ACCODEX AIMS TO RAISE $5 MILLION CAPITAL, AWARD FOR CEO A CHERRY ON TOP

ACCOUNTANT Chris Hooper has never been one to shy away from voicing his opinion when it comes to the state of his profession, a trait which has paid off in a gratifying way for the Adelaide entrepreneur.

As the man behind international cloud-based accounting platform Accodex partners, Hooper recently took out the Editor's Choice award at the Australian Accounting Awards in Sydney.

For Hooper, the award not only celebrates the milestones his company has achieved since it was established in 2015, but it speaks to his penchant for calling out malpractice within the industry.

"If you're on my twitter feed, it's page after page," says Hooper.

"Sometimes I hate the industry, but I think that's part of it. It's probably because I love the industry so much that I see the importance of it, and I want to keep fighting for it and get insanely frustrated with it."

"Accountants seem to be constantly on the front page for the wrong reasons and I'm saying, 'come on guys, get your act together'."

It's with this signature crusader attitude that Hooper leads his company into its second capital raising stint, seeking to reach the $5 million mark.

In just two years, Accodex has grown into a team of 40 which spans four countries. Hooper says the main goal for round two is to boost Accodex's expansion in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Just months after the company's first capital raising of $180,000 in 2015, Accodex merged with technology firm Clear Business Dynamics, a move which Hooper says was likely one of his "best moves in business".

"We haven't had any churn from any of the employees who came over, which is awesome, we moved into their office, renovated and expanded," says Hooper.

"I think in terms of strategic fit, it was a very smart move for both parties."

Even though Accodex has the potential to expand at lightning pace off the back of its current capital raising, Hooper says he is mindful about growing too much too soon.

"At this stage, we are mainly focused on common law territory, the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and maybe Canada," says Hooper.

"We have had enquiries from Malaysia, South Africa, Singapore and the Philippines, but I'm very mindful about stretching ourselves too thin too soon.

"As much as I would love to say that we've got 20 offices in 20 diff countries, it's about keeping things manageable and sustainable."

While at this stage Hooper is unable to commit to a specific time frame or stock exchange, he has revealed that an IPO is likely on the cards.