ABOUT BOOKKEEPERS IN BUCKINGHAM
Bookkeepers in Buckingham Ltd is a family run business covering Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire Oxfordshire and the Milton Keynes areas. Julie Austen also known as Jules, the founding Director has been working within the bookkeeping field for over 40 years.
The company, Bookkeepers in Buckingham Ltd, (known locally & affectionately as BiB) was primarily set up as a bookkeeping provider offering companies the opportunity to outsource their bookkeeping and payroll requirements, thereby ensuring that they only pay for the time needed to complete their bookkeeping work, and without the added implications of employing their own bookkeeper under their own PAYE scheme.
Bookkeepers in Buckingham is registered under the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB), and holds a Practice Licence under that governing body.
Whilst BiB started out as Julie & her son Laurie, over the years BiB has grown extensively, and now proudly boasts an incredible team of bookkeepers, in the words of Julie Austen, Elite bookkeepers!
By 2014 the team had expanded, and Steph & Gemma had joined the team and at the Annual LUCA Awards, team BiB walked away with ‘two’ of the coveted awards. That evening was our highlight to date. Laurie Austen collected the award for Employee of the year and Julie Austen collected the award for Employer of the year; It was a momentous occasion.
How do we offer our Services? Whether you need just a few hours a month or several days on a weekly or monthly basis we can tailor our services to suit your business’s needs. By outsourcing your bookkeeping requirements, you can save yourself the time and effort spent on your paperwork and put your time to the more important tasks of selling and managing your own businesses.
Furthermore, by producing clear and concise records for your month/year end you can help to reduce your costs to your accountant at the end of your financial year. And nothing acts as a better tool than having ‘up to date financial records’, which enable you to drive the business according to the results you currently produce.
Over recent years we have also developed unique relationships with several local accountants, which enables us to offer their Year End accounts provision through us as part of our services.
- What does that mean for you the client?
- It means that we can do all your bookkeeping throughout the year up to & including all your Year End Prep. We then feed relevant notes to the accountant with the ‘books’ ensuring that client costs are kept to a minimum whilst still maintaining work to a first-class Standard.
JULIE AUSTEN Founding Director & her Team of Elite Bookkeepers.
Julie Austen has been working within the bookkeeping for over 40 years. Julie also known as ‘Jules’ was proud to be elected to the prestigious grade of Fellow within the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) in 2017, She was then further elected to the highest grade within the ICB, that of Companion of Honour in 2019.
As a member of the ICB Julie is required to meet their high standards, and to conform to their Professional code of conduct. Likewise her team work towards the same standards required by the ICB, and that is what sets them apart. They are not just bookkeepers, they are Certified Bookkeepers.
After many years of working alone as a sole trader, Julie decided to take on her son, Laurie Austen as an apprentice, and within a short time it was apparent that they made a dynamic team and Julie ventured forward to set up Bookkeepers in Buckingham Ltd. From that point Julie very quickly recognised that there was a huge gap in the bookkeeping profession; it was in need of young and fresh blood. Julie also set about finding ways of encouraging youngsters to take on the roles of bookkeepers within an environment that would provide a stable environment to learn, but also provide the stability of a family type of environment.
Julie has always been a perfectionist and the task of finding likeminded youngsters to fill the role of the bookkeeper’s she envisaged has been a long and arduous task. Bookkeepers are a very special breed. They require very specials skills and traits that enable them to be the best.
Our current team is headed up by Steph & Rahana, both Senior Bookkeepers who hold the day to day office together.
- Both seniors divide their week between ‘on site’ with clients & ‘office based’.
- Whilst on site both bookkeepers are responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the accounts office for the client, and their roles include producing monthly management reports etc.
- Ilze performs a similar role to Steph & Rahana though her work is mainly alongside one individual client with just a few hours a week in the office. Ilze’s role is to ensure all Sales & purchase ledgers are upto date including bank rec’s and making of payments. In short, ilze takes away the need for a full accounts dept.
Claire & Jodie are both more recent additions to the team, and are currently both office based.
Although bookkeeping was to be our main stay along with payroll; Julie wanted each of her employees to have an additional skill that they excelled at. This ‘extra’ skill was to be different in each of our employees, and that would mean that alongside our traditional bookkeeping support, each or our employees would have another line that we could offer our clients. This would mean that BiB was able to offer their client’s a fully tailored service to suit all the different needs of their clients.
In other words, The aim was to ensure BiB was indispensable, hence ensuring our continuity.
Julie is now confident that she has achieved her goals, to create the perfect team of Elite bookkeepers.
“Bookkeepers in Buckingham have handled my payroll since October 2014. They are very professional and all HMRC details are taken care of. All payslips are produced in good time for the month end. I am very satisfied and would recommend the firm without hesitation.”
“Absolutely brilliant service, I would have no hesitation in recommending Julie and her team’s services.
Our company has been using them for around 2 years now and they are swift, efficient and a really friendly and supportive team who have been a huge asset to our business. They offer great value for money and really know their stuff, whether it is Accounts Management, Payroll or Auto Enrolment Pensions, they would prove to be a knowledgeable support to any business.”
“Bookkeepers in Buckingham have provided the company with excellent service throughout the year we have been with them. The books were in a mess but they have persevered and now everything has been corrected and we know exactly where we are with the company accounts. A big thank you to Julie and her team who have worked tirelessly on our behalf.”
“I have been working with Julie and her team at Bookkeepers in Buckingham for over 4 years and the service we receive is exceptional. Julie and Gemma are reliable, helpful and professional, I could not do my job without them. Julie helps me with any queries quickly and is always available when i need her so I could not recommend BIB more.”
“Julie and her staff handle the bookkeeping for my business, they are a great team, everything is completed efficiently and on time. On top of that they go the extra mile, giving added support and advice, they are always available and feel like they are an extension of our business. Highly recommended.”
“I work with Julie Austen and her team on some mutual clients and I see at first hand the excellent service that Buckingham Bookkeepers provide those clients. The culture of the business is not just to do the books but to be there for the clients when they need support. They certainly go the extra mile when it is needed.”