still have a life outside of it.
And because it’s built on data we know is accurate and up-to-date, we can be confident that we’re giving our clients the guidance they need at the right time.
4) Staying in touch
We provide our advice through a combination of in-depth workshops, one-on-one meetings and check-ins, and we like to talk with our clients regularly about how they’re doing. This gives us a chance to answer any questions they might have and offer suggestions for improvement.
When you work with us, you’ll be put in touch with a client manager who’ll get to know your business and make sure you get the services you need. Our client managers are always on hand to respond to our clients’ needs and offer an informed opinion on their business.
We also aim to keep our clients in the loop at all times about upcoming changes, what they need to send to us and when they’ll need to do it. This means they’re never left wondering if there’s something they missed, or if there’s a deadline they’ve forgotten. And if, at any time, our clients are unsure about what they need to do, we’re available to answer their questions.
5) Getting it right
Finally, to put it simply, we get things right.
It sounds basic, but so many accounting errors are caused by a lack of care and attention, and those can easily spiral into much bigger problems than they need to be.
We make sure everything’s in hand, from filing your accounts well before the deadline to combing over the numbers for accuracy, so you have the mental space to focus on your business.
To sum it all up, here’s a quote from one of our favourite testimonials we’ve received lately:
“My first contact with Evans & Partners was several years ago when I was on the hunt for a new accountant but I decided not to engage with them for reasons of cost.
“I re-engaged with Olly and his team about six months ago now and my affairs were in a mess. Payroll was not being done properly, my accounts were late again and again and the money I saved in not using Evans & Partners in the first place had been spent in lost productivity, late penalties and generally wasted time chasing issues. Let’s not mention the stress of dealing with HMRC.
“If you’re on the lookout for a new accountant I would highly recommend Evans & Partners. As a business owner and coach myself, the value you receive to regain your time, sanity and reduce your stress levels is worth every penny.”
Mark, BB.
If, like Mark, you’ve been let down by an accountant in the past, or if you’re looking for a service that’s more attentive to you and your business goals, we’d be more than happy to chat.
Contact us for more information about the way we work, or take a look at the services we offer.
