Bluebird Bookkeeping Information

I’m Gillian Ormiston and I’m the owner of Bluebird Bookkeeping, based right here in Newport. 

I’m qualified with the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB) for both manual and computerised bookkeeping, and my bookkeeping practice (practice number 11295) is licensed with the ICB under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.  I’m also registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller under the Data Protection Act and I’m currently in the process of registering as an agent with HMRC.

I’ve used both Quickbooks and Sage for processing general bookkeeping transactions, performing bank reconciliation, generating VAT returns and producing management accounts.  I’m also familiar with some additional Sage features including cashflow forecasting, setting budgets, invoicing in foreign currencies, generating quotations, project costing, and designing customised reports. 

I provide a flexible service and can work on my clients’ premises, or from my own office.  I’m happy to pick up / drop off work for clients within 10 miles of my office, and can provide ‘Bluebird’ envelopes for clients who prefer to pop their documents in the post to me.  My charging structure is also flexible, and may be based on an hourly rate for each hour worked, a fixed daily charge, a fixed price for the job, or a fixed price per month to even out the client’s bookkeeping costs over the year. 

For all new clients my first hour’s work is free of charge – so you don’t pay for me to get up to speed with your books, and I offer a discount for the first 6 months work to any new clients who’ve been trading for less than 3 months when I take them on.

My business is very new – I started trading in May 2011 – and I’m also new to bookkeeping.  My background is in IT project management and public sector bidding so I’ve got a lot of experience of project accounting, and project costing.  When I worked in the corporate world I had a good reputation amongst my colleagues for my attention to detail and for being able to balance an unbalanceable project account, so when I decided that change was due, a new career working with numbers was the obvious choice.

There are lots of bookkeepers around so why buy from me?  Well, I recognise that every one of my customers is unique and so I won’t try to sell you a ‘one size fits all’ service.  I’ll ask you what your problems are and then I’ll work out how best to fix them.  So if you need someone to generate your invoices and chase any overdue payments, if you want some Sage training or you need help to put together some figures to back up a business loan application, or if you need someone to help you manage your project accounts, I can give you a service tailored to those needs (and if all you want is someone to ‘do the books’ I can do that too).   

About Gillian

I’m originally from the North East (Newcastle upon Tyne to be precise) but since leaving home to go into Higher Education (Oxford Polytechnic followed by Birmingham Polytechnic) a long time ago, I’ve gradually migrated South West and after a good few years living in Somerset I’ve finally come over the bridge to be closer to my family in Cardiff and various friends in South Wales.  Since May I’ve  been living with my gorgeous Welsh Corgi, just outside Newport; close enough to the city to be able to get into it quickly, but with the beautiful Welsh countryside on my doorstep.

Before I decided to swap the security of being an employee for the freedom of self-employment I’d worked for 14 years for a large multi-national IT service provider as an IT project manager, and before that I’d worked for a number of different companies and a couple of Local Authorities, always in IT, right back to my first adult job, when I abandoned the idea of becoming an accountant in favour of much more exciting computer programming!! 

When I’m not working I like to get out in the fresh air as much as possible and having a dog gives me plenty of reason to do that.  So, since I moved to Newport I’ve been exploring the parks, hills and woodland in my local area and I’ve got plans for longer walks further afield in the Wye Valley and the Brecons.  I’m also a fairly domesticated soul and love gardening (particularly fruit and veg), cooking, and all kinds of arts and crafts.  One of my favourite activities is making jam and I dream that one day I’ll create the most perfect jar of marmalade. 

So now my main ambition is to grow Bluebird Bookkeeping into a successful business offering a wide range of services, with happy staff and satisfied clients.  And, if my clients were asked why they keep giving their business to me I would want them to say it’s because they can rely on me to provide an efficient, accurate and friendly service, that keeps them fully informed and never delivers any nasty surprises, and that gives them the peace of mind that comes from knowing their money has been well spent.

Newport, Cwmbran, Usk, Caerleon, Pontypool - Wherever your business is, I can be too!