Meet the Founder, Hanneke Barlow

Born and bred in the Windy City, with the happiest childhood memories from chasing butterflies in Dolfyntjie Pre-Primary, riding our bikes to Summerwood Primary and finally crossing the road from my parents house where I spent some of the best years of my life in Pearson High School.

My accounting journey started with Ms Blignaut, our accounting teacher back then, suggesting I pursue the subject at tertiary level.

Thanks to her and a lot of prayers and grace, I followed my family roots to Stellenbosch University to study accounting and spent phenomenal years there, first in Nemesia Koshuis and later in Bergzicht Plaza.

Love and life after varsity had me settle in various cities including a return to Port Elizabeth, a big move to Bloemfontein and finally we settled down in Johannesburg where my dreams of a picket fenced life with two labradors and a house full of kids became a dream come true.

I was made for corporate life. Heels, pencil skirts, and sky skraping corner offices coupled with an innate work ethic that was the perfect fit for a fabulous accounting career.

In 2015 I chose the adventurous, tough journey of entrepreneurship with the vision of mastering both sides of what I valued in life: having a big family and providing an unsurpassable professional service to my own clients.

I merged a love for numbers with an intrinsic need to operate creatively and Digits was born. It started as a humble freelance service with an amateur Facebook ad I posted on the two community groups I was on, ‘I love Northcliff’ and ‘I love Parkhurst’ promoting services as a part-time accountant.

Within a couple of hours I had twelve business owners contact me with horror stories about how they had been neglected by accounting firms, desperate for a real person to take them seriously and help. I was blessed with part-time contracts and freelance engagements that soon became too much for me to handle by myself.

I have a crystal clear goal of not becoming another big accounting firm. The personal, yet professional approach that has made my humble freelance service a wildly successful business is at the heart of what I want to build. I remain the core and face of Digits and have added talented professionals to assist me with the ground work necessary to ensure your portfolio is cared for and attended to in the most attentive, personal way. I am also very selective with the number of clients I work with in order to uphold the objectives that I believe sets me apart.

Apart from being an entrepreneur and accountant, I am a natural living enthusiast with a keen interest in nutrition and natural alternatives to modern medicine. With my immediate family scattered across the country, I am passionately building a community to mimic the sense of belonging and sense of security that is the wonderful product of sharing your life with others. I cannot imagine a weekend without entertaining friends or family in our humble home and love cooking and preparing hearty meals with a good sauvignon blanc in hand.

My idea of the perfect life is welcoming it’s final puzzle piece as we welcome our fourth little one in May 2020.

Wife and mother, exceptional accountant, yet closet creative. Master juggler. 

I want you to blossom doing what you do best and serve as your private accountant, providing you with an experience that you will cherish as an integral part of your ultimate success.

Born and bred in the Windy City, with the happiest childhood memories from chasing butterflies at Dolfyntjie Pre-Primary, riding our bikes to Summerwood Primary and finally crossing the road from my parents house where I spent some of the best years of my life in Pearson High School.

My accounting journey started with Ms Blignaut, our accounting teacher back then, suggesting I pursue the subject at tertiary level.

Thanks to her and a lot of prayers and grace, I followed my family roots to Stellenbosch University to study accounting and spent phenomenal years there, first in Nemesia Koshuis and later in Bergzicht Plaza.

Love and life after varsity had me settle in various cities including a return to Port Elizabeth, a big move to Bloemfontein and finally we settled down in Johannesburg where my dreams of a picket fenced life with two labradors and a house full of kids became a dream come true.

I was made for corporate life. Heels, pencil skirts, and sky skraping corner offices coupled with an innate work ethic that was the perfect fit for a fabulous accounting career.

In 2015 I chose the adventurous, tough journey of entrepreneurship with the vision of mastering both sides of what I valued in life: having a big family and providing an unsurpassable professional service to my own clients.

I merged a love for numbers with an intrinsic need to operate creatively and Digits was born. It started as a humble freelance service with an amateur Facebook ad I posted on the two community groups I was on, ‘I love Northcliff’ and ‘I love Parkhurst’ promoting services as a part-time accountant.

Within a couple of hours I had twelve business owners contact me with horror stories about how they had been neglected by accounting firms, desperate for a real person to take them seriously and help. I was blessed with part-time contracts and freelance engagements that soon became too much for me to handle by myself.

I have a crystal clear goal of not becoming another big accounting firm. The personal, yet professional approach that has made my humble freelance service a wildly successful business is at the heart of what I want to build. I remain the core and face of Digits and have added talented professionals to assist me with the ground work necessary to ensure your portfolio is cared for and attended to in the most attentive, personal way. I am also very selective with the number of clients I work with in order to uphold the objectives that I believe sets me apart.

Apart from being an entrepreneur and accountant, I am a natural living enthusiast with a keen interest in nutrition and natural alternatives to modern medicine. With my immediate family scattered across the country, I am passionately building a community to mimic the sense of belonging and sense of security that is the wonderful product of sharing your life with others. I cannot imagine a weekend without entertaining friends or family in our humble home and love cooking and preparing hearty meals with a good sauvignon blanc in hand.

Wife and mother, exceptional accountant, yet closet creative. Master juggler. 

I want you to blossom doing what you do best and serve as your private accountant, providing you with an experience that you will cherish as an integral part of your ultimate success.