HM FINANCE COACHING

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder of a video production agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HM FINANCE COACHING?

We needed someone to help us with accounting services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They do payroll, VAT returns. We also get unlimited phone calls with them as well. I do quite a lot of the bookkeeping, and we use free agents as well. It is quite informal. I have a business management degree and so I do all the casual forecasting, which they will check over. They often put my mind at rest. When we are struggling with sales, they will come in and we can bounce off our ideas on them.

What is the team composition?

We work with the owner. If we need a bit of help that she can’t help with, we sometimes talk to the assistant.

How did you come to work with HM FINANCE COACHING?

When we started the business, because of my background, I started doing the accounting work, but when we got to a point where it was more than I could manage, we hired an accountant. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very good. He was very hands-off.

We work and live in the city and we approached a lot of the big corporate accounting companies here. They were expensive, but we found that a big reason for that was because of their overhead from being in town. Also, they wouldn’t be able to give us one-on-one help regularly. The Royal Bank of Scotland runs an accelerator program for small businesses that I am part of, and another business owner in it recommended them to me.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in February 2019, and the work is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

It is helpful that she double checks our VAT does the payroll, but the thing that has been really beneficial for the business is that one-on-one time. Sometimes she just tells me to stop stressing out and that frees up my headspace. She has kept me accountable and sane.

How did HM FINANCE COACHING perform from a project management standpoint?

There are times where we are in contact more frequently, but there are also times where we don’t speak for a couple of months and just email to confirm payrolls. During the tax return deadline, and the three days before the deadline, we were talking every day. It is very easy to get in contact with her. We usually book a call, but I can pick up the phone and call if there is an emergency, as I have her mobile number.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The bigger firms in town said we would have been quite a small client for them, and they wouldn’t have been able to offer us a good level of support. Just having that listening ear at the other end of the phone is helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have a bad word to say. We are pretty happy.