Deborah
McCabe

Business Advisory Assistant Manager

LinkedIn

Who I help

Owner-managed businesses. Sole Traders. Partnerships. Limited Companies. 

How I help

Compliance and business advisory services. Management Accounts and VAT Returns. Bookkeeping advice. 

“I LOVE A CHALLENGE! WHEN YOU DEAL WITH A WIDE RANGE OF CLIENTS, YOU CONSTANTLY HAVE YOUR PROBLEM-SOLVING HEAD ON.”

Deborah McCabe is an Assistant Manager within our Business Advisory team, based at our Glasgow office. Her role involves working with a portfolio of clients from a wide range of sectors including Construction & Property, Leisure, Retail and Hospitality.  

Deborah supports her clients in a variety of ways, including assisting with preparing statutory accounts, management accounts and VAT returns in advance of all deadlines, ensuring all information is correct and as up to date as possible. She also reviews their bookkeeping systems and processes and advises on any areas of improvement, either to reduce clients’ time or to make the year-end process smoother, so clients are getting their accounts as quickly as possible. Answering client queries and offering advice on other business matters as they arise is important to Deborah, and a vital part of the service she provides. 

Exceeding expectations with unmatched professionalism and unwavering honesty 

“At AAB, we’re not just committed—we’re passionate about going above and beyond for our clients, delivering advice that’s not only beneficial today but also sets them up for future success. The true measure of our success is the deep trust we’ve cultivated, where our clients feel empowered to turn to us with confidence, knowing they’ll receive the guidance they need. It’s vital to me that our clients feel this trust, knowing they’ll always receive the absolute best from AAB. We don’t just meet expectations; we strive to redefine them with our unwavering dedication to professionalism and honesty.” 

Considering our clients’ needs

“Clients are our passion, and we always consider what suits their needs best. Communication plays a big part in our day-to-day lives, and we recognise that everyone has their preferred methods. It’s important that we give our clients options as to how they want to communicate with us, and when. 

Fully remote working can make it challenging to develop or maintain relationships with both colleagues and clients. At times the virtual aspect of our job and the Teams meetings are convenient, but personally I think it’s always nice to have a face-to-face meeting as it helps to build a stronger relationship and avoid any technological hitches too! 

Welcoming a client into the office is sometimes good to get them away from any distraction, whilst getting out to a client’s site can be extremely beneficial, and it can be interesting to find out more about what they do on a day-to-day basis.” 

Every day is a school day

“I love a challenge! When you deal with a wide range of clients, you constantly have your problem-solving head on. I thoroughly enjoy getting involved in the more complex side of things because it’s where you learn the most. 

Every day is a school day and I feel like I’m constantly gaining new knowledge, whether it’s about a colleague, a client’s business, or ever-changing legislation. This is what makes work interesting. Our clients operate in various industries so there’s always the opportunity to gain experience which can be applied to work going forward.” 

Sharing advice, knowledge, and best practice

“At AAB we know communication is key, not only with clients, but also internally across departments. We have experts for every area, including audit, tax, business advisory, corporate finance, payroll & employment, restructuring and hotel accounting. We’re very willing to share advice, knowledge and best practice, and being part of a full-service organisation means we are always able to help. 

With accounting and tax legislation always changing, it’s important we stay on top of this and pass on information to clients where it may impact them. Liaising with our tax colleagues ensures we do this properly and means we can provide relevant advice at the correct time.  

With some of our larger clients constantly looking to expand, our corporate finance colleagues can get involved and provide the support needed. It makes our jobs easier knowing that there’s always a colleague there to provide the support when needed.” 

Delivering for our clients

“Recently we assisted a client with moving to a new bookkeeping system, as their existing one was not serving its purpose and the internal bookkeeper didn’t have the correct tools to operate it properly. We only became aware of the errors that were accumulating during the year when we came to prepare the statutory accounts, which made the process very lengthy, and resulted in large adjustments having to be made. 

We provided training on the new system and agreed a plan going forward where we would review the system with the quarterly VAT return prep to make sure any errors are picked up and corrected promptly. Our client is now very happy with the new system, processes and ongoing support they’re receiving. Delivering for our clients and seeing the difference it can make is so rewarding.” 

A whole host of opportunities

“There are a whole host of opportunities at AAB, and a management team who are there to encourage you and push you to your full potential. Now that I am progressing in my career, I look forward to being part of that management team who can assist in the development of junior staff and be a good support as they progress through their studies. 

I think generally accountants are often viewed as being quite boring and lacking in personality, and that we hide behind the numbers because we don’t enjoy conversation. From my perspective this could not be further from the truth. There are a wide range of personalities at AAB, and there always seems to be a buzz around the office which makes coming to work more enjoyable. We’re always happy to chat to our clients, whether it’s to discuss their accounts and what business needs we can help with, or just a general catch up on how business has been. We really are a friendly bunch!”