Red Sofa Interviews

Ann Brebner Time For You

Watch the full interview here

Interviewer: Hi Ann. Thanks for giving us your time to sit on the red sofa and give us both an insight into your business, Time For You, and why Essendon are your accountants of choice. So, please tell us about your new business…

Ann: Thank you for inviting me onto the red sofa, the famous red sofa… My name’s Ann Brebner, I’ve got a couple of businesses. Time For You Domestic Cleaning, and Work Place Cleaning Solutions. The emphasis being on cleaning. We clean homes and offices all over Northamptonshire. I have been doing that for fifteen years. It’s a hard job to find fantastic cleaners for our clients.

Interviewer: So why Essendon, with plenty of accountants to choose from, what made you choose Roger and his team for Time For You?

Ann: Ok. So, I’ve had my businesses for fifteen years. Over those years I’ve had a number of different accountants. And as I progressed through business, and became more experienced, I realised it was really important to have a relationship, a business relationship, with my accountant. I needed somebody I could approach, that I could ask questions to… That’s so important because accountancy and tax is at a different level. We’re not dealing with it on a day to day basis, so it’s easy to forget what it’s all about; from one year to the next. And I wanted to be able to approach someone, so I interviewed a number of accountants, Roger being one of them, Essendon being one of them. And for me, he stood out from the crowd. He was very open. He explained everything. And that’s just what I wanted from my accountant.

Interviewer: Accounting procedures over the next few years are going to revolutionise with ‘Making Tax Digital’. How do you see Roger’s and Essendon’s role in assisting you and Time For You when it becomes law?

Ann: I think it comes back to the relationship I’ve got with Essendon and Roger. For me, I know I can approach Roger as an adviser. I think it’s really important to have that person at the end of the phone who you think, actually… I really need to ask that question… And not feel stupid about asking layman’s terms questions. The digitalisation is coming to businesses and it’s something that we’ve got to adapt to. And I feel reassured that I’m a client of Essendon’s and they’re going to support me throughout that transition period.

Interviewer: I’ve heard you feel comfortable to ask the ‘Ann’s’ questions. Can you elaborate on this?

Ann: Yeah… obviously my name’s Ann! I’m not shy in coming forward, and if I’m in a meeting with Roger or have a tax question I really don’t understand, there’s no way I’m going to sit back and think… actually, I’m not going to ask my accountant that. Me and Roger have a laugh about it, and I say, “Look, this is an Ann question…”, and it’s just a question where I need things explaining, I need them explaining in layman’s terms. I might want a follow up email from Roger after our meetings, so he can put it down, so when I do need to revisit that query about accounts, I can actually look at those emails and make sense of it. Because I deal with a lot of business owners, I run a networking group, and one of the biggest things is that business owners do not understand accounts at all. They just get contact from their accountant once a year, and it’s really not enough.

Interviewer: There are people out there maybe thinking about changing accountants, or want to start up a new business… What advice would you give them when looking for an accountant?

Ann: I think it comes back to the relationship, and the openness you have with that person you are working with in any business. At the end of the day, people buy from people, and it’s really important… even more so with your accountant… to have that relationship. I don’t want to see my accountant just once a year. I don’t want to just be sent my end of year reports over once a year. I want contact throughout the year because I want to see what else I need to do with my business. So with Essendon, with Roger, who I recommend to my other business associates and friends, it’s about the approachability. And that’s absolutely key.

Interviewer: So you’ve heard it, guys, Ann from Time For You an honest, reliable, and affordable domestic cleaner for the home giving you insight into why you should choose Essendon as your accountant of choice.

Watch the full interview here