Tax Help Direct is an Essex accountancy firm that prides itself on offering a wide range of services to its 250 clients.
It has seen a boost to client numbers in recent years. Serving trades of all sizes, the team provides accountancy services to start-ups, established businesses, subcontractors and even large limited companies.
The Southend-based group is headed by Kris Pamenter, a sole practitioner with over 30 years’ accountancy experience.
As the practice grew, so did the demands on Kris’s time. Kris offers a personal touch to each client, so his hours at the office increased and efficiency became a primary objective.
Level of customer service
Kris felt that cost was becoming an issue for a firm of this size. When his previous software provider was bought out by a competitor, he felt the level of customer service he had previously enjoyed was in decline too, which was particularly noticeable with their IT support.
After contact from Thomson Reuters, he started discussions to move suppliers. Any such move can be daunting, and always carries a certain leap of faith, but Kris was instantly impressed and recounts the decision to move to be an easy one.
“[Thomson Reuters] gave me a demo of their software”, he says, “and, once I had seen it I knew it was so much more modern than what I was using before. As soon as we agreed the costs, it was an easy decision.”
Migration process
Prior to the official move, Tax Help Direct worked closely with Thomson Reuters on the migration and subsequent training sessions to make sure as much as possible could be was in place from day one. Laura and Trudy in the Welcome Services team managed the migration process.
“They were very accommodating”, he said. “I had to change the session dates at late notice, due to the nature of my having to work around client commitments as a sole practitioner, and they managed to move things around with no stress at all. They made the whole process easy.”
After only a few training sessions Kris was ready to go live. “The training was so good I found it easy to pick it up,” he says. “Rattan worked with us from day one and he has been absolutely fantastic – he made it very straightforward. After an initial implementation session, there was a second session then a final one just to make sure I was happy with the product and I was.”
Very useful
A few months down the line the benefits for Tax Help Direct are obvious, and Kris is starting to work more efficiently. “Digita Practice Management is very useful. When I first started switching over, I put together a spreadsheet with all my data and they basically populated that into the new database. This gave me a full list of all clients and dates and Rattan did all this as part of the migration.”
He also says: “What I pay Thomson Reuters is a similar amount to before, but the software is more useful. It is more about flexibility and saving time.”
“The Digita Virtual Office is fantastic, because you can use it anywhere as it is cloud-based. Now I can go out to clients and work remotely.
“That means they can give me the information I need there and then, rather than me having to take it away or for them to scan it then send it over electronically. I can save hours every week for both myself and my clients.”
He adds: “The reports look so much more professional now. The clients comment on that.”
