The Faces Behind the Numbers: How Keeping It Balanced Began

If you’ve been following our Faces Behind the Numbers campaign this week, you will have seen a little bit about the people behind Keeping It Balanced, but we thought it was about time we told you how it all actually began.

And, like most good stories, it started with children, a mutual friend, a baby club… and absolutely no grand master plan to build an accounting business!

It all started with two mums…

Nikki and Lu first met in 2012 at a local baby club, introduced by a mutual friend.

At the time, Nikki had already been bookkeeping for several years. She had started bookkeeping after the birth of her daughter in 2008, initially fitting work around family life. She had also begun working towards her AAT qualifications.

Then, her boss decided to move away.

Rather than seeing it as the end of something, Nikki decided it was probably time to bite the bullet, finish her accounting qualifications and have a go at working for herself.

She had already completed her AAT Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications and had built up a good client base. Things were growing, and the idea of having her own bookkeeping business was starting to look less like a pipe dream and more like a possibility.

Meanwhile, Lu had moved down from London and been completing her husband’s company bookkeeping and handing them over for the final process to their accountant.  Lu also completed bookkeeping for some of the accountants’ other clients after the submission of some particularly impressive sets of accounts and spreadsheets.

The two of them kept bumping into each other through various children's activities because, as any parent will know, once you have children, your social calendar is basically dictated by school clubs, playgroups, sports, school plays and an alarming number of things that require you to be somewhere at 3.15 pm on a Tuesday.

After several conversations along the lines of, “We should really do something together…,” Nikki eventually asked Lu if she would come and do some work with her.

Nikki's client base was growing, and she needed some help with the general bookkeeping duties.

Lu was already working towards her own AAT qualifications, having started her Level 2, so it seemed like a natural fit.

And so, without a huge amount of fanfare, the two of us started working together.

From bookkeeping to business partners

We both carried on studying alongside working and, eventually, we both achieved our AAT Level 4 qualifications.

At that point, we looked at each other and thought:

“Right. Maybe we should actually make this a proper business.”

And that is how Keeping It Balanced was born.

The name was a little optimistic at the time…

Because if there is one thing we have learned over the years, it is that keeping everything balanced when you are running a business, raising children, and trying to remember what day it is, is something of an ongoing challenge!

But that was the whole point.

We didn't want to build a business that meant sacrificing family life. We wanted to build something that gave us the flexibility to be there for the important stuff.

The school pick-ups and drop-offs.

The sports days.

The school plays.

The endless children's activities.

The forgotten PE kits.

The last-minute “Mum, I need this tomorrow” requests.

All the ordinary, chaotic, and incredibly important bits of family life that do not fit neatly around a traditional 9-to-5 working day.

For both of us, having our own business meant we could create a working life that worked with our families rather than constantly battling against them.

Two families, one business

Our lives weren't exactly quiet outside of work either.

Lu's husband had decided to stop working away and start again with his Company in Cornwall, while Nikki had separated from her husband, so we were both navigating our own versions of family life while simultaneously trying to grow a business.

There were plenty of days when the accounts were probably the easiest thing we had to deal with, and going into the office was a welcome break.

We learned very quickly that being business partners was not just about sharing spreadsheets and client work. It was about supporting each other through everything that came alongside it.

The good days.

The stressful days.

The days when a client needed something urgently while one of us was dealing with a child-related crisis.

The days when you questioned whether you really knew what you were doing.

And the days when something went brilliantly, and you realised, “Actually, we might be quite good at this!”

We grew the business organically, mainly through word of mouth and recommendations.

One client became another. Then another.

And slowly, Keeping It Balanced became a proper business.

And then came the people…

One of the things we are most proud of isn't simply how much the business has grown.

It's how it has grown.

We have never wanted to be the sort of accountants who only know you by your company number or speak to you in complicated accounting language that makes you wonder whether you have accidentally wandered into a foreign-language exam.

We understand that behind every set of accounts is a person.

A business owner.

A family.

A dream.

Sometimes a little bit of chaos.

And quite often, a lot of juggling.

Because we have been doing that juggling ourselves for years.

We know what it is like to run a business around school holidays. We know what it is like when life throws something unexpected at you. We know that sometimes the accounts are not the biggest thing happening in your world, even if the tax deadline would very much like you to believe otherwise!

And perhaps that is why our approach has always been so personal.

We genuinely like our clients.

We like getting to know the people behind the businesses.

We like celebrating when things go well, helping when things don't, and being the person at the end of the phone who can explain something without making you feel silly for asking.

Because accounting can be complicated.

The Keeping it Balanced way

Over a decade after those first conversations at baby club, Keeping It Balanced has grown far beyond the little business Nikki originally started.

But in many ways, the important things haven't changed.

We're still two women who wanted to create a business that gave us flexibility.

We're still juggling work and family life.

We're still learning.

We're still supporting each other.

And we're still incredibly grateful that those conversations between children's activities all those years ago turned into something that has become such a big part of our lives.

There have been plenty of twists and turns along the way, and we are sure there will be plenty more.

But perhaps that's what makes our story worth telling.

Keeping It Balanced wasn't built from a big business plan.

It was built from friendship, hard work, qualifications, word of mouth, a willingness to give things a go and two mums trying to make work fit around real life.

And that's still what we believe in today.

Because behind every set of numbers is a person.

And we'd much rather get to know you than just your numbers.

That's the Keeping It Balanced way.