Huntingdon-based Samantha Green is a qualified Chartered Accountant passionate about working with business owners to identify opportunities (often assisted by cloud accounting software and digital tools) to make improvements to their operations, and whose love of people is apparent in the way she collaborates with clients and colleagues.
Samantha qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2015, before joining George Hay in 2017, after studying AAT at college and successfully completing her Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) exams via an apprenticeship.
Initially, she took on the role of Client Manager, identifying synergy between clients’ needs and staff capabilities, and ensuring that the team consistently pulled together to always deliver the best client service.
In 2021, Samantha became a Portfolio Manager and now, just a year later, she has been appointed as an Associate Partner.
“I am honoured to have been appointed as an Associate Partner in the firm; a role that I feel I can bring so much to.
“It is incredibly rewarding to be able to look after my own portfolio of clients, supporting them as their businesses grow, progress and change. For me, talking and exploring solutions together is key to a fruitful client-adviser relationship, and I pride myself on the ‘human’ approach that I take to my position.
“Yes, we are professionals and experts in our field, but we are also people, and we want our clients to be able to relate to us on that level. That’s when both parties truly get the most out of working with one another.
“I’m also lucky to have a varied portfolio, encompassing large international organisations, small start-ups and everything in between. I love the challenge and variety that comes with this, as I am always being pushed to evolve, adapt, and learn quickly, but I also enjoy being able to apply a single piece of knowledge to lots of different businesses and to draw similarities and connections between those at opposite ends of the spectrum.”
As George Hay continues to develop as a firm, and to embrace the organic transitions and growth that comes with longevity, collaboration, coordination, and capability are three things that will set us apart from others.
“Our people, and the way we work together, are our ‘unique selling points’. It’s a bit of a cliché but, as a firm, we’re not so big that our clients can’t form a good working relationship and rapport with us, but we’re big enough that we have the expertise and capability to deliver a comprehensive service.
“As colleagues, we know each other and what one another excels at, which means that if a client’s query doesn’t align with my specialisms, I know exactly who I can call on. Sharing knowledge and ideas is key to the way we operate.”
Access to sound advisory support is becoming increasingly important for business owners who are looking to their accountants to be pre-emptive, hands-on, and more than just number crunchers.
Whilst not true of every firm, when it comes to George Hay Samantha is keen to challenge the perception that advisory is independent from everything else that we offer.
“Knowing our clients as well as we do many of them, advisory comes naturally to us – for example, we might be speaking to the shareholders or directors of a limited company about how things are going for them outside of the usual ‘business chat’ and find out something that prompts a conversation about a particular tax planning opportunity.
“Since it is something that we’re always doing and because its often all wrapped up with the package of support we are delivering, business owners don’t always perceive advisory as added value. For me, advisory can be where we add the most value; the advice we impart that clients perhaps didn’t know or realise that they needed and could benefit from.”
Samantha admits she is drawn to businesses that are not afraid of change and those that are keen to embrace digital tools and software, and she is passionate about using her expertise in this area to its full potential.
“I am always championing the benefits of cloud accounting, and I am extremely passionate about using the software and tools at our disposal to deliver solutions to business owners’ ‘pain points’ and to help them make efficiencies.
“It’s incredible when you consider the time so many of us have spent, in years gone by, poring over paper trying to ‘fix’ something or find a workaround; now, so much can be done with just the click of a button!
“An idea that I heard at the Digital Accountancy Show in 2021, that has stuck with me since, is that millions of people wear smart watches that they check 1000 times a day; cloud accounting is the equivalent of a smart watch for your business and the right ecosystem of tools, with the right advisory support alongside, can open doors to insight and data that you didn’t know existed.
“The data can be manipulated to show you the things that matter the most to you and extracted in so many different formats; there’s truly something for everyone. These tools enable us to have much higher level conversations with our clients, to draw crucial comparisons and to transform business processes.”
Looking to the future, in respect of both the industry and the firm, there are so many opportunities to be capitalised on and Samantha affirms that George Hay are ready to come together and make a success of these.
“In the areas surrounding our offices, we are known as the professional, approachable firm that everyone wants to use, and I hope this continues for many years to come.
“There is endless opportunity for us to grow, expand, embrace new talent, learn from our peers and one another, all with a view to continue to ensure that our clients are always on the front foot in business. We want our clients to be assured with the knowledge that by the time they notice an issue, or come across an important development impacting their business, we are one step ahead!
“As a team, we can run with these opportunities and make a success of them if we come together, like the well-oiled machine that we are, and allow everyone to be heard.
“Personally, I now have an opportunity to expand my portfolio of clients, and I am looking forward to finding people that I enjoy working with and that enjoy working with me.”
Having taken the apprenticeship route into the profession herself, Samantha hopes that aspiring accountants will look beyond stereotypes and the idea that accountancy can, sometimes, be inaccessible.
“I am a firm believer that you should enjoy whatever you choose to do as a job, so that you like going to work. Accountancy is not a ‘boring’ profession, as it was once thought of; it is fast-paced and ever-changing but, that being said, you need to be entering into it for the right reasons and you need to want to work with people.
“With the right backing, and the right environment, you shouldn’t feel the need to pigeon-hole yourself. There is scope to take a career in accountancy in so many different directions, especially if you’re starting at the bottom of the ladder.
“Accountancy is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle – often, the pieces are all there laid out on the table, we just have to apply our knowledge in order to make the pretty picture!”
