Archetype Accountants – Our Values

We are Black and White…and Green.
We feel that this short statement sums up exactly what we are about…we are simple, clear and straight-talking yet softer and more approachable than most professionals and with an ethical bias towards a fairer society and a sustainable use of natural resources.

We believe in Prosperity over Growth.
Business should be rewarding, it should be enjoyable. Every business owner should LOVE their own business (after all if you don’t your customers won’t). Ambition, achievement and growth are all good but we want our clients to enjoy the journey, it shouldn’t be about constant striving with no visible goal in sight. We doubt that anyone starts their own business to be faced with endless “red tape”, to have constant pressure on their incomes and cashflow, to put in long days for little reward, yet these things are very real every day situations for many small business owners in the UK today. Unfortunately we don’t have a magic wand to be able to make these problems disappear however we do have some strategies which can be employed to ease the burdens, and we do encourage our clients to find a balance between the effort and the satisfaction.

We find that having, and regularly refreshing a medium to long term strategic plan helps many business owners to remember why they set up in the first place, what they enjoy about their business, and how they can ensure they are on track to achieve all that they want. In other words, “What is the goal and why do we want it?”.

Doing things Right.
We value our integrity, we don’t cut corners, and we firmly believe in doing things properly. We understand that sometimes there might be a temptation to over exaggerate your sales or profit, to claim a few extra expenses against your tax, or to skip the reconciling of a particular account because the statements aren’t available but we believe that this never achieves anything in the long run. We will do everything in our power to make your income as large as possible and your tax bill as small as possible but always in a legitimate and fair manner. When considering what to do or how to do something then cost is not the overriding factor, but money is not wasted, we always look for the best outcome for all concerned. This can be demonstrated on things like our “client decides” policy for fee protection insurance – it is available for those who want it but nobody has to take if they don’t want it.

We have an extensive network of professional advisors from within the Accountancy profession and further afield. If we are ever in doubt about a situation, or if we feel that a client would benefit from some specialist advice or service then we are well placed to either consult outside of our team or recommend a suitable referral to our clients.

It’s all about YOU.
For us, our clients are key. Everything should be about customer service. We want each of our clients to be successful as we appreciate that this contributes to our own success. Many of our clients are just like us with a similar age, background etc. We get to know them, their businesses and in many cases their families and friends. Many small businesses want their accountant to take away their pain – the pain of HMRC, the pain of compliance with Company Law, the pain of Employment Law, the pain of Health and Safety…the list could go on. We hope to at the very least alleviate this pain and in most cases we make the whole business of running a business more manageable and therefore more enjoyable. By working closely with our clients we can offer them as much intervention or as little as they want from us. We will tailor our services to suit each individual client./p>By getting to know our clients we are better place to offer support and advice on how to spot potential problems and how to turn these into opportunities. We can then support them in following up these opportunities and assisting them in developing their businesses.

We balance the “triple bottom line”.
For much of the last century business has been focused on the Economic – the measure of profit and growth being the all important factors in success.Recently there has been a shift to try and incorporate the Social and Environmental aspects of how a business is doing and we are very keen on trying to assist all our clients to consider these. How they treat their people and the wider community in which they operate and whether they are treating with respect the planet and the resources it provides. These things are much harder to measure or quantify but it is only by bringing them into the business conversation that they will gain in importance when decisions are being made. We try to lead by example on these fronts and are always keen to engage with our clients, and the wider world, on the issues of looking after the People and the Planet as well as the Profit and find some equilibrium for the conflicts which inevitably arise.