How G-Accon is Powering Colour into the Accounting World

Case Study with Dave Sellick, Sidgrove

by Nannette Holliday

Yes, the heading is correct, particularly according to London accountant Dave Sellick.

While Dave is a fully qualified accountant, who completed his graduate scheme training with PwC (PriceWaterhouseCooper), he is far from your normally pigeon-holed staid accountant.

Today, Dave describes himself as a creative accountant, oh not by fiddling the figures but by providing the creative edge in how he presents and delivers his client’s data, documents and figures and keeps them up-to-date.

In 2014, after leaving the corporate and industry accounting world, Dave worked with fast-moving start-ups, way before the immense hype around today’s start-ups.

“It was an exciting time,” says Dave. “However, by working as an internal accountant with external accountancy businesses, I felt the majority weren’t delivering value for my clients. I knew external accountants could do better for early stage and small businesses.”

This led him to start his own practice, Sidgrove, in June 2019. Sidgrove’s blueprint is to deliver the best services possible for small businesses and start-ups by using exceptional technologies and putting values first, driven by a desire to do accounting more engagingly.

David Sellick, Sidgrove

And while Covid affected the growth plans of his business, it gave him extra time to realize and create beyond what he thought he needed to do to scale, and the upside was the creative side of his business skyrocketed.

“This is where I differ from other accountants who feel cloud technology is optimized for scaling a practice,” says Dave. “I’m excited and keen to adopt new technology and work with Cloud, Xero, QuickBooks and other online programs, using APIs and various apps for my clients, while building trust and a quality service – it’s all super important.”

Dave doesn’t just use tech and apps for the fun of it. The tech and apps he uses offer efficiencies that traditional accountants aren’t yet matching.

“My month-end workflow is predominately Excel-based, with a lot of Google Sheets, and I was using a DataDear add-on to pull data from Xero,” explained Dave. “With DataDear no longer available from October 2022 , I needed a replacement. A friend told me about G-Accon. I’ve been using it for nine months now, and personally, G-Accon is a far better day-to-day solution for me. I wish I’d been using it all along. It’s much more flexible and allows me to push data between my programs while still working in the Cloud. G-Accon is intuitive, more contemporary, and much quicker and easier to use. I was surprised at how clean the transition was too.”

As Dave demonstrates how G-Accon connects with his key programs and produces a kaleidoscope of colourful graphs and charts, the quickness of the actions blows me away, almost as much as his bells and whistles console, reminiscent of a Star Trek set. He tells me it’s a console typically designed for gamers, but there’s not one gaming button on it.

David’s Desk

Each button is a different command or step, producing beautiful, colourful, helpful magic on the screen. “This is where G-Accon potentially shows its versatility,” says Dave.

“I pull Xero data into G sheets with G-Accon, and then it refreshes continuously in the background using the scheduler. I then have an up-to-date, beautiful visual and detailed management information set. G-Accon powers the various creative, colourful solutions for my client’s reports, monthly processes and financial modelling.”

Another significant benefit for Dave’s cash-strapped start-up and small business clients was G-Accon’s affordability. “I don’t believe in looking for the cheapest, but when it turns out to be the best for my clients, it’s a win, win all round.”

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