Armidale-based accounting firm Roberts & Morrow has much to celebrate. They walked away from the MYOB 11th annual Australia and New Zealand Partner Connect Gala Dinner in Melbourne last week with a brace of trophies.
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The firm was named Accounting Practice of the Year, for ensuring clients' success through adopting MYOB tax and online accounting tools and technologies in their business.
Partner Clint Bourke received the award for Accountant of the Year (Australia), for his pivotal role in changing the practice.
"I'm so surprised to have won," Mr Bourke said on the night. "I'm only one piece of a puzzle of an amazing accounting company I've been really lucky to be part of. They've given me the keys to drive technology forward, which is such an exciting experience."
Roberts & Morrow is one of Armidale's oldest accounting firms; founded in 1951, it also has offices in Tamworth, Glen Innes, and Narrabri, and clients in state capitals.
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Mr Bourke said he did not see the award as just his; it was due to the work of 12 certified accountants (including Joel Weier, nominated for Certified Consultant of the Year) and more than 130 staff.
"I'm just overseeing that to some degree, steering it in the right direction," he said. "I'm lucky because I get to see behind the scenes a lot with what MYOB and other companies are doing ... but they're the ones doing the groundwork."
Mr Bourke joined Roberts & Morrow 12 and a half years ago, and became a partner in 2017. He originally planned to own a business, but an interview with the practice while at university changed his mind.
"At the end of the day," he said, "I thought I could either be in one business, or I could sit across tens to hundreds of businesses, get exposed to all different industries, and hopefully be able to give advice."
Roberts & Morrow is extraordinarily lucky to have such a driven, insightful person in the firm, marketing manager Jocelyn Berry believed. "He's just such a kind mentor to many of our staff. Over his tenure here, he's given so much, and built the firm, really."
The company has used MYOB as its practice management software, and its preferred software for clients for many years.
MYOB has most of the market share in Australia. Mr Bourke believes it is one of the best products available because of its investment in research and development to make business life easier - a shift away from tax compliance to value-added services and meaningful information.
When MYOB moved online in 2013, Mr Bourke said, it tapped other services into it, cut down on business time, and let accountants collaborate with clients in different locations. Roberts & Morrow may be a regional firm, but most of its clients are outside the region, in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne.
"I've had relationships with clients in Sydney that are just as good as relationships with clients in Armidale," Mr Bourke said. "Distance is no longer a factor to the service level that you can give."
Technology, he said, will bring "crazy", exponential changes. MYOB's futurists expect cheaper, solar-powered drones and autonomous vehicles to replace freight, or become mobile offices; within a decade, a $30,000 drone will fly a person up to 300km. Voice-operated ambient technology will run our offices.
"This is really cool," Mr Bourke said. "Tech's moving quickly, and we're keeping up with it."
For farmers, drone technology will assess water levels, or where stocks are; remote fencing will replace physical ones; and electronic collars will tell farmers what beasts' health is, and how much weight they are putting on.
"With the perils of drought and other mammoth weather events like fire that we seem to be getting so much more frequently," Ms Berry said, "these advances are going to be more important."
Clients' entire business models will be disrupted, Ms Berry said; the firm has focused for a year on helping them be ahead of the curve.
"You either change and adapt, or you disappear," she said. Some of the biggest changes will happen regionally, she expects, because businesses need to be better connected and more efficient.
Roberts & Morrow is also passionate about supporting the community, Ms Berry said. As their clients struggle with drought, the firm has helped them with drought assistance applications and secure additional short-term finance from banks.
The firm was NERAM's major sponsor last year, and sponsors or supports sporting events, such as the Greater Bank Fun Run. With the Institute of Chartered Accountants ANZ, it organises the annual Tour de North West charity bike ride; this year's event, in October, will raise funds for BackTrack Youth Works.