How an accountancy firm boosted annual recurring revenue by £250k

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One automation tool helped Abbeygate Accountancy increase its client base by 70% in one year.

Bury St Edmunds-based accounting, bookkeeping and advisory services firm Abbeygate Accountancy have a simple outlook. Its team works hard to be excellent accountants and business advisors, with an optimistic culture and an ability to help its clients’ businesses succeed.

When Andy Smith founded Abbeygate Accountancy, it was a small practice in a small town, but Andy had one clear mission in mind: growing the practice. But this wasn’t just about bringing on as many clients as possible.

The Challenge:  Identifying areas that could be automated to save time and grow client base

Andy soon realised there were two key elements to successfully growing the practice: people and processes.

He needed to make sure the practice had the right team, that they were attracting the right sort of clients, and that both employees and customers alike were supported by rock-solid back-office processes.

To achieve this, Andy began identifying the end-to-end customer journey, from a client agreeing to their proposal right the way through to them paying for the firm’s services.

“I wanted a centralised solution that allowed us to all sing from the same song sheet and follow the same approach. We wanted to make sure that even if one of our team wasn’t in the office, a colleague could instantly pick up a conversation with one of their clients.”

The Solution: A centralised tool to stay on top of all their clients

Andy implemented Ignition because it ‘just felt like the right tool’ for his needs. He found it so comforting implementing a centralised tool that helped him stay on top of all his client activity, including the proposals, the services the firm offered, customer payment details, billing schedule, and more.

Andy’s main concern now is getting clients on board. Ignition allows him to rapidly send out personalised proposals that even include a personalised Loom video. New clients have told Andy that this personal touch was a major differentiator between Applegate Accounting and the competition.

Andy is also a huge advocate of being able to see when a client has opened a proposal or viewed a video. There’s nothing worse than being in the dark, unsure as to whether or not a client has even taken the time to read what you’ve sent over.

The Result: Significantly grew client base and added extra £250,000 annual recurring revenue

Abbeygate Accountancy has grown their client base from 22 to 176 companies in roughly two years – and they increased their annual recurring revenue by £250,000e.

The team is able to serve more clients, more effectively by virtually eliminating the time spent on creating proposals, setting clients up in various systems, and managing payments.

They’re now able to set up automated monthly payments with all their clients, providing the firm with a consistent cash flow. This has had a major influence on the team’s strategic decision-making. They know what their future revenue looks like, which helps them to forecast accordingly, and they no longer have to manually manage a debtor book.

Ignition allows Abbeygate to get on with their day job: serving clients. Throughout every stage of the customer journey, from sending a proposal to receiving payment, Ignition has provided both Andy and his clients with a seamless, automated experience.

Discover how Ignition makes it simple to engage clients, get paid and run your accounting or professional services business on autopilot. Free-up to focus on what matters most –- your clients. 

Try our interactive demo to see how.

This content is brought to you by Ignition.

Ignition is the world’s first client engagement and commerce platform for professional services businesses.