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.

As the IT Partner in a modern accounting firm, you want practice systems that are fit for purpose. But, as we’ve seen over the past few years, technology moves fast! What was once a cutting-edge practice system can now appear slow, inflexible and difficult to connect with the growing number of accountancy focused apps out there in the market.

Moving to the latest software systems comes with a raft of benefits for your workflow and productivity as an accounting practice – but managing that change still has its issues.

Accounting is facing a talent shortage. The industry is experiencing a significant drop in the number of new graduates joining the industry, practitioners are leaving the profession and firms are facing difficulties in finding experienced staff to fill existing vacancies. With Gen Z showing little desire to become practice accountants, the industry is faced with a problem: