James Byrne will continue as a shareholder in the combined group and remain involved with the business as an advisor to the combined Board. 

Kevin McCallum, CEO of AM, will become Chief Operating Officer of the new, combined group as well as continuing to manage AM, working closely with Bright CEO, Paul Byrne. 

James Byrne, Co-Founder and Chair of AccountancyManager, comments, “AccountancyManager recently celebrated its fifth birthday, and I’m incredibly proud of everything we’ve achieved in this time, for our team but equally importantly for our customers. As we go forward with the full support of Bright, I’m excited for the future of AccountancyManager, the additional capabilities and solutions we’ll be able to offer, and the genuinely positive impact we will be able to make.”

Paul Byrne, CEO of Bright, commented: “I have been very impressed with the product offering and the reputation of AccountancyManager, and I am delighted that they are joining forces with us. Our respective businesses share the same philosophy; placing the customer journey above all else. Together, we will be well-positioned to make that journey even better. I am also delighted to welcome Kevin and James to our highly talented leadership team.

”Kevin McCallum comments: “AccountancyManager joining Bright makes so much sense for many reasons, but for me, the shared values and customer-centric approach are the most compelling. I’m excited to be joining Paul and the wider Bright team in building out the scope and scale of our business and supporting more and more accountants and their clients.”

Bright was formed in September 2021 due to a merger between BrightPay, a leading provider of payroll software solutions, and Relate, a leader in post-accounting, practice management and bookkeeping software. Today, Bright’s leading software supports over 7,000 accounting practices and over 30,000 small to mid-sized businesses across Ireland and the UK, with a headcount of over 200 people. Bright currently has offices in the outskirts of Dublin in Ireland and in Kolkata, India. Bright is backed by Hg, a leading software investor with expertise in tax & accounting technology businesses, and a strong track record of supporting companies to scale.