How Neil Criddle optimised billing when acquiring new firms

One of the fastest ways to grow your firm is through acquisitions, although integrating these acquisitions into your existing ecosystem can be daunting, especially for small accounting practices.

Some of the biggest challenges to a seamless integration are system gaps and compatibility issues that come with new acquisitions, which are common roadblocks in many firm’s efforts to scale.

Neil Criddle, Founder and CEO of Neil’s Data Consultancy, has turned these challenges into an opportunity.

Since its launch five years ago, Neil’s firm has grown from a one-man show to a team of 12 with 600 clients, and he’s currently ranked as Weston-super-Mare’s number one accountant according to Google.

During a recent webinar, he shared how he effectively scaled his acquisition process and optimised billing and collections with Adfin’s support.

So, let’s take a closer look at how he achieved it and how you can, too.

Watch the recording here.

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A customer-first account receivable tool for growth

Neil's journey began when he realised his existing tools no longer met his firm’s needs. After acquiring another practice, he took the opportunity to reassess his tech stack.

“As our model is built to service bigger clients, having a direct debit mechanism is non-negotiable as roughly 97% of our annual fees are all taken by monthly direct debit,” he explains.

While his current proposal and billing platform worked well initially, he was looking for a system that offered more support and was better aligned with his vision for the firm's future.

His decision to move to Adfin was driven by a desire for better customer support. Despite Adfin being a relatively new player, he appreciated their responsive, personalised approach and willingness to quickly adapt to his needs.

And so, he became Adfin’s first direct debit customer, thus kicking off a long-term collaboration that continues to this day.

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The phased migration approach

Migrating clients from one system to another is rarely a simple process, so Neil’s team chose a phased approach that minimised disruptions. When it came to the existing clients of a recent acquisition, he began by migrating them to Adfin in small groups as a test run before scaling up.

“We decided to move 50-ish clients [from the legacy system] over to our new proposal system with Adfin added on top, which was a good guinea pig case because we needed to move them anyways,” Neil said.

This careful rollout ensured that each step was manageable with Adfin’s team providing hands-on support every step of the way, which minimised potential errors.

With another acquisition in the pipeline, his team plans to expand their use of Adfin even further.

"In terms of my original legacy clients, we’ve probably got around 150, 170, that are still paying [on the legacy system], and we’re looking at migrating them over to Adfin by February. At that point, the whole estate will be on Adfin as well,” Neil adds.

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Communicating changes to clients

But to transition this many clients to a new payment system smoothly requires clear communication. Neil’s team ensured transparency throughout the migration process, explaining any changes and reassuring clients that their service quality would remain consistent.

“For most of the clients, it was business as usual. While the names might have been different in terms of the mechanisms, we made sure to emphasise that the actual processes and service levels are going to be exactly the same,” he noted.

In some cases, the team even used the transition as an opportunity to upsell additional services to clients who asked about it.

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Unlocking the benefits of Adfin

Neil’s move to Adfin was more than just switching platforms. It was about creating a unified, scalable system that not only handles but accelerates his firm’s growth. By offering multiple payment processes, Adfin made getting paid easier and faster than ever and enabled him to eliminate redundancies and cut down on payment fees.

“I’m quite excited by Adfin’s new payment dashboard. The functionality looks really, really good and I like that I can export it and manipulate it within Excel… the fact that I can select different date ranges and take that data out in one go from Adfin is very exciting.”

– Neil Criddle, Founder and CEO of Neil’s Data Consultancy

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Adfin’s features, such as automated reminders, invoice chasing, and real-time payment tracking have been game changers for his team.

The platform's ability to automatically re-attempt failed payments (and unlike other platforms, Adfin doesn’t charge for these re-attempts) and provide alternative payment options—such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and credit card if direct debit isn’t available—has taken the headache out of getting paid while eliminating many of the time-consuming, manual processes that used to slow him down.

“I also like the little touches, like the searches, filtering, and different labels that can be applied to clients. I’ve also seen some practical use cases that kind of spurred some interesting ideas that weren’t on the table prior,” Neil said.

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When the risk pays off

Trust played a crucial role in Neil’s decision to work with Adfin. Despite its startup status, Adfin's commitment to collaboration, support, and adaptability made them an ideal partner.

“At the beginning, some people would say, Why did you take the risk? Adfin just started a few months ago!’. But having that personal relationship is super important to me and it’s rare to get that with the bigger suppliers.

But I knew that Adin would support us as we grew as soon as we jumped on that first call,” Neil shared.

The partnership has fostered a two-way relationship, with his feedback often helping Adfin refine and improve their platform, and it’s why Adfin continues to encourage any and all client feedback to this day.

“It’s a really collaborative affair, and it's got that startup vibe where it's quite new and exciting — and that’s the kind of environment that I like to run my business,” he added.

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Scale your business with Adfin

Neil’s approach offers valuable lessons for accounting and bookkeeping firms looking to scale. From carefully assessing tech tools to building strong client relationships, his journey highlights the importance of adaptability and collaboration.

Could consolidating your tech stack or rethinking your workflows make billing and collections more efficient? Book a demo with Adfin today.

How Neil Criddle optimised billing when acquiring new firms

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