Title: Company director and public practitioner
Organisation: All-go Engineering and Marine Vergone Associates
Location: Mandurah, WA
IPA status: FIPA
Can you describe your work?
I am the financial controller of All-go Engineering, one of the largest machine engineering workshops in Western Australia. Our main customers are the mining/oil and gas industry up north. Our machining capabilities can handle the largest jobs down to tiny items where mass production is required.
Two staff look after the day-to-day running of the accounts and report directly to me. Overseeing the payment of creditors and ensuring that debtors are not going past our payment terms enables the company’s cash flow to stay on target. We hold a monthly board meeting and I prepare the agenda and minutes.
Currently we have a staff of 27 so OH&S and HR take up a fair amount of my time. Apart from the normal budgeting, analysing and reporting obligations a financial controller has, I also have a large input into the company’s marketing strategy. In September this year All-go won the Chamber of Commerce 2011 Regional Business Award for a Medium-Sized Business.
Is it difficult to also run your own practice?
The main challenge is maintaining focus on one job. When I’m at All-go and an accounting client calls me, I have to stop what I’m doing to concentrate on that call. This can be difficult when you haven’t got all your resources in front of you. When I’m in my accounting office, there are always emails and calls from All-go needing me to attend to matters. It becomes a juggling act but my ability to cope has evolved as both businesses have grown.
Does your business experience help you in dealing with small business clients?
Having current tax knowledge enables me to structure All-go’s capital expenditure in the most tax-effective way and my real hands-on business experience provides me with a better understanding of issues small businesses are faced with. The tax advice I give to my clients is current, relevant and practical. I feel passionately about helping people with their tax issues and am disappointed when I see people and businesses wasting money by not investing in the most tax-effective way.
How important is continuing professional education?
I’m a firm believer in never stopping educating yourself, especially in my role. Tax laws change every year and your clients expect you to be up-to-date, not only with tax legislation but also super, government payments and corporations law. Public Accountant is a good reference tool. I personally prefer face-to-face education as you make the commitment to be physically and mentally present with no interruptions.
What is your role as a member of the IPA Disciplinary Tribunal?
I’m able to have direct input in solving complaints made against our members, which mostly come down to members lacking knowledge in certain areas. This is why completing the required CPE is so important, especially for areas that you are practising in, such as audit or superannuation. Members brought before the Tribunal are good accountants who have generally failed to keep themselves up-to-date with changing laws and regulations.
What do you hope to achieve as a new councillor for the City of Mandurah?
This gives me the opportunity to raise questions, analyse and vote on decisions that directly affect a population of approximately 75,000. Apart from my main Councillor role, I am also on several committees.
Mandurah has an expected population growth to around 100,000 within the next 10 years and I want to achieve careful and well-calculated expenditure of our rates by making decisions that will create a safe and vibrant city that I am proud to live in and that tourists will want to visit.
How have you juggled family and study?
I returned to study after the youngest of my three boys started full-time pre-school.
It was hard studying, working and raising a family but keeping yourself organised and having a great support group within your family, as I did, can make the job a lot easier. My mother has always said “if you want something done, give it to a busy person”.
Once you get the study bug, it can be hard to stop. My husband and I recently completed the directors’ course with AICD. I believe all company directors, even small family businesses, should know what is expected of them and what they are liable for if something goes wrong, and should undertake this course.
I love challenges and life would be boring without them.
