By Mark Edmondson, CEO at Inflo.
It was another busy year in 2023 for me personally, and for the Inflo team! As the year draws to a close, I wanted to reflect on some of the standout events across the year.
Jan: Hosting Inflo Cognition
We kicked off the year with our second virtual customer conference – Inflo Cognition! A two-day event equipping our users with tips and tricks to tackle December year end audits. Our experts delivered some fantastic sessions to a highly engaged audience!
Feb: Securing A Key Hire
In February, we welcomed to the business Steve Marritt as our new Chief Revenue Officer. Steve has brought a wealth of experience in high-growth scaling businesses and has been an incredible addition to the Leadership Team!
This set the tone for some incredible hires across the year, including Gemma Sholder (Head of People), Tim Bellhouse (Head of Customer), and Anthony Harrison on (Head of Marketing), with Amy Fairchild, FCA, CPA also joining us from the IAASB to support the large US firms with complex implementations we are working with.
Across the business we have hired some incredibly talented people to support our ambitious growth plans – it has been a pleasure to welcome every one of them in my weekly new-joiners call!
Mar: Gathering Our Global Team
In March, we brought the Inflo global team to Newcastle, UK. Despite the flurries of snow, we had an amazing time uniting as a team to discuss and align-on an exciting 5-year strategy to build on our success and target exciting further growth!
We also engaged in some enjoyable team-building activities, including a challenging Escape Rooms experience!
Apr: Publishing My First Book
In April, I published my first book – A Better Axe! This was born from my enjoyment reading Aesop’s Fables to my daughters and the concept of using storytelling to help explain important technology lessons I have learned.
It also was a great opportunity for some fun around driving innovation in accounting firms. The illustrator Kris did an incredible job, and I was pleased with how well it was received by people! Book two is now in the works…
May: Conference Season Starts – Accountex!
In May, the Inflo team and I connected with existing customers and many new faces at Accountex – the UK’s largest accounting conference. It was great to have a queue people at our stand wanting to speak.
What was noticeable was the shift in awareness of us. Many people wanting to know more about our education partnership with the ICAEW here in the UK. Firms big and small were really excited to learn about a more modern audit methodology and audit platform!
Jun: An Award-Winning Night
June was a busy month for events as I first went to Las Vegas to attend the AICPA Engage conference, and then to London for the International Accounting Forum and Awards.
The highlight was Inflo clinching the Cloud Initiative of the Year award! This was testament to our team's dedication to security best practices, which is such an under-celebrated area. The Inflo afterparty was a lot of fun too!
Jul: Moving to the US
In July, my family and I commenced a 6-week adventure in the US. The primary focus for the trip was to advance our growth in the US market.
It was important to me that I demonstrate our strong commitment as a business, and as CEO, to supporting US firms digitally transforming their audit services. Building relationships continues to be a very important part of establishing trust and helping innovation leaders make change. People are viewing us now as an innovation partner, not just a software vendor.
There was plenty of time for work/life balance in the form of Disney trips too!!
Aug: Holding Our First US Summit
In August, we hosted our first summit in New York. We aimed to inspire and equip attendees with insights from our work support technology and innovation strategy in accounting firms.
One of the most warmly received parts of the Summit was sharing our Proven Process. This implementation methodology fully prepares a business for change. Change is only scary for the unprepared, and leaders loved the crawl-walk-run principles our approach promotes!
Sep: Learning from the Boomer CIO Circle
In September I joined some of the leading accounting firm innovators at the Boomer CIO Circle in Long Beach, California. What I found most enjoyable was the group's openness and camaraderie. The banter was lively, but what stood out even more was the sincere desire to support peers and elevate the accounting profession together.
I gained a lot from building relationships with the group and hearing what is on their minds at this time of great change!
Oct: Investing in Security, and Travel
In October we gained our ISO 27001:2022 certification. This demonstrated our commitment to the highest standards of information security, early adopting the new ISO security standards.
Data security and protecting the confidential information of our customers and their clients is a critical and complete commitment at Inflo. Achieving best-in-class results is something we are proud of, and is yet another real differentiator.
I also spoke at the PKF Global gathering in Porto, Portugal. It was valuable to hear the PKF Global strategy. I was inspired to expand on the success of PKF member firms who adopted Inflo in 2023, to support PKF’s exciting long term goals.
Nov: ICAEW Exams
In November, Inflo supported the ICAEW’s ACA exams for corporate reporting. This is such an important initiative, embedding grass root technology skills with accounting students in England and Wales.
We’re already starting to see the benefits, with firms sharing their team come back to the firm with greater awareness and enthusiasm towards technology!
Dec: Team Christmas Party
We closed out the year with our UK team gathering for the office Christmas party. It is one of the markers for me of how our team has grown over the years – since our first Christmas Party in 2016 with a 6-person team!