A new online network that matches freelance financial professionals with businesses has been launched by Aberdeen and Dundee-based accountancy firm Hutcheon Mearns.
The company said its Nexus Finance platform is the only one of its kind on the internet solely dedicated to qualified practitioners in the sector.
Freelance accountants, financial directors and others with a finance specialism can set up a profile on the site, to be matched with businesses seeking their expertise on ad-hoc, long, or short-term contracts.
The platform has been set up by Hutcheon Mearns founder, Craig Hutcheon, and Adam Maitland, the financial advisory firm’s managing director.
Pandemic accelerated development
Mr Hutcheon said: “With automation a major ambition for finance departments of the future, we were already envisaging a changing landscape for finance professionals where they will work for more than one business and where financial expertise will be in higher demand to augment existing teams.
“The pandemic has accelerated this, transforming the way we work and convincing businesses to embrace new ways of accessing talent, flexibly and more cost-effectively.
We could see the significant market potential for creating an online network that would connect clients with qualified and rated freelance finance talent they could trust, while providing the opportunities for finance professionals to work flexibly and remotely.”
He added: “Nexus is the start of this journey to a more digitally-enabled, project-based finance solution.
“It’s important to stress that this is not a recruitment platform – it’s about creating a genuine and highly effective freelance culture within the financial world that offers businesses a new, flexible and cost-effective model for their finance function.”
The firm is using the Proteus digital platform, which was launched by Aberdeen-based Xergy Group last year to help energy sector companies source workers for projects.
Nigel Filer, chief operating officer at Proteus, said: “When we first launched Proteus last year, we knew it was going to be a tool that revolutionised how businesses operated within the gig economy.
“To be championing the digital marketplace and gig workers at a time like this has always been incredibly important to us. We’re excited to see the work Nexus does with this product in the finance and accounting space.”
Last month, Hutcheon Mearns opened a new office in Dundee, as part of its UK-wide growth plans.
