There were 14 trophies up for grabs, including two new awards - Community Impact Award and People’s Choice Award. The Community Impact Award - judged by The Samaritans charity - celebrated accountants going beyond the day job to make a real difference in their communities. 

ApprovalMax won App Partner of the Year for the second year in a row after continuing to embrace new innovations and helping accountants boost their efficiency in the cloud. Reducer won the Emerging App of the Year Award with their simple but strong idea to help SMEs reduce their utility costs with smarter spending.

The top accounting practices in the UK and Ireland were also recognised. Cloud 360 was awarded Small Firm of the Year (UK), Fusion Accountants won Mid-Sized Firm of the Year(UK), UHY Hacker Young Manchester (UK) won Large Firm of the Year and Linford Grey Associated won the Total Xero Award (UK). In Ireland, digital firm Accountant Online was crowned Partner of the Year.

Glen Foster, Director of Accounting Partners at Xero commented: “It’s never been more important to celebrate the amazing work of our accounting and app partners who have been supporting businesses through a tough year. They’re the unsung heroes of the pandemic - stepping up to help small businesses through everything from managing cash flow, to digitising and finding new ways of working. They will be at the forefront in the next phase of small business recovery.” 

Scott Johnson from Community Impact Award winning firm, Kung Fu Accounting commented: "We put a high priority on the social impact of our business, and through the pandemic that became even more important, so we are very proud to win this award. We set up a number of initiatives; the KFA Community Fund for local social enterprises to get vital funding; our Ethical Payslip service - each e-payslip raises £2 for worthy causes - and; we’ve given over 150 hours of free time to support local businesses through Covid.”

Larissa Feeney, CEO at Irish Partner of the Year Accountant Online, commented: “We are really passionate about educating others on the benefits of cloud technology, so it’s great to be recognised for this. Supporting and educating businesses has been at the heart of our business. When COVID hit, we ran weekly webinars to guide SMEs through the challenges and help them digitise their processes.”

Xero research shows how important accountants and bookkeepers have been. Forty three percent of small business owners said that their accountant has been crucial to their pandemic survival, while 58% named them as their most trusted business advisor.

Judges included industry leader Emma Jones MBE (founder of Enterprise Nation), Penny Power OBE (launched the UK’s first social networking platform for SMEs), Matt Flanagan (Co-Founder and Head Trainer at Appacus) and Sonya Trivedy and Monica Turner (from charity The Samaritans).

Full list of Xero UK & Ireland Award Winners for 2021

UK Partner Awards

Sole Practitioner of the Year - CBA Services Limited

Small Firm of the Year - Cloud 360 Accounting

Mid-size Firm of the Year - Fusion Accountants

LargeFirm of the Year - UHY Hacker Young Manchester

Total Xero Award - Linford Grey Associates

Most Valued Professional - Stuart Hurst, Accounts and Legal 

Community Impact Award - Kung Fu Accounting

People's Choice Award - CDC Accounting 

UK App Awards

App Partner of the Year - ApprovalMax 

Emerging App of the Year - Reducer

Industry-specific App of the Year - Figured

Practice App of the Year - Syft Analytics 

Ireland Partner Awards 

Partner of the Year - Accountant Online 

Emerging Firm of the Year - Lalor O'Shea McQuillan