James and Claire Fuller, the chief executive and chief operating officer of accountancy software firm Hnry. Photo / supplied
James and Claire Fuller, the chief executive and chief operating officer of accountancy software firm Hnry. Photo / supplied
Wellington-based digital tax service Hnry is targeting growth beyond Australasia amid surging global demand for accounting software among sole traders.
The fintech company – founded by James and Claire Fuller – has been billed as the world’s first pay-as-you-go accounting service for the self-employed. It hasenjoyed strong growth since the Covid-19 pandemic spawned an increase in people looking to earn money from multiple sources.
Following a push into Australia, Hnry now has its sights on other overseas markets and has just moved all its 85 local staff into a new, bigger office in Wellington.
Co-founder and chief executive James Fuller said the past few years have been significant for Hnry with rapid growth. The new office off Lambton Quay reflects that, he said.
Claire Fuller (co-founder and COO) led the fit-out of the new space, from initially finding it to design and construction over the last 12 months. Photo / Supplied
“We’ve got a lot of room to grow into now,” he said, adding that the new office can accommodate 160 people. Hnry currently employs about 85 staff in New Zealand.
“We’re going to put more staff on the ground here in Wellington, and that’s exciting, especially for some of our staff who when we started there were fewer than 10 of us.”
Hnry automatically pays and files taxes and provides a service for admin management. It charges $1 plus GST for every $100 earned – up to a cap of $1500 in fees per year. The company was recently recognised at the Institute of Finance Professionals (Infinz) awards where it won best innovation in financial services,
Fuller says while the company doesn’t disclose its revenue publicly, he figures Hnry’s clients contribute nearly 1% of New Zealand’s total tax revenue.
The company raised $35 million in venture capital in the second half of the 2022 financial year, allowing it to open a Sydney office with an additional 25 to 30 staff.
“That’s going really well for us at the moment,” Fuller said.
“Again, we’re seeing these similar demographic shifts in patterns of work and how people work, and more and more people turning into sole traders to take more control of the way they earn.”
Hnry's new office in Wellington. The accounting software firm is expanding. Photo / Supplied
The recessionary economic environment also plays into Hnry’s business model with organisations restructuring and making salaried staff redundant, Fuller said. Some of those staff will look to go out on their own or split their income from multiple sources.
“So the fact that this is a global challenge and we’ve got a huge opportunity to go beyond Australia and New Zealand into other countries to help them with the same thing.”
Hnry last year launched a new debit card service to help sole traders manage expenses in real time, something Fuller described as a world first for an accountancy company.
“It’s these sorts of product innovations that are fuelling the growth for us at the moment, which is about making it really advantageous for people to earn independently, as opposed to maybe 10 years ago, where it was seen as risky or uncertain, or something that would be tricky and fraught with challenges.”
INFINZ Awards 2024. The Fitch Ratings Innovation in Financial Services Award went to Hnry. Co-founder James Fuller with David Brooks of Fitch Ratings. Photo / Marcel Tromp
The Infinz judges acknowledged this in the innovation award category in May. The award aims to recognise a firm that introduced new or enhanced services that create value for customers and the wider economy.
The judges said Hnry had developed technology to overcome a difficult element of self-employment or small business ownership to the point that it processes 1% of the total NZ tax take.
Fuller said while there is a big opportunity for growth the company remains relatively cautious.
“We’ve got a significant amount of runway left over from our series B funding round and so we do have a strong capital position. And we are also conscious of the fact that a number of other businesses have over-extended themselves, particularly tech businesses in this market.”
It was too early to consider the notion of an NZX listing, Fuller said.
“We are fairly comfortable that we’re very well capitalised ... I think at the moment, our focus is very much on serving our customers.”
