1. What is Ember?
2. Where did it all start?
3. Why should I use Ember?

Ember is open for business.

July 7, 2021

After a seed round of fundraising and months of development, Ember is live!The world's a strange place right now, and any kind of contractor or small business owner will no doubt be feeling the effects of lockdown. While we hatched the idea for Ember before any sign of Covid-19, we're hoping our platform will give contractors one less thing to worry about – their dreaded admin – in such uncertain times.

What is Ember?

It's a simple solution to what is a surprisingly complex world. Without the support of a big company, staying on top of your finances as a UK contractor or small business owner is a manual and time-consuming task. Clunky spreadsheets, indecipherable jargon and headaches resulting from staring at HMRC's website for hours on end, are all part of the struggle.Ember is built to change that. Powered by open banking and a nifty machine-learning model, Ember shows you only what you need to see, and does all the complicated stuff (tracking and managing expenses, calculating and submitting tax) in the background. So, no more time consuming, cumbersome spreadsheets, missing tax deadlines or paying upwards of £150 a month for an accountant to take it off your hands. For just £39 a month, Ember puts you in complete control of your company finances – without even needing to know the meaning of 'general ledger'.

Where did it all start?

Ember was born out of first-hand frustration with being self-employed and having no financial training. After setting up my own company as an IT contractor, I was struck by how onerous it was to stay on top of my books and taxes. When I eventually buckled and paid an accountant, I felt constantly in the dark about what he was lodging on my behalf. It became painfully obvious to me throughout the whole experience that so much of the accounting function could be automated. I did some digging and discovered that the vast majority of contractors in the market felt the same.

Why should I use Ember?

- Link up your bank account so that all of your transactions appear in one centralised feed.- Forget about classifying your expenses manually; we do that for you, as you spend.- See your financial position and how much tax you owe in real time, all the time, with constant updates to your P&L and Balance Sheet.- Avoid nasty surprises when the taxman comes knocking.- Get paid quicker with beautiful invoices that you can create and send in a couple of clicks.- File your taxes, also in a couple of clicks, and in keeping with the recently introduced 'Making Tax Digital.'- Use Ember on the go, as our app works across any device: desktop and mobile.- Never feel in the dark (until dark mode comes) with trained accountants always on hand to answer curly questions and provide in-app support.We believe in an economy powered by small business, where everyone is able to work freely and flexibly with no barriers to contracting or starting your own thing. With progressive tech, delivered in language everyone understands, our vision is to automate the entirety of the business admin process – from starting a company to closing it down, and everything in between.

Daniel HoganCOO & Co-Founder

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Don’t take our word for it.

Try Ember for free.

With our super software and talented team of qualified accountants, taking care of your business admin has never been easier. Try us free for 14 days today.

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