On 10-11 May, the largest accounting conference in Europe, Accountex London, was held at the ExCeL Convention Centre in London. Uku was an exhibitor for the first time! Last year we visited the fair and studied how and what should be done to stand out. Before going to Accountex London 2023, we researched the main topics of this year’s convention.

What to expect from Accountex 2023?

A record number of participants, over 250 companies and speakers, have registered for Accountex this year. The world’s most popular software present their powerful new solutions at seminars. Specialists share tips on how to grow your business and stay one step ahead of your competitors.

The main topics at this year’s Accountex are mental health, the impact of technology on accounting and labour shortages.

The ecological footprint of the specialists travelling from all over the world is quite extensive. With the help of a partner, Carma, Accountex has promised to plant one tree for every visitor. It is worth mentioning here that the entrance is free, so many trees must be planted because there will be many visitors. Last year, in 2022, more than 8,000 industry representatives visited the conference.

Accountants mental health importance

Mental health gains popularity everywhere, not just at Accountex. No matter how ambitious you are in your work, you shouldn’t forget your well-being. Burnout is more relevant this year than ever. The number of employees with poor mental health in the UK increased by 25% compared to 2019.‍

How can you be there for your employees to avoid burnout and, thus, potential labour shortages?‍

As an employer, there are several steps you can take to ensure the well-being of your employees. In 2023, work-life balance, or flextime, is a popular topic. From the employer’s side, this means enabling flexible working hours. Technology also plays a part here, allowing remote work and overtime management thanks to time tracking for tasks. If an employee works overtime, the easiest way to avoid burnout is to compensate them with vacation.

However, your employer is not the only one responsible for preventing burnout. As an employee, you can also do your part to keep work and life separate, thereby ensuring strong mental health. It is crucial to set boundaries between work and personal life and know how to take time off when needed. Overwork may be acceptable in the short term, but it causes a lot of stress in the long term.

The impact of accounting technology

Understandably, adopting modern technology is also an important topic at Accountex, partly because the fair features many different software providers – software for accounting, work management, AML processes and others. Increasingly, clients also expect more technical knowledge from the accountant.

Software as the accountant’s new assistant is helpful in many different aspects, such as managing tasks and clients, simplifying accounting, automated invoices or emails, and much more.

‍The more software can take over simple tasks, the more time you can focus on what matters to customers. The more personalized insights you can extract from the data for your customers, the more accurate your financial recommendations will be for them.

An essential part of that is maintaining the accountant’s sense of mission because sometimes it may seem that technology or even artificial intelligence is replacing our work. However, this is different. The software needs a user to give the commands; therefore, accountants are always necessary.

Labour shortage

The labour shortage in the field of accounting is relevant throughout the world, and where else better to discuss it than Accountex.

Studies predict that by 2030 there will be a global shortage of 85.2 million skilled workers. The most significant loss is predicted for the financial sector, nearly 22.8%. At the convention, the speakers share recommendations on how, as an employer, you can ensure that your company survives the battle for talent.

There are several reasons for the worsening labour shortage in the accounting field, but one of the most fundamental factors is the complexity and diversity of the field. A good accountant is a skilled calculator, precise in their operations, and a good partner for their client. The often stressful and demanding job is not for everyone who knows how to calculate. It is necessary to be a specialist with the spirit of a team player ready to follow line by line to find the problem. However, such people are hard to find, and the value of a good accountant grows more and more over time.

Why visit conferences like Accountex?

As always, significant events bring new inventions or tools. We don’t attend Accountex to demonstrate just what we already have. The world demands innovation, and we will give it to them. But here and today, I can’t talk about everything new yet.

The story of how the Uku team went to Accountex 2023

Today, the Uku team is back home. Having gathered much knowledge, learned lessons, and had many great adventures, we want to share them with you because learning from the mistakes and achievements of others is the easiest way to learn.

A convention with so many participants requires an outstanding exhibitor box so that the people see you first. Preparations for ordering the booth’s interior and printing materials began several months before Accountex.

What do you need for an eye-catching booth?

First of all, you need the interior of the booth, i.e. walls with pictures of the product, lighting, carpet, table and stands where to store the fliers. We decided to hang a giant banner beneath the ceiling to stand out. Our good friends from AdGorilla helped us with the box interior.

Of course, you need candy, much candy! In the second half of the day, people are already tired and looking for an energy boost. We had picked Estonia’s best candy – Kalev candy for them, and it was popular!

Sharing leaflets is an excellent way to remind yourself of the people when they leave your booth. The brochure must be simple but as informative as possible. In addition to leaflets, we shared Uku’s reusable bags for the most interested guests. This way, they could carry brochures that others shared more comfortably. We put a flyer, stickers and the much-loved candy mentioned before in the bag.

