CLIENT: Better People

Jayne Johnson was at her wits’ end with accountants who gave so little real business help. She changed to Panthera Accounting and has never looked back.

Jayne Johnson of recruitment specialists Better People Limited is nothing if not diligent in her selections, whether that is to find the right candidate for her client’s recruitment needs, or to support her own business. Five years ago, when she set out to find a new accountant, a bad previous experience meant that Jayne knew exactly what she did not want.

She recalled “I knew I had to have an accountant, but my first one always made me feel awful. He spoke in terms I didn’t understand. He told me what to do, but not how. The next promised to be different, but my accountant didn’t seem to know how to – or even want to – communicate.”

Finding the fit wasn’t just financial

Jayne searched for support to help her manage the business better, as well as her finances. She spoke with many accounting firms before engaging seriously with just a few. “I wanted a relationship-based business that would understand that numbers weren’t my strong suit and give me answers to my questions” she said.

Then, she met Tory Wagg from Panthera. “It felt so different straight away. I found her so easy to talk to. We talked about the numbers I wanted to track, and she actually asked: why? I could see quickly that Panthera would give me accounts support that would fit me and my business.”

As a recruitment consultant, Jayne is expert in identifying attributes that matter in making a match. She stated that “Panthera is not just accessible and responsive when you contact them, but they work to understand the position of client businesses so they have a good idea of the difficulties your business or sector might face. They are an outsourced business partner as well as an accountant.”

Oh, the relief of dependable support

Jayne felt instant relief. She explained: “I hated telling the bookkeeper we were changing, but Panthera helped me get across that it made sense. I was concerned about managing the handover from one bookkeeper to another and one accounting system to another, but Tory and the team handled it so smoothly! I was hardly involved. Having decided to have Panthera as my accountants, it gave me real peace of mind, that everything was under one roof now.”

Panthera now manages all the business and personal accounting, including annual accounts and tax returns, and monthly bookkeeping and payroll, and invoicing and credit control.

The character of the relationship is different than with previous accountants. Jayne said “It never feels like they are just interested in the annual accounts. They set quarterly meetings at minimum, help me track progress – and if I need any help on my cashflow forecast, or other ad hoc advice, they are there for me.”

She has an easy and positive relationship with account manager Ali Vermaak: “She’s so kind and personable – really lovely and easy to work with. Every interaction builds the relationship a little more as she takes notice of what’s going on in my business. It feels as though she really cares about the highs and lows of my business,” she added.

A real-time dialogue means that Panthera is fully in touch with where the business is going, not just where it has been. Jayne noted this: “The fact that I get to speak to them makes a huge difference – most accountants only want to talk at year end. I had no forward view of the business before. My old accountants did the bare minimum. Whereas Ali constantly makes suggestions and gives me tools.”

Going the extra mile – and more

Having a more dependable and engaged accounting partner paid dividends during the pandemic.

Panthera began having regular Zoom client meetings, as many firms did, but also went further. Jayne said “I could see Panthera went above and beyond, not just for all its clients but even for non-clients. They gave lots of free advice on LinkedIn and on Facebook groups. This wasn’t just going the extra mile, but an extra ten thousand miles.”

Better People’s priority was to tighten cashflow management: “Cashflow forecasts were important at a time when income varied so much. I had several payments I was tied into, and payment holidays made things confusing. Panthera helped me put together clear cashflow forecasts – I’ll be doing this every year now.”

Seeing beneath the sales surface

Jayne has observed that Panthera always looks below the surface of figures. Their diligence in understanding not just financial outcomes but their drivers is helping her shape her business. She reported that “Panthera is helping me understand my business, by breaking down figures month by month and asking things like where income has come from, and whether it’s from a repeat client, and whether a particular associate is truly pulling their weight.”

With more insight into finances, Jayne can now set clearer goals. This is already supporting growth. She reflected: “Ali encouraged me to invoice higher and to pursue higher value jobs that give a better return on my efforts. That alone has helped me to have a record year.”

She continued: “There are many areas where Panthera helped me make decisions that have improved my profitability. For example, they felt I was being a little more generous than I needed to be with my commissions and recalculated a more profitable structure for me.”

“I can make decisions with more confidence – for example, I’ve just made an offer for a new recruitment consultant to join my team, but another great candidate came along. Ali has helped me look at the cashflow forecast and walk me through whether it’s feasible to expand a bit faster.”

“It’s easy to think that accountants only care about cost saving – but Panthera also helps me see when an expenditure I am thinking of cutting is actually giving a good return and makes sense to keep.”

Win-win business partnership

Panthera is also a growing business which has now become a client of Better People.

Jayne explained “Part of my role is to represent my client’s business, and I have absolutely no difficulty in doing this with Panthera. I truly regard Tory as an enlightened employer, so I have no qualms representing the firm. The client interaction capability they seek from candidates makes them stand out – and helps me find the right people. If a highly qualified candidate doesn’t engage and can’t answer questions easily, it will never work.”

Jayne’s view of accountants was highly negative. Now she simply says: “Panthera is better. Panthera is different. If they weren’t, I wouldn’t recruit for them. They are now one of my favourite clients!”

Fitness for the future

The relationship enables both firms to benefit from the other’s professional expertise. Jayne told us that “Panthera really seems to understand the pressures of being a small business owner, of working on your own to grow your business, and the worries that brings.”

Tough economic times may lie ahead. Jayne is very glad to have one thing she does not need to worry about. “I would not like to be facing the current economic climate without Panthera on my team. I saw during COVID how responsive they are in a crunch. It was a difficult time, and they saw me through – I could have given up and lost the business. I didn’t, and after working with them my business is already far more robust and secure. If things peak and trough in the next year, I know they will be there to support me.”

Summing up, she concluded that “Finding the right accountant is very important for your business. If you want to grow, you need to really know your numbers – and you need the perspective of experts outside the business who can ask questions and keep a strategic financial overview while you’re head down in delivery.”