6 minute read
Malone & Co. – Accounting for Growth
Accounting for Growth:
In conversation with Malone & Co.
Principal Damien Malone
There is cause for optimism for Irish SMEs after two tough years, and opportunities for growth are there. Businesses just have to be in the right place to exploit them, as Damien Malone explains.
For the first time in two years, many business owners started 2022 looking forward with confidence. With the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic over, and a return to something resembling ‘business as usual’ for the economy in progress, those that have weathered the storm are looking to grow and exploit new opportunities.
While Covid-19 affected every business, and the familiar facades of many local shops and long-established community businesses have disappeared, with only some replaced, it wasn’t all negative and many enterprises not only managed to survive but found new opportunities and grew.
“It’s out of such economic challenges that opportunities arise,” says Damien Malone, founder and managing partner of Dublin and Kildare-based accounting and tax firm, Malone & Co.
“For instance, some businesses pivoted to provide products and services – such as PPE and sanitary/janitorial products – to new markets and found new customers, as well as selling more to existing ones. Meanwhile, others found new ways of working that were more cost-effective and efficient – such as homeworking – and are now well placed to grow as the economy continues to recover throughout 2022.”
It is no surprise that Damien is optimistic. His business has grown significantly in the past two years and the team now includes 20 accountants from three professional institute bodies, four tax advisors, a solicitor, two bankers and accounting and payroll technicians. Along with the day job, Damien is the chairman of the Damone Investment group, a niche micro and small asset/ investment group with equity, debt and property holdings in Ireland and the UK.
Surviving the pandemic
What allowed Malone & Co to prosper during the pandemic? Damien says the key was simplicity and communication. The firm offers clients a no-frills, value added, customer centric-based compliance and advisory service where the focus is on the constant evaluation and improvement of their clients’ businesses and profitability. The team recognises that all business owners’ primary objectives are the safeguarding and maximisation of their hard-earned profits and cashflow. In short, Malone & Co. has succeeded by helping others to survive and thrive during an unpredictable and difficult time. Through this, the team offered clear, concise advice, and ensured they communicated regularly with clients through a variety of media, including Zoom, phone calls and emails. At a time when guidance and the legal landscape was changing regularly as the pandemic developed, it was important to keep clients fully briefed so they were able to use that knowledge to function to their full capacity.
“We work with SMEs and business owners who want to build bigger, better, scalable more profitable, sellable businesses for themselves and their families,” Damien says. “Our client base includes some of the most entrepreneurial-minded business owners in Ireland, indigenous companies looking to enter and crack new markets, and international brands and investors that have commercial interests in Ireland.
Building a Strong Team
Malone & Co. also has its own internal tax department that employs former ‘Big 4’ and ‘Top 15’ staff. By adapting a policy of only recruiting top, experienced talent, the business has built a team of multidisciplined professionals who are routinely retrained on emerging regulatory requirements, amendments in legislation and, of course, the ‘tricks of the trade’ to ensure clients’ affairs are structured as efficiently as possible from a tax perspective.
Recent recruits include director of client services Lesley McCormaic, who is a practice veteran with 20 years’ experience across a diverse range of owner-managed companies, professional firms, regulated entities and the not-for-profits. Another recent recruit is Joanne Kelly, who is well known in banking circles and is now the in-house anti-money laundering compliance lead for Malone & Co.
Eyes Toward the Horizon
Damien has exciting and ambitious plans for 2022 with expected, continued growth and further international expansion: “We want to try to get as close to a Big 4-style service, delivery and advisory while adhering to our core principle, which is focused around cultivating our client/trusted advisor relationship,” he says.
As Ireland continues to attract unprecedented levels of foreign direct investment, not only does Malone & Co. support international entrepreneurs and corporations looking to expand into the Republic of Ireland, it also helps Irish SME clients do business internationally. This is aided by its membership of several international professional service networks and associations such as IR Global, Centuro, ISFIN and Fusion Tax Network and further evidenced by the recent announcement that they have been chosen as a finalist for the INT-X Awards 2022 Tax & Accountancy firm of the year, an award that recognises the services, innovativeness, and impact of true game changers within the Global Expansion Industry.
Malone & Co. streamlines the complexity of doing business internationally by staying on the cutting edge of modern practice. Damien explains: “We use automated solutions that make it easy for clients to upload bills and receipts using their desktop, mobile device, email, or scanner – giving us access to the documents you need, when you need them.”
Domestically, Malone & Co is also looking to be active as, with COVID restrictions now lifted in Ireland and the economy moving to a post-pandemic phase, companies are looking for growth, and many will need advice to ensure that their business is structured in the most streamlined and efficient way to achieve their goals.
There will undoubtedly be many M&A opportunities to take up for Irish businesses in 2022. Some business owners may have been planning to exit for some time but have held onto the business until such time as economic conditions mean they will get market value. Others, meanwhile, may have experienced such losses from the pandemic that they feel they cannot continue. This means there will be good businesses available for acquisition that could provide real value for acquirers, if the business is integrated effectively. Again, expert advice will be required.
SMEs doing business in the Republic of Ireland would be wise to take a note from Malone & Co. Where some see difficulties, Malone & Co. find opportunities. There are undoubted economic problems across the globe, including supply chain issues and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which are likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, there remain real causes for optimism as there are also opportunities that progressive businesses can exploit, whether that be international growth, developing new markets or growing by acquisition.
Working with Malone & Co.
Malone & Co. provides accounting, auditing, bookkeeping, VAT, payroll, company secretarial services and corporate services. This also includes tax evaluation and planning for business, personal and family, tax residence planning for internationally mobile clients, tax efficient remuneration of owners and key staff, and revenue audits and investigations.
As chartered tax advisors, the firm is affiliated to the Irish Taxation Institute, the premier Irish body for tax advisors and members of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. The firm has offices in Rathcoole West Dublin and Naas in Co. Kildare.
Malone & Co provides clear and concise advice and services to customers in a wide range of business sectors, but always at reasonable prices. The firm looks to work with clients over the longterm, rather than one-off projects, and as a result their advice is always takes a holistic view of the business and what is best for it in the short- and long-term.
For more information on how Malone & Co can help your business, please contact us on [phone] or [email] to set up an initial meeting.
