Ignition has formed its inaugural Ignition Council in North America. The client engagement and commerce platform has enlisted 16 leading accounting, bookkeeping and tax entrepreneurs to help it on its ambitious path to transform how accounting and professional services businesses engage clients, get paid and optimize revenue.
With the current state of the accounting profession across North America shifting clients to recurring and high value work and adopting cloud technology, there is a growing appetite for automation, community connection and education.
Convening four times annually, members of the Ignition Council will share their professional expertise, insights, use cases and more with the company’s leaders and executives. The Ignition Council will also inform discussion topics with its community on a range of topics including, preparing for tax season, as well as finding and adopting the right technology.
Matt Kanas, Head of Americas at Ignition, says its US team has deliberately assembled this group of accomplished executives who are running their own successful and progressive accounting firms. "We are creating opportunities to hear from these experts first-hand and develop insights to enable professionals across different markets. The Ignition Council engagements will allow us to enhance our go-to-market strategies and generate thoughtful conversations with our customers.”
The first cohort of Ignition Council members also are customers who will offer advice on compliance, cloud accounting, partnerships, and more. The Council includes:
- Andy Smith, Founder & President, Numberwise Accounting (Newbury Park, California)
- Chris Williams, Owner & CEO, System Six (San Francisco)
- Enae Jackson-Atkins, Founder, Esquire Accounting (Huntington Beach, California)
- Marie Phillips, Founder & CEO, Connected Accounting (Los Angeles)
- Clayton Achen, Founder, Achen Henderson CPAs (Calgary)
- Sandy Johns, CPA, Revolution Financial (Atlanta)
- Carla Caldwell, Founder, Caldwell Consulting & Training (Marietta, Georgia)
- Jeremy Wells, Owner, JWellsCFO (Saint Augustine, Florida)
- Michelle Vilms, CEO, Vilms Consulting (Boston)
- Tiffany Davis, President, Washington Accounting Services Inc. (Waldorf, Maryland)
- Anne Napolitano, Founder & CEO, Anne Napolitano Consulting Inc. (Melville, New York)
- Daniel Gertrudes, Co-founder & CEO, GrowthLab Financial Services, Inc. (Providence, Rhode Island)
- Erin Reece, CEO, Bear Financial Solutions (Knoxville, Tennessee)
- Logan Graf, Owner, The Graf Tax Co. PLLC (Austin, Texas)
- Marcus Dillon, Founder, Dillon CPAs PLLC (Katy, Texas)
- Sean Duncan, Founder, SMD Consulting & Accounting LLC (Plano, Texas)
“Having worked in the accounting profession for over 20 years, I can attest to the volatile nature of this profession, Jackson-Atkins says. "Partnering with a forward-thinking company like Ignition and to be a part of their Customer Council is an exciting way for me to distill my knowledge to help other business owners thrive in the future.”
Gertudes says there has never been a better time for accounting professionals to come together and drive conversation about the evolving SMB conditions. “I am honored to be a part of the Ignition Council and share my expertise to hopefully make a positive, lasting impact on the future of the accounting profession.”
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