Numbers can be life changing…

“Your Dad’s in the hospital, he’s had a heart attack and he’s in a critical condition”

Imagine hearing that as a 14-year-old. That was the reality for founder Stuart Hurst when he was told about his dad Rob. Rob was just 40 at the time — and the cause? Stress. Stress about money. He ran his own painting and decorating business, employed staff, but never had two pence to rub together despite working 6, even 7 days a week. The stress got so bad it hospitalised him. While in hospital, his mum died. He never got to say goodbye. His business collapsed while he was still in a hospital bed. He came home without his mum, without a business, feeling like a failure — his world had collapsed. It became too much, and he attempted to take his own life. He was sectioned for 2 years and spent 7 years battling depression before returning to something like a stable life. In that time, family life was completely destroyed. His accountant in 1996 was the once-a-year type — Rob would drop off his records after Christmas and get a tax bill in January. That was it. No analysis, no support, nothing. The accountant knew nothing about Rob or his family; to him, Rob was just another number to punch into a spreadsheet. But they weren’t just numbers — they were people. Rob. Stuart. The family. Stuart always wondered… what if? What if the accountant had taken an interest in the numbers? He could’ve changed our lives. Why didn’t he ask Rob: why haven’t you reviewed your pricing in years? Why aren’t you taking deposits for jobs, so you’re not out of pocket for paint or if someone cancels? Why don’t you charge travel costs when you’re working outside the North West? All basic things that could’ve changed Rob’s life — but no one asked. In 1996, maybe that was understandable, with desktop and manual accounting software. But today, with Xero and real-time info, that’s no longer the case. There is no excuse for any accountant to be a once-a-year service — it simply doesn’t need to be that way. That’s why Cloud 10 was born: to truly understand businesses, and more importantly, the people behind them. We offer quarterly catch-ups as a minimum, walk you through the numbers, and focus on what they mean to you. We ask: what’s your dream? What keeps you up at night? And how can we help? That’s why Cloud 10 does what it does.