- The Professional Services industry in Ireland is small (compared to bigger economies), with Big 4s and mid-sized firms dominating the market.
- Meet Jay Patel, a Chartered Accountant from India, with a CPA Ireland qualification.
- He relocated to Ireland for a better work-life balance but instead discovered his entrepreneurial dream.
- Here’s how Jay built his Accounting, Tax, and Technology Services firm Fintech PRO, by identifying the gap in the market.
From Mumbai to Ireland
I grew up in Mumbai, India.
After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in 2011, I actually wanted to start my own practice. But my parents convinced me otherwise and I joined a consulting firm.
In 2014, I moved to Jabil, a Fortune 500 American contract manufacturing services company. And after a while, they offered me an opportunity to move to Ireland as a part of their Internal Audit team.
Somewhere in my mind, I had a dream to live and work in a country with a great work-life balance, and which also allows me to be myself.
Ireland ranks among the top 20 countries in the world on the happiness index, and fifth in terms of GDP per capita. On top of that, the country has a great history of immigration.
But before taking the final decision, I got an opportunity to have an exploratory trip to Ireland as I was scheduled on an audit in Bray, Co. Dublin.
Once I made sure that the country had everything I was looking for and was ideal for me and my wife, we finally relocated in 2016.
It didn’t take us long to call Ireland our new home.
Taking the Entrepreneurial Leap
After moving to Ireland, I was working as a Senior Internal Auditor for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.
Audit engagements especially internal audits in the industry are challenging. I started working really hard. Often, my role demanded me to travel for work including taking flights on weekends to kick off the audits on Monday morning on time.
One day I asked myself, “I’m putting in this much hard work already. So, why don’t I work for myself?”
On reflecting I discovered that I wanted two things from my career; freedom (It was never about the money), and the ability to empower others by providing employment to them.
When I told my wife (who is also a CA) about my goal, she said that this is the time to take the plunge, as later other responsibilities may arise.
With that, I took the leap.
Instead of entering an entirely different industry, I thought, “Why don’t I start up in the Accounting and Finance field, where I’ve worked for almost eight years?”
I noticed two major gaps in the Irish market.
- Digital adoption in many of Ireland’s Accounting and Tax firms is low. They are still managing their clients’ accounts or planning tax returns through the medium of paper. I said we will go paperless.
- There was a scarcity of assistance for Indians, that were looking for professional services in Ireland. If an Indian entrepreneur wants advice on double taxation avoidance between India and Ireland, how many Irish practicing accountants would be able to help him?
I resigned from my full-time role at Jabil and began working on FinTech PRO on 9th April 2019. After March 2020 I started working full-time as the Founder and Managing Partner.
FinTech PRO is an Accounting, Tax & Advisory Services firm with technology at its core. We are a GDPR-compliant firm.
Mukesh Patel, Sr. Partner soon joined FinTechPRO a couple of weeks later after finishing his role in H&K his last employer. He has a Master of Science degree in Information Technology, and he is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA).
We were able to break even in the second year, and by the third year, our performance grew by 150 percent.
Challenges starting out
The biggest challenge was to convince myself to take the entrepreneurial plunge. You need guts to work on a business, without generating any money for nine to twelve months.
Here are two of the other major challenges I faced.
Shortage of money
- The cost of living in Ireland is almost as expensive as London, New York, or Sydney. We had to spend our money wisely.
- If your salary exceeds €36,800 in Ireland, you will face a 40% tax, along with additional social insurance taxes and other deductions.
- I had one-year worth of savings in my pocket. Luckily my wife supported me immensely and we pulled through. If I did not have anchoring support from her, probably we would have never started FinTechPRO.
Acquiring clients in Ireland
- A practicing chartered accountant in Dublin once told me, “Just wait for the first three clients and put your blood and soul into helping them. It’s only a matter of time until you get more clients.” That was motivating and I did just that.
- Today, we cater to a floating capacity of over 300 clients and provide retainership services to more than 150 clients.
