After relocating from Cornwall to Torquay, Elly Flower is building her profile across Devon while helping Shopify, Amazon and online retailers throughout the UK make sense of their finances. In this interview with Al Gibson and Layla Rose, she talks about entrepreneurship, building Cornwall’s first games development studio, why e-commerce businesses need specialist bookkeeping and the importance of understanding profit.
Al: Elly, tell us a little about yourself and how you came to be in Devon.
Elly Flower: I started Fox Clever Bookkeeping in Falmouth in 2018, but before that I’d owned another business in Cornwall for several years. I actually moved to Torquay a couple of years ago, so I’ve been here for a little while, but it’s really only this year that I’ve decided to get myself out into the local business network.
Most of my client base is still in Cornwall or elsewhere around the country, so I don’t have many Devon clients at the moment. That’s why I’m keen to get involved with local networking and become part of the business community here.
Al: Devon Business News has grown from exactly that idea – connecting people. There are lots of directories around, but we wanted something that tells the story behind the business. People buy from people and understanding who someone is and why they do what they do is often just as important as understanding the service they offer.
The story behind Fox Clever Bookkeeping
Layla: Before we talk about bookkeeping, I have to ask about the name. What’s the story behind Fox Clever Bookkeeping?
Elly Flower: I’m not sure I really like the name of my business, but people seem to remember it, so I suppose that’s a good thing.
My surname is Flower and my parents have always had family businesses. Foxglove has always featured in the names. We had Foxglove Leisure, and another company called Digitalis, which is the Latin name for foxglove.
When I started my bookkeeping business, I wanted to continue that family tradition, but I didn’t really want to call it Foxglove Accounting. A friend said, “You seem really clever, so why don’t we call it Fox Clever?” And, I went with it!
Layla: I love that. It’s a genuine family legacy and the sort of story people connect with. Have you ever shared that publicly?
Elly: No, I haven’t actually. Maybe I should have!
An unconventional route into business
Al: So, did you start out to be a bookkeeper?
Elly Flower: No. I actually studied music.
However coming from an entrepreneurial family, I grew up around business. I remember being quite young and my mum teaching me about profit and loss and explaining how businesses actually made money. She’d say, “If you ever want to run your own business, these are the things you need to understand.”
I always wanted to have my own business one day. That was probably inevitable because it’s what I’d grown up around.
Building Cornwall’s first games studio
Al: Before Fox Clever Bookkeeping there was another very successful business.
Elly: Yes. Back in 2013 I helped establish what was effectively Cornwall’s first games development studio.
It wasn’t just my business, there were several of us involved, but within three years we’d grown to around 25 people. We were working with publishers in the USA, producing games commercially and turning over millions of pounds. I was responsible for operations and finance.
At the time Falmouth University had just launched its Games Academy, so the timing worked really well. We became one of the first companies in Cornwall operating in that sector and were fortunate to grow very quickly.
Layla: That’s a remarkable journey.
Elly Flower: It was exciting. I was also asked to speak at events about being a woman in the digital industries because there really weren’t many of us around then. The reality was I was simply too busy running the business to accept many of those invitations.
Finding a new direction
Al: So how do you go from running a successful games company to becoming an e-commerce bookkeeper?
Elly Flower: I certainly never grew up thinking I wanted to become a bookkeeper! When we sold the business, I found myself asking what I wanted to do next.
What I’d realised from running a growing company was that nobody teaches founders what profit actually means. People talk about turnover all the time, but profit is different. There’s gross profit, net profit, profit before tax, profit after tax and profit margins. When you’re starting a business, nobody really holds your hand through any of that. I knew there were lots of people out there who were in exactly the same position I’d once been.
More than a bookkeeper
Layla: Was that the opportunity you saw?
Elly Flower: Absolutely.
Accountants are brilliant, but if you’re a small business owner you don’t always want to pick up the phone and ask lots of questions because you’re conscious that every conversation costs money. I wanted to be more than someone who simply processed transactions. I wanted to help business owners understand what their numbers were actually telling them.
So yes, I market myself as a bookkeeper, but I also go that little bit further. I’ve built relationships with clients over many years, helping them understand their profits, improve their bookkeeping and grow their businesses.
Choosing e-commerce
Al: You’ve deliberately specialised in e-commerce. Why?
Elly Flower: Because that’s where I can make the biggest difference. I work predominantly with businesses selling through Shopify and Amazon, although I also support businesses using Etsy and eBay.
Some clients are selling physical products, others are selling online courses, retreats or wellness programmes. I’ve got clients selling snowboards and clients exporting products around the world.
E-commerce shouldn’t really be niche because it’s absolutely huge and it’s everywhere, but within bookkeeping it still is. There aren’t many accountants or bookkeepers who specialise in it or have the knowledge needed to deal with the volume of data involved.
Making sense of thousands of transactions
Layla: So what actually makes e-commerce bookkeeping different?
Elly Flower: The amount of data. An e-commerce business can process thousands of orders every month. Trying to reconcile all of that manually simply isn’t practical.
I use specialist e-commerce software alongside AI-powered systems that allow me to process thousands of transactions in just a few clicks. But the technology is only part of it. What I’m really interested in is helping people understand what’s happening behind the numbers.
I’m a great believer in understanding profits. I spend a lot of time analysing profitability so clients know what they need to do if they’re looking for investment, buying more stock or planning for growth.
The ideal client
Al: Who’s your ideal client?
Elly Flower: An ambitious online business. Typically they’re using Shopify, Amazon, Etsy or eBay and processing somewhere between 50 and 5,000 orders a month.
