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Hardeep Mangat - in the Cloud and on Sky

25th Apr 2014
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Hardeep Mangat Interview Hardeep Mangat Interview

Who are you and what do you do?

I am Hardeep Mangat, founder of Nimble Jack Accounting.  The name "Nimble Jack" reflects how we work: we ensure the client is at the heart of everything we do and that we are nimble and quick; for example, we reply to all our emails the same day.  I started the business 5 years ago and it has grown due to referrals from existing clients.  The package we provide is straight forward, it includes everything - there are no extras - what you see on the tin is exactly what you get.

After leaving University College London I went to work for an investment bank and then for smaller accounting practices before spotting a gap in the market to offer contractors a personal accounting service.  I researched the typical accounting service provided to contractors and found that many accountants were managing the relationship with their contractors via account managers.

Contractors like fixed-price accounting services; it makes financial planning much easier.  The cost-effective way for accountants to provide fixed-price servicing is to manage client relationships via an account manager (over the phone) who usually hands off real decisions to the accountant.  This keeps costs down and makes it easier to offer a fixed price service.

However, there is a segment of busy contractors who want a relationship directly with the accountant that makes for quicker decision making.  They view the account manager as a barrier, restricting access to the expensive accountant.  The busy contractor doesn't want the added hassle of going through an account manager to get to the accountant.

This motivated me to start up my own business offering busy contractors direct access to accountants for a fixed fee.

At Nimble Jack we specialise in contractors (and freelancers) as well as small businesses.  We get hands-on with our customers, with as much hand holding that's needed and love to see that after a year they have a turnover greater than £100k.  We also appeared on Sky TV giving advice on the basics of business; it was very exciting to appear on television and it gives existing and prospective clients added confidence that we are very serious about what we do.

What hardware do you use?

We predominantly use PCs because all the packages we use work on PCs.  We do use iPads for meeting with clients and I have a MacBook.  My iPhone 5 is my most important piece of hardware; I have all my emails synced to it.  I use Dropbox and Google Drive on my phone too, for storing documents.  I share dropboxes with clients to synchronise their files.

I don't own a bicycle, but I do enjoy cycling around London, I just jump on one of them Boris bikes - they are great.  I own a VW Golf - it has a too many dents:  I'm not the greatest driver and people tend to reverse into me, but it serves me well.

What software do you use?

We keep our costs down by using consistent back-office processes that everyone can follow.  It was a natural progression to use the cloud for software, in conjunction with our processes it makes it much simpler to scale the business.

We use FreeAgent, it really bonds the client to us the accountant, we can see, in real-time what is going on. I can give the client a precise and complete picture of their accounts, there is no need to wait 12 months and say here are your accounts and here is your invoice.  For example, with Free Agent, I can tell the client when to switch on to flat rate VAT, how to split salary and dividend payments. I use FreeAgent for my own practice and bookkeeping - it works a treat.

If you are a retailer or have many different stock items then FreeAgent isn't for you;  but, if you are a small service business, FreeAgent wins hands-down because it is easy to use and provides unique features directly for the small business.  If a client does not want to use FreeAgent themselves, we will do the bookkeeping for them on FreeAgent.

We also use Adobe EchoSign for all our documents; this software lets clients electronically sign their accounts and is accepted by  Companies House.  The clients' engagement letter and accounts are all sent electronically which saves paper, protects the environment and is much faster.

We use VT Software for accounts production; it is cheap, straight forward and does the job. We use Skype and Google Hangouts for communicating with clients.

I use Rescue Time to manage my own time.  Rescue Time tells me where I spend my time on the computer -which software I'm using, which websites I'm spending time visiting.  I read this in the 4 Hour Work Week book by Tim Ferris. E-myth is another book telling you how to systemise your practice as you grow and what tasks you should hand over to your staff.  The systems should be so easy to use that anyone can pick them up.  For example we have a manual describing how to submit accounts to HRMC, we also have one for taking on a new client.  This ensures a consistent experience for our clients, it enables scaling and also frees up my time to focus on personal relationships and growing the business.

For recording mileage, FreeAgent handles mileage in the out-of-pocket expense tool. The biggest problem we have with our clients claiming mileage expenses is that not enough clients claim the mileage - they lose out.  I think one reason they do not claim it is  because they are not sure how to claim it - on all expenses there is a 20% corporation tax release. If you miss out on £1k of mileage expenses you will miss out on £200 - a trip to Europe!

Favourite business trip?

I would love to visit Edinburgh to meet the FreeAgent guys (hint, hint).

Dream setup?

My dream set up for handling accounts in the cloud is to have one system that does it all from CRM to accounts to bookkeeping - no integrations and all working seamlessly!

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By Thor-silver
31st Jul 2019 08:15

Unfortunately My experience with Nimble Jack Accounting has been terrible. This company has charged me for some months and they did not perform any work. The company owner has not been quite keen to help to resolve the ongoing issues. Scam!. Their website does is no longer working.
Furthermore there has been more complains about another customers who had the same bad experience. Please check google re-views to check it. It would be kindly appreciated if this website stop promoting a fraudulent company such us Nimble Jack Accounting.

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