A recent conversation at a networking event got me thinking about something we rarely discuss openly in the accountancy profession: what clients actually experience when they engage with a traditional firm.
Picture a Victoria Sponge Cake. At the very top, crowned with a cherry, sits the Partner. Below that, the Senior Manager layer. Then Junior staff. And at the base, supporting everything, the Admin team. It’s a familiar structure, and one which most accountancy firms follow because it works for them.
But does it work for their clients? You may have signed up with the cherry on top, through networking or an event maybe, but they are unlikely to ever touch your accounts.
How Traditional Practices Work
When you engage with a large or medium-sized accountancy practice, you’re typically paying rates which reflect the Partner’s expertise and reputation. That’s the rate on the invoice, the number that makes you wince slightly when it arrives.
Yet the reality? The Partner you met at the initial consultation might review your work for fifteen minutes at the end of the process. The bulk of your accounts, tax returns, and bookkeeping is handled by the least experienced (and lowest paid) members of the team. They are often talented and hardworking, but they’re still building their expertise.
Then there’s the Admin layer. Onboarding processes, filing accounts at Companies House, issuing invoices, updating your address on systems. These essential tasks add another tier of separation between you and the expertise you wanted to buy.
The result? You’re passed from pillar to post. One person handles your queries, another does your bookkeeping, someone else prepares your accounts, and a fourth person chases you for information. Emails get lost in translation. Your specific circumstances need explaining repeatedly. Context gets diluted with each handover.
The Full-Fat Alternative
When you work with Hydref Accounting, you work with me. Just Kath. No layers, no delegation, no surprise appearances from team members you’ve never met.
That means every single aspect of your accountancy needs is handled by someone with 35 years of experience. Not 35 years of overseeing others or signing off on work, but 35 years of hands-on, practical, technical experience across bookkeeping, payroll, accounts preparation, tax returns, and all the admin that keeps businesses compliant and running smoothly.
Your onboarding? I do it. Your bookkeeping? I do it. Your year-end accounts? I do it. Your tax return? I do it. Updating your address on the HMRC systems? I do that too.
Every task, from the strategic to the administrative, is handled by a fully qualified professional who knows your business inside out. There’s no game of telephone, no information lost in translation, no explaining your circumstances to a different person each time you make contact.
The Cherry on Top
As well as the technical work, every Hydref client gets nine bookable 15-minute catch-up sessions per year. These aren’t snatched conversations between meetings or hurried phone calls when something’s gone wrong. They’re dedicated time, scheduled when it suits you, to discuss whatever you need.
Want to book them in advance for quarterly planning sessions? Perfect. Prefer to keep them in reserve for when questions crop up? That works too. Use them for big strategic discussions or small technical queries. It’s entirely up to you.
And here’s something you won’t find at traditional practices: no clock watching, no timesheets ticking away in the background, no anxiety about whether your five-minute question will trigger a bill for half an hour’s work.
Rethinking Value
The accountancy cake looks impressive from the outside. Multiple layers suggest substance, scale, and capability. But when you’re running a growing business, do you really need all those layers? Or would you rather have direct access to the expertise, the experience, and the attention that larger firms promise but rarely deliver?
Sometimes, the whole cake isn’t as good as the cherry itself. Get in touch on 03333 449270 to talk about your business goals and how better accounting would support them. Alternatively book an appointment through my Calendly link.
