This month we are delighted to introduce our team spotlight series. This is where we interview members of our team and ask them to share a little more about themselves and their role at Rocksteady Finance.

First up is an interview with Ewa Grochowska, one of our Client Management Accountants, who was one of the first people to join the team. Here is what Ewa had to say:

1. How long have you worked at Rocksteady Finance?

I started working with Aggie at Rocksteady Finance, then CFO for Growth, in July 2023, so nearly 3 years.

2. What do you do day-to-day for Rocksteady’s clients (Tell us about your role)?

I handle everything involved in the day-to-day accounts, which excludes anything covered by the Financial Director role, which Aggie and Jon look after. I handle all of the issues and processes around creating the management accounts, cash flow forecast, P&L forecasts, making sure the balance sheet is up to date and problem solving when there are challenges. I am probably the person who has most contact with our clients. 

3. What does good look like and how do you know when you have done a good job?

The answer is multifaceted. There are a number of indicators I have done a good job which include, the client being happy, quickly dealing with queries and resolving any problems or challenges. I also prepare quality management accounts and forecasts with meaningful insights.

4. What’s the most common financial mistake you see agency founders making and what’s the fix?

I would say the biggest mistake agency founders make is to have tunnel vision. What I mean by this is that they just focus on the details of their numbers and do not see the full picture. They might look at the monthly P&L or cash in the bank. Whilst these are important numbers to be aware of they don’t provide the full picture. 

For example, if they don’t have a good finance team in place their P&L won’t give them the information and visibility of their true agency profitability. By just looking at the bank balance this will not take into consideration any costs that are due to come out. The right finance team in place will help them to widen their lens and understanding, deliver insights, be proactive, keep their finger on the pulse and find solutions to challenges. It will help them to bridge the gap between how they think they will perform vs what they want to achieve (forecast vs budget). If they look at the big picture and focus on taking action towards their goals, the rest will resolve itself.

5. What’s a financial problem that agency founders often don’t realise they have until someone points it out?

This is the fun one, having an accurate rate card and being clear on how much an agency will charge for their services. 

Our founder Aggie has been talking about this quite a bit recently, if an agency owner does not know what they should be charging, they will have profitability issues. The rate card should reflect the actual utilisation rate and agency costs, when they are not reflected they might charge too little. 

Most agency owners don’t know how to accurately calculate a rate card. We recently had a situation with one agency, when we complete a pricing review and it turns out they were charging half what they should be, it was a real eye opener for them.

6. What do agency founders most misunderstand about what you do?

My role is about recording true financial performance, so the agency owners have an accurate picture which enables them to make the best investment or hiring decisions. They need to provide me with a lot of information to enable me to do that. 

By having a true picture of their finances, they will be able to make the right decisions. This approach is a surprise to many agency owners. Sometimes they create an artificial picture of how they are performing, which is silly really as they are just deceiving themselves, by being honest it makes the process more effective.

7. What’s the one financial challenge you think agency founders aren’t taking seriously enough right now?

This is a difficult question. One of the biggest financial impacts we are seeing on agencies at the moment is from the latest National Insurance changes, introduced by the government. These changes mean that labour costs and inflation are increasing significantly, affecting the wider business environment. We are still trying to work out the impact on our client’s businesses and cash flow, we need more data to do this.

8. What drew you to working in accounting and finance?

There were two factors that influenced me wanting to start a career in finance. The first was that I wanted to be a valued partner and help businesses to grow. The catalyst and probably the second factor, is when I was working for a restaurant and by chance joined a meeting between the business owner and accountant. I was intrigued by the conversations they were having; it was all the inspiration I needed. I decided that was the path I wanted to follow. After that I then went on to start studying accountancy.

9. What’s the one thing you’d tell your younger self or anyone wanting to work in this field?

I did not start out in accountancy so my one piece of advice is to get into the profession as soon as you can. Try to get practical experience alongside your studies to help you get ahead, I did not know anyone in accountancy so did not have this advantage. I first studied accounting in the UK at Bath College and then I went on to study my CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) course with Kaplan (a well-known Accounting training provider), but the amount of workplace advice or experience I could obtain was limited.

I would also say try different roles within the accountancy profession to discover the area that you find most interesting.

10. Best piece of financial advice you ever received (from anyone, formal or not)?

I attended a webinar from a personal financial advisor who was talking about various investment options eg: buying gold, land, etc. He gave the best advice, that the most important investment was to invest in yourself and your knowledge, as this can never be lost and drives a return at the lest expected moments.

11. What do your friends and family think you do for a living?

They think of accounting in an old fashioned way. They are quite surprised when I share with them more about the business acumen required for my role, essentially we are business advisors.

12. Tell us something about that you we may not know about you.

I love baking and giving the cakes to people to enjoy. My boyfriend’s office loves him because he often takes in the things I bake. I love to bake anything with chocolate and my favourite thing to bake is probably brownies.  

Thank you for your time Ewa it was great to learn more about what you do and the role you play at Rocksteady Finance.  If you are a marketing, creative or PR agency that is ready to take the next step and looking to gain some financial clarity and direction, get in touch to book a no-obligation discovery call!