December 2013 Issue 89

Accrue: Celebrating 25 years

B2B Editor3 December 2013

Accrue: Celebrating 25 years

DON DI PLACIDO DIRECTOR

I look back on the past 25 years of my professional career as an accountant and business owner with a sense of pride and achievement. Running a business, as any business owner will know, requires not only expertise in your particular area of knowledge but the need to adapt to the changing needs and expectations of clients, embrace the continuous evolution of technology and its impact on business and the need to create a work environment that will allow staff to develop their personal and technical skills.

The reward for me is knowing that the work we do is valued by our clients and that we make a difference. Whether its providing the assurance that they are meeting their tax obligations, working with them to solve various issues that arise, assisting with a significant transaction or just being there as a sounding board.

Until recently I sat on the board of a large professional services engineering company and was heavily involved in the sale of the business to a listed mining services company resulting in a highly successful outcome for its shareholders.

I believe our success in business is due to the long term relationships we have with our clients and that we have a low staff turnover rate. During our 25 years we have been privileged to be associated with a large number of fantastic clients and successful businesses. A significant number of clients from our early years are still with us today and we believe this is testament to our quality of service and personal attention.

We excel at solving problems for our clients and we don’t accept a position without analysing it from a range of different angles. Our combined technical and business experience is hard to beat and our clients are the beneficiaries of that.

MARK DE BORTOLI DIRECTOR

I feel very fortunate to be working in a role that I thoroughly enjoy.

Since an early age I have had a lifelong learning passion for business in terms of what makes it tick and what works. After 10 years working in taxation consulting divisions of large accounting practices, the reason I joined Accrue was that since its inception, it has had a culture of looking beyond the numbers and going the extra mile to help clients succeed. This has always meant taking a holistic approach to meeting financial goals.

Accrue’s offering has evolved over the years to include not only being a proactive and available trusted advisor but also identifying and solving all issues that have an impact on our clients’ financial success – including monitoring performance, strategic planning, protecting assets, extracting wealth from their business and planning for retirement.

In my 15 years at Accrue, I have had the great privilege and pleasure to be actively involved with clients in the decision making process across a whole spectrum of transactions and endeavours.

My role allows me to obtain and impart knowledge with clients, staff and related service providers. Knowledge sharing is a fundamental part of the Accrue ethos and nothing is more satisfying than experiencing great results for clients and mentoring staff and witnessing their outstanding career development.

I am very proud to be a part of the celebration of Accrue’s 25 years in business. Looking forward, Accrue is in an exciting new phase to harness the full potential of IT developments and other tools in a tailored way for each client. This will take our services to a whole new level on a regular and real time basis.

ACCRUE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS

Accrue’s client sector experience and knowledge is broad based and includes building & construction, medical, retail, professional services and property development.

Over 25 years Accrue has developed a comprehensive data base of internal benchmarking enabling them to add value to how businesses are performing and areas for improvement.

With an ageing population and a large number of business owners looking to retire over the next 5 to 10 years, Don believes succession planning is becoming increasingly important. “We have delivered some great outcomes for our clients when they have sold their businesses by planning ahead and positioning them so that the small business CGT concessions are able to be utilised.”

With regard to self-managed superannuation funds, Accrue regularly assists clients with pre-retirement and post-retirement contribution and pension strategies.

“This is a big area for us and clients come to us because we can provide objective advice on the strategies available.

Clients want to know that if they have a question or a particular problem that they can get someone on the phone, arrange a meeting and resolve matters efficiently and effectively.”

“Accrue provides much more than traditional taxation and accounting services. We get involved in strategic decision making, monitoring and improving business performance.

Having done all the hard work it’s also important that assets are protected and estate planning options considered.” Mark said.

Accrue is at the forefront of new technology enabling them to efficiently manage their client’s business and taxation affairs.

“We constantly assess our systems and at our regular monthly staff meeting we openly discuss matters affecting the practice and areas for improvement.” Don said.

Accrue staff are highly trained and devote a great deal of time and personal effort participating in technical and business training programs as well as attendance at a range of seminars to ensure they are up to date with the latest technical changes and planning opportunities.

“We believe that the accountants of today have a wide range of options and it’s important that we keep our business dynamic so that they are constantly challenged.”

Accrue have a number of long serving employees with one or our more senior managers, Julie Whyte retiring recently after 25 years of service.

All of us at Accrue would like to thank our clients for their support over the last 25 years.

Level 1, 8 Phipps Cl, Deakin ACT 2600

Ph: (02) 6285-4441

Fax: (02) 6285-4464

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