- Our clients include Sole Traders, Start-Ups, Pvt Limited Companies, Contractors, and Individuals.
- 20% of our practice comprises Irish clients, whereas 80% of it constitutes the Indian community.
What has helped me even more, is the support of some fantastic people, especially Eamonn Siggins, the Chief Executive of CPA Ireland, and the institute itself.
Factors that helped me go from 3 to 150 clients
Overdelivering and putting the client first
- My first client was in the catering business.
- While chatting he mentioned that he wasn’t happy with his accountant and his VAT returns had not been filed for the past three months.
- I saw the opportunity and offered to file his returns. The quoted fee was a bit in the higher range for him, so I let it slide.
- I continued to work with him for the years to come.
Networking is important
- I met my second client at a networking event hosted by the Local Enterprise Office (LEO). The event was similar to the likes of Business Network International (BNI).
- He was looking for someone to do accounting work for him. He was also trying to set up a company in Ireland. I seized the opportunity.
Utilize LinkedIn:
- I found my third client on LinkedIn.
- An Indian entrepreneur and his Irish business partner were coming up with a food chain business.
- They already had other accountants lined up for them. So, when they asked me for the fee, I read the room and quoted a small amount for the first year.
- We’ve been working with them for the past three years.
Investment Allocation for our firm
We put in an initial investment of €10,000 for Fintech PRO.
Here’s how we spent it.
The office equipment and tools
- We needed a decent-sized firm, and two laptops, for me and my partner. Since we are a technology-first firm, we needed to invest in software, cloud-based services such as Windows 365, and other relevant tools.
License fees
- A rough budget of €25,000 to €30,000 is needed to set up a small accounting or management consulting firm in Ireland.
Insurance fee
- If someone suffers financial losses based on your advice, you can be held legally responsible. That’s why you must obtain an annual insurance policy for self-indemnification.
- The insurance cost has significantly risen in the last few years. We spent around €14,000 per year on the same.
Government grants for starting a business in Ireland
- The Irish government provides a grant through its Trading Online Voucher Scheme. It is part of their National Digital Strategy.
- If your business has up to 10 employees or less, they will grant you €2,500 to help you trade more online.
- You can apply for the same through a local enterprise office, which has a presence in every county in Ireland.
- I met all of their criteria, and they provided me with the grant. We used it to build our website, which cost us a total of €5,000.
Navigating The Niche Accounting And Tax Services Market In Ireland
As far as the market is concerned, there are 45,000 firms in the UK and a population of about 65 million. It’s 10 times bigger than Ireland.
So you can see how small the market is, compared to the global landscape.
However, if you want to establish an independent business, here are some steps to follow.
Setting up the business
- You cannot set up a company in Ireland without residing in the country.
- You need a Director resident in a European Economic Area (EEA) member state to help you with that.
Certificate of Practice
- You do not need a practicing certificate to provide bookkeeping, management consultancy, ERP Consulting, or other Advisory Services in Ireland.
- However, to build a Tax Practice in Ireland, you need to acquire the Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) qualification from the Chartered Institute of Taxation or CPA Ireland or ACCA
Penalty fees to the government
- If you establish a company in Ireland and fail to meet any tax obligations or if any kind of penalty arises, you have to give approx. €25,000 to the government.
Visa process
- If you are on the critical skills occupation list, you can come to Ireland on a two years work visa.
- After two years you are free to get an immigration stamp or Stamp 4. 21 months after that, you’ll be allowed to apply for permanent residency.
- I also came to Ireland on a critical skills employment visa, sponsored by my employer.
Closing…
There is a scarcity of qualified accountants in Ireland, in fact, it is projected to worsen in 2023.
Ireland’s small population of 6 million, as per the 2021 census, coupled with Brexit creates a demand for expat Indian Chartered Accountants (CAs).
Due to Brexit, many companies are shifting their headquarters from the UK to Ireland. CAs can seize this opportunity to meet the growing requirement for accounting services in Ireland.
