CUSTOMER TESTIMONIALS

Don't take our word for it

We recently caught up with some of our customers to ask what’s changed since moving to Silverfin. Here’s what they told us, in their own words.

We had businesses that were still working a lot on paper, if we're being honest, and some desktop platforms as well. So it was a huge change. We are a private equity backed consolidator in the UK. We've been on this journey for three, thirty four years now, and Silverfin, frankly, has played a big part in helping us bring our acquired businesses together. Putting people and culture to one side, one of the other biggest challenges we found bringing businesses together was just the different ways of doing effectively the same thing. One would be quite surprised how many different ways there are doing a set of working papers or a set of accounts. Firstly, one of the biggest benefits for Silverfin or to Silverfin for us was that it's based in the cloud. It's also able to provide that very standardized platform so we can bring offices all together across the country, very, very diverse teams, but start to work in one standardized way. So selfishly, as head of outsourcing, one of the biggest positive impacts of Silverfin has been doing the in year working papers that support the management information. And you get to the end of the year, and effectively, the accounts are done, bar a few extra disclosures. So awesome efficiency is starting to be achieved in our team.

Sarah Gardner, Shaw Gibbs

Why moving to the cloud mattered most.

Old systems, multiple processes, and different ways of working, so it's really hard to manage and and standardize our ways of working across the team. Gravitura, a top thirty accounting firm, offer all services to our clients. Bringing all seven businesses that are now part of Gravitura together was a lot of hard work, but has been great as an outcome for it. I think definitely understanding how people work before and agreeing the new ways of working was really important to start with, and then standardizing and documenting it so any new businesses or teams that join the group can easily roll out and start using Silverfin, and if you like, to grab it away, which we've agreed to Silverfin. I'd there's a few reasons why it felt the right fit. A few of the businesses who joined the group already used it. I think it makes a real difference when the team like it and are using it well. One of our tech strategies is to try and pick, like, market leading cloud based platforms. I think much easier to use, much more scalable, and the fact it's a a product based business of, like, development improvement sort of aligns with our tech strategy, and then it gives that, you know, constant thread throughout standardization that anyone can use it throughout. The onboarding and rollout process in Silverfin, I think that's evolved over time. When we first started rolling out, we only had four firms that were part of the group. Two of them had used it before, so there was that level saying of the gravity away in using Silverfin standardization, and that was probably more effort in the designing and agreeing of the processes. Once we've done that, though, any new company that's joined the group, it's been much easier to sort of, share the learnings from before and roll them on office by office. And our most recent office, Oxford, is loving it and now using it in the last couple of months. And that process definitely become much slicker. Certainly, working the Sylvan team and our, like, internal champions sort of lead that rollout, and we're looking forward to doing more in the future. I'd say the biggest impact overall is the ability for anyone to work on a client and the accounts. So we have team members in Essex, working team members in Exeter. As with prior to that, we just couldn't do it, we can share work to the right people at the right time. I think some of the features and functionalities are far better than the tools we're using before. So I think actually working more collaboratively, certainly the review and feedback features the team talked really highly of, and the way actually our quality and risk management, the fact we do things the same way, again, is really good for Gravita looking forwards. As we move forwards in going with Gravita, I think Silfin's really impactful in the if we have resource countries, different offices, we can easily share that workload and different offices have different seasonality. So I think that's been really helpful. As we grow, we can then share that across across each office.

Simon Gateley, Gravita

What changed after leaving the old toolset.

Change management in the accountancy industry is a absolute minefield. So BCAL is a London based practice, and we have currently five offices and about four hundred and fifty, five hundred employees, and we use Silverfin in our accounts and business services team, which is approximately a hundred and fifty people. The biggest frustration was just inconsistencies across the board. Different partners, different managers were doing different ways of producing a set of accounts. So the main aim was to get standardization across the board and make sure that everyone was working in a consistent way. When we initially started, it was a lot to take on. Silverfin covers a huge amount of the work we do on a day to day basis. But as people have got confidence in the system and really understand what Silfen and VKL joined together are trying to do, it's really changed the way that people work. We've really utilized the Silfen team. So the CS team have been instrumental in making sure that our rollout has been useful and also that we're getting all of the up to date content on a regular basis. I always say that it's in that second year that when you've implemented Silverfin in year one and then you roll it forward into year two, those efficiency gains and that standardization that you get across the board just really changes the whole dynamic of the team, and we're able to share resource cross office, cross teams, and really have exactly the same product. Silverfin, it really has given that standardization, that efficiency gain.

Hollie Moore, BKL

Standardising the way the whole team works.

