Wingman Accounting is an accounting practice based in Johannesburg which offers accounting, tax, and payroll services as well as management reports and additional value added services, from commentary and analysis on management reports to performance dashboards, planning and strategy sessions, and comprehensive Outsourced Financial Manager/CFO services.

I spoke to their Director, Ricardo Ghanem, to find out more about Wingman Accounting and how they’ve been able to provide value to their clients using Syft. When I asked him why Wingman Accounting selected Syft as their reporting and advisory software, he replied:

“For me, Syft immediately ticked a lot of boxes.”

Ricardo was able to name not one, but six boxes that Syft ticked:

Let’s break these down.

Initially, Ricardo chose Syft Analytics because he thought it was “superior to all the other tools – by far”. He continues: “It was go-live ready where the existing tool we had required a lot of pre-work before you go live with each client.” Getting set up on Syft was much easier than getting set up on the tool they used to use, as was moving clients over and convincing them to make the move.

As Ricardo says, “with Syft it was plug and play and you could start selling immediately to a new client with analytics and data.”

Getting his team on board with Syft was simple. He immediately realized that his team would be able to “actively use Syft much more easily and much faster than [their] other software.” What’s more, using Syft feels intuitive to him. In Ricardo’s words, “The navigation is good enough that you can open Syft, start clicking, and see stuff that you can start using straightaway.” This meant that he didn’t need to spend a lot of time getting his team up to speed with all things Syft.

“The way Syft is designed with all the pre-populated data points and dashboards means that I don’t need to build this thing out, I’ve just got to connect it and I can use it to service my clients. That was awesome. You just need to learn one thing – learn how to use Syft – and whether it’s QuickBooks, Xero, or Sage, you’ve got it without having to build out things within Syft.” - Ricardo Ghanem, Director of Wingman Accounting

One of the big barriers to moving onto a new software is that you have a whole lot of clients loaded onto another software and now you need to move them all over, while still having other concerns around business growth and keeping operations going. As Ricardo says, the worry with doing this is you could “possibly undo all the hard work you’ve done to get them where they are because now you’re changing software”. But luckily for Ricardo, the Syft team were happy to take the wheel with the migration process.

“The Syft team was super dedicated in helping us convert, which I appreciated so much. It allowed me to get all those efficiencies, all those wins that Syft provides, and I didn't have to slam brakes in the middle of our business operations to make it happen.” - Ricardo Ghanem, Director of Wingman Accounting

At first clients were nervous because they were used to the other tool that Wingman Accounting used to use, but Ricardo says, “Once the clients got used to it, which was pretty quick – after two or three uses – they loved it.” They are very happy despite the pain of transition, which was facilitated by Syft.
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The clients’ feedback reaffirms Wingman's decision to move. They attended a Syft training session, which helped with the team’s adoption of Syft and went a long way with their clients in turn. This meant that they were adopting more clients and therefore generating more revenue. Win, win, win.

While the software that Wingman Accounting previously used appeared to have stalled in their development, Ricardo “saw that Syft was investing in the tool” both in terms of product development and in terms of listening to what accountants needed.

“The engineers were on the ground developing, speaking about the roadmap, and I was able to have a really engaging chat with my account manager, Nerine, and [Syft’s Co-Founder and CEO] Van about my inputs.” - Ricardo Ghanem, Director of Wingman Accounting

Ricardo appreciates that Van and Nerine are genuinely interested in what accounting practices need and where Syft can refine or add features to make it more useful.

For Ricardo, “it was that investment in the tool and that willingness to engage and to listen to the client” that really pushed him over the edge. And alongside this dedication to improvement and customer satisfaction comes Syft’s particular attention to customer success.

As a South African practice, Wingman Accounting likes the idea of working with a South African software like Syft. Ricardo says:

“The fact that they are South African and I can sit across the table and chat to these guys… For me that went a long way. With the other software we used to use, I felt my communications with them were kind of cold, blunt… When I would ask a query, it was like speaking to a bot... It was an irritating channel to try and get a resolution.”

On the contrary, Syft’s “customer service was apparent” to Ricardo from the energy and commitment of Nerine and her team onboarding Wingman Accounting and all their clients to the personal engagements between Ricardo and Van at the Syft office and elsewhere. This, coupled with the “local is lekker element,” gave him another reason to try Syft. As he puts it:

“Syft is doing cool things. They’re on our doorstep, they’re South African – these are the guys we should be supporting.”

Syft Analytics is more affordable than other software that Wingman Accounting tried and it is, according to Ricardo, “more beautiful”. The graphs and visualizations are visually pleasing and look professional, and using Syft saves Wingman money on reporting and analysis.

“I realized we were going to save money by moving to a better tool that was actively being invested in. It’s a no-brainer.” - Ricardo Ghanem, Director of Wingman Accounting

Previously, Wingman Accounting had a second, separate tool that they used for data quality control. When they saw that Syft was moving into this space with Review, they realized they could drop two tools and replace both of them with “one that is actively developing”. Ricardo saw this as a great opportunity to combat the “app fatigue” many of his team members suffered. As he says:

“At first, it can seem like a good idea to have all these apps, but eventually, you have 10 apps and the reality is you’re not going to use all of them. So with Syft, I saw a way to start rationalizing my tools.” - Ricardo Ghanem, Director of Wingman Accounting

Instead of having to train his team in multiple different tools, all he needed to train them in was Syft. Moreover, when it comes to assuring quality control, Ricardo says, “the Review function is great”.

Ricardo finds that with Syft, “it’s all sitting in one place. It’s the natural evolution of the analytics product.” He’s especially excited to try out Syft’s new pricing feature when it comes to optimizing Wingman’s pricing strategy moving forward.

Like Syft, Wingman Accounting dedicates a lot of time and energy to setting up their clients and making sure they’re happy. This means that they can then step back a bit and focus on maintaining their clients going forward. A key part of providing this kind of value lies in clear communication.

“Syft does a good job communicating through your mail campaigns and your welcome page. I’m better aware that there have been updates on Syft than on other apps.” - Ricardo Ghanem, Director of Wingman Accounting

Ricardo enjoys reading the latest updates on Syft and feels that, “In terms of user experience and overall direction, Syft is on the right track.” In the future, he hopes that Wingman and Syft can work together to continue the development of the product to better serve accountants and businesses as they grow. We look forward to many more years working together with them.