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Mergers in accountancy are accelerating, but many firms underestimate the challenge of integrating people, processes, and technology once the deal is done. In this article, experts share practical lessons on aligning systems, securing team buy-in, and scaling without disruption.

Increasingly, business clients expect drilled-down management reporting from their accounting partner. As a firm, you’ll be used to providing management accounts to a number of your major clients – helping them to manage their finances more deeply and with greater insight.

It’s 2025 and your accounting firm is fully aware of the need for clients to be in the cloud. Digital bookkeeping and accounting is fast, connected and means you have one point of truth for all client data. But can you say the same thing about your internal practice systems?

Nearly three years ago, Andy Collings joined Active with a single goal in mind: to bring the benefits of our Australian platform to the firms of the UK. Looking back, it’s been an intense but incredibly rewarding journey - one built on listening, iterating, and relentlessly focusing on what a firm really needs.

Technology has been an integral part of accounting for decades. VisiCalc became the first bookkeeping spreadsheet way back in 1979, and there’s been a steady evolution of software-based accounting tools – from desktop, to cloud, to AI – over the past four decades.