Escone Solutions

What Escone Solutions does

Escone Solutions is a privately held UK business applications consultancy founded in 2015 in Aberdeen, Scotland, by Mike Charles and Kevin Wyness. The firm specialises in supporting, implementing, and managing business applications for mid-sized organisations of 20-500 staff, with a practice historically anchored on the OpenAccounts and eBIS platforms and extended in 2024 into iplicit cloud accounting. Its core service lines are Professional Services (implementation and consultancy projects), Escone Assist (an ongoing managed support and helpdesk subscription), and iplicit Implementation. The firm operates with 16 employees, is profitable without external funding, and serves named customers including ScotRail Trains, Transport UK, Great Places Housing Group, Denholm Seafoods, and Abellio Group across transport, housing, seafood, and broader enterprise verticals.

The company's technical footprint consists of the Escone Assist helpdesk platform, the Escone Appoint application for scheduling, and accumulated implementation and configuration know-how for the three supported vendors. It has built a small partner ecosystem: Intuitive Business Intelligence (since 2017) for BI services, OSP Cyber Academy (since 2018) for cybersecurity, and iplicit (since 2024) for cloud accounting. There is no indication of proprietary AI, machine-learning, or data-product capability; the moat is principally practitioner knowledge held by long-tenured consultants and the continuity of delivery-to-support staffing models.

Commercially, Escone generates revenue through project-based professional services engagements and recurring managed-service contracts, with at least one referenced customer relationship valued at £300,000. The go-to-market is primarily UK mid-market, with customers sourced via direct relationships and vendor channel referrals, and no disclosed international activity. Recent organisational moves (appointment of a Non-Executive Commercial Director in 2022, four new hires across 2024-2025, and the iplicit partnership) indicate deliberate capacity build-out for the next phase of growth.

Name

Escone Solutions

Legal name

Escone Solutions Limited

Website

https://esconesolutions.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Escone Solutions provides business application implementation, consultancy, and managed support for OpenAccounts, eBIS, and iplicit platforms to UK mid-sized organisations (20-500 staff) in transport, housing, and seafood sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

IT Incident, Problem & Change Management Platforms (HDAEALAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Enterprise Service Management (ESM) Platforms (HDAEALAB)

Keywords

• Business applications support
• Cloud accounting implementation
• Finance system consulting
• Helpdesk support services
• Workflow automation solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Aberdeen

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Professional Services: Consulting and implementation services including system implementation, process improvement, organisational change, strategic planning, and software development. Includes health checks, upgrades, and migrations.
2. Escone Assist Support: Ongoing helpdesk support services providing super-user expertise for OpenAccounts, eBIS, and iplicit systems. Includes retainer-based and ad-hoc support arrangements.
3. iplicit Implementation: End-to-end iplicit implementation services from discovery through go-live, including configuration, data migration, training, and post-implementation support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Escone Solutions provides business application support, implementation, and consultancy services centred on financial management systems including OpenAccounts, eBIS, and the iplicit cloud accounting platform. The core commercial offering is Escone Assist, a managed helpdesk that acts as a super-user extension for client finance teams, complemented by professional services for system implementation, health checks, upgrades, and migrations. The company additionally delivers Finance BI dashboards (with Intuitive Business Intelligence) and the Escone Appoint workplace apps suite.

Product overview

Escone Solutions is a business application support provider offering a portfolio of complementary solutions built around financial management and workflow automation. The core offering centres on Escone Assist, a super-user helpdesk providing ongoing support for the company's supported platforms. Escone maintains specialist expertise in OpenAccounts and eBIS (both on-premise finance and workflow systems) and expanded its portfolio in 2024 by partnering with iplicit, a cloud-native accounting platform targeting mid-market organisations outgrowing entry-level solutions. Finance BI (delivered via the Intuitive Business Intelligence partnership) adds dashboard and business intelligence capabilities, while Escone Appoint provides supplementary workplace productivity apps. Together these products cover the full lifecycle from implementation and support through to process optimisation and real-time financial reporting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Escone Assist: Business Applications Help Desk Solution providing remote helpdesk support for business applications including OpenAccounts and eBIS systems.
• Escone Appoint
• Finance BI

