Small businesses spend an average of 120 working days per year on administrative tasks. To help alleviate the accounting portion of this burden, most modern accounting software integrates directly with your bank thanks to open banking protocols. Countingup takes it one step further. It’s a business current account with an integrated tax management and accounting platform so that small businesses can manage and plan their finances in one app, simplifying both bookkeeping and taxes. The platform offers three tiers – free, £4.95/mo, and a premium version that’s £9.95/mo and is currently used by 34,000+ businesses that have been able to save countless hours to instead focus on building their businesses.
London TechWatch caught up with CEO, repeat entrepreneur, and Founder Tim Fouracre (Founded Clear Books) to learn more about the company’s traction, future plans, and latest funding round, which brings the total funding raised to £15.9M since the company’s founding in 2017.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Countingup has raised £9.1 million in Series A funding round, which attracted global interest; Framework Venture Partners is leading the round, joined by Gresham House Ventures and Sage plc.
Tell us about your product or service.
We are making it easier to run a small business with a business current account and tax app in one. We help small businesses save loads of time and complication on their business administration. Our focus is to ensure small businesses can easily get paid to manage their cash flow, know they are tax compliant avoiding stress, and enabling small businesses to be organised so they can concentrate on what they do best running their business.
What inspired the start of Countingup?
Founded through frustration….in the nine years I spent building cloud accounting software Clear Books plc, I saw small businesses losing so much time with inefficient banking and accounting systems. I wanted to create an all-in-one app that would help entrepreneurs simplify their accounting and taxes – making it easier to run their business. I shared my idea with an old Computer Science classmate, Mike Moate to see if he’d like to get involved. Mike loved the idea and was in! The team took shape and we found a group of investors who shared our crazy vision. And Countingup was born in September 2017.
It wasn’t long until we became the UK’s fastest-growing business current account that automates accounting. Our core values are to (1) get it done (2) enjoy it and (3) do our best work. These have led to some pretty amazing results…with over 34,000 customers. The highest Trustpilot score of any business current account in the UK. More than £1bn processed. Multi-award winning.
How is it different?
Countingup is an innovative fintech company that offers a business current account with built-in accounting software. Small businesses can open a Countingup business current account on their smartphone “in under 5 minutes,” which includes typical banking and accounting features.
The two-in-one app simplifies bookkeeping and taxes for the self-employed as well as accountants across the UK. Trusted by over 34,000 customers, the unique app automates the time-consuming aspects of bookkeeping and taxes and encourages good recordkeeping, making it easier to run a small business. In addition, customers can easily share accurate, real-time bookkeeping data with their accountants – eliminating the pains of re-authorisation requests, data lags, duplicates, and inaccuracies.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
We target the UKs 8.6M SMEs
What’s your business model?
Our pricing is small business-friendly. The first three months are free. We have three plans, Starter is free, standard £4.95 per month and premium is £9.95 per month.
How has COVID-19 impacted the business?
The main impact on us as a business is that we’ve made sure we’ve tried to help our customers that have been negatively affected. For us we’ve seen small business owners and their accountants looking for tools that allow them to work more flexibly
What was the funding process like?
Working remotely made the process surprisingly efficient. Rather than racing around London to fit a few 1-hour long face-to-face meetings in a day, instead, I was able to do quick 30-minute zoom calls back-to-back
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Ensuring an early-stage company has the capital to survive and thrive is, in my view, the number one priority for a CEO. The biggest challenge then is that the funding process takes up all of your time. It means for a couple of months you will be distracted from the core business so it’s important to have a strong team that will keep the business moving forward in your absence.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Venture Capital investors need to see a path to a billion-dollar exit for the economics of their fund to work.
To get there you need a product or service that could cut through a large total addressable market because you offer something new or unique.
You also need a strong team who will execute on the plan.
I believe our investors backed our exceptional team who are building something truly unique and disruptive, a business current account that automates accounting for small businesses. There are 600m small businesses globally and they all need to manage money and file their taxes.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
The future is exciting, our Series A investment will drive Countingup’s product innovation, growth, and team expansion. With an accelerated financial services roadmap, the team will further help small business owners save time, money and confidently manage their business admin – giving them valuable time back to focus on what they love and do best.
What advice can you offer companies in London that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Keep casting the net, cast the net wider, and try different nets.
If you can’t raise from the VCs you’ve spoken to in the past there will be at least the same number of VCs you haven’t even met yet. Try angel investors or corporate brokers who have access to groups of High Net Worth investors. Rather than a priced round consider a convertible or advanced subscription agreement.
To create competitive tension run a funding process rather than talking to investors piecemeal.
Keep casting the net, cast the net wider, and try different nets.
If you can’t raise from the VCs you’ve spoken to in the past there will be at least the same number of VCs you haven’t even met yet. Try angel investors or corporate brokers who have access to groups of High Net Worth investors. Rather than a priced round consider a convertible or advanced subscription agreement.
To create competitive tension run a funding process rather than talking to investors piecemeal.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Countingup’s long term vision is to be the one “financial hub” for the 1 million or so U.K.-based micro businesses
What’s your favourite outdoor activity in London?
Running next to the River Thames – it’s nice and flat!
