Starting up my very own accountancy practice

….. having my own business has always been a dream but I never thought I would actually have the guts to start it…

Its hard though, much harder than I imagined. To start with I decided for my business to be in the only industry I have experience in – I would start off as a one man band accountant! As I’m already qualified that made sense as I would be selling a service I have plenty of experience with.

First on the list – registering my firm

As a chartered accountant there are a lot of regulations to comply with before being able to register my firm. This included:

-          getting professional indemnity insurance

-          registering with the Information Commissioners Office

-          complying with Money Laundering regulations

These were easy to set up and I am proud that ‘nommer’ is a registered firm with the ICAEW; my practicing certificate has been received and is ready for framing!

Next up – software and systems

I now had to work out which software I would need to use to allow me to onboard and manage clients; prepare their accounts and tax returns and file these with the relevant bodies. Initially I was planning on using an Excel spreadsheet to manage my clients, but quickly realised that this would not be easy and I therefore decided use AccountancyManager (now BrightManager) as practice management software. This was recommended by a fellow accountant and was also the best value for a good quality product. A big plus for me was that this software made onboarding very easy as it included engagement letters and money laundering checks.

For accounting and tax returns I decided to use Xero Tax as I already have a lot of experience with Xero for bookkeeping and think that it is a great product. So far I don’t have any regrets when it comes to software in my practice.

Finally, I also needed to register as an agent with HMRC which I did not appreciate. With the help of Royal Mail this took about two months, but I am now a registered agent able to deal with HMRC on behalf of clients.  

What I’m working on now

Next on the list is the hardest part of the process for me and the area I have least experience in – how to make this practice grow.  I am very lucky to already have a handful of clients, but I would love to scale this to a small firm with staff and a few hundred clients. So I have turned to social media to start training on building my brand and social media presence. There are a few very inspiring accountants out there and I have watched a few videos on marketing so far. The best tip I heard today      – just start

                                – so here it is, my start ….