How Tennick Accountants use Karbon and Connect4 to push boundaries

Graeme Tennick is a familiar name to many accountants in the UK and beyond. A regular fixture on the events circuit, his no-nonsense business-focussed brand of accounting has secured his place as one of the leading figures in the industry.

Graeme’s firm, Tennick Accountants, just celebrated its 10 year anniversary and shows no signs of slowing down. The team tirelessly guides and supports a huge portfolio of happy clients week-in, week-out and it’s this attentive approach that has earned them numerous industry accolades.

“Building businesses, developing businesses and seeing people get the reward from those businesses —  that’s my passion! Accountancy for me is the measure of where somebody is on that journey.”

Graeme Tennick, Tennick Accountants

The team at Tennick use Connect4 alongside Karbon (their practice management system) to help provide first-class business advisory services to their clients. 

We managed to steal a few moments of Graeme’s time to talk to him about his vision for the future of Tennick Accountants and the role that Connect4 plays in the team’s client-centric approach.

What do Tennick Accountants use Connect4 for?

“Where Connect4 comes in is where we’re doing more than just compliance” says Graeme. 

“Anybody who says compliance is dead is talking nonsense, but I want to largely automate that”. Graeme and his team believe the main value that they offer clients lies in the business advice that they provide, rather than financial administration. “I want to bounce in with clients and deliver value every single time” he says. 

This is where Connect4 becomes essential. With its focus on human relationships, it elevates and emphasises specialist strategic advice. Maintaining an ongoing record of conversations and actions makes it easy for his team to deliver value every single meeting, instead of going over old ground.

How does Connect4 work alongside Karbon?

“Karbon is brilliant internally for getting things done” stresses Graeme. However there is a disconnect when it comes to the client. Connect4 enables Tennick to effectively bring their client into Karbon. They can see the history of conversations and the actions set for them. It bridges the gap between clients and Karbon.

“I cannot remember the last time I’ve had a meeting that hasn’t been a worthwhile one, since I’ve used Connect4.”

“The integration you’ve got with Karbon is brilliant, because it means there is very limited duplication” says Graeme. Actions assigned in Connect4 are automatically added to to-dos in Karbon. And any emails sent from Connect4 (agendas and summaries) land in triage. 

This means that team members can access everything they need to do straight from Karbon. And clients can check their own tasks and the status of other actions in Connect4.

“I’m all about accountability” says Graeme. “It really pisses me off when somebody says they’re going to do something and they don’t do it. I’m human — sometimes I do that myself but this [Connect 4] brings the focus in.” 

“Connect4 is the glue that converts meetings into actions”

Pushing boundaries

“I come from a business background first rather than an accountancy background. My dad had a forklift truck business — I was involved in and around it — and from a very early age I wanted my own business” says Graeme.

This experience of being heavily involved in the nuts and bolts (quite literally) of running a small business has clearly moulded Graeme’s approach to accounting. He’s passionate about helping clients to build sustainable businesses that work for them and he’s surrounded himself with a team that have the very same motivations.

It’s clear that Tennick Accountants don’t take anything for granted. They’re constantly evolving their way of working to become better and better at what they do.

We reckon any client of Tennick Accountants are in very good hands indeed.

“We’re pushing boundaries and we’re LEARNING!”