Let’s go!

When all the designs were completed, the texts reviewed, and the goods ordered and printed, they had to be delivered from Tallinn to London. We packed our goods on one pallet and sent it on its way several days before our flight. The goods arrived late but still successfully in the United Kingdom.

Accountex London, here we come!

On May 9, we arrived in London. We drove straight from the airport to the convention centre to start building the booth. But what was not in the ExCeL convention centre was our pallet – it was still in customs! We waited, set plans for the next few days, and dreamed of everything the fair ahead would bring us.

And then it arrived, at the last moment – our lovely pallet with all the booth’s interior! We built the stall in 2 hours instead of the whole day. The only thing left on the booth floor was the banner hanging from the ceiling. The opportunity to do that ended at 6 p.m., about 15 minutes before our belongings even arrived.

Negotiating with the workers and promising to give them some of the best chocolate treats in the world resulted in an agreement that the following day, at 8 a.m., they would help us put up the giant banner.

We are immensely grateful to the workers and organizers who did everything in their power to make Uku the brightest exhibitor at the fair.

The first day of Accountex

As usual for the United Kingdom, the weather was muggy, but it made no difference to us. On May 10, we entered the fair centre excitedly, and the long-awaited event was about to begin. Our booth was beautiful! The large bowl of Kalev candy on the table was a complete hit! It’s safe to say Estonian chocolate is one of the best in the world.

Four of us were at the fair this year – the founder and technology manager Jaanus, CEO Triin, CFO Margot and sales manager Mari. At the same time, Juuli and Keit had their hands full with marketing in Tallinn, so the news about Uku at Accountex could get as far as possible.

Everyone was super busy at the convention! We ran to get lunch and rarely left the booth because we wanted everyone interested to be included. Accounting specialists are curious people who immediately start investigating what Uku’s about when they enter the Uku booth.

We were lucky to have a place in our booth next to the cafeteria. There, the enthusiasts gave their feet a rest, had lunch and took a good look at the Uku fair booth that was within reach. The famous Estonian proverb says three things are the most interesting to watch: running water, burning fire, and a working person. You saw that in the Uku booth – people working hard.

Some had heard of Uku before, and some met Uku for the first time. Even our friends from 1Office and Leinonen found us at the big fair. It was so lovely to see a familiar face!

We brought bags and flyers for sharing with those who showed the most interest in the software, and there were many of them! The 150 bags with us had run out by lunchtime on the second day. It was lovely to hear that others like the bags and Uku’s rune as much as we do.

There was a funny incident with our nearly run-out flyers. A passerby took one of the last flyers with them, and one of us had to run after them so we could show the others. Another lesson learned – next year, take more of everything. 

‍So what did Accountex professionals from around the world say about Uku?

“Uku is so beautiful!” Our priority is to make the software easy to use for everybody – for those familiar with technology and those needing little assistance.

However, if something needs clarification, Uku’s real-time support is always there for them. Our customer support specialist Maria helps find solutions for Uku members daily. Maria sends the customers’ wishes for new functions to Allan, Uku’s product owner, and Allan to Jaanus, the CTO. We value constructive feedback, learn from it and develop the product based on what Uku members say.
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Many at Accountex were surprised Uku is not funded by large investors or corporations. Our aim is not to impress some important people but to solve the concerns of accountants. Uku was born because the mothers of founders Rain and Jaanus are accountants, and they wanted to see innovation in the industry. Five years after Uku’s birth, we’re still delighted to hear when accountants feel that Uku is made for them.
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Uku’s automatic invoicing solution, integration with accounting software, convenient time tracking and report solution, automated emails and more were also valued parts of the software by exhibit visitors.

People also asked about new features. At the moment, a client portal function is gaining in popularity. Although Uku also acts as a thorough CRM, there is no place where the client can operate. We ask for some patience because this solution is no longer far away. At the convention, we demonstrated several new possibilities coming to Uku in the form of a video.

We pay attention to what the world expects of us, and it was a pleasure to hear that many of their ideas are already coming soon. You can submit all your wishes to Uku’s roadmap. Add them or vote for other ideas > here.‍

The two days at Accountex London 2023 were very successful. It is a pleasure to meet such friendly, thoughtful and intelligent people. Many thanks to our helpers who came to London to support their lovely family members – Jaanus’ partner Triin, Andre, Sixten and Steven.

‍Margot, Jaanus and Triin also invited their children and partners to London and spent a delightful weekend in London after the busy convention.

See you at Accountex 2024!