A trusted partnership built on audit, expanded into so much more
“Where I feel M J Bushell stand above the rest is that they are always willing to assist and are immediately contactable should there be a pressing question that comes to mind.”
Chris Bell
A bit about the business
This boutique stockbroking firm provides services to high-net-worth individuals and corporate clients, predominantly those listed on AIM, London’s junior market.
As a regulated firm, the business operates within tight reporting deadlines and a continually shifting compliance landscape.
What began several years ago as a single annual audit engagement with M J Bushell has grown into a wide-ranging working relationship covering payroll, monthly management accounts and a number of other finance functions.
The challenge
For a regulated business, the annual audit is one of the most demanding moments of the financial year. The window for completion is tight, the level of scrutiny is high and any delay or inaccuracy has knock-on consequences for the firm’s wider regulatory position.
Chris Bell, who works within the firm’s internal finance function, was looking for an audit partner that could not only meet the technical and time-sensitive requirements of the work, but also genuinely understand how the business operates and respond quickly when questions came up.
How M J Bushell helped
From the first engagement, the audit service delivered by M J Bushell set the tone for the wider relationship. Chris describes the work as conducted “in a very professional manner whilst maintaining an approachable and open relationship,” with the audit itself delivered “to the highest standard” and consistently on time.
What stood out to the team was the willingness of M J Bushell’s experts to invest the time to understand the business properly. Rather than treating the audit as a tick-box exercise, the team took on a meaningful share of the work involved in piecing it together.
As Chris explains: “The audit process can be quite onerous and time consuming for most firms. Where M J Bushell deliver value is that their team really take the time to understand our business and shoulder a lot of the pressure and work involved in piecing together the audit. Additionally, the care they take as a firm enables us to be very reactive to changes in legislation.”
That same flexibility has been apparent throughout the audit cycle. With the business working to a fairly tight audit window, the M J Bushell team have always been willing to accommodate. “The staff appointed to our audits have been very good at guiding us through the process and made it as seamless as possible,” Chris says. “I’ve also found that their team are very happy to answer any questions that I may have and are always willing to provide additional context if it is not immediately known.”
A broader relationship
The success of the audit engagement led naturally to the business drawing on a wider range of services from M J Bushell, including payroll and the preparation of monthly management accounts. Bringing routine but business-critical reporting under one trusted advisor has freed up significant internal capacity.
“Using them has alleviated a lot of pressure when it comes to our more routine reporting requirements,” Chris notes. “The main source of value is the approachable and friendly way in which they conduct the business relationship, which makes them stand out amongst the rest.”
Responsiveness has been a consistent theme. Whether the question is technical or routine, Chris is confident that an answer is never far away. “They are always willing to assist and are immediately contactable should there be a pressing question that comes to mind. If the question asked is not immediately answerable, I am confident that either our account manager or a member of staff from a specific department will get back to me swiftly.”
The result
What started as an audit engagement has become an integrated finance partnership that supports the investment house across multiple areas of its operations. The breadth of expertise within M J Bushell has meant that as new requirements have emerged, the firm has been able to bring them under the same trusted relationship rather than seeking out additional advisors.
Asked whether he would recommend M J Bushell, Chris is unequivocal: “Yes, I would certainly recommend M J Bushell, predominantly due to the fact they have such a diverse team in terms of different expertise. They are able to assist with any facet of our accountancy needs.”