How a century-old accountingfirm pioneers modernity

SCRUTTON BLAND

™

Scrutton Bland dates back to 1919, when Alfred Scrutton and Francis Goodchild started the firm as young men in their twenties. Through the Roaring Twenties, economic depression, the Second World War and the pre-computer era of the 1970s - when ledgers were typed out and duplicated with carbon paper, and unwanted documents torn by hand - Scrutton Bland has survived and adapted.

In 2015, they introduced cloud technology to their clients and brought in Receipt Bank, developing a brand new service line: SBLive. Two years ago, they mandated it across their bookkeeping teams. This is designed to bring small businesses the digital systems and cloud-based technology they need to thrive.

Ryan Pearcy

Director in Business Advisory and Systems Advisory, Scrutton Bland

Evolving client needs; clients were in need of more cash flow forecasting, advisory services and technical support.

A century-old accounting firm with four offices, over four counties, offering a complete suite of financial services to clients across the UK.

Mandate Receipt Bank across bookkeeping teams and develop a new service line: SBLive.

Unlocked a new revenue stream (£250k annual turnover projected for fourth year, with £74k in the last year) Gave clients access to real-time data and enabled remote working through lockdown.

Increased existing client engagement and won new clients.

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CHALLENGE

SCRUTTON BLAND

SOLUTION

RESULTS

SYSTEMISING BUSINESSADVISORY WITHSYSTEMS ADVISORY

OUR SERVICES EVOLVE CONSTANTLY. AS THE ERA OF PROVIDING JUST COMPLIANCE STARTS TO DIE, THE QUESTION NOW IS: ‘WHAT CAN WE DO FOR CLIENTS, ON TOP OF FILING THE TAX RETURN?”

Ryan Pearcy, the Director in Business Advisory and Systems Advisory at Scrutton Bland, joined the century-old firm to drive

their cloud technology and business advisory arm forward. He had previously helped firms transition into the cloud with the onset of Making Tax Digital in 2019, and identified an opportunity for a new service line for Scrutton Bland: a separate service that specialises in implementation and training.

“We wanted to share our internal tech expertise with clients who needed a support system: someone they could call and ask for advice on what products to use,” explains Pearcy. “There are over 800 apps that integrate with Xero. It can be overwhelming. Rather than standardising the apps we recommend, we’ve created a bespoke system that’s tailored to their objectives. Are they looking to save money? Do they need to improve reporting? Or do they need to work remotely when lockdown hits?”

The team gathers this information, produces a proposal then visually maps out their current process - from lead generation right through to sales, fetching expense paperwork and readying it for reconciliation. “We research the ecosystem and recommend the best systems for them. This creates massive efficiency gains, but also enables live reporting across different tools. We stagger the roll-out over time, and manage the implementation,” says Pearcy.

“We blew our targets in the first six months, and in the fourth year, expect to hit a £250,000 annual turnover. Almost unanimously, clients report efficiency gains within a year, plus additional ROI after the set-up costs,” says Pearcy. “Receipt Bank is a key lynchpin in our purchase management system. We use Receipt Bank to gather data from expenses and structure how that flows through the business.”

Ryan Pearcy

Director in Business Advisory and Systems Advisory, Scrutton Bland

The system runs itself once the initial set-up of Receipt Bank is in place. You don’t need to worry so much at month-end as work is processed throughout the month. As paperwork is processed in a much shorter space of time, the figures you receive are up-to-date and more accurate for business decisions.”

SERVING BUSINESSES WITH AN OUTSOURCED FINANCE DEPARTMENT

“Five years ago, Receipt Bank was the stand-out product. The app was and is a key selling point. We found it easy and intuitive from the start. It’s easy for clients to use, and because the process is simple, the concept is easy for people to get behind,” says Pearcy. “It was also fixed-fee. This really helped us drive change internally, justify the initial investment and clarify the long-term gain.”

The Scrutton Bland team utilise Receipt Bank’s Outstanding Paperwork feature to quickly identify what information is missing, and keep track of the number of transactions through Receipt Bank to gauge client engagement. Scrutton Bland’s bookkeeping team use Receipt Bank on a day-to-day basis.

Nikki Taylor

Bookkeeper, Scrutton Bland

A CLEAR CLOUD STRATEGY: FOUNDING SBLIVE

“Technology is a key part of our strategy. Our premise is cloud-first wherever possible,” says Pearcy. “We first saw the drive to the cloud six years ago, and prioritised our ability to get data as quickly as possible. SBLive was established to advance the business advisory arm of the business, focusing on cloud and digital systems.”

Pearcy and his team are now looking to create data lakes, where pools of client information can fall and follow an automated script. This strategy would also extract information from clients that was previously unavailable, in order to build a clearer picture of their finances and offer even richer advice. By linking to bank feeds from Xero, the team then uses Receipt Bank to gather and process purchase data with a third of their cloud-based clients.

Scrutton Bland rely on the integration between Xero as their key finance software platform, Receipt Bank and Futrli for reporting. “These are the backbone to our service at SBLive. We want clients to do things in real-time when they outsource bookkeeping to us. Before SBLive, most of our clients were looking at their finances once or twice a year. These clients were used to a desktop software, where data was manually added, and not getting anything useful from the information before their accountant analysed it. It was very hard to get reliable data and insights unless they were willing to pay for it,” says Pearcy.

“Now, we take a different approach. Our clients can now open an app on their phone and see an expense from the day before, already reconciled. They are able to make the best decisions for their business, from a tax planning, investment, strategy, stock management and HR perspective.

And it’s all data-based. It’s much more trustworthy than putting a finger in the air or checking a bank balance, that often isn’t a true reflection of what can be spent. Receipt Bank and SBLive have really enhanced our ability to provide advice to clients,” says Pearcy.

“With Receipt Bank, we now generate additional revenue that didn’t exist before. Our existing clients engage with us far more, and we’ve been able to also win new clients. We introduce them to something they often have never experienced before,” says Pearcy.

For this century-old accounting practice, innovation and resilience has formed its foundation. As we navigate the challenges and economic uncertainty of the post-Covid economic landscape, Scrutton Bland have the people and systems ready to continue to thrive.

WE WERE USING A PAPER-BASED SYSTEM TO PROCESS THE AUTHORISATION AND PAYMENT OF BILLS. SOMETIMES PAPERWORK WAS LOST OR HELD UPWAITING FOR A MANAGER TO PHYSICALLY SIGN OFF THE DOCUMENTS. [WITH RECEIPT BANK AND SCRUTTON BLAND], WE CAN NOW PROCESS BILLS … FROM HOME.” Caroline DickinsonFinancial Controller, Suffolk Family Carers

CONTACT US CALL +44 (0) 203 699 5006VISIT WWW.RECEIPT-BANK.COM