PIA Group welcomes the family-centred accountancy approach of Avisem from Lint.

The story of Avisem starts some thirty years ago with its foundation by Marijke Deruytter. As a lecturer in accounting and taxation at Karel de Grote Hogeschool, clarifying business figures and tax matters is second nature to her. Marijke says on the subject: “At Avisem, we take the time from day one to break down the numbers for our clients so they truly understand them. New customers often say “no one has ever gone over the numbers like that with me”.”

Avisem likes to describe its personalised approach as Balanced advice. It’s a philosophy that appeals to many liberal professions, medical professionals and IT consultants from the southern edge of Antwerp. Therefore the agency’s rapid expansion comes as no surprise. Over the years, Marijke has surrounded herself with freshly graduated students but her husband Geert Deseure, controller at a multinational, and her son Stijn also joined the firm, making it a family business. Today Avisem employs 12 staff.

“The collaboration with PIA Group is a logical next step in Avisem’s growth trajectory”, says Stijn Deseure, who heads up the agency in Lint together with Marijke. “Our individual approach requires great focus. As a fast-growing agency we are confronted with an abundance of additional work: HR, fleet, IT, ... That is why we were on the lookout for a partner who could unburden us. We immediately felt that PIA Group could offer us what we needed and was also the best fit in terms of vision.”

 “Providing accounting agencies with support so they can focus on their customer portfolio is at the heart of PIA Group’s approach”, says Steven Brouckaert. “Our branches have access to support in the areas of HR, IT, Operations, Finance and Sales & Marketing. We take care not to change the DNA, work methods and entrepreneurship of the agencies and the name stays the same as well. Our motto is don’t fix what isn’t broken. More even, unburdening Marijke, Stijn and their staff will only strengthen Avisem’s financial approach.”

Nathalie Calle, CEO of PIA Group Belgium, adds: “One of the major assets for Avisem’s customers is that they can now also call on PIA Advisory. Our experts can assist them in a broad range of areas: legal, VAT, CFO-as-a-Service, corporate finance, wealth and succession planning, M&A, and digital transformation. The fact that a single group harnesses all of these competencies guarantees a 360° strategy that fits in perfectly with Avisem’s personalised approach.”

Stijn is now a partner in PIA Group and continues to lead Avisem with Marijke like before. “We are happy we can guarantee the agency’s future for our customers and staff”, says Marijke. “For us that was also a key factor in joining PIA Group. You never know if something might happen to us.” Meanwhile Steven Brouckaert continues to convince agencies of the benefits of a collaboration with PIA Group. More additions to PIA Group are expected over the next few weeks.

For more details on this press release feel free to contact Stefan Knecht, stefan.k@pia.be, +32 495 54 60 82.