They don’t have to be a huge company. Some of may clients operate from a warehouse, others have stock stored in a garage. Some sell products across the UK, while others are exporting overseas. What they all have in common is that they’re growing and they need financial information they can actually trust. That’s where specialist e-commerce bookkeeping makes such a difference.
Elly Flower – Helping business owners see the bigger picture
Al: You said something that really stood out to me: “People trust their Shopify dashboard far more than they should.” What did you mean by that?
Elly: Most e-commerce businesses start by creating a great product and building a strong brand. They launch their Shopify store, start getting orders and everything is exciting. For the first two or three years they’re completely focused on sales, marketing and growth. The problem is they tend to rely on the Shopify dashboard as their financial dashboard, and it doesn’t give an accurate picture of what’s really happening in the business.
Everything changes when they start selling overseas. Suddenly you’ve got different VAT rules, different tax obligations and much more complex reporting. Then they’re looking to scale, perhaps bring in investment, buy more stock or employ more people. That’s when they really need to understand the numbers behind the business.
I think that’s the point where people realise they need proper bookkeeping systems and specialist advice. If you’re starting an e-commerce business, I’d say get those financial processes in place from day one rather than trying to fix everything later.
Working alongside accountants
Al: Something that surprised me was where most of your work comes from. You actually receive many of your referrals from accountants.
Elly Flower: That’s right. People sometimes think bookkeepers and accountants compete, but we really don’t. We work together.
Typically, a business goes to its accountant at the end of the financial year. The accountant lifts the bonnet and says, “There’s a huge amount of data here. You’re going to need a specialist e-commerce bookkeeper.” That’s when I get the phone call.
My role is to organise the data properly so the accountant can produce accurate year-end accounts and tax returns. Many accountants simply don’t specialise in e-commerce because the volume of transactions is so much greater than in most other industries.
Reaching larger accountancy firms
Layla: Is that changing? Are larger accountancy firms beginning to recognise they need specialists like yourself?
Elly Flower: I hope so. One of my goals at the moment is to build stronger relationships with larger firms. I’ve contacted accountancy practices across Devon and had some really positive conversations, although it’s often the smaller independent firms that are quickest to recognise the value of specialist bookkeeping.
The larger firms sometimes have e-commerce clients without having dedicated e-commerce expertise in-house. I’d love to work with more of them because I think we complement each other really well.
Sharing knowledge
Al: You’re also beginning to speak publicly about e-commerce bookkeeping.
Elly Flower: Yes.
Yes, I’m speaking at a finance event in Cornwall alongside representatives from larger accountancy firms, which I’m really looking forward to. I’m also trying to be much more active on LinkedIn. Historically I haven’t needed to do much marketing because most of my work has come through referrals, but I think there’s a real opportunity to educate business owners.
I’m planning a series of LinkedIn posts explaining why e-commerce businesses need specialist bookkeeping and why putting good financial systems in place early makes such a difference. If I can help founders avoid some of the mistakes that many growing businesses make, then that’s worthwhile.
Values beyond the numbers
Layla: Sustainability also seems to be an important part of your business.
Elly Flower: Very much so. A lot of my clients are ethical businesses or B Corps. I’m partnered with Ecologi, so every VAT return I submit helps fund habitat restoration projects in the UK.
One member of my team is also a carbon accounting specialist, so sustainability is something we’re genuinely interested in rather than simply talking about. I like working with businesses that are making a positive contribution, whether that’s through sustainability, ethical sourcing or simply running their businesses responsibly.
Building the right team
Al: You mentioned your team earlier.
Elly: Yes, there are four of us altogether. I have three other bookkeepers working with me and we’re all based in different parts of the country. We’re completely remote, which works really well because our clients are spread across the UK.
The bookkeeping community is actually very collaborative. The people I work with also have their own bookkeeping practices, so we support each other and bring different specialisms to the team. It means clients benefit from a wider range of expertise while still receiving a very personal service.
Recognition for specialist expertise
Layla: You’ve also recently received some industry recognition.
Elly: Yes, which was lovely. Fox Clever Bookkeeping was named Best Digital Bookeeping & E-commerce Solutions company – South West 2025 at the UK Enterprise Awards.
Awards aren’t why I do what I do, but it’s always nice to have your work recognised, especially when you’ve spent years developing specialist knowledge in quite a niche area.
Building a reputation in Devon
Al: As you establish yourself here in Devon, what would you like people to know about Fox Clever Bookkeeping?
Elly Flower: I’d like people to know that we’re specialists. If you’re an e-commerce business selling through Shopify, Amazon, Etsy or eBay, then you really do need someone who understands that environment. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling products from your garage or dispatching thousands of orders every month.
What matters is having someone who understands your business and can help you make informed financial decisions. I’d also like people to know that I’m approachable. I don’t believe finance should be intimidating. Business owners shouldn’t feel embarrassed about asking questions because understanding your numbers is one of the most important parts of growing a successful business.
Looking ahead
Layla: Finally, what excites you most about the future?
Elly Flower: Building relationships here in Devon. I’ve spent years developing a fantastic client base in Cornwall and across the UK, and now I’m looking forward to becoming part of the Devon business community as well. Networking has already introduced me to some brilliant people, and I know there are lots more connections to make.
If people come to know me as the e-commerce bookkeeper who helps founders understand their profits and grow their businesses with confidence, then I’ll be very happy.
Discover more
Find out more about Fox Clever Bookkeeping by visiting the company’s Devon Business Directory listing.
Also read Award-winning e-commerce bookkeeping firm expands into Devon