Armstrong Watson have been providing accounting and advisory services to agri businesses across the north of England and Scotland for over 150 years, with 16 locations throughout the country.

Leaders in innovation

As early as 2010, the team at Armstrong Watson recognised that cloud technology could change the way they served their clients, providing greater efficiency in house, while enabling closer collaboration with their clients.

In preparation for HMRCs Making Tax Digital, Armstrong Watson made the call to transition the bulk of its client base to Xero, becoming one of the biggest Xero partners in the UK.

They’ve since gone on to become one of Xero’s First Platinum partners and were named 2017 Xero UK Accounting Partner of the Year.

At the forefront of client advisory services

We’ve been working alongside the technology and agri team at Armstrong Watson throughout our launch into the UK. This partnership demonstrates a shared vision to provide UK farmers with the tools they need to manage their farming operations with support, control and confidence.

Now with Figured completing their agri platform they’re able to unlock the power of data to offer greater service to their clients at scale.

Andrew Robinson, partner and head of Armstrong Watson’s farming and agricultural, says the adoption of Figured keeps them at the forefront of client advisory services.

“The scale and deployment of Figured means we can see the value of live farming data enabling effective Budgeting, Forecasting and Benchmarking while at the same time supports and links to financial reporting. It will also track crop and livestock movements, operating expenses, see overall profit and future cash flow, enabling decision making based on a true picture of farm performance”, Andrew shares.

Guiding clients through change

The agri sector is known for constant change. Whether it be the effect of weather fluctuations, public policy, international trade or animal health regulations, farmers have to be ready to manage through volatility.

Figured and Armstrong Watson share the belief that the role of the accountant is changing and that farmers now require a trusted advisor who can help them through a future of uncertainty.

“The role of accountants has been changing for some time. Businesses and in particular those working in the farming and agricultural sector, now require trusted business advisers who can take a broader view of their clients’ operations. They want to work with a firm with whom they can build long-term relationships and who understand their business as it evolves. Figured allows us to simply and collaboratively forecast different scenarios for the next five years, key in a period of such economic uncertainty, to achieve our clients’ business goals”, says Andrew.

We’re excited to be joined by members of Armstrong Watson’s team at Xerocon London this week to celebrate the launch of our partnership.