What My Clients Say

Her expertise and ability to demonstrate her scale of knowledge in order that the customer would understand was invaluable. She encouraged and patiently ensured that our workforce could get on board with new applications. She could explain our new support system with such ease and in easy to understand terminology.

I have had an introductory appointment and have also attended a ‘Record keeping for makers’ workshop, both of which were extremely informative. The workshop in particular was great, a recording of which was provided afterwards, so that I can refer back to it, rather than trying to remember all of the information provided, which is a fantastic service.

Would definitely recommend.

We have had the immense pleasure of working in a voluntary capacity with Sara-Jayne from Amethyst Raccoon for the last two years as bookkeeper for New Mills Festival CIC.

Prior to Sara-Jayne joining us the job of generating accounts and invoices, providing updates to the rest of the committee and the multitude of other day to day tasks had defaulted through a lack of volunteers to one of the existing volunteer directors and the additional workload was proving too much. We always seemed to be playing catch-up and preparing the books and making them balance for meetings especially the AGM was hugely stressful.

Since Sara-Jayne has joined us, she has expanded the role of bookkeeper way beyond our expectations. This has freed up other volunteers to think more strategically and to concentrate of the sustainability of the organisation. The directors are now always fully briefed on the finances and are confident that the bookkeeping and day to day financial tasks are in safe hands.

Although Sara-Jayne is a volunteer she treats the role with the utmost professionalism with exceptional attention to detail. A huge benefit has been transferring our accounting to an online and more automated system which has meant the end of large amounts of paper to be archived and a central point where directors can find information.

However, whilst we would highly recommend Sara-Jayne for her professionalism it is her personal touch and genuine interest and concern in our organisation and activities that has impressed us the most.

A must-attend fixture in my schedule every month – I really value the opportunity to explore burning operational and strategic issues in this confidential and collaborative environment.

Wanted to say thanks for your training session earlier.

I thought you really nailed the impossible and made a dry subject matter really engaging.

I worked with Sara-Jayne on creating new initiatives for improving the on-line structure of a charity organisation. I’ve been more than impressed by her ability to quickly understand a problem and create easily achievable answers. She is approachable at any stage of the design process, quickly producing prototypes which are close or ready for production.

The group conversations in the mastermind have been fascinating and productive.

As expected, we’ve had an opportunity to talk through anything we’re finding tricky or problematic in business and hear other experiences and perspectives. The level of support has been fantastic and the small group dynamic really aids the speed in which you get to know each other and open up. There have been recommendations for useful resources, technology and information so I leave a session with ideas and plans to try new things.

An unexpected bonus of these sessions is meeting business owners in very different fields, with very different income expectations, and recognising that whether your business turns over £10,000 or £1,000,000, you can have moments of doubt. As a business grows, new challenges come up and you have to be a learner again. You may have been in business for 10 years but a newbie can offer a different perspective or recommend new software. These conversations have a respectful equality that encourages all to participate.

The information Sara-Jayne provided my members helped them to gain so much clarity and confidence around their book keeping, they were all very grateful!

Positive: Professionalism, Responsiveness
When you worked with us I saw our organisation become more professional, efficient and effective. It was really great being walked through my technical problems. So helpful and patient.

Amethyst Racoon has brought clarity and responsiveness to the financial workings of New Mills Festival. We can now see the current state of each project and event within the Festival as well as overall figures. Additionally by having immediate access and understanding of all our figures when she attends meetings Sara-Jayne is able to directly respond to any queries that arise on whatever aspect of our finances.

For the project that I was directly responsible for she ensured that it came in on budget and was able to follow through on all grant requirements, etc. Beyond that she is personally interested in how the various events are doing and can contribute informed suggestions on how to proceed.

I would happily recommend her services to any arts organisation or individual trader.