Market environment

The Administer Group operates in the HR and financial management services market, the software market and the HR and other business support specialist services market.

Financial management market in Finland

The majority of the outsourced financial management services market in Finland relates to accountancy business. The Finnish accountancy market has historically been very stable. The market has grown by an average of 5.2 per cent per year since 2001. The number of accounting companies operating in Finland has remained around 4,000 over the past decade.

A steady historical growth in total market turnover and relatively small fluctuations reflect the defensiveness of the accountancy market based on the statutory nature of corporate financial management.

HR service market in Finland

Administer Group’s target markets in the HR services sector are in particular payroll and human resources management services, consulting, recruitment services and financial and human resources management staffing.

The HR sector is expected to become a more holistic part of the business than it is today, and thus increase its importance in companies. In Administer Group’s view, the development of the HR sector in Finland is still at an early stage, as the importance of data analytics and organisational planning, for example, is only about to be revealed to companies as today’s technological developments determine the direction of the future.

Transformation of the industry and key growth drivers

In recent years, the financial management sector, which has remained relatively unchanged for a long time, has taken a sharp turn on the path of development as new technologies, increased importance of consulting services, outsourcing of business support functions and market consolidation largely define the future direction of the industry.

Technological revolution and financial management software

The digitalisation of financial management has driven industry change in recent years. Paperless accounting has become increasingly common and has also been pursued through legislation.

Growing importance of financial management consulting services

The demand for consultancy services, traditionally represented by large companies, has expanded to include smaller companies. In the company’s experience, services such as tax and ownership structure advice and analytical services have grown in importance and increased demand for consultancy work.

Outsourcing of financial and payroll management

Outsourced financial management makes it possible to streamline the business and reduce costs. In recent years, the financial management revolution has accelerated the transformation of an industry that has long remained unchanged from traditional manual work to automation of tasks, as well as the change of job descriptions in the direction of more consulting roles. In Finland, large companies have extensively outsourced their payroll management, and similar developments can be expected in financial management.

Market consolidation

The Finnish financial management market consists mostly of small accounting firms. In recent years, a few large market players, such as the Administer Group, have been able to grow through mergers and acquisitions by acquiring small local accounting firms. With the consolidation of the market, large players have been able to enhance their operations with economies of scale and new technology.

Competitive environment

The financial management market in Finland is very fragmented. About a quarter of the accounting firm market is held by leading companies in the sector, with this share increasing as the market continues to consolidate.

In financial management software, a group of about ten market players dominates most of the market. Some of the financial management service providers procure financial management software from third parties. Instead of software development, these operators focus on service provision. Administer Group’s strength is to provide the customer with the most suitable technology from its own or partner solutions. We develop our own software products using artificial intelligence and automation.

In the personnel leasing business, Econia has become one of the largest companies in Finland. Administer Group specialises in specific segments in personnel leasing.