The following is the article for My Mobile Accountants, from the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce Business Review Magazine.
ACCOUNTANTS HAVE TRADITIONALLY
BEEN TYPECAST AS STUFFY,
CONSERVATIVE TYPES WHO ARE
GOOD WITH FIGURES, BUT LITTLE
ELSE. THAT MAY BE UNFAIR OF
COURSE, BUT THERE’S ONE PRACTICE
IN TARANAKI THAT ABSOLUTELY
SMASHES THAT IMAGE.
They’re still good with figures, naturally, and they are really good at what they do, but My Mobile Accountant is a refreshing change from the norm. It all starts with founder and director Shelley Scott.
A Chartered Accountant of many years’ experience, she sets the tone for her small, handpicked team. “I find a lot of accountants can be quite aloof, but I’m not like that and people are always surprised when I say I am a Chartered Accountant, mainly, because I don’t come across like that,’’ she laughs. Shelley is right in her self-assessment. Laughter and humour are constant companions when she talks. They punctuate her speech, but her logic is undeniable. She is catering for an increasingly large slice of the small-to medium business community.
Shelley saw a niche market that wasn’t being serviced well by traditional practices. “By being mobile I could talk to smaller clients, individuals, sole traders and little partnerships who could potentially feel lost in a corporate system. It’s all about service, and understanding what the client needs. “Many business owners haven’t got the time to come into their accountant’s office for a couple of hours. They are too busy for that and need to spend the time working on their business and then with their family.
Shelley says going out to the client’s workplace has other advantages as well. “For a start I can see what they are doing and they are more relaxed so we can help more. That’s really the essence of My Mobile Accountant.’’ Shelley started My Mobile Accountant in January 2017. “I was 50 years old and no-one wanted to employ me and I thought ‘what am I going to do?’ She decided to start her own business, My Mobile Accountant, and 18 months later, her daughter Shannon joined her.
Shannon explains how it happened. “My husband and I were living in Christchurch but shifted back to take advantage of the support that our parents could give us with our young family.’’ She certainly got that, and ended up with a job as well. Shelley pipes up at this stage: “It has worked really well, the mother-daughter team,’’ she says with a typically raucous laugh. At the beginning, they both worked from home, when they weren’t visiting clients. Shannon modernised the business, with an updated logo and website and increased their on-line presence. Slowly but steadily, My Mobile Accountant grew its client base.
As the business grew, and became even more mobile, Shelley and Shannon decided an office with extra space was needed and since July last year they have been based at 2B Breakwater Rd, in the middle of the Moturoa Shopping Centre. “When Covid-19 hit, we decided we needed a place for staff and ourselves to be able to work collaboratively from. Shelley explains it from a different perspective. “We did the exact opposite of everyone else – again. We want our clients to succeed at what they are doing. It is working one on one with them to achieve their goals and dreams. Because if our clients succeed, then we get to be part of their story.’’
Shannon agrees, albeit in a more low-key way. “It’s so cool. I worked for a large company in Christchurch in the finance department, where I gained a lot of experience in payroll.’’ Given the increasing complexities of employer’s obligations, Shannon’s experience in managing a business’s payroll can be vital. “So when clients want to look at employing staff, we can save a lot of work and time for small-to-medium enterprises, sole traders or partnerships by contracting their payroll out to us and they can concentrate on their business rather than payroll.’’ And Shannon gets it right every time. “They can use us as much or as little as they want,’’ says Shelley. Whether it’s payroll or administration services through to full accounting services, the team at My Mobile Accountant is more than happy to come to you – anywhere in Taranaki.
