Accountants help trim costs with new platform

A Midlands accountancy firm is helping local businesses cut costs by introducing a digital platform that identifies potential savings on utility bills.

HB&O, which has offices in Birmingham, Coventry and Leamington Spa, has partnered with Reducer, a cost management tool that analyses company spending via platforms such as Xero and QuickBooks. 

The collaboration is part of HB&O’s Virtual Finance Office (VFO) service, which provides real-time financial insights and decision-making support to SMEs.

It is the latest addition to HB&O’s suite of digital partners, which also includes Xero, Hubdoc and Swoop.

Bosses say that more than 200 clients have already been introduced to Reducer, with projected annual savings of up to £11,000 on utility expenses. 

They add that Reducer saves firms an average of £1,851 annually and has already generated more than £3.6 million in collective savings across the UK.

Angelika Buciene, client manager in the VFO team at HB&O, said: “It is a challenging time for businesses as operating costs continue to grow, whether that is with rises in National Insurance or increasing utility costs.

“We’re proud to announce we are working with Reducer to provide important insights for clients that can help them to easily reduce their overhead costs, whether that is with phone bills, gas, electricity or water.

“By partnering with Reducer, we are taking a proactive, tech-driven approach to this challenge, with an emphasis on providing clients with real-time information to inform decision making.

“We have already seen strong demand from our clients for the Reducer service, further strengthening the bespoke offer of our growing VFO team.”

Paige Edwards, head of accountant partnerships at Reducer, added: “The HB&O VFO team demonstrates a clear and genuine commitment to their clients, consistently going above and beyond their standard services to provide exceptional support. 

“We at Reducer are delighted to partner with them in this endeavour.

“Our core mission at Reducer is to save clients both time and money. 

“It has been a pleasure to collaborate with HB&O, who share our passion for achieving these outcomes, allowing their clients to concentrate on the many other crucial aspects of running a business, rather than managing complex utility contracts.”

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