ABOUT ME
I’m a business consultant and accountant from the South West of Australia. I’ve been working as an income tax consultant for 12 years, and during that time have progressed to become the owner of my own firm.
I’m thrilled by the efficiency and elegance of a well designed system, whether that’s a clean code base behind a web application, or practical procedures for internal control.
I love being involved in the small to mid size businesses I consult with, and am dedicated to finding ethical, cost effective ways to enhance performance and success.
Information Systems
Experienced in design, development, and implementation of financial information systems to provide a variety of functionality including automated account keeping, inventory management, document generation and management, and data manipulation.
Regional Commerce
Genuinely passionate about small to mid-size business in regional Australia, and knowledgeable abou tthe unique set of challenges faced by businesses in this sector.
Entity Structure
Regularly involved in structural implementations for business entities and non-profit organisations.
Strategic Business Planning
Well acquainted with strategy development and implementation in personal, business, and non-profit contexts.
Web Technology
Active open source developer with regular contributions to a variety of community projects.
Budget and Forecast Development
Excellent budgeting and financial modelling skills, heavily involved in budget preparation for large non-profits.
Client Relationship Management
Focussed on building strong client relationships through providing excellent advice and delivering real value in every engagement.
RECENT POSTS
MYOB the good the bad and the ugly
MYOB can be really frustrating to use, I thought it might be cathartic to write down some of the stuff that really grinds my gears.
Posted on November 3rd 2018
Using Xero to Track your Rental Property Income & Expenses
Xero is actually a pretty good fit for tracking rental property income and expenses
Posted on October 28th 2018
Rad Photo from Mount Melville at Dawn
I'm a terrible photographer, but sometimes you just find yourself in the right place at the right time
Posted on September 26th 2018
Strategic Analysis of Australian Accounting Software Market
I wrote this report for an assessment as part of my strategic management unit.
Posted on August 18th 2018
All Posts
My post archive
A DATA GEEK ?
- Billable
- Non-billable
Billable Hours
I do loads of stuff at Wheatcrofts which isn't directly related to individual clients, like developing internal procedures, promotional or networking activities, and staff training.
Maybe this is an odd thing to put on my resume, but I think it gives you an insight into what it is that I do all day.
- EOY forms
- BAS forms
Tax Forms
Of course there's loads of staff to help me with the various stages of preparing and lodging a tax form, but it all happens under my supervision.
The number of forms lodged by week gives you an insight into the through put of our small firm.
- By bike
- On foot
Excercise
Like anyone who spends 50 hours a week staring at a computer screen, it's really important for me to stay physically active, which sadly isn't something that just happens in my case.
You'll notice that these numbers aren't any great achievement by comparisson, but this isn't supposed to be a declaration of my awesome, I decided to put it here because it motivates me to stay on it.
TIMELINE
- 2018
1 month in Burma
March 2018Met my partner's mother for the first time at her home in Burma, and spent a month or so pretending to be a backpacker. I've wanted to visit Burma since my first time in Asia, but it's not as accessible as a lot of neighbouring countries. It's not for the faint of heart, but it was memorable and great to tick it off the list.
Professional Ethics Unit
January 2018Achieved high distinction in Professional Ethics unit offered by University of New England.
- 2017
Strategic Planning and Management Unit
October 2017Achieved high distinction in Strategic Planning and Management unit offered by University of New England. This unit forms part of the Institute of Public Accountants Program.
Limited Financial Services License
May 2017Completed academic and practical requirements for a Limited Financial Services License administered by the ASIC. This enables Wheatcroft Accounting to provide a sub set of financial services usually reserved for financial planners. The academic requirements were completed with Kaplan Professional.
Revised Albany Community Legal Centre Financial Information System
March 2017Significant revision to ACLC’s financial information system. The fundamental improvement was to change the process by which expenses are allocated between cost centres, in addition specialist budget preparation and reporting software was implemented.
The outcome is improved pertinence of reports to stake holders and a significant reduction in the human resources required to administrate the system.
XPM Implementation
January 2017At Wheatcrofts we switched over to Xero Practice Manager for practice management and tax form preparation functions. This runs much deeper than simply setting up some software subscriptions, it means a significant change to our entire workflow.
