Ember, a company established in 2018, specializes in providing tax and accounting services tailored to meet the needs of financial institutions. With a strategic focus on leveraging the evolving landscape of digital tax systems, Ember aims to capitalize on the UK government’s initiative to transition towards a more streamlined and efficient digital tax framework.
By offering comprehensive tax and accounting solutions to financial institutions, Ember seeks to position itself as a key player in facilitating the seamless adoption of digital tax processes, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and compliance for its clients in the financial sector.
An embedded accounting startup, Ember, founded in 2018 by former Deloitte executive Dan Hogan and software engineer Aaron Shaw, has recently secured a significant funding of £5 million. The company has also inked a strategic partnership with HSBC to offer digital tax services to hundreds of thousands of its small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers. This collaboration comes at a pivotal time as the UK undergoes a transition towards a fully digital tax system.
Ember’s innovative approach to accounting and tax services aims to disrupt the traditional landscape dominated by industry giants like Sage and QuickBooks. By leveraging cutting-edge technology and expertise, Ember is poised to revolutionize the accounting sector and provide tailored solutions to meet the evolving needs of SMEs in the digital age. The partnership with HSBC not only signifies a significant milestone for Ember but also underscores the company’s commitment to driving efficiency and compliance in the realm of digital tax services for businesses across the UK.
The startup, Ember, has made significant strides by securing a partnership with HSBC, a major financial institution. Through this collaboration, Ember will offer a range of digital tax services to hundreds of thousands of HSBC’s small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers. This partnership involves integrating tax and accounting tools directly into HSBC’s banking platform, providing seamless access to essential financial services for businesses. While Ember still has room for growth and development, this strategic alliance with HSBC marks a significant step towards enhancing the digital tax capabilities and financial management options available to SMEs within the banking ecosystem.
The primary objective behind the partnership between Ember and HSBC is to streamline financial management processes for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. Through this collaboration, HSBC’s SME customers will have access to integrated invoicing, transaction categorization, and cash flow tracking tools within the banking platform. This embedded offering aims to simplify financial tasks and enhance efficiency for SMEs, ultimately empowering them to manage their finances more effectively.
Ember’s vision extends beyond its partnership with HSBC, as the company plans to market its embedded finance solution to other banks in the future. Initially starting out by offering services directly to customers, Ember has now shifted its focus towards the embedded finance model, recognizing the potential to reach a broader audience and drive innovation in the financial services sector. This strategic pivot underscores Ember’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge financial solutions and facilitating seamless financial management for businesses across various banking platforms.
Ember’s collaboration with HSBC stemmed from a pivotal presentation by founder Dan Hogan at an Open Banking conference, where he shared insights on the future of accounting and tax services. This presentation caught the attention of HSBC, leading to the partnership aimed at providing innovative financial solutions to customers.HSBC’s strategic alignment with Ember’s digital tax services is driven by the objective of assisting customers in transitioning to digital tax processes, in line with the UK government’s Making Tax Digital initiative. This initiative seeks to establish a comprehensive digital tax system throughout the UK, prompting businesses to adopt digital tax filing practices for enhanced efficiency and compliance.
Dan Hogan emphasized the significant impact of this initiative on approximately 1.75 million business owners in the UK. By 2026, these business owners will be required to file additional tax returns throughout the year, marking a shift towards more frequent and digital tax reporting practices. Ember’s collaboration with HSBC aims to support businesses in navigating this transition and embracing the benefits of a fully digital tax system.
In conjunction with the HSBC partnership, Ember has raised an additional £5 million in funding, bringing its total funding to approximately £10 million. The funding round was spearheaded by Valar Ventures, Viola Fintech, and Shapers, prominent investors in the fintech industry.