Childhood friends Rain and Jaanus developed software to simplify their mothers' daily work, which recently put them in the ranking of the best start-ups in the Baltics. Their mothers are both accountants, whose work challenges inspired the creation of the accounting management software Uku. Today, Jaanus and Rain are most happy that according to their mothers, they no longer take work worries home, can really relax and enjoy time with their grandchildren.
Rain's mother leads the accounting company AR Tähelend, which is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Both Jaanus's mother and sister are chief accountants, and Jaanus's mother also actively advises other accountants. Rain and Jaanus established a joint design and development studio in 2009 and innovated and digitized the work processes of different companies.
Although Rain and Jaanus joke that Uku was created to give their mothers more time to babysit their grandchildren, the first spark of the idea came from clients who repeatedly asked them for accounting solutions. Soon the tandem of friends realized that significantly revolutionizing classical accounting is difficult, but that great potential lies in the digitalisation of accountants’ task management.
Rain’s and Jaanus's mothers are Uku's first and most demanding customers
"Over the years, several heads of accountancy offices and accountants came to us asking for software that would help them manage the work of both companies and accountants, and among other things, to monitor deadlines," says Jaanus.
"Accountants have a lot of responsibilities and managing work was a big problem. We saw how much chaos the offices really were in.
Their growth was figuratively limited by how many employees a manager could talk to every day. Each accountant had their own system and the manager didn’t have an overview of the state of things.”
"When it turned out that my mother also had similar worries at work, the light bulb went on," adds Rain. In collaboration with specialists in the field, friends developed and designed the idea of a task management software for accountants until Uku was born. "Seeing the spark in the eyes of the target group, we realized that we were moving in the right direction," notes Rain.
Uku was tested in Rain's mother's office and they got a lot of meaningful feedback. Rain laughs that his mother is one of their most challenging clients: “Her big plus is that she is very little open to change and something has to be really good for her to be willing to use it.
Thanks to this, from the very beginning, Uku has been easy to use by a person with little computer experience.
Basically, it can be used by people of all ages and backgrounds.”
Uku gives the accounting firm manager peace of mind
Today, Uku has become an indispensable helper for both Rain’s and Jaanus's mothers, as well as for many other accounting practice managers and accountants. The biggest change that Uku brings to its users is peace of mind.
"Uku is especially irreplaceable for those who do not like to micromanage other people.
Uku takes away a lot of complicated administration and controlling. The manager can focus on management and be sure that everything is under control and things are moving, ”explains Jaanus.
Rain says that if 5 years ago her mother wouldn’t have been able to hand over the management of her office, then today it’s possible: “I see that my mother's office is much more successful with Uku. If she ever wants to retire, she can now do so without selling the business.”
Thanks to Uku, managing the day-to-day life of the office is less stressful - even a change of employees is not a disaster that could ruin the summer vacation for several people. The current state of tasks is always recorded and transferring tasks is easy. Jaanus’s mother, on the other hand, can work remotely part-time from the cottage at her own pace and also advise other accountants remotely - all thanks to Uku.
"My mother has said that she now has less work worries and can now end her working day at normal times, have a real rest and be with her grandchildren. With this, we’ve achieved our goal,” Rain concludes.
We wish a happy Mother's Day to all mothers!
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