For us, it just it was the time saving, and there was no errors in the data as it brought forward. We prepare schedules and working papers on a regular basis. Every team member, could prepare them slightly differently for every client, and so there's many different ways that people were doing things. We were looking at something that could streamline that, and we could set a a template format to make sure that everyone was producing the same quality and following the same data, and we're getting the same output. The digital journey is is not gonna be easy. You've got a team of people that you all have to convince to do things a different way. A lot of the support that Sullivan gave us in mapping out how we were gonna phase this into our firm and working with us and working with the team on numerous sessions around the problems that they were encountering with what they were already doing and how that was gonna be resolved in Silverfin. And really getting them involved in building how those workflows, look for them as well was really key. So they were involved from the start and bought in at that stage. A move to Silverfin means with it embedded all in within the software, we have monthly workflows with all those reconciliations in. The previous months roll forward, the data rolls forward, and a lot of the data fills in itself automatically from our source data, so Xero, QuickBooks, etcetera. So our year end then has all the reconciliations automatically in there, so it just means that it's such a smooth process now. We have built and rolled out, and we're successfully using the insights feature now, and that's tracking our jobs and how they progress, which is really key for us as we're growing because we need to control our delivery to clients. It's it's changed in the team because if there was somebody that had a lot of pressure or time pressure or deadlines, all the team members can support it. Also means that we're not losing any of the previous periods data. So where there was a change in team member or a manager wants to look back, they all the data is there, and it's all flowing and connected into the source data as well.

Jill Morris, PM+M

Growing without losing the previous period's data.

Silverfin were the only provider who were able to make those customizations that we needed. What we were doing previously was building sets of accounts in whatever it we were using at the time and then exporting it as a PDF and then manually editing it. And the reason that it really came to head for me is because we're Guernsey based, all of our, year end reporting is the same as the UK broadly, but there's like subtle differences. Say, for example, where you're putting in a disclosure about an audit exemption, the wording is different, the law that's mentioned is different, and no one other than Silverfin was able to offer any customization for that. Our year end process is definitely a lot smoother with Silverfin. Silverfin's made it really easy for us to settle that process of one person's preparing and another person's reviewing. That has a really small practice before. It was kinda just me. So we weren't really necessarily following that step by step process that larger practices would follow, but it's made it super simple because Silverfin really clearly shows us what each person has done and make sure that any supporting documentation is all in the right place. Silverfin, even just a week ago, put in a customization that I asked for maybe a year ago and they said at the time, sorry, we can't do this one. And I said, well, that's okay. But then a week ago, we had an email saying, hey, do you know that thing you asked for? We've done it. And no one else would do that for us. Initially, the the Silverfin, like, academy kind of thing, it was all video based and you had to watch the videos and then try to and that doesn't really work for me. So I emailed and I said, look. I I can't follow this. And our account manager said, look. Give me, like, a day. And she came back and she turned all of the video content into PDFs. And it was just, like, a really good, like, personal touch, that really made a huge difference.

Tim Chilestone, TCS Guernsey

The only provider who could customise to suit our needs.

If you're looking to move, you're looking to move for a reason. Right? If you're looking for new software, it's because you don't like your old software. And therefore, Silverfinch definitely on your, you know, at least on your list to check out. But for me, I think it should be at the top of that list. Change is exciting. I think that's that's normally what stops people. They don't like change or they put those barriers in place thinking no one will want to do it. It'll all still be done the same way. But if you're strong with what your vision is and you know that the output is gonna be so much better and it's gonna help in so many ways, you just have to just go for it. Trust the process. That first year can be tough, and I think there is so many gains that you get in that year too. Just trust in the process. The people that are unsure or sitting on the fence, I'd say give it a go. I team are really approachable. The rollout's really easy, and I think definitely compared to other products in the market, it is evolving, continues to evolve really quickly. For me, when managers and partners come to me about fourteen to eighteen months down the line, and they're like, I really get it. I get what you were trying to say. I now see what you were saying is a reality. For me, it's a bit of a no brainer. It's smoother than any other solution that I've seen, and I think that it's definitely like, it definitely should be among everyone's considerations.

Getting started with Silverfin

First impressions, unfiltered. And why you should start today.

