"More than five years ago, I saw the provision of online bookkeeping services as the future and even visited firms in the states who were writing the software themselves. But that wouldn't work here," says George Ioannides of Bond Partners.

"I tried some of the early UK contenders but abandoned the attempt following trials, as the service was too slow and cumbersome and the software was not well know in the market, which put potential clients off. Standard software was the key. As soon as Online50 introduced online Sage Line 50, I got in touch and was up and running by the late summer of 2003."

With 15 partners spread between eight offices, the firm is well placed to take advantage of remote access software. Over the past two years, there has been a steady migration of clients away from traditional desktop PC-based accounting processes and around a third of Bond Partners' bookkeeping clients currently use the online service.

Bond adopts a flexible approach, matching the service it provides to the needs or preferences of the client. "Our bookkeepers will often go on site and do the processing there, while the journals and adjustments can be done by people in our office. It gets around clients having to buy, install and update software" Ioannides says.

"We find the benefits are best for either our clients with multiple locations or those who have overseas partners who want access to up-to-date financial information. We provide a fully outsourced bookkeeping service and they have access to the data while it's being processed."