Blubooks Accounting | Streamline, Scale, Succeed with A2X
The three Ss of Blubooks Accounting: streamline, scale, succeed
With a love of all things eCommerce and accounting and hands-on business experience, Eoin Coney and Andrew from Blubooks Accounting are helping clients streamline their bookkeeping processes so they can scale quickly and succeed. To do that, Blubooks uses a mixture of digital tools including Xero, QuickBooks Online, TaxJar and Stripe – and the latest addition to its tech-stack is A2X.
The best of both worlds
To say Eoin Coney and Andrew live and breathe ecommerce accounting is a bit of an understatement.
The duo met five years ago when they joined the same accounting practice. After 18 months, they went their separate ways, “developing their experience and expertise in different finance areas.” Both shortly found themselves in management consulting roles – Andrew for a manufacturing firm, Eoin for a software company.
Neither is the type to miss an opportunity, so it’s no surprise that at the start of 2021, they decided to launch Blubooks Accounting, working with ecommerce entrepreneurs to streamline their accounting processes.
And if that wasn’t enough, Eoin and Andrew also opened the virtual doors to their very own Etsy business, which sells customized digital products for special occasions.
It’s this first-hand experience at the coalface that has given them insight into the financial complexities that online entrepreneurs face – and the important role of digital solutions in making things simpler.
Before: high volume stunting growth
Recently, the firm has been working with a pressure washing company that sells spare parts internationally. Based in Northern Ireland, not only do they sell across multiple marketplaces, but they’re also currently dealing with new sales tax regulations in Europe “which have massively complicated things,” Eoin explains.
Then there are the complexities that come with high-volume clients.
“Thousands of orders per month translates to thousands of transactions that we as accountants and bookkeepers have to wade through,” Eoin adds.
When you’re an ecommerce entrepreneur looking to reach that next level of growth, “you can’t really scale when you’re dealing in high-volume transactions unless you can automate them.”
“A2X takes those thousands of transactions and summarises them, essentially putting that reconciliation process on autopilot – saving us a huge amount of time.”
After: “you can’t put a value on that type of automation”
After integrating A2X with their ecommerce business, Eoin says it was a no-brainer to “slowly start filtering A2X across to our ecommerce clients.”
Aside from taking away the grunt work of bookkeeping processes, A2X is “bridging the gap” for those micro multinationals who are slowly dipping their toes into international ecommerce.
“We’ve just been through a pretty hefty due diligence with one client, with a long list of requirements to fill. A2X was literally the only software that could check them all because it can handle the nuances of multiple platforms and marketplaces.
“If you’re an ecommerce entrepreneur or business, A2X will be able to pull and reconcile your sales data faster and more accurately than you’ll ever be able to do yourself”
Andrew says.
Digital tools: find the biggest bang for your buck
Having been in the driver’s seat of an ecommerce business, the team is in a “fortunate place” to help many other ecommerce entrepreneurs be successful.
Being over-prepared is never a bad investment, Andrew says. After many years in ecommerce accounting, he knows things can scale quickly – and often when you least expect it.
“You don’t want to get caught with an under-developed tech stack when you’re trying to scale because, at the same time, you’ve got orders and quality control to manage, all the while making sure you don’t get pinged with tax fees.”
The partners say they’re always looking for opportunities to streamline and save time and that involves identifying the digital tools that give the biggest improvements.
For Blubooks Accounting, software like Xero, QuickBooks Online, TaxJar and Stripe (alongside A2X, of course!), create a well-rounded digital setup that has been a big part of their success in the last 12 months.
“The benefit of A2X is they’re constantly growing and adding new things. They’re genuinely hoping to grow alongside all of the companies that they’re helping, and that shows in their level of customer service.”
