‘There was always something missing in the middle’: Why Moore Kingston Smith partnered with iplicit

In the latest of our Partners In Practice profiles, you’ll learn how accountancy firm Moore Kingston Smith discovered iplicit to be the cure for many clients’ frustrations.  

Years of experience had shown Moore Kingston Smith that many medium-sized organisations were frustrated by their finance systems.

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While a lot of businesses were struggling with entry-level cloud software, the only alternatives available to them were expensive and complex products designed for big business.

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“There was always something missing in the middle,” says Moore Kingston Smith Partner Nicki Savill.

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The arrival of iplicit changed that – and led to a partnership that’s solving problems for a growing number of the firm’s mid-market clients.  

About Moore Kingston Smith

Moore Kingston Smith is a multidisciplinary advisory, tax and audit firm working in a host of sectors internationally. Its history goes back more than 100 years.  

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“Being a multidisciplinary practice allows us to take an active role in helping our clients navigate every stage of their business journey, from start-ups to corporate clients, with multiple service offerings,” says Nicki.

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“We have around 150 partners and 1,800 people. Some of the acquisitions we’ve made in recent years really lean into sector specialism, enabling us to deliver even greater impact.

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“Because we’re a larger firm, we can help early-stage businesses with the things they don’t yet know. We connect them with our dedicated growth services team and work alongside them to achieve their ambitions and identify how to increase their valuation multiples.”

‘It was frustrating not to have the right product’

Nicki specialises in looking at how technology could transform clients’ businesses for the better.

“We’ve helped clients adopt various types of cloud products over the years and we’ve had partnerships to help deliver larger, ERP-based finance systems,” she says.  

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“We would often see businesses that have stretched entry-level, cloud-based software beyond its capabilities, which causes challenges and becomes expensive.  

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“On the other hand, we see businesses that have deployed a larger, costly system which has turned out to be a sledgehammer to crack a nut, with most of the functionality lying dormant while the team does manual work and manipulates the data in spreadsheets.  

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“It was terribly frustrating for us not to be able to offer a product that bridged that gap until iplicit came along.”

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iplicit had an intuitive interface like many entry-level systems but was much more powerful. “I thought it had the DNA of a product that’s bought off the shelf for a smaller business – but it combined that with the sophistication a mid-market business needs, without requiring a really intensive change management process,” says Nicki.

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“It wasn’t really expensive but it removed a lot of the manual processes that many businesses were struggling with.”

‘iplicit made us feel heard’

Previous attempts to build systems for mid-market clients lacked the flexibility or pace of innovation that Moore Kingston Smith wanted.

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“A lot of products have overpromised and underdelivered – and the fallout from that can be quite significant,” says Nicki.

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“What impressed us with iplicit, when it was still in its early days, was the honesty about what the product could deliver, what features were still to come and when they were coming. We didn’t feel that was being offered by anyone else in the mid-market space.  

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“It’s a really aligned, collaborative relationship. We were clear about how we wanted to offer implementation as a service to our clients and iplicit was receptive to that.

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“iplicit made us feel heard when it came to ideas that we felt would help us serve our market the way we needed to. There was mutual respect there so iplicit understood what was important to us, what we could achieve together and how we could collaborate.”

‘You shouldn’t view software costs in isolation’  

Nicki says there’s a “significant number” of clients crying out for the benefits iplicit can bring.

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“I always want to be honest and open about what the gains are and what the pains are for clients. We never pretend that implementing new accounting software is easy but we encourage people not to look at software costs in isolation,” she says.

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“If a client has a lot of applications connected to their finance system and a lot of manual processes, they don’t necessarily look at the savings they can achieve by switching to another product. I feel it’s our job to advise and educate.”

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She advises clients to consider changing systems before they reach crisis point.  

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“We’ve seen many businesses growing significantly while making their existing system work – but when it reaches breaking point, it breaks in a significant way, creating a business interruption,” she says.

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“Sometimes, people may not feel the need for a change right now, but if they leave it another one or two years, unpacking everything and putting the right solution in place will be fundamental problem for business growth.”

‘Integrity was critical’

“In any partnership, it’s important you have the same culture and alignment in what you’re trying to achieve,” says Nicki.

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“Our purpose is to help businesses address their challenges and find the right solution. iplicit was always clear that it wasn’t trying to serve everybody. If the product wasn’t the right fit for a client, that was fine.

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“That integrity was critical to us – because that’s how we want to serve our clients as well.”