Meet the Team

James Morgan 

Position :  MD
Qualifications:  CA (South Africa). CTA (UCT), Post Grad in IT (Wits)
Specialisation:  Accounting and management reporting aspects of a business.
Something personal:  I like things in well-ordered boxes.
Time at TASCOLI : 22 years!

I spent my first 8 years with the audit firm Arthur Young (now Ernst & Young ) in South Africa where I qualified as a CA.

I left to join a small audit firm as a partner in Sandton Johannesburg. The focus of this firm was on owner run businesses where we provided the regular auditing, accounting, tax compliance and system implementation services.

TASCOLI in the UK was started as a small consultancy providing systems and financial management to businesses running Accpac. Since then we have added a number of specialist applications such as warehousing, CRM, business intelligence, integrated applications and we have designed and implemented  bespoke applications. We have consulted  in other accounting systems ; Pastel, MYOB, and ACCPAC Simply for smaller businesses, MS Solomon and Sage 200 for larger businesses.

My passion is similar to the mission statement of the company.  To  see businesses efficiency improved.  It is a continual tinkering mainly because of new developments in IT.  I particularly like improving the life of the Financial Director and the accountant by getting the system to provide accurate information while at the same time reducing and even eliminating the month end and year end repetitive slog.

The other thing I really like are the emails I get from clients who thank us for doing a good job or commend a member of our team.

We provide  three systems covering the accounting needs of the smaller business to the larger mid-size entity.  The larger they get the more complex the requirements  but the principal in our business is still the same, improve efficiency and provide a high standard of service.

“My plans for 2016:  Continue to promote Acumaitca and take opportunity of its competitive advantage as the best cloud ERP system on the market. While Sage 300 is being transformed into a web based application we will continue to advise our clients on the progress and the time to move.”

 

Andy PickupAndy

Position :  Senior Consultant
Specialisation:  Accounting and ERP systems.
Something personal:  Obsessed with organic food, owning chickens  and cats.
Time at TASCOLI : 9 years.

I joined TASCOLI as a support assistant in 2007 before becoming the Support Manager and have been a Senior Consultant since September 2010.

Whilst studying I worked in a retail warehouse as a shelf stacker/stock picker and quickly progressed to the role of Stock Manager. I was the company’s youngest employee to get a 100% audit. I ran a tight ship! When I moved to London I tried my hand at a variety of different jobs including being a waiter (I was awful!) and a games tester (this was awesome!) before coming back to warehouse management. From there I took a job in an IT department for a garden centre and learned how to use an ERP system in a retail environment.

Working for TASCOLI has been a natural progression of all my previously learned skills and working across a range of industries has been both challenging and exciting. ERP systems are currently evolving into the next stage, Cloud ERP. This too is proving both challenging and exciting. There comes a point as a consultant where you have to ask yourself if you’re ready to drop everything you’ve invested in for the past 7 years in terms of study, time and experience. When it comes to Acumatica, my answer is yes. You can see why here.

Outside of work I enjoy regular fitness related activities be that pushing myself at the gym or cycling up Cambridge’s Castle Hill in 5th! I’m obsessed with organic and fresh made food, make all my own bread and I aspire to own chickens! I’m just not sure what the cats will make of them. Dinner probably…

Andrew Green

Position: Support ManagerAndrew
Specialisation: ERP Systems, Technical Support.
Time at TASCOLI: 6 Years

When I started in IT it wasn’t even called IT – it was Data Processing.

Back then I was an operator on an IBM Mainframe and though we’ve all moved a long way from punched cards and 64kb partitions I remember it fondly.

It was the first step on the path that’s taken me to companies as diverse as explosives and software, pharmaceuticals, food and fixings as well as a spell in a software house. Different companies and cultures as well as differences in scale from multi-billion dollar “big pharma” to the software house; I joined a new startup branch where there were no chairs and we sat on cardboard boxes until we got some work out and some invoices paid. That’s a direct connection between contribution and compensation! I have enjoyed many roles mixing technical and business responsibilities. In smaller companies we all have to wear many hats and in the larger companies I found a niche as someone who could speak both IT and business.

Most of my applications experience has been with core business systems. In my first two jobs we used in house written ERP software, that’s probably one of the biggest changes – who does that now? Since then I spent a long time working with Oracle Financials on implementation and delivering what they call “business as usual” support – though it never actually seemed very “usual”. And many others. Maybe less well known except by people of a certain age would be ManMan and HP3000 offerings from CPMS and HP (Hypax and HP FM / MM anyone?). And IPS / JBA and some time running an IBM RISC machine with multivalue databases from UniData.

Nothing stands still of course and though this experience serves me well as Support Manager at Tascoli there’s always something new. Right now we are all really excited about moving into real Cloud systems with Acumatica – that’s quite a trip from the old mainframes!   

But whether it’s Data Processing or Information Technology some things have not changed much. We need to make best use of the technology available to deliver real business benefits and focus on people as much as the machines. Once technology was going to replace people; what we’ve seen instead is that technology is enabling people in ways my Data Processing Manager could not have imagined and it’s great to be a part of it!

 

Adeel AhmedAdeel

Position:  ERP Consultant
Specialisation:  Accounting, ERP systems and Report designing.
Something personal:  Crazy about watching Cricket.
Time at TASCOLI: 9 years

I have graduated in Commerce and then completed a Master’s Degree in Computer Science with a specialisation in Software Engineering. I started my professional career in 2003 as Sage Accpac System Consultant in Pakistan and later on moved to Saudi Arabia in 2006 to join a Sage Business Partner as a Consultant. In this role, travelled a lot to different cities carrying out implementation and training.

I moved to the UK in 2007 and joined TASCOLI as a junior consultant before becoming an ERP Consultant in 2011. I am very proud to be a part of successful growing TASCOLI team, who are always enthusiastic to learn new technology and very passionate about helping and supporting our customers. At TASCOLI the many types of businesses that we help has allowed me to gain a broader understanding and knowledge of various ERP systems. I have gained a vast experience in developing SAP Crystal reports and maintaining the SAP Business Object Server. I have also had the opportunity to learn and support several other applications like the Accellos WMS system, SAGE 200, QuickBooks and Sage 3rd Party products, while I am currently developing my skills in Acumatica ERP and enjoying it very much.

To treat myself from my busy routine, I love to spend my free time sightseeing and enjoying scenic beauty, which has become more of a hobby to discover new places. I was regular member of our local Cricket team in Pakistan but now my passion for cricket is limited to watching  it on TV and playing with my daughter (and baby son).