Accountancy software and service firm Crunch has hired René Moolenaar as its first CFO.
Crunch said the new role will help” scale and grow the business”, which currently stands at 20% year-on-year, and recently passed £10m turnover and 11,000 customers on its 10th birthday.
Moolenaar has previously supported the firm as a management consultant and wrote its first financial plan back in 2009, when founder Darren Fell sold his previous business, Pure360, to launch the new online accountancy software and services firm.
With 15 years’ accountancy experience, Moolenaar is director of accountancy and management advisory firm Prism Group, which he helped to grow and sell the majority of its accountancy business. He was previously a board member for early internet businesses, including LineOne, which was acquired by Tiscali.
Crunch became profitable within its first year and has grown with minimal funding, accepting its first major loan from Barclays last year of £1.2m to fund its “aggressive growth strategy”.
The company currently employs more than 180 people at its Brighton headquarters and Darren Fell, now CEO, was named Practice Pioneer of the Year at the 2018 Accounting Excellence Awards and Sussex Businessman of the Year 2016.
Moolenaar said: “Crunch set out to do something different 10 years ago, making accountancy software available to freelancers and small business owners and grew demand very quickly.
“Combining software as a service (SaaS), with friendly relationship managers and advice from real accountants has become the sweet spot in the professional services market that others are chasing, but Crunch has been quietly leading this for 10 years. It’s very scalable. We’ve got many new developments coming out later this year that will allow us to scale even quicker, which is an exciting challenge for me.”
Fell added: “René was an advisor to Crunch at the very start, and it’s brilliant to have someone I trust to help us continue to adapt the business model and move into new areas. He completely gets our ambitions and has the experience and pragmatism to help us achieve them.”
