TaxCalc Blog

Ellis Atkins joins the TaxCalc family

We’re delighted to welcome Ellis Atkins Chartered Accountants based in Dorking, Surrey, to the TaxCalc family. The firm joined in February 2025, after switching from IRIS.

Below, the Ellis Atkins team tell us more about the practice.

Founded in 1977, Ellis Atkins has a proud heritage. While the original namesake partners have long since retired, the strong foundation they built lives on. Thanks to a dedicated and long-standing team, the firm remains well regarded in the Dorking community, known for its long-established client relationships and a reputation built largely on word-of-mouth recommendations.

Ellis Atkins is a thriving practice, currently supporting a client base of over 1,400 clients, predominantly SMEs, along with several large corporations with multimillion-pound turnovers. The 16-strong (and growing) team is led by Partners James Bray and Philip Longstaff, who continue to drive the firm forward. Following a full rebrand in 2023 — including a refreshed visual identity and a significantly improved website — the practice has seen a steady influx of new clients and entered an exciting period of growth.

Inspiring the Next Generation of Accountants in Dorking

Ellis Atkins is proud to support young people in the Dorking community by offering valuable work experience and apprenticeship opportunities that help inspire careers in accountancy. The firm is excited to welcome its next apprentice in September, who will join a growing team of three apprentices currently progressing through their ACCA Level 7 Accountancy and Taxation course with BPP University.

Beyond the workplace, the team at Ellis Atkins actively engages with local schools by attending careers events, helping students connect the subjects they enjoy with real-world career pathways. Through these efforts, Ellis Atkins remains committed to nurturing local talent and guiding the next generation of professionals toward a successful future in finance.

What clients are saying about Ellis Atkins

“I have been in the capable hands of Ellis Atkins since 2005 when I had an idea for a bike sales and repair shop. They have assisted me from starting up my business, bookkeeping, managing the payroll for my team, advising on management and employee incentives, and business and tax planning.  I can highly recommend Ellis Atkins.”

Dan Webb, Head for the Hills Director

“Having worked with Ellis Atkins for many years now, I cannot speak highly enough of their ability to evolve with my ever-changing business and market place. There is always someone on hand to deal with questions and issues from business to personal. Their professional approach with a humorous touch and genuine desire to act in their client’s best interest is second to none.”

Rob Edwards, Perpetual Europe - CEO

“The Ellis Atkins team have been looking after the accounting requirements for my firm for over 20 years and whilst the day to day, payroll, tax submissions etc are always taken care of, the real skill benefit is in the ongoing solutions and input into the much broader topics in business. Through growth, re-structuring, shareholdings and exit strategies, there has always been robust advice, akin to having a CFO on your shoulder for all the big decisions. Ellis Atkins are a valued part of our team!”

James Harper, Wills and Smerdon - Director

Why We Switched to TaxCalc

Partner James Bray explains the reasons for moving to TaxCalc.

He says: “After careful consideration, we decided to move away from IRIS in favour of TaxCalc — a change driven by both rising costs and a noticeable decline in service and support after 20+ years with IRIS.

“The decision was reinforced during a visit to Accountex, where our Partners had the opportunity to speak directly with the TaxCalc team and hear first-hand experiences from other accountancy practices. The feedback was clear: the difference between their previous systems and TaxCalc was like night and day.”

“The platform came highly recommended for its intuitive design, logical workflows, and excellent customer support. In addition to being far more user-friendly, TaxCalc also offered a more sustainable cost model — allowing us to deliver the same high standards of service to our clients while improving efficiency internally.”

A smooth switchover

James adds: “The switchover to TaxCalc was much smoother than we expected. We had minimal downtime and were able to explore the system for a few weeks before formal training. The data import went smoothly and even gave us the opportunity to tidy up our client records.”

“The 1:1 support from Esther Theobold has been especially helpful with bespoke tasks, workflow setup, and understanding automations to improve efficiency. Overall, the support and training provided by the TaxCalc team have been excellent, and the transition was far less daunting than anticipated.”

A welcome from the TaxCalc team

Andy North, Chief Marketing Officer, says: “Everyone at TaxCalc is delighted that Ellis Atkins have put their trust in us as their chosen accountancy software provider. We’re very pleased to have such a highly regarded firm of Chartered Accountants join our rapidly growing family. We’re looking forward to a long and successful partnership working together.

“We’re certain the practice will thrive even more thanks to the outstanding efficiency, accuracy and speed TaxCalc delivers – benefits 11,000+ accountancy practices are already enjoying.”

Andy adds: “We believe software should have a positive impact on the daily lives of accountants and their teams, making them easier, not harder. And we believe delivering high quality, effective and responsive support is as important as delivering great software in the first place. We look forward to showing how we put our beliefs into action to support the success of Ellis Atkins and all our new customers.”