Customer Story: H&L Accountants & Belastingadviseurs

“You do things differently than others, you are a young and dynamic company and I think that’s why you appeal to young professionals. You have a good network in the region, you are growing and, like H&L Accountants & Belastingadviseurs, you do so from passion and innovation. It’s in doing things differently from others, just as it is with us.”

H&L Accountants & Tax Consultants focuses entirely on advising SME entrepreneurs. They strive to be, at a responsible rate, the best in the field. With their team of top talent, they go beyond preparing financial statements and filing tax returns; their goal is to add value. They do this with the latest online tools for periodic reporting, such as quarterly and monthly figures, so that adjustments can always be made when needed. In addition, they offer real support in the salary and HR area – so much more than just the mandatory pay slip and you can come to them for tax optimization, for example, when it comes to choosing or changing the company structure. Everything is aimed at helping each other and their clients move forward and increase the bottom line.

On January 1, 2000, they started in the same street where they are now located in Etten-Leur. When they outgrew their premises they moved with a team to larger premises in Roosendaal. Then a second branch in Sprundel became a reality. Due to the large growth in the number of clients and the teams in Sprundel and Roosendaal, the question arose whether to open a third branch or to move to one large building. The answer to this question eventually became: move. H&L Accountants & Belastingadviseurs is now located in a beautiful, recently completely renovated building on Bredaseweg 115 in Etten-Leur, the same street where it all began.

The reason H&L Accountants & Tax Advisors has grown so quickly in a short time? According to Richard Guit (Accountant & Partner), it has to do with passion and innovation. “All of Accountancyland cries out for innovation and specialization in certain industries but many firms don’t get this done. We once started with 40 clients and back then 25% of the client base consisted of the two-wheeler industry. This is still the case today and we have expanded to become the market leader in the Netherlands: there is hardly anyone in two-wheeler country who does not know H&L Accountants & Belastingadviseurs, from Groningen, to Zeeland to Limburg. So what many firms try we have succeeded in doing and we are proud of that. The other 75% of our clients are from other industries in the SME segment.”

“We try to do things differently for our customers than others. We try to make that difference with the people. It is not without reason that our slogan is: ‘Human added value’, which is why it is very important that we hire good people.”

Just like for many other accounting firms, finding staff is a challenge for H&L Accountants & Tax Advisors. In this industry it is sometimes difficult to distinguish yourself from competitors. Yet this is going well for the organization. In this area too, it is all about ‘doing things differently than others’. On their careers page, for example, they talk about their modern business premises, the option to work from home and that a tasty and healthy lunch is provided to employees every day. But what sets them apart as an office is the fact that they do not think in boxes. You will be given complete freedom to develop yourself and take on other activities or projects in addition to your work. These are opportunities that you will not easily get at another office.

Richard says: “We entered into a partnership with Forp because the model they used appealed. We also do business with other headhunters who use a model that requires a percentage of 20 – 25% of the gross annual salary. Forp arrived and said: “we do things differently”. With our model you enter into a collaboration with each other for 10 weeks for a fixed amount per week. This is all about a bit of trust. It is without guarantee, so if no candidate is found you lose the money, but if someone is found it is a lot cheaper than the 20 – 25% fee on the annual salary.”

Richard came into contact with Forp through Ole, Forp’s Business Controller. He already knew Ole from a family perspective, so there was a certain goodwill factor that made Richard think: let’s just try it. Richard says: “And with good results, no, actually excellent results. Just in the last week, Janine suggested a very good candidate who has now started. We are very satisfied.

The collaboration went well and exactly as we agreed. We received a weekly update from Janine with the state of affairs and we also followed the plan, the start-up, the search and the procedure. It went according to plan and the contact was just good.”

When we ask Richard why he would recommend Forp to others, he says: “You do things differently than others, you are a young and dynamic company and I think that is why you also appeal to young professionals. You have a good network in the region, are growing and, just like H&L Accountants & Tax Advisors, you do this from passion and innovation. Just as it is the case with us, it is all about doing things differently than others.

But ultimately it is also about delivery. It may of course happen that this does not work out, but if you do business with each other, and in this case that was the first time, then it is crucial that delivery takes place. If that had not happened, you would have been one of the many who would have shouted ‘we can do that’, but you have simply proven that you do it differently from the rest and you have delivered. That combination is good.”

On the day the interview was conducted, Forp immediately started a new assignment for H&L Accountants & Tax Advisors and again with good results: within 10 weeks a Salary Advisor was found who will start in September. We currently have a new assignment in which we are looking for an Accountant AA and an Accountancy Manager/Relationship Manager. It is nice that H&L Accountants & Tax Advisors places their trust in Forp and sees us as a loyal partner in the field of HR & Recruitment.

Assignment 1. Senior Assistant Accountant: started in early September 2023. Vacancy filled in early November (in 9 – 10 weeks)

Assignment 2. Salary advisor: started at the end of January 2024. Vacancy filled: beginning of April (in 9 – 10 weeks)

Current assignment: Accountant AA – Accountancy Manager/Relationship Manager. Started early March 2024. Still ongoing.