Charmel Flemming and FTwelve

I am a registered Chartered Accountant with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. The first decade after qualifying was spent gaining experience in large corporate businesses. After longing for a new challenge, I recognized the exciting opportunities that technology was opening up in the accounting field. As the daughter and wife of entrepreneurs, I understand the challenges faced by small and medium business and the support that they need. With the emergence of cloud accounting technologies, I realised that the face of accounting is changing and I wanted to be part of that movement.

FTwelve is a bookkeeping and accounting services company offering small and medium businesses administrative and accounting support using cloud technologies. It was borne from a need to escape the corporate sector, however, having been exposed to an entrepreneurial background within my family, it was not unexpected for me to start my own business. Driven by the desire to provide small and medium businesses with the necessary accounting tools to grow their business to the next level, we are an outsourced cloud-based accounting company committed to solving the challenges many small and medium business owners face. We use innovative cloud-based accounting technologies to provide real-time and relevant information, as a SAICA registered firm we provide quality outsourced accounting services to our clients.

I started my entrepreneurial journey before FTwelve – whilst working in the corporate world I helped small businesses and entrepreneurs on a part-time basis – but FTwelve allowed me to pursue my entrepreneurship on a full-time basis for about two-and-a-half years, and still. Every day is different with new challenges stretching you. As much as I help my clients, they too help me to grow as a service provider and entrepreneur. What sets FTwelve apart is our customer focus and empathy. We try as much as possible to understand the fears and anxieties of our clients to help them move forward with peace of mind. We want our clients to focus their energy on growing their business instead of worrying about documents, submissions and administration.

Most valuable lessons learnt over the years?

You have to be flexible in your thinking and your expectations. Disappointment is part of everyday life so you cannot dwell on what may have or didn’t work out. Learning lessons from failures and disappointments quickly will help you approach business more fluidly for better success. One of the most impactful learning curves for me was learning that not every client is your suited client. Sometimes we bend over backwards to accommodate all clients for the business to grow but we fail to be selective within the process to ensure that the relationship between client and service provider is suitably matched. You want to ensure that your clients fit your brand values and ethos. Not all clients are your clients and that is all right.

What advice would you give a younger you or a young accountant in the field looking to walk a similar path to you?

Have more faith in yourself. If I had to advise a younger version of myself, I would say that once you choose to move into your own space, that is the most daunting part – after that, it all becomes relatively easier. Once that fear of taking the initial step is out of the way, the journey becomes more enjoyable. You also don’t need to have everything figured out on day one.

Building a business over the years, I’ve learnt to enjoy the journey more. In the corporate space, it’s easy to live for the weekends and dread “Mondays”. The newfound flexibility has allowed me to enjoy and embrace all the days and spend more time with my family. I don’t mind working on weekends with an off day on a Wednesday. The freedom to structure my day is important and has quelled a lot of my anxieties. In my downtime, I enjoy busying myself in the kitchen, spending outdoor time with my kids and reading.

Charmels must-read books.

Michelle Obama – Becoming

Dalene Matthee – Pieternella van die Kaap

Bo Burlingham – Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big

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