05 September 2022 – Accountants have a critical role to play in supporting economic growth in South Africa. They fulfil a broader role than the sometimes perceived notion that they are just “number crunchers”, and small to medium businesses are increasingly turning to them for business advice. The value of an accountant is most pronounced during uncertain, volatile, and depressed economic conditions, and according to research from Xero, 56% of South African SME owners say their accountant was crucial in helping them survive the pandemic.
In 2021, FNB collaborated with Xero and Edge Growth to deliver a first-of-its-kind developmental initiative aimed at supporting and empowering black-owned accounting practices that support the SME market. The programme is highly bespoke and designed to target challenges faced by small to medium, black-owned accounting practices that aspire to scale.
Following the success of the pilot programme, with participating accounting practices experiencing a collective 34% rise in revenue, FNB and Xero are calling for new applications for 2023.
Avani Manilal, ESD solution strategist at FNB, says: “In aiming to fund SMEs, we often encounter constraints arising from ineffectual financial management, accounting, and bookkeeping. On the other hand, we noted that there are few black-owned SME accounting practices serving this market. This led to the design and delivery of a bespoke programme aimed at scaling black-owned accounting practices who can then in turn better serve the SME market. We partnered with Xero because of their focus on innovation and the digitisation of businesses, as well as the fact that they are as passionate about building businesses as we are.”
Cohort 1 impact
The first group of participants in the FNB Xero Programme for Accounting Practices comprised fifteen talented, high-potential accounting practices hailing from the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Northern Cape and Mpumalanga. The participants focused on servicing the SME market through offerings such as accounting and bookkeeping, tax advisory, business advisory and audit services.
The programme was specifically designed to shift the practices’ business performance in three ways: promoting digital transformation; facilitating the improvement of the quality of accounting, advisory and compliance services; and empowering black practice owners with holistic, practical practice-management skills.
By the end of the first programme, participants had recorded good progress in each of the three objectives. The biggest wins were observed in improving practice-management skills – although many practices possessed the technical knowledge, they benefited significantly from the business management and leadership skills imparted to them. The entire cohort made numerous positive changes in how they manage their practices, from leveraging technology to optimise productivity, to managing cash flow efficiently, all the way to creating and refining HR policies.
Overall, the pilot cohort achieved 34% growth in revenue, 700% growth in profit, and a 46% average improvement in business maturity, which shows an increase in the sophistication of the businesses.
Ncumisa Nodaka, founder and MD of Ncumisa Chartered Accountants and Auditors, who was one of the participants in the first cohort had this to say during the programme close event. “What I appreciated about the programme,” she says, “is that I could meet with my mentor weekly and that I was given access to leaders of successful accounting firms, engage with them, and speak to them in a way that we wouldn’t usually have a chance to. Normally, as accountants, we are great at looking at other businesses and giving recommendations and suggestions, but we tend to neglect our own houses. This programme not only shines a light into your own business, but entails a lot of personal growth and development that takes place in terms of us as entrepreneurs. I would recommend this programme to every single accountant.”
An opportunity to assist black-owned accounting practices to grow and scale
Colin Timmis, South African Country Manager at Xero, says: “It’s been amazing to see the development of practices on the programme over the last year and a half. It really does show that with the right support, mentorship, skills development and digital tools in place, accounting firms can not only boost their own profitability, but have a transformational impact on the small business clients they work with. We’re looking forward to working with FNB and Edge to support the next generation of accountants as we welcome new practices to the programme.”
Daniel Hatfield, CEO of Edge Growth, says: “This programme is market leading in that it brings together three very different partners with complementing capabilities in FNB, Xero and Edge Growth – a unique combination of Xero’s specialist and technology enabled capability and FNB’s long track record, strong brand and access to market. This makes for a very powerful programme with great results.”
Avani Manilal concludes: “We’ve found that this programme has delivered immense value to the accounting practices that participated. In designing the programme, we have been very intentional about the impact we wanted to create and objective measurement of that impact. Programme metrics have served to measure behavioural changes which we hope will drive sustainable practices long after the programme has ended.”
Take your practice to the next level with the FNB Xero Programme for Accounting Practices 2023-24, Supported by Edge Growth
- Are you a registered accounting practice that has been in operation for at least 3 years?
- Is your practice at least 51% black-owned?
- Do you have an accreditation with a professional body such as SAICA or SAIPA?
- Do you have industry experience servicing SMEs?
- Are you keen to embrace technology to improve?
- Do you aspire to grow and attract investment?
If you have answered YES to all of the above – then this could be the perfect opportunity for you!
Please visit the Edge Growth Incubator Portal Page
Applications will open on 5 September 2022 and will close on 30 September 2022.
A maximum of 15 entrepreneurs will be selected to be part of the programme, which commences in January 2023.
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