Jordan's LinkedIn profile

My father is an accountant with his own practice. Growing up, I was pretty determined not to follow in his footsteps - I actually went off to Leeds to study Physics at university. At the time, I didn't really know what I wanted to do with the degree, or what kind of career I was aiming for. So I asked my dad if I could work at the practice while I figured things out.

To my surprise, I absolutely loved it. What really clicked for me was the data analysis side of things - something I'd picked up from my physics background. That analytical skillset was something I noticed was missing in a lot of traditional practices at the time. So I started my ACCA journey there as an apprentice and ended up qualifying during the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, I was working as an unqualified accounts assistant - mostly doing bookkeeping, VAT, and accounts prep. But by the time we came out the other side, I was a qualified accountant, helping clients navigate furlough schemes, bounce-back loans, and acting almost like a 'Business Samaritan' during what was a really tough time for a lot of business owners. The practice grew rapidly during that period, and I found myself moving up through the business pretty quickly. I had my own client base, and before I knew it, I was running the business alongside my dad - even though that was never really the plan.

What I've come to enjoy most about accountancy is the human side of it - the interaction and the advisory role. Early on, I didn't even realise that was part of the job. But once I started working with my own clients, I found I genuinely enjoyed listening to their concerns and helping them find solutions. That's the direction I want to take the business in. Yes, the technical work is important, but it's the relationships and the advice that really make a difference. That's where I see the real value, and it's what I want us to focus on moving forward.

We've grown to a team of 20 and we focus on clients that want to work with their accountants all year round. After the pandemic we decided our ideal clients are those that want regular meetings and regular advice, so we built a subscription pricing model to match that type of relationship. Our clients can have multiple meetings with us in a month if they're working through an issue, or not see us for a couple of months if they don't feel the need to. Client relationships in our practice are positive because they want to work with us and understand the value an accountant brings to their business. 

Promoting our way of working has attracted larger clients in the £1-3 million revenue areas – scale ups rather than start-ups – and we've invested in more knowledgeable staff to give them the advice that they need. Six of the team are now ACCA qualified with the rest of our accountants AAT qualified. We've grown with our clients and now the business is also in the £1-3 million revenue area itself.

Staffing is tough, so we created our AGS Academy to grow our own – we take on apprentices every year and we grow them through AAT apprenticeships and then onto ACCA. We've found that we can no longer recruit qualified staff the way we used to from other practices – people are leaving those practices following private equity consolidation to go into industry. Instead, we're going down the unconventional route of recruiting qualified staff from other sectors such as the public sector to train into practice. 

If you're a new business owner just starting out, chances are you've got no real idea what an accountant's job involves. And in today's software-led world, there's this perception that the tech will just handle everything for you. So naturally, people start to question why they even need an accountant.

But the reality is, software can only take you so far. It's great for automating tasks, but it doesn't replace the insight, strategy, and guidance that a good accountant brings to the table. That's where the gap is - and it's something we need to address.

I think there's a real responsibility here for software companies, government bodies, and professional organisations to step up and educate new business owners. They need to explain not just what accountants do, but why having one in your business is absolutely essential.

On the other hand, business owners that have been around for a long time may still have that old-school image of accountants - three-piece suits, paperwork once a year, and a big bill at the end. But that's not who we are anymore. The profession has moved on, and we need to help existing clients see that shift. It's just as important to educate those who've been in business for years as it is to guide new entrepreneurs.

When we bring on a client who has come from a very traditional firm, it can be a bit of a journey getting them to adapt to our way of working. It's a different mindset. But once they get it - once they see the value in having an accountant who's also a business advisor - they absolutely love it. It's a big education piece, but it's worth it.

Away from work I'm a massive music fan – listening to it and playing. I'm a big 80s fan (my dad's influence) and was in an 80s band at one time playing the keys and the synth - I was the youngest person in the band by 25 years. I'm also a quizzer and have a weekly quiz team – I'm weirdly good at geography.