I'm not gonna lie. Moving on to one standardized platform is a huge, huge change. Change management in the accountancy industry is a absolute minefield, and I don't think there's a right way of doing it. The digital journey is is not gonna be easy. You've got a team of people that you all have to convince to do things a different way. We originally took the process of doing it team by team. So we work in smaller teams called pods. So we rolled it out to individual pods and sort of find frustrations and then sort of develops the way of rolling out the software each pod that comes along. I think definitely understanding how people work before and agreeing the new ways of working was really important to start with and then standardizing and documenting it. What we've actually learned is sometimes it's better to rip the plaster off quickly, as they say, and go for whole scale change as opposed to doing it over a longer period of time, which actually surprised us, but that definitely worked better for some officers. I always say that it's in that second year that when you've implemented Silverfin in year one and then you roll it forward into year two, those efficiency gains and that standardization that you get across the board just really changes the whole dynamic of the team, and we're able to share resource cross office, cross teams, and really have exactly the same product.

The hard part wasn't the software

How the efficiency gains and standardisation change the game.

I'd say the biggest, impact overall is the ability for anyone to work on a client and the accounts. So we have team members in Essex, working team members in Exeter. As with prior to that, we just couldn't do it, so we can share work to the right people at the right time. It's it's changed in the team because it allows that flow of data. We're not losing data with certain individuals. It's all kept within one system. Our year end process is definitely a lot smoother with Silverfin. Silverfin's made it really easy for us to settle that process of one person's preparing and another person's reviewing. It's also able to provide that very standardized platform so we can bring offices all together across the country, very, very diverse teams, but start to work in one standardized way. I think some of the features and functionalities are far better than the tools we're using before. So I think actually working more collaboratively, sending the review and feedback features the team talked really highly of, and the way actually our quality of risk management, the fact we do things the same way, again, is really good for Gravity looking forward. So with Finite, it really has given that standardization, that efficiency gain The gravity weight, which we've agreed to Silverfin.

Anyone can work on any client file

Bringing every office onto one way of working.

The Silvan team and the customer success team on onboarding spent a lot of time working with us, with the team as well and making sure that we were getting the implementation right and the output was gonna be right for us. We've really utilized the Silvan team, so the CS team have been instrumental in making sure that our rollout has been useful and also that we're getting all of the up to date content on a regular basis. I think the team always thinks it's a small thing, but I refer to them by, like, first names. They know each other personally, always on hand whether WhatsApp teams are jumping on a call if something goes wrong or something that's new. So, yeah, thank you for the efforts. And what I really liked as well is that initially, the the Silverfin, like, academy kind of thing, it was all video based, and that doesn't really work for me. So I emailed and I said, look, I I can't follow this. And our account manager said, look, give me, like, a day, and she came back and she turned all of the video content into PDFs for us to follow, which I found much easier, and it was just, like, a really good, like, personal touch that really made a huge difference. The Silverfin, even just a week ago, put in a customization that I asked for maybe a year ago, and they said at the time, sorry. We can't do this one. And I said, well, that's okay. But then a week ago, we had an email saying, hey. Do you know that thing you asked for? We've done it. And no one else would do that for us.

Silverfin build what you ask for

What happened when we asked for a change.

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Leading firms work with Silverfin

FAQ

For busy teams looking for accurate and consistent data, Silverfin includes a wide range of features to support every aspect of client account preparation, including cloud automation, client file standardization, and financial data analysis

What sets Silverfin apart as a choice for cloud accounting software for ambitious accounting firms?

Silverfin delivers enhanced accounting for ambitious firms with cloud software with live client files, connected workpapers and AI you can trust. Built by accountants for accountants, we support over 340,000 client files annually for firms including 30 of the UK’s top 100.

How does Silverfin ensure data accuracy and real time access for accountants?

With your live client data stored in the Silverfin Hub, it’s easy for your entire team to access the latest information and streamline core accounting work. With everyone working on the latest client data you avoid wasted work while automation eliminates errors and creates capacity.

What are the time-saving benefits of using Silverfin for year-end preparations and corporation tax submissions?

Fast, accurate, paperless preparation and review of your client accounts with digital workpaper templates connected to your live client file improves accuracy and creates capacity.

Year-end preparations and corporation tax submissions can take 50% less time using automation, roll forward updates, AI data checking and in-context communications.

Can Silverfin help accounting firms enhance their client service and advisory capabilities?

Silverfin can improve the quality and consistency of your firm’s work. For example, prepare and submit MTD-compliant statutory accounts in a fraction of the time with our smart templates, including relevant notes and disclosures. Whether is accounts production or corporation tax, with Silverfin these files are all automatically pre-populated with data from your Working Papers.

Then improve your advisory services and delight clients with portfolio and practice-wide automated data analysis that helps you manage client service delivery, and enable deeper client relationships through data-driven insights.

What pricing model does Silverfin offer and how does it benefit accounting firms?

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