When Yorkshire-based accountancy firm Northern Accountants set out on its mission to help busy business owners to do less work and earn more money, it knew that embracing the power of timesaving technology would be key to its success.
This forward-thinking practice found a like-minded partner in Modulr, together with a BrightPay integration that’s helping to save hours by automating payroll and enabling it to deliver on its promise of working smarter, and not harder.
Navigating the changing accountancy landscape
Northern Accountants recognise that the landscape for accountancy services is changing. It’s no longer enough to have just an annual meeting with your accountant. Business owners demand, and deserve, more. They need to be financially empowered, which means having access to real-time financial data so that business decisions can be made with confidence, based on facts.
In order to give its clients the support they need, when they need it, Northern Accountants knew it needed to offer not just accountancy services but a fully outsourced finance function.
“There's been a massive shift in the adoption of cloud technologies and the move towards real time accounting. We’ve evolved to offer a complete suite of services. And we do so because we believe that every business, regardless of size, needs to have an appropriate finance function. And not one that’s being done last minute on a Sunday afternoon before the VAT return deadline by the CEO or owner. Our clients need real time, up-to-date information, and as much automation as possible,” explains Northern Accountants Founder & CEO, Phil Ellerby.
Phil and his team knew that no fully outsourced finance function would be complete without payroll, but they also knew that the time-consuming and manual workflows traditionally associated with this would increase client pain points and carry a heavy administrative burden.
Technology that really adds up
Luckily, thanks to a time saving Modulr integration, Northern Accountants are now able to process client payroll faster and more efficiently than ever before, directly through BrightPay.
Phil and his team simply run payroll as normal, select ‘Pay by Modulr’ within BrightPay. Pending payments can be easily approved in the online portal and the Modulr account topped up, allowing employees to be paid automatically and in minutes, with no manual exports or file uploads to banks.
The right amount is paid on time, every time without Northern Accountants having to double and triple check the payment files. Faster, real-time 24/7 payments afford the ultimate in convenience and the flexibility to schedule payments in advance or make last minute changes. In this way, Northern Accountants are empowered to deliver the accurate, real-time data and insights that set their practice apart, and in turn financially empowers their clients.
“The Modulr integration makes it so much easier and enables us to manage the process much better. It guarantees accuracy and gives us the peace of mind that that everyone's getting paid the right amount, at the right time, including HMRC! PAYE overpayment or underpayment becomes a thing of the past, together with time-consuming reconciliation,” says Phil.
And, just how much time does it save? Well, Phil estimates that it saves about 30 minutes a month.
“That's six hours. That's a day a year! And that’s just with one company. We have 150 clients using BrightPay so that's a potential time saving of 75 hours a month,” he explains. “What’s more payroll becomes a chargeable service which means we can invest further in the business and our growing team.”
So, as this Modulr/BrightPay integration proves, delivering real time account information has the potential to not only transform the services that accountants offer, but also transform an accountancy practice too.