Kent bookkeeper and accountant Stephanie Marshall FICB PM.Dip, founder and CEO of A B C S UK, has broken the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers record for the most individual finalist places in a single LUCA Awards year.
Stephanie has been named a finalist in six individual categories at the 2026 LUCA Awards:
Bookkeepers’ Champion
Payroll Professional of the Year
Small Practice of the Year
Client Experience
Bookkeeper Influencer of the Year
Bookkeeper Innovator of the Year
The result beats the previous record of five individual finalist places, which Stephanie herself set in 2025 and which was confirmed by ICB.
The LUCA Awards, dubbed the “Oscars of the bookkeeping world”, recognise excellence across the bookkeeping profession.
The 2026 recognition continues an exceptional run for Stephanie, who won Bookkeeper Influencer of the Year in both 2024 and 2025, retaining the title for a second consecutive year, and was also Highly Commended for Payroll Practitioner of the Year in 2025.
Her latest Bookkeeper Influencer of the Year finalist place means she now has the opportunity to retain the title for a third consecutive year.
Stephanie said:
“Last year I broke the record with five finalist places, so finding out I’d somehow managed six this year was a bit ridiculous.
“But genuinely, the bit I’m most proud of isn’t the number. It’s what the six categories are for.
“They cover client experience, payroll, innovation, the practice I’ve built, the work I do within the bookkeeping profession and the content I create to make business and finance a bit easier to understand.
“They’re six very different things and together they pretty much sum up what I’ve spent the last few years trying to build.
“A B C S UK was never supposed to be the kind of bookkeeping and accountancy practice where you send over your records, hear nothing for months and eventually get told how much tax you owe.
“I want clients to understand what is actually happening in their business. I want them to feel comfortable asking questions, and I want them to have someone looking at the bigger picture with them.
“So yes, six LUCA finals in one year feels pretty special.”
Stephanie founded A B C S UK, a bookkeeping, accountancy and business support practice working with growing businesses across Kent and the wider UK.
The practice provides bookkeeping, accountancy, payroll, tax and business support, with a focus on helping business owners understand what their numbers actually mean and use that information to make better decisions.
Stephanie is a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers and, alongside running A B C S UK, is an author, speaker and host of The 3Bz Podcast: Building Better Business.
She was also named on the Female Founders List 2026 and is a Theo Paphitis #SBS Winner.
In addition to Stephanie’s six individual finalist places, Aberdeenshire Branch, of which she is a member, has also been named a finalist for ICB Branch of the Year.
The winners of the 2026 LUCA Awards will be announced soon.
Website: https://www.abcsuk.com
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