Our Managing Partner Gerard Uijtendaal was invited to BusySeasonTalks, a podcast where the hosts talk about everything accounting and finance in a casual way. Jort and Hakan spoke to Gerard about his international career, and how that journey led to the founding of Reanda Netherlands.
From a young age, Gerard was pulled in by politics, influenced by his father, who was active in local politics, and by inspirational teachers. The combination of politics and economics might be something for me, he thought. And indeed, geopolitics and finance shaped the course of his life, journey, and eventually in Reanda.
Initially, his plan was to take over his father’s accounting firm. But when his father passed away, that path was gone. “I didn’t really know what to do.” A client offered a new path: come to Czechoslovakia and help companies behind the Iron Curtain transition to a capitalist society. “And at such crossroads, when a chance is offered, you grab it with both hands.”
“It was very special to play even a small role at a time when a whole system was falling apart and transforming into something new,” – Gerard Uijtendaal, Managing Partner at Reanda Netherlands.
An international journey
“It was the early 1990’s. Communism had fallen. And I got the chance to help privatise companies in Czechoslovakia. The beauty of it was that nobody knew how to do it. I found that a very appealing challenge.” The companies had a completely different accounting system, and they suddenly had to be brought into the Western framework. “It was fascinating. During the day, we’d work through the statistics. In the evening, I’d sit with the people from the finance department and talk about how bookkeeping and finance worked in the capitalist world. It was very special to play even a small role at a time when a whole system was falling apart and transforming into something new.”
After several years in Eastern Europe, the road diverted towards Russia. Gerard started at Deloitte, until the financial crisis of 2007-2008. “That hit Russia hard. I was let go, but by then I was married to a Russian and I wanted to stay in Russia. So, I did. I had a very good run as a freelancer, being one of the few remaining foreign accountants and I was a problem solver for large international companies. Until 2014.” In 2014, Gerard and his wife made plans to go back to the Netherlands with their adopted daughter Tanya.
Founding Reanda
The Netherlands was a new opportunity. “What I clearly saw was how important the Netherlands is for large international companies. The country offers stability, highly educated employees, good accountants, and a solid legal structure. But at the same time, I saw how difficult it was for international companies to find an accountant who truly understood their specific challenges. To fill that gap, Reanda Netherlands started in December 2017.”
This international approach also attracted international employees. Today, Reanda employs over a hundred people from over 35 different backgrounds.
Culture
With so many diverse backgrounds, what defines Reanda’s culture? The most important thing is to find what you share and what your common ground is. The second is to keep an open view. “It’s not about right or wrong; it’s about different structures. We try very hard to make space for that. In a Dutch office, speaking up is essential. But in the same firm’s office in Asia, where no one speaks up in the Dutch sense, they deliver the same quality. You don’t have to force everything into a Dutch mold. What emerges is what I’d call a Reanda culture. We give people a lot of freedom, the space to organize their own work and lead their own teams.”
“Acquiring or being acquired? We’d rather stay as we are, building on our own terms.”
The challenges of growth
A unique culture and a unique way of working compared to other firms. And Reanda keeps on growing, in its own way. “We are more human driven. Good people produce good quality. And when we find good people, the clients follow. But as we grow, the challenge we face is that we need more structure. Communication is essential and the key is sharing all knowledge we have across the organization and spreading that as we scale. We call that our Collective Wisdom. That’s how we grow and improve. We’re quite unique. Being acquired seems unlikely and we don’t look at acquiring others. We’d rather stay as we are, building on our own terms.”
