AdvanceTrack Conference 2023

Vipul Sheth is the founder and owner of AdvanceTrack. As a Chartered Accountant, he has set out to change lives from the very beginning.

“When I was growing up, my parents had the best accountant, someone who brought them critical analysis, business experience and truth. He was there to navigate all the difficult paths for them. This is what an accountant is supposed to do and our job at AdvanceTrack is to make sure that you have the time to do more of that.

We want everyone to be able to be an accountant that doesn’t just do a set of accounts, but is someone who changes lives.”

Paul’s passion for the accountancy profession was forged in his experience of growing, from scratch, a family manufacturing business.

The annual check-in with his accountant failed to deal with the emotional roller coaster of building the business, surviving two deep recessions and eventually selling the business.

This business education and the 21 years working exclusively with the leaders of accountancy firms underpins Paul’s determination to challenge accountants to better Humanise the Numbers.

Yes, accountancy will always be about the numbers, but accountancy must also be about the people and how they feel about the numbers.

Having been a previous client of Moneypenny, Louise was so impressed with the service quality and inimitable culture that she decided to make the career move and join our Business Development team in 2017.

Louise now heads our finance sector, and it’s thanks to her determination that Moneypenny has a team of dedicated receptionists answering calls and chats for hundreds of accountancy professionals. Her unrivalled experience means she has a profound understanding of the challenges our clients face in outsourcing and growing their firms.

Brian has a wealth of experience in helping professional service firms be more effective, using software and consulting techniques to improve and grow business value. 

Brian’s experience and knowledge of business, strategy and management – gained from different countries and cultures – helps others see a forward path, revealing options and value improvements. His ability to communicate highly technical concepts in a way that makes it easy for others to understand is essential for bringing teams into a discussion on change, helping them define solutions, and working to make them a reality. 

He possesses strong leadership and communication skills and has gained a reputation for building cohesive high-performing teams through his people-orientation and leading by example. He maintains a strong adherence to principles, values and beliefs while focusing on and achieving results. 

Brian earned a Bachelor of Business, Accounting degree from Deakin University in Australia.

Brian developed the methodology, trademarked Envision, which unearths the forces that are restraining business performance, technology and process change. Envision provides a space for action and directs focus on the forces that drive your future growth and Why.

A keen Open water swimmer – Brian completed a 4 person English Channel relay in 2017 and his  Windermere solo in 2020.

The self described Billy Elliot of accountancy. The former boxer turned dancer loves nothing more than getting nerdy about numbers and stories. Jamie believes that great accountants are much more than just annual compliance and more about providing businesses with insights into the stories behind the numbers, to support and help uncover opportunities to help owners/directors achieve their future goals. Platforms like Xero are the perfect partner to allow you to achieve this.

Dermot has spent over 20 years in the accounting tech sector, with several roles at Director level.

He’s launched three Practice Management solutions into the UK, launched the PANALITIX brand into the UK in 2015 and since 2011 has been working with software vendors and accountancy firms to embrace the digital environment.

Joining when IRIS was a family firm, number 44 on the payroll, Dermot spent 10 years with IRIS during the days when they experienced hyper growth and went through three private equity rounds, Dermot’s last role within IRIS was Sales Director at Exchequer Software. The business grew from £3mil to £35 mil revenues and 44 to 250 employees.

Exchequer was a market leading ERP solution, that is now in the Advanced family. In early 2000’s Exchequer was delivering functionality to medium sized business, far in excess of any competition. Originally delivered through a reseller channel, my role at Exchequer was to introduce a direct sales model. The original Exchequer team are now back together again at iplicit software.

2006 saw my first role with a cloud construction business, – there was no cloud in cloud accounting at this time!!

Three years with Thomson Reuters Digita, started in 2008 has been followed by self-employment where contracts have taken him to Bulgaria, Ireland and Australia. Contracts have covered many areas of tech, but primarily focussed in financial tech.

My passion is always to ensure that tech enhances business life, but doesn’t control it. Tech has been able to significantly enhance business, but it should not abuse the most important part of technology – the human relationship.

Since working for myself in 2011, I have been involved with several software start-ups, some in accounting tech and some outside. Since 2015, when I launched PANALITIX coaching in the UK, I have been helping accountancy businesses, with becoming a Smart Digitised Practice. SDP enables accountancy to use technology as an accelerator, not a handbrake in their business.