How your accounting firm can grow profitably again with sole proprietorships: The Van Coile & Partners case

Most Belgian accounting firms recognize this paradox: requests are pouring in, but staff capacity is at its limit. Wouter Pieters, partner at Van Coile & Partners in Drongen, experienced this on a daily basis. “At a certain point, it became too difficult to find staff,” he explains. “We then decided to stop taking on smaller sole proprietorships—whether in secondary or primary occupation—for the time being.”

The profitability trap of small files

The reason for ceasing to accept new clients was purely economic. A small account often takes an account manager just as much time, proportionally speaking, as a more complex one. Meanwhile, the entrepreneur’s perception of the cost often does not align with the reality of manual bookkeeping. At Van Coile & Partners, it was decided that the role of the accounting firm needed to shift from data processor to strategic advisor.

Dexxter as a ‘digital waiting room’ for sole proprietorships

The breakthrough came with the implementation of Dexxter, a tool specifically designed to meet the needs of sole proprietorships. By having new entrepreneurs work within this ecosystem, you create a win-win scenario for your firm:

• Shared responsibility: Your clients do 80% of the preparatory work themselves. Entrepreneurs like Yannick enter their daily receipts and invoices directly into the smartphone app. They describe it as “child’s play”.
• Free accountancy portal: As an accountant, you get completely free access to an overarching portal. At a glance, you can see the quarterly revenue, expenses, and taxable income for all your linked files. You only need to take action when you receive a notification or when the figures indicate continued growth.
• Smart automation: The software prevents double entries and automatically applies VAT reverse charge to EU invoices. This ensures that the data delivered to your accounting firm is of unparalleled quality.

A pipeline for the corporations of tomorrow

“A client who is small today doesn’t have to stay small forever”, says Wouter. By using Dexxter as a ‘waiting room,’ you can retain these sole proprietorships during their growth phase at minimal operational cost. When they make the transition to a corporation, you already have a strong relationship with them, and they’ll return to you as ideal, digitally savvy clients for double-entry bookkeeping.

Today, Van Coile & Partners is once again serving new business owners with great pleasure and profitability. They are building their client portfolio without the constant pressure to recruit new clients.

👉 Want to discover how your accounting firm can grow profitably again? Book a demo call with Arnout and discover our portal.