By Business & Finance 
Business & Finance highlights some of the top movers and shakers in Ireland.
What is it?
Accountantonline.ie is Ireland’s first online accountancy and bookkeeping service for clients based in Ireland, UK and the world. The company’s overseas portfolio includes SMEs from America to Asia with an Irish or UK tax compliance requirement.
The website offers all its services online and communicates with clients via Skype, email and phone, backed up by excellent and personable customer service which has resulted in a 99% client retention rate. Its services are also very cost-effective because it is based in Donegal and in general their overheads are lower than other parts of Ireland
The site was a finalist in the 2016 Irish Accountancy Awards, a finalist in the Irish Enterprise Awards for 2015 and winner of the 2014 Innovation Award from Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce.
Who’s behind it?
The company is owned and run by Larissa Feeney, a qualified chartered accountant based in Letterkenny, who in 2010 was developing a website for her accountancy practice.
While doing research, she noticed a growing trend in the UK for accountants offering online services. She saw there was nothing similar in Ireland and decided to develop her own online service.
The site went live in 2011 and Larissa’s next big step forward was joining the Going for Growth Programme in 2015, a joint collaboration between KPMG and Enterprise Ireland, where lead entrepreneurs voluntarily give of their time to mentor small, up and coming businesses. It encouraged her to make some major changes that have benefited the business since and she’s never looked back.
Initially the website was self-funded, but then the company received grant funding for employment and marketing from their local Enterprise office along with mentor support from Enterprise Ireland.
Business has grown 20% annually since accountantonline.ie was launched and is on target for 30% growth in 2016. They recently secured the accountantonline.co.uk domain and currently working on a service to specifically target the UK.
They have also recently opened an office in Dublin to help grow the company’s market share.
Business & Finance, Ones to Watch
Business & Finance, in association with Comtrade Digital Services, recognises Ireland’s most dynamic emerging businesses in ‘Ones to Watch’.
Ireland is alive with a vibrant start-up scene and the entrepreneurs featured are shaping the country’s economic landscape.
