What experience did you have before working with Baker Tilly Staples Rodway?

I have had many years experience in administration roles both in New Zealand and in the UK, all involving financial information management to some degree.  I spent 8 years in Auckland where I began as a Secretary for a large commercial real estate company, followed by managing the Administration for Nestle New Zealand’s FoodServices division before moving into IT and eventually becoming a Technical Analyst.  I returned to Taranaki in 2010 and gained an Accounts Assistant role and then a Cost Analyst position for a local Engineering and Oil and Gas business, while also assisting two friends with their end of year books from 2011 onwards.

What is your specialist area?

I am Xero Certified and have a business degree in Management Information Systems and in Management so I guess you could say I’ve specialized in knowing systems and how people use them.

Do you have any memorable client situations?

One client had been sporadically entering invoices when they had the time, while others were missed. The payable balances in their system never matched supplier statements, so they were never paying the right amounts. This led to unnecessary overpayments, or underpayments which led to penalties and interest. I’ve now implemented a process to ensure all invoices are entered and then reconciled to supplier statements at month end. It’s much easier to see when the client hasn’t received credits that were due to them, and exactly how much they owe their suppliers.

What do you like about working with/on behalf of Baker Tilly Staples Rodway?

I appreciate having an accounting firm behind my actions, so that if I am unsure about how to apply a code or how an accountancy rule needs to be applied I can very quickly check and know this is first hand accounting knowledge based on experience and facts.

Is the training that you receive from Baker Tilly Staples Rodway beneficial? If so, how? 

Yes it has been very beneficial particularly in assisting with Xero functionality. It has helped me to learn the different aspects of Xero that make working in the system much faster such as sending file copies of invoices directly to Xero so it can be added online and is always available to whoever else is using the system as a back-up document.

How do the hours of work suit you? 

They suit me well as I have a 6 year old and have other work-life balance areas to manage on a daily basis, so if need be I can work around my clients availability or if I need some hours off to attend to a school or other needs I can work directly with my client to find another suitable time.

How does the bookkeeping service help the clients you work for?

They have commented that they don’t worry anymore about getting this work done, it just gets done without them having to have a huge input into it or without them having to do it. They used to have issues around staff that weren’t trained or didn’t have the backing of an accounting business so now they are more relaxed about these financial areas.  The other comments have been around how long it used to take their staff to do the same work that has been cut down to just a few hours a month through the ease of accounting systems or through a more focused approach to the work.

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