Tag: Paul donno

1 Accounts shortlisted for prestigious national award

Posted on | by Jade Donno

A commitment to supporting businesses through the pandemic has seen 1 Accounts shortlisted for a top national award.
We have been named in the top five of the prestigious Accounting Excellence awards in the Medium Firm of the Year category.


While acknowledging the growth of the company, the shortlisting is also testimony to the bespoke service provided by 1 Accounts over the last two and a half years.
Paul Donno, director of our family-run business, said: “Our team worked above and beyond during the pandemic – at a time when we were all trying to keep our loved ones safe.
“Because we are an online business, our staff were still able to provide the same high-quality service to our clients. But we wanted to do more than that so we supported their loan and furlough applications free of charge.

“It was something we felt we could do at a time when our clients needed all the help they could get just to stay afloat.
“We also held webinars for both clients and non-clients to support other local businesses. On the back of that, we have received a lot of client referrals and our business has grown by over 60% in the last two years.”

1 Accounts was named best new practice at the British Accountancy Awards in 2016 and Paul is hoping for similar success this time around.
“I am incredibly proud of their hard work and honoured, as a company, to be nominated for this award,” Paul said.
“To be shortlisted in the medium size category is testimony to how much we have grown in a short space of time.
“In 2016, we only had three members of staff, including me and my wife Jenni, and around 40 to 50 clients. Since then, we have grown to in excess of 300 clients and we are just about to employ two more people, taking us to 15 members of staff.”
The Accounting Excellence awards will be held on Thursday 8th September at a ceremony in London.

Press release & photo by Dave Gooderham at Gooderham PR.

Paul's new book

Boring to Soaring

Posted on | by Jade Donno

Paul's new book

Paul writes his first book

Our director Paul has written his first book. The book tells of how he started his business life as a young lad collecting golf balls from the local golf club, to building a business, merging a business and ultimately building the current business.

1 Accounts Online is a growing business that could be described as disrupting the accountancy profession.

What to call the book?

After asking friends, family and clients for title suggestions on Facebook Paul decided to call the book ‘Boring to Soaring’. This title seemed fitting to describe how the business has moved from the boring traditional world of accountancy to soaring into the clouds and changing the perception of the profession.

The book details Paul’s journey through business so far which has had some bumps and challenges along the way. Paul frankly speaks about his own mistakes in business and how he overcame them. Ultimately, when the chips were down, and he hit his lowest point in business it was both determination and the support of friends and family that he proved that you can bounce back stronger.

Paul also talks about his long and strong relationship with Sage UK. Like any relationship, it has been both challenging and rewarding working with a large organisation. Paul encourages smaller businesses to work with larger organisations and never feel like they are too small to make a difference. He claims that anyone can be a specialist or even a ‘thought leader’.

The book is aimed to help any business owner showing that whatever your business is, many of the issues and problems are just the same. The book has some key messages, tips and advice that Paul hopes will help small business owners to have confidence and grow.

The 14 key lessons at the end of the book include:

  1. Learn from your mistakes
  2. Be Nice
  3. Branding
  4. Outsource to Good Quality People
  5. Just say ‘Yes’ and feel the fear
  6. Know your numbers
  7. Go Online
  8. You are not a bank
  9. Collaborate with your team
  10. Social Media
  11. Never too late to learn
  12. Automate as much as you can
  13. Awards
  14. ENJOY

The most important lesson?

The most important lesson is to enjoy what you do and have some great fun on your journey.

Want a copy?

If you would like a copy of Pauls book please email boring2soaring@1accounts.co.uk

All proceeds for the book are being donated to Little People UK. This is a charity very close to our hearts. You can also donate to this charity by following this link: http://littlepeopleuk.org/ways-you-can-donate/justgiving

Looking to publish a book?

There have been many people that have helped in the production of our book, but I can’t thank the printers enough for their help and patience. If you are looking to publish a book please speak to Danny at Gipping Presshttp://www.gippingpress.co.uk/