Timebilling is always difficult to migrate because not only do staff and workflows need to be retrained and reconfigured, but clients need to make an adjustment too. It's easy to over look the fact that we've spent the last x years training clients to expect to be invoiced in a certain way.
That said, the end result is excellent, and I'm confident that this change will make life easier for everyone involved.
- 2016
Self Managed Super Fund Specialist Firm
December 2016Development of subsidiary firm exclusively for SMSF engagements. This involved the development of a completely new value proposition and brand package; a unique workflow separate from Wheatcroft Accounting engagements; and a formatting engine for SMSF special purpose financial reports. This firm is now live and accepting engagements atmysmsftr.com.au.
AYSA Treasurer
October 2016I was appointed as treasurer for Albany Youth Support Association. This organisation has a turnover of ~$2 million, which funds an 8 bed refuge center in Albany, and a youth outreach program called "reconnect".
AYSA has been supporting youth in Albany for more than 20 years, and is really well recognised in Albany. They do have a complex funding environment in that funding comes from numerous small grants.
Superagent Throttle
March 2016Superagent Throttle is a small node plugin for superagent which makes throttling http requests effortless. Often APIs impose complex rate limits like "5 concurrent connections, and 500 max connections per hour". This plugin handles these kinds of situations, sending every request as soon as possible while staying within rate limits.
I'll admit, it's not that popular, but it's more popular than anything else I've written and is apparently in the top 7% of npm packages
- 2015
Lodgement Results
June 2015Every year the ATO provides accountants with statistics describing their performance. The stats released this year showed Wheatcroft Accounting on time lodgements at 89.4%, which is an increase of 15% in just three years.
Lodging tax forms before tax office deadlines means constant orchestration of a complex ecosystem involving client practices, staff development, resource management, and efficient internal procedures.
- 2014
Web Development with Node
June 2014Having spent years fooling around with php and python I got involved with node web development in January 2014. Since then I’ve never looked back. Currently all the websites I manage are built with node, and I’ve developed a tool to bridge iFirm with xero and echosign which helps manage our job flow at Wheatcrofts.
iFirm Implementation
March 2014Always a sucker for new and shiny things, it was about this time we switched our professional accounting software from Handisoft to iFirm.
This was a huge transition, requiring changes to job workflows, time management & billing, client details, financial statement formats, pretty much everything we do at Wheatcrofts.
Sadly, it turned out to be a bad idea, but it's all in the game I guess.
- 2013
Regional Commerce
January 2013It was about this time my passion for regional commerce reached a kind of critical mass and I made the decision to rebalance my client base and focus on small to medium sized regional businesses.
Wheatcroft Accounting's Secure File Server
June 2013Interstel.la built a completely custom, secure file server allowing Wheatcroft Accounting clients to send and receive financial data and reports securely and efficiently. The server provides a bridge between client and accountant records; it avoids the security nightmare of email, and the inefficiency of posted cds or thumbdrives.
- 2012
Albany Community Legal Center
August 2012I was nominated for, and appointed to, the position of Treasurer for the Albany Community Legal Center. Albany’s CLC is a large grant funded non-profit offering a subset of legal services to the community. My role as treasurer requires me to oversee budgeting and cash flow management, authorise payments, and consider organisational issues referred to the management committee.
Bachelor of Commerce, Accounting Major
March 2012After studying part-time for 5 years, I took 6 months leave from Wheatcroft Accounting, and finished off my bachelor degree. I was studying externally, so was able to spend that 6 months living in northern Thailand.
- 2011
Principal at Wheatcrofts
January 2011I became the principal accountant at Wheatcroft Accounting in January 2011. Like any good pupil I was keen to step up and see if I could surpass the master, so Sue and I initiated a succession plan which allowed me to take control of the family business. It has been a steep learning curve but we have achieved a lot in the last four years. Significant changes to our workflows have meant that our on time lodgement rate has dramatically improved. We have also changed our professional accounting software, employed two additional staff, and have consistently strengthened our client base over time.
Calway Logistics Business Plan
September 2011A personal client of mine requested a detailed business plan, financial model, and media pack in order to acquire finance from sophisticated investors for a new business venture in the natural resources industry. This company has gone on to become a successful venture, and is among the largest of my tax compliance clients.