In July 2025, CJ Bookkeeping Solutions joined MBS Accountants, bringing its clients and bookkeeping experience into the wider MBS team.
CJBS had built a loyal client base through a practical, personal approach to bookkeeping and accounting support.
For us, bringing the two businesses together was a natural fit.
It meant CJBS clients could continue receiving the personal service they were used to, while also gaining access to the wider systems, team and accounting support available through MBS.
Why CJBS Joined MBS
Running a small accountancy or bookkeeping practice involves considerably more than looking after clients.
There are systems to manage, administration to complete, regulatory requirements to deal with and a business to run behind the scenes.
Charlotte had reached the point where she wanted to spend more of her time looking after clients rather than carrying all of those responsibilities herself.
Joining MBS provided that opportunity.
Charlotte could continue working with clients while the wider MBS team provided more of the infrastructure and support around her.
A Good Fit for Both Firms
One of the things that attracted us to CJBS was the quality of its client relationships.
Charlotte had built a loyal client base by being approachable, practical and committed to doing things properly.
Those characteristics fitted naturally with the type of accounting relationship we're trying to build at MBS.
We believe business owners should have accountants and bookkeepers they can actually speak to, financial information they can rely on and clear responsibility for getting the work done.
Bringing CJBS into MBS strengthened our ability to provide that.
What Did It Mean for CJBS Clients?
Continuity was important.
Clients didn't suddenly lose the relationship they had built with Charlotte simply because CJBS had become part of a larger firm.
Instead, that existing relationship gained the support of a wider team.
That meant access to more resource across bookkeeping and day-to-day finance, as well as the wider accounting and tax services available through MBS.
As clients' requirements change, they can also access management accounts and financial reporting through the same firm.
The principle is straightforward:
keep the personal relationship while adding more depth behind it.
Strengthening Our Bookkeeping Capability
CJBS also brought additional bookkeeping experience into MBS.
Bookkeeping is an increasingly important part of what we do.
For many established businesses, having the annual accounts prepared isn't the main difficulty.
The challenge is making sure the financial information throughout the year is accurate, current and organised properly.
That's why we increasingly see accounting and bookkeeping as connected rather than completely separate services.
The annual accounts ultimately depend on the records maintained throughout the year.
Management information depends on them too.
And as businesses increasingly use Xero, automation and AI to understand their finances, the reliability of the underlying information becomes even more important.
Technology With People Behind It
Both firms had embraced modern accounting technology.
That's something we've continued to develop at MBS.
Xero, document capture, bank feeds and automation can remove significant amounts of repetitive finance work and make information available more quickly.
But technology doesn't remove the need for experienced people.
Somebody still needs to understand the accounting treatment, investigate things that don't look right and make sure the resulting financial information can be relied upon.
Our approach is to use technology where it makes the work more efficient while keeping experienced people responsible for the outcome.
Part of the Development of MBS
Bringing CJBS into MBS was also an important step in the development of our own firm.
We're based in Gloucestershire but work with owner-managed businesses across the UK.
As MBS grows, we want to do that without losing the relationships and responsiveness that matter to clients.
Bringing good people and established client relationships into the wider team can be one way of achieving that.
CJBS was a good example.
Rather than replacing what Charlotte had built, the aim was to give it more support.
A Bigger Team Without Losing the Personal Relationship
Small practices can provide extremely strong personal service.
Larger firms can provide greater depth and resource.
We don't think clients should necessarily have to choose between the two.
The aim at MBS is to combine both:
People who know the client
A responsive accounting relationship
A wider team behind them
Modern accounting systems
Reliable bookkeeping and accounting
Access to better financial information when the business needs it
CJ Bookkeeping Solutions joining MBS was another step towards building that kind of firm.
And for CJBS clients, the objective remained very simple:
the people and personal service they valued, backed by a broader MBS team.