---
title: "Powered by Spotlight: Two minutes with Gareth Bryant from Interactive Accounting"
description: Gareth Bryant is powered by Spotlight Reporting and tells us how it's going to help Interactive Accounting achieve their 2020 goals.
---

[Blog](http://blog.spotlightreporting.com)

# [Powered by Spotlight: Two minutes with Gareth Bryant from Interactive Accounting](http://blog.spotlightreporting.com/powered-by-spotlight-gareth-bryant)

 Written by [Paul Gray](http://blog.spotlightreporting.com/author/paul-gray) | 23 Jan 2020

"On average, compared to using other tools or manual methods, we’d save at least 4-6 hours per year per client. Across a client base of 300+ businesses, that’s a lot of hours being used for other things."

Gareth Bryant, Managing Director from ‘advisory first’ firm, I[nteractive Accounting](https://www.interactiveaccounting.com.au/), talks to us about their 2020 goals and ambitions, and how being powered by Spotlight helps their firm and clients.

***To get us started, why don’t you tell me a bit about Interactive Accounting and your role?***

Interactive Accounting is an ‘advisory-first’ modern accounting firm based in Sydney and Melbourne. We have a team of 16 across the two cities. We primarily work with high-growth small businesses and startups. We manage all our work internally (i.e. we don’t outsource) and leverage technology to deliver a high-quality client experience.

I’m the Managing Director of Interactive, and I split my time between delivering CFO services for various high-growth businesses and managing our [fantastic team](https://www.interactiveaccounting.com.au/interactive-team/).

***What does 2020 look like for you and the Interactive Accounting team?***

We have big ambitions for 2020. We felt like we achieved a lot in 2019, with a number of clients completing capital raises, international expansion and successful exits, we feel this is just the beginning.

> **"We have big ambitions for 2020. Whilst we felt like we achieved a lot in 2019, with a number of clients completing capital raises, international expansion and successful exits, we feel this is just the beginning."**

Our goal at the end of 2020 is to be the go-to boutique accounting firm in Australia for startups and high-growth technology businesses. We have a lot of work to do to achieve that goal, but we feel like it’s well within our reach.

***What were the major pain-points of your process prior to using Spotlight Reporting?***

As a modern accounting practice, set up 10 years ago this month (yay!), we've always tried to leverage technology to enhance the client experience. Prior to coming onboard with Spotlight Reporting as a Super VCFO partner, we used a variety of other tools. We found them to be less than satisfactory due to being very time-consuming and delivering a sub-par product.

Pain points included using clunky, manual processes to compile data, needing to do consolidations across client groups via an Excel spreadsheet and various other headaches. I shudder at the thought of ever having to go back to that!

***Alex, our Customer Success Specialist, mentioned the team at Interactive Accounting are Forecasting experts. What has your experience been like using Spotlight Forecasting?***

We find Spotlight Forecasting to be a very useful tool. Whilst some of our startup clients require complex financial models that only Excel can deliver, a significant portion of our client base needs a smart, useful tool to help manage and forecast their cashflow position. This is where Spotlight Forecasting comes in.

With [Spotlight Forecasting](https://spotlightreporting.com/product/), with minimum fuss (but a high level of accuracy), we put together a financial forecast giving our client a level of insight and security they would not see otherwise. Because the application is intuitive, we can prepare this in a cost-effective way for our clients.

> **"With Spotlight Forecasting, with minimum fuss (but a high level of accuracy), we put together a financial forecast giving our client a level of insight and security they would not see otherwise."**

***When it comes to preparing forecasts for your clients, d**o you secure regular engagements or is it more 'one-off' project work?***

For the majority of our small business and startup clients, they are on fixed-fee annual packages which have an advisory element combined with their ongoing tax and compliance. We have a rule at Interactive for these clients: every one of them MUST have some sort of budget or forecast (even when the client doesn’t think they need one).

Without a tool like Spotlight, this process would be far less efficient and our fees would need to be substantially higher to fulfil this mission.

***By using Spotlight can you measure any increases in revenue or growth, or time-saving?***

We save countless hours in our advisory packages by utilising the Spotlight suite of tools. From setting up their initial yearly and rolling forecasts, to reporting on a monthly or quarterly basis, the savings are huge. On average, compared to using other tools or manual methods, we’d save at least 4-6 hours per year per client. Across a client base of 300+ businesses, that’s a lot of hours being used for other things.

> **"On average, compared to using other tools or manual methods, we’d save at least 4-6 hours per year per client. Across a client base of 300+ businesses, that’s a lot of hours being used for other things."**

***What features do you enjoy the most, and which features make yours and your teams’ jobs easier?***

Our favourite reporting feature would be the ability to [consolidate multiple Xero](http://blog.spotlightreporting.com/your-ultimate-guide-to-consolidations-with-spotlight) files across multiple currencies with ease. It saves countless hours of manual consolidation work.

Another key feature that makes me smile on a daily basis is the [customisable profit and loss analysis report](https://help.spotlightreporting.com/reporting/profit-and-loss-customisation). Without question, it is the page I spend the most time on when discussing financial performance with a client.

We also love, built in KPIs, Dynamic Rules in Forecasting and Custom Report Templates!

***What would you say to someone who’s shopping around for a reporting or forecasting tool?***

There are plenty of tools out there in the market, but if you need the ability to deliver sophisticated reporting to your clients in a timely fashion, you can’t really go past Spotlight. We’ve tried a range of tools for various specific features and functionality, but nothing else comes close. We love it!

***Thanks Gareth and we look forward to seeing you and the team achieve your 2020 goals!***

[View full post](http://blog.spotlightreporting.com/powered-by-spotlight-gareth-bryant)

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