Relish - helping people with dementia
How our partnership began
We began working with Relish back in October 2021. We learnt that the company’s previous accounting support service was not taking full advantage of the amazing capabilities of cloud-based accounting software and as Xero and systems experts, we knew that we could help Relish save both time and money - getting financial information into the systems should not impact the day-to-day operation.
The story of Relish
The idea behind Relish originated from the personal experience of its CEO, Ben Atkinson-Willes. In 2008, Ben tried to find something to do with his Grandad as he progressed through the latter stages of Alzheimer’s.
Despite spending countless hours looking for activities that suited his Grandad's changing abilities, nothing was available. Ben made a puzzle himself and since his Grandad loved it so much, there followed another and another and so Relish was born.
Today, Relish develops products and activities that aim to bring joy and connection to people with dementia and their caregivers.
The challenges
For Louis Wait, Finance and Operations Director at Relish, a key element for wanting to move away from the previous accountancy practice was the time that was being taken up with transactional finance. Since Rowdens loves to make life easier for clients, it was a no brainer for us to fully utilise both Xero and Dext and get the accounting software and integrations to do the heavy lifting.
“Although we were already using Xero before we moved to Rowdens, frustratingly, too many manual processes were in place. We were actually incurring higher fees for a poorer service. Rowdens offered the perfect alternative.”
Louis Wait
Finance and Operations Director
Additional benefits
Deciding whether to have an in-house finance function or go outside is a dilemma that many businesses face. We concentrate on finding the right digital solutions for clients which ultimately will improve efficiency and lower costs. We keep manual processes to a minimum and eradicate a business requirement to employ a full-time bookkeeper/accountant.
Being able to provide the right support and instil confidence in our clients is incredibly important to the team at Rowdens as Louis adds:
“Handre [Online and Advisory at Rowdens] is great at finding the best solutions for us. Discovering A2X whereby Amazon, Ebay and Walmart revenue is auto-categorised and matched to deposits in Xero took away an existing headache. He also refined our current integration for our website sales.
Mikayla Holloway [Client Relationship Manager] is so well organised! She certainly helps me every month and I’m very impressed with the level of support we get
The Results
With time saved, efficiencies achieved and Louis now able to dedicate more time to operational activities, we’re proud of our positive contribution to Relish.
Discover more about the games and activities available on the Relish website.
Does this approach suit your idea of what an accountancy practice should offer? If yes, please contact us and arrange to meet the team.
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Registered Office: 2 Dukes Court, Bognor Road, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8FX