Alan Lonie - Asia Account & Service Co. Ltd

13 July 2021

Tell us a bit about Asia Account and Services

Asia Accounts offers accounting and advisory for SMEs in Thailand. We provide core bookkeeping, local taxation compliance, and portfolio CFO services for a range of clients using cloud-based technologies such as Xero accounting software. We offer our clients a diverse choice of technologies by partnering with various Xero integrated apps such as Fathom, Syft, Float, Futrli, and HREasily, amongst others.

As a business owner, what are your top three priorities?

We only have one priority and that is the client. Everything we do is to make the client experience as good as it can be, whether that is offering more solutions and/or advice, improving the time to delivery, or helping the client through the challenges of digitalisation.

How did you get your idea or concept for the business?

We saw small businesses in our network struggling with the traditional method of local accounting - very reactive rather than being proactive, highly manual, and delays with the basic reporting and analyses. With the global growth in cloud-based systems and digital transformation of countries, we were able to develop a process and system whereby all pain points were eliminated, almost real-time accounting a possibility whilst also ensuring local compliance with regulatory bodies.

What was your mission at the outset?

Our mission has always been to help small companies overcome the challenges and obstacles of operating a business in Thailand whilst enabling automation of processes to reduce manual effort and errors.

Is this where you thought you would end up?

Asia Accounts was not a planned destination but during our entire careers, we have been advising and implementing improvements, so it was a natural transition to move into an entrepreneurial business and make a direct positive impact on other companies.

To what do you attribute your success?

Collaboration! We have some great partnerships to continue our development and improve our service to our clients, we spend a lot of time getting to understand our clients and them understand where we can provide benefits to them and of course, each director/staff member offer complementary skills and opinions.

What’s one thing you see small business owners failing to do?

Looking to the future. We see that there is still a focus on what has happened in the past and a lack of understanding of what is driving their business or what will be needed to help them achieve their future aspirations (and then they struggle with cash flow which means they cannot fulfill their dreams).

If Asia Accounts could achieve just one goal in the next 12 months, what would it be?

Asia Accounts is driven to be one of the thought leaders and top 5 Xero advisors in Thailand.

How long have you been a Servcorp client, and what has impressed you the most about our service?

18months. The location and quality of facilities at Mercury Tower are great but what truly makes Servcorp stand out is its team. Nothing is too much for Khun Pat and Meena, they provide fantastic service and always with a smile.

What has been the biggest benefit you’ve experienced as a result of working with Servcorp?

The respectability of the Servcorp location and facilities.

If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Start slow, make a realistic budget/expectation for your plans and start to expand when the time and money allows, and of course outsource your accounting to Asia Accounts.