Accounting firm takes on UK
Chartered accountant David Jessep has expanded his advisory business around New Zealand and as far as London as he looks to help small businesses thrive.
Jessep started the team in 2006 and says he has kept an eye on technology such as the development of Xero software to help make business solutions easier from both the accountancy and client side of work.
Using the NZX-listed Xero enables work with clients to be done online, he says.
He has two accountancy-related firms: his main brand, DJCA; and Sidekick. Together they employ about 22 staff in locations including Christchurch, Auckland and London. He wants to grow the combined businesses further.
One client, Jo Blair, says her Brown Bread marketing and communications business has been helped by Jessep to the point where she knows she can afford to hire a new staff member.
Through the interactive software package she can keep up with the latest financial adjustments within the business.
‘‘It’s not intimidating so you can just get into your business . . . We [also] have these amazing sessions where we talk more about the future and business management,’’ Blair says.
She was also attracted to the accounting company partly because of its image. To her it seemed more an advertising agency with a relatively ‘‘hip, young and pretty contemporary culture’’.
Jessep says growth of his business will continue gradually – for example, a new Blenheim staff member is starting work from home to get the branch up and running. The British venture is supported by his brother who lives in London and has also helped fund the company.
In Christchurch, DJCA has just moved back into the central city, having been forced out of its office on the corner of Durham and Armagh streets by the 2011 earthquakes.
Some staff had to temporarily move to Auckland; then the company opened a temporary Merivale office within an employee’s house before returning to Victoria Street and the city.
While there have been some concerns from the business community that tenancies would be difficult to find in Christchurch, that has not been the case, Jessep says.
‘‘I’m quite keen for businesses to get back in here [Christchurch city] if they can. The council should be driving that . . . You look at every building pretty much and there’s space available.’’
Clients include The Smash Palace Bar, McCarthy Design and Black Estate Wines.
With the increased use of software packages, accountancy was becoming less about number crunching and more and more about giving business advice, Jessep says.
However, providing businesses such as Brown Bread with a safe pair of hands includes going into the software record of the company’s accounts every two months and making sure GST and other required filings are up to date.
DJCA staff can also give advice on the use of smartphone apps to allow business owners and others to make instant checks on their business.
Blair says she has changed business behaviours because of her work with DJCA, from making sure billings are on time, to making sure Brown Bread is meeting budget targets.
‘‘The numbers say it all. To someone like me who is a visual [person] and out of the office all the time, you’ve got to come back to that [financial] reality,’’ she says.
Giving advice to a small to medium-sized enterprise is about keeping it simple, Jessep says. Accountants would usually monitor the top revenue line, costs, margins and what staffing levels were required. Conversations with a business owner usually start by asking them what they like and don’t like doing.
DJCA also runs seminars for clients on the latest business developments – for example, tax law changes.
Jessep says one potential subject is the latest on property tax. Developments include the introduction of a ‘‘bright-line test’’, to make sure property traders who bought and sold a property within a two-year period knew they would have to pay income tax if there were gains on that sale. That tax change will come into effect on October 1.
Blair says she likes the way DJCA’s accountants avoid looking too formal, as it makes them more accessible.
I’m quite keen for business to get back in here [Christchurch city]. The council should be driving that.
David Jessep DJCA founder and chartered accountant