Member Article

Leeds firm named as nation’s best accountancy practice

Leeds-based Northern Accountants has been recognised as the finest accountancy practice in the country, having scooped ‘Firm of the Year’ at the industry’s AVN awards.

Judges whittled the finalists down to only three organisations and the winner was crowned at the Birmingham NEC Hilton, following the National Tax & Accountants Conference. Northern Accountants is the only Yorkshire firm ever to have won.

The award comes on the back of four successful years for the team, based in Howley Business Park, Morley. Having started out as a one-man operation with £50,000 turnover in 2010, Northern Accountants has grown by 600%, recording £300,000 turnover last year as a six-strong business.

In July, it was announced that the company had achieved the AVN’s ‘Six Star Excellence’ rating, in recognition of its best-practice accountancy models that help clients grow. It was then that the team discovered it was in the running for ‘Firm of the Year’.

Set to achieve £400,000 fees by the end of 2014, the plan is to recruit at least two more members of staff within the next 12 months, and secure in excess of £0.5million turnover in 2015.

Speaking of the team’s award success, Northern Accountants’ founder Phil Ellerby said: “In the summer, AVN Chairman Steve Pipe praised our company as one of the most exciting, dynamic and innovative accountancy practices around. The Firm of the Year achievement further evidences these kind words.

“We were told that we were the clear winners of the award, given our proactive, close-knit team and our thorough support system for clients. We go out of our way to spend time with the businesses we help, and get involved with their forecasting, strategic thinking and progression.

“Whilst it’s perhaps an overused term, we care very much about ‘adding value’. Gone are the days when accountants exist purely to crunch numbers and complete mandatory paperwork, and we are keen to change this antiquated stereotype.”

Continuing on the added value theme, Northern Accountants will launch its new Business Vision programme – a series of knowledge sharing client workshops – in November. The team is also set to introduce pricing workshops, educative webinars and a seminar for up to 100 delegates, in March.

Phil – a well-known speaker within the profession who recently presented to 100 peers on the topic of building a successful accountancy practice – is collating much of his knowledge in his second book. ‘From Worst to First’ will be an advice-led guide for clients looking to transform their business within three years.

He concludes: “Writing this book isn’t about self-glory. It’s about showcasing the power of proactive accounting, understanding why we need to set financial goals, and highlighting how we can achieve them.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Katie Mallinson .