LEVI WHEATCROFT

TIMELINE

• 2019

• Published ftccalculator.com.au

  January 2019

  I put together a simple & elegant Fuel Tax Credit Calculator. The one on the ATO website is a bit clunky. This one is easy to use, all on one page, and prints a nice calculation page for your records.

• 2018

• Started Albany Accounting & Consulting

  July 2018

  After 13 years at Wheatcroft Accounting I decided to sell off the majority of the firm and move in a new direction. It's not without a certain level of apprehension but it's refreshing to feel agile again, and I'm really looking forward moving more towards the automation and web development areas of the modern accounting profession.

• 1 month in Burma

  March 2018

  Met 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 2018

  Achieved high distinction in Professional Ethics unit offered by University of New England.

• 2017

• Strategic Planning and Management Unit

  October 2017

  Achieved 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 2017

  Completed 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 2017

  Significant 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 2017

  At 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 2016

  Development 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 2016

  I 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 2016

  Superagent 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 2015

  Every 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 2014

  Having 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 2014

  Always 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 2013

  It 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 2013

  Interstel.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 2012

  I 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 2012

  After 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 2011

  I 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 2011

  A 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.