How Accountinghub Made Cloud Based Accounting in Nigeria A Business Reality

In a study published on cloud computing in Nigeria, 85.5% strongly agreed that easy access to data was a motivator for adopting cloud.

Yet, there was a huge gap between what Nigeria’s Small & Medium businesses needed and what regular accounting firms were offering.

Chioma Ifeanyi-Eze, business owner, the founder ofAccountinghub, identified this gap in the market and chose to partner with Sage One to offer an affordable cloud-based accounting solution for small business.

“The (regular accounting) firms charged hourly rates, they focused on audits and had a very low acceptance of technology or IT tools. They also had no special offerings for small business,” said Ifeanyi-Eze.

To address these market needs, Nigeria’s first online accounting shop, Accountinghub, was born.

“I introduced virtual, retail and tech-accounting in Nigeria. I also shifted the emphasis from auditing to bookkeeping and made sure that the prices are super affordable for small business,” she says adding that the “response has been amazing.”

The Cloud Effect
The launch of Accountinghub has been well received.

In less than a year, Ifeanyi-Eze and her team of four junior bookkeepers have serviced over 40 small businesses nationally.

The success, she believes, is offering cloud-based accounting. “Cloud accounting is our major selling point and integral to our business growth strategy,” she says, adding that as a Sage One advisor, their first option is to strongly recommend Sage One to her clients.

“The benefits of cloud solutions are huge for us in terms of scaling our business nationally, supporting our clients virtually, with no loss of data, no installations and no backup efforts,” she said

Choosing The Right Partner
When formulating her business plan, Ifeanyi-Eze focused on two objectives. She wanted affordability as well as an accurate accounting solution.

Ifeanyi-Eze said that she decided on Sage One because it offers the most competitive cost structures, has a presence in Nigeria, it is “super easy to learn and use”, is a popular and respected brand name in the region, and has a single price structure for all of the offerings.

The benefits have exceeded her expectations.

While cost was the main factor for her choice, Ifeanyi-Eze says that she has noticed improved customer relationships via what she refers to as, “the amazing Customer Zone”.

It’s also about educating clients. “As Sage One Advisers, we teach our clients the basics of invoicing and receipting while we handle the other more complicated entries into the system. We visit all clients once a week.”

“In a time of seismic technological change and digital invention, our smart people use the smartest technology to reinvent and simplify business accounting. We enable our customers to focus on their business and help them to leapfrog to the future. Like many of the businesses we serve, we started small and have grown beyond what seemed imaginable,” said Steven Cohen, head of Sage One International (Africa, Australia, Middle East and Asia). “We take real pride in how customers such as Chioma Ifeanyi-Eze are flourishing and that what we as a business are able to offer her.”

The full Sage product portfolio will be on show at Sage Summit, the world’s largest gathering of entrepreneurs and leaders of Small & Medium Businesses, taking place in Chicago, IL, on July 25-28.