Products and services

• Escone Assist
• iplicit implementation and partner services

Quantifiable outcome

• Considerable cost savings through system consolidation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• iplicitcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024In 2024, Escone Solutions partnered with iplicit as an accredited partner, integrating their cloud-based accounting system into Escone's portfolio. iplicit is designed for organisations that have outgrown entry-level or on-premise solutions and are seeking next-generation finance platform. Escone implements, supports, and optimises iplicit for organisations across Scotland and the UK.
• OSP Cyber AcademyminorOthers · 1 January 2018OSP Cyber Academy is a cyber security and data protection consultancy delivering training courses focused on education, protection, and enabling clients to achieve business growth in the digital age. Escone has worked in partnership with OSP since 2018 to support businesses improve their cyber security through dedicated training programmes to educate the workforce and minimise risk of cyber threats.
• Intuitive Business IntelligencecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2017Escone partnered with Intuitive Business Intelligence since 2017 to provide Finance BI dashboards. Together they work on making businesses operate more efficiently by enhancing data through rationalising processes and streamlining applications. Example projects include custom dashboards for the Rigmar Group to support decision making.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Xero: Global cloud accounting incumbent whose entry-level customer base overlaps with Escone's mid-market displacement thesis. Comparable as a competing platform that mid-market companies either adopt or outgrow before turning to iplicit.
• iplicit: Cloud-based accounting platform vendor that Escone implements as an accredited partner. Comparable as the product anchor of Escone's newest growth pillar and as a competing ecosystem that recruits similar UK implementation partners.
• Sage: Dominant incumbent in UK SMB and mid-market accounting software (Sage 50, Sage 200, Sage Intacct). Many Escone prospects are Sage outgrows, making Sage both the main replacement source pipeline and a broader competitive threat to mid-market finance system implementations.
• OneAdvanced (Advanced Computer Software): Vendor of OpenAccounts - the very platform Escone supports and implements. Functions as both a partner and a broader incumbent that competes for the same mid-market finance system deals, with a much wider portfolio across HR, payroll, and ERP.
• Access Group (Integrity Software): Large UK enterprise software group that acquired Integrity Software, a comparable mid-market finance software vendor with overlapping customer base. Competes more broadly across finance, HR, and ERP, putting pressure on Escone's mid-market implementations.

Direct peers

• Cooper Software: UK consultancy specialising in finance and ERP implementations for mid-market organisations. Overlaps with Escone in professional services delivery model, vendor partnerships, and target customer size, competing for the same implementation contracts.
• Datel: UK-based Sage and mid-market finance systems implementation partner serving similar 20-500 staff organisations. Directly comparable in business model (implementation, support, training) and customer profile, making it a direct UK competitor for the same iplicit/Sage replacement projects.
• K3 Cloud (K3 Business Technologies): UK-listed mid-market business software and services provider with implementation services for finance systems targeting similar customer segments. Directly comparable in business model combining software partnership with implementation services for growing UK businesses.
• Intuitive Business Intelligence: Escone's strategic partner since 2017 for Finance BI dashboards. Directly comparable as a UK-focused analytics consultancy serving mid-market finance teams; could be both a partner route and a competing BI delivery channel for clients.

Emerging players

• AccountsIQ: Cloud-native mid-market accounting platform competing directly with iplicit for organisations outgrowing entry-level systems. Comparable as an emerging cloud accounting challenger that could either compete with or become a future implementation target for Escone-style consultancies.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/esconesolutions
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@esconesolutions6729
• Facebookfacebook.com/EsconeSolutons
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/escone-solutions-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Escone Solutions