Rob Milner started Neon Numbers in 2012, handling payroll, tax and accounts himself from his kitchen table.
The firm now has 20 staff across two high-street offices in Portsmouth and Gosport, where clients can walk in and get help in person.
The challenge
As the team grew, Rob’s job moved from doing the work to running the firm. That meant he needed to see who was looking after each client, whether deadlines were being met and where time was going.
Spreadsheets and extra pieces of software were filling the gaps, and pulling reports together took hours every month.
The solution
Found at Fusion
Neon Numbers already used TaxCalc for tax and accounts. Rob was not looking for new software when he went to TaxCalc’s Fusion event in London, but Engager changed his mind.
“The jump to Engager has stopped us using spreadsheets and extra pieces of software, because we can now fully trust the practice management software that all of our deadlines are going to be met.”
For Rob, the jobs page was what stood out.
“You can see who’s doing what, when, and when the deadlines are occurring. The user interface and ease of use of the software is really the selling point.”
Getting the data right
Rob is open that the move took commitment, and that the quality of the data loaded at the start mattered most.
“The guys at Engager were brilliant about telling me how important the data upload is. that’s the key. Computers make errors because the data isn’t there. So we have to make sure the data is there, and then it’s worked.”
Onboarding from one page
Engager’s integrations bring the steps of onboarding together. From a single page the team sets the client up in TaxCalc, runs the anti-money laundering check through Xama, sets up the Adfin direct debit, sends the proposal and engagement letter, opens the client portal and sends professional clearance to the previous accountant.
“I’ve done a full client onboarding in less than 40 minutes. That’s probably four or five times quicker than it would have been before.”
Rob’s senior staff now onboard new clients the same way. The firm uses the client portal for signed tax returns, VAT returns and P60s, and plans to do more with it.
The result
The biggest change for Rob is the time he no longer spends on reports.
“It’s definitely saved me a good 10 or so hours a month in generating reports, analysing reports and then feeding back on those reports.”
“I can see, within two or three clicks, who’s working on what, when I’m expecting to receive the final work, or when the client’s going to be serviced.”
Asked whether Engager pays for itself, his answer was short: “It is now.”
He also values seeing what is coming next.
“What’s good with Engager is they’ve got a website where you can request features, it’ll tell you if a feature’s already been requested, that they’re working on it, and when it’s going to be released. I feel like we’re in safe hands.”
The bottom line
Neon Numbers has grown from one person to 20 with a single place to run the practice, and now has:
- Client onboarding in under 40 minutes, around four to five times faster
- About 10 hours a month back on reporting
- Clear sight of who is doing what, and when
- No more spreadsheets and extra tools to track deadlines
