Firm profile

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“The reason is the strength of the rural sector. Most of our clients are farmers and they are big businesses; the days of the 200 cow family farm are pretty much disappearing. But our clients are also hairdressers, engineers, beauticians, takeaway bars, mechanics, rest homes….a wide range.

“People tend not to change their accountants even when they move to another district. So we have clients as far a field as Whangarei and Invercargill and modern technology means servicing their needs is not difficult. And when travelling I try to call on distant clients.”

Hughsons use an accounting software package form Advanced Professional Systems. They are one of 1600 firms in the user group from NZ, Australia and Britain, and this year they are having their annual meeting in Queenstown. Mark says: “This is a non-competitive meeting where we have an open exchange of ideas, and talk about issues such as taxation and cashflow, all of which leads to improvements in the software. There is also a lot of other networking gong on which I find assists our business and ultimately our client service.”

Hughsons specialize in businesses that wish to grow and they assist clients to achieve their goals, whether they are financial or otherwise. “For example, at the moment we are helping a client in Napier to restructure his rest home business. The work can be quite challenging and varied for an accountant; one has to become involved beyond the basic book-keeping. It’s more than number-cruching and bean-counting, which may be the populist view of accountancy practice. A close relationship is required and I think that is a strength of Hughson and Associates; my team care about our clients and are committed to helping them however they can, whether it’s reviewing a large tax payment or low cashflow or dealing with creditors, or negotiating an interest rate with the bank.” 

While Mark is currently the only qualified accountant he is able to delegate tasks to other experienced staff members in the team to oversee and sign off their work.

“People who come to work here are often surprised at how interesting the work assignments are, and it’s because we have a policy of giving them responsibility.”

Hughsons produce a newsletter ‘office update’ five or six times a year, which goes to every client and is also available on the website. Material is sourced from several places including the Waikato University Management centre and “we try to make it interesting and useful with some local content,” says Mark.” It certainly helps us keep in touch.

” We are getting more company clients. The company is becoming a common trading entity in the farming scene which has been dominated by family partnerships. Companies are a better vehicle for ease of transfer to the next generation, and for tax savings; a company pays 33c in the $ dropping to 30c in the $ in 2008 whereas individuals earning over $60,000 pay 39c.

Farmers used to put everything in a box for their accountant. Now they are big businesses with big tax implications, many are doing their own GST returns and as much financial record-keeping as they can to assist the accountant.

Some clients seriously fear the IRD; they read in the newspapers about people being penalized and it really worries them. The penalties for getting it wrong with the IRD are severe, but they have to be a combat some of the baddies in the business world. For the average client who makes a genuine mistake the fear of being pinged is a worry, so they are happy to pay an accountant to get it right. If you get into trouble with IRD you need to get help quickly rather than burying your head in the sand and hoping it will go away.”

In terms of charge-out rates to clients, he says Hughsons are middle of the road. We are not cheap but we are not as expensive as some of the bigger practices. We have recently been approached by people in New Plymouth wanting our service because we can do more for the dollar. We care for our clients; we try to go the extra distance.”

A large percentage of the work by Hughsons staff is compliance work for bankers, IRD or other Statistics Department. The more experienced staff do the client assistance and accounts management work, where they try to predict incomes, forecast taxes, and do interesting what-if scenarios about buying a building or another farm or the neighbours farm, or a competitor.

Doing business in South Taranaki: We love it, we enjoy it. Due to client demand Hughson & Associates have become affiliated with Wealthcare Limited, an investment advisory company that provides financing, property investment opportunities, cash investments at competitive rates, insurance and has an approved Kiwisaver plan. A broker is in our office every Wednesday for appointments.

We get work in good times and bad. In the good times clients want to reduce their income and in bad times they’re having trouble with their budgets and cashflow.”

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