iplicit bolsters growing sales team with former Sage exec

iplicit, the cloud accounting platform purpose-built for the UK midmarket, has snagged another key sales hire from incumbent competitor Sage.

Francesca Roach joins iplicit as the business eyes its seventh year of triple-digit revenue growth, quickly asserting itself as the UK’s dominant cloud accounting provider for the midmarket.

With a career in finance and SaaS spanning over 10 years, Francesca started out in sales and consultancy roles at Sage, where she served the accountancy division as well as small business customers with the Sage One offering.

She later assumed roles with IRIS Software Group, bringing IT solutions to UK accountants, and Wolters Kluwer, bringing cloud book-keeping solution Twinfield to the UK market. Prior to iplicit, Francesca revisited Sage as an Account Executive for Sage Intacct, specialising in cloud solutions for the midmarket.

Francesca now brings her sales expertise, accountancy network, and seasoned knowledge of finance and cloud solutions for UK SMEs, to iplicit, which is rapidly expanding its customer base across sectors such as SaaS, education, hospitality and nonprofit.

She’ll be supporting iplicit’s growing sales team in targeting the tens of thousands of UK sites still reliant on outdated, legacy ‘on-prem’ finance systems, in need of a suitable path to cloud. In addition, there is also a demand from the UK’s fast-growth tech and SaaS businesses, that have outgrown entry-level cloud solutions such as Xero and are now in need of a more sophisticated, yet accessible, upgrade.

Francesca’s arrival follows a series of key hires for iplicit, including top talent from Sage, Xero, IRIS and Access. Former Sage channel sales lead Paula Cooper recently joined iplicit to head up its channel reseller programme. And former Xero regional COO Damon Anderson joined as iplicit’s CMO, to head up the 20 strong marketing department and help shape the growth of its Accountant partnership channels.

Roach adds: “I’ve worked closely with UK accountants and midmarket businesses for years, and what’s always been missing is a UK-grown product that speaks directly to the unique needs of UK finance teams. iplicit has finally answered these needs, and it’s massively disrupting the UK midmarket market in a way that we’ve not seen before."

“Over the last 18 months, iplicit has gathered real momentum, becoming top of mind for midmarket organisations looking to embark on their cloud transformation. There’s no longer a conversation around cloud accounting that doesn’t involve iplicit. I am thrilled to be joining the company at such an exciting, pivotal time in its growth, and look forward to supporting the team in making it the dominant cloud accounting provider for UK SMEs.”

iplicit's CEO, Lyndon Stickley, said: "We’re delighted to have Fran join our all-star line-up here at iplicit. Her track record and network in the accountancy and financial services sectors will be real assets to us as we continue our hypergrowth this year, following six consecutive years of triple-digit revenue growth, and our second consecutive ranking on the FT1000 list."

"Last year, our intel indicated that we outsold every other mid-market proposition by a considerable margin. This year we expect to put even more distance between us and any comparable alternative."

“The writing is on the wall for our competitors. iplicit is fast emerging as the leading provider of powerful accounting software for the mid-market. Enlisting industry ‘heavy hitters’ like Fran will no doubt take us closer to our goal of redefining the entire accounting software sector and displacing Sage as the dominant provider for mid-market organisations in the UK”