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About us - Who are we

What are we about?

Thanks for coming into our virtual home. In these pages we give you a small taste of what we're about - but the best way to find out if and how we can help you to enhance your specific business and lifestyle is to call us (04 920 0911), e-mail us (phil@businessacademy.co.nz), or Skype (philanz) us to arrange a free, no-obligation, initial consultation of up to one hour. Note that this can take place normally or virtually, using Skype. The only thing we ask is that you schedule up to an hour to minimise interruptions.

In the meantime, we provide the information on this page, not because we think we're the best accountants since sliced bread, but to help you get to know us. Every business is ultimately about relationships - and ours is no different. If we are possibly to become your accountants and / or business advisors, then it can only help if you know a little about us. Of course words on a web page are limited. For example, one of our clients tells me I can't be a "real" accountant - I've got a sense of humour. If we get to know each other, you might find out how that was severely tested by a couple of issues. But that is an aspect that doesn't really show up on a web site.

Who are we?

We are Phil and Lynette Astley - a husband and wife team who provide accounting and business services to support business owners who want to grow their businesses - and keep onside with IRD.

I am a Chartered Accountant in public practice - a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of NZ with a certificate of public practice. I'm also a member of RAN ONE - an international organisation helping accountants provide consistent quality services to help their clients grow.

Phil Astley

I was born in Wellington and raised in the Waiarapa, before coming to Wellington to study at Victoria University. We moved to Lower Hutt a couple of years after we got married.

I have worked in various organisations, mainly as an accountant. Business experiences combined with family and church experiences, led me to the view that bigger is not necessarily better - hence the move into chartered accounting. While small businesses have many struggles, there is not the same sense of battling institutions (apart from IRD).

Hobby: In earlier days, I enjoyed photography, and dabbled in developing black and white film, and doing my own prints in a dark-room I'd set up in the kitchen.

Home schooling: At home, our developing view of life (although not understood as such at the time) lead to home schooling our children - a fascinating time which changed our approach to life. In particular it opened our minds to all sorts of possibilities we might never otherwise have considered. (Helping homeschoolers is another passion of mine, which I carry out mostly on-line these days.)

Home church: This desire for continued growth and exploration of new areas also contributed to a more recent change - a move out of institutional church and a search for more reality in our lives. It's an exciting time, and we look forward to the future with great anticipation - and little certainty.

Frustration: We didn't start out in practice with this as our goal. Rather frustration levels built up over years in business - including conventional practices. I saw businesses running the same way year after year, often earning their owners less than they could earn as an employee. I realised that this was a very common scenario - the not-for-profit business. Probably 90% or so of businesses could not pay the owners a reasonable rate of remuneration for the work they do as employees, directors' fees for managing the business, interest on capital employed, and still generate a profit.

One client had an opportunity to employ someone to do most of the production work - and do research, design and marketing work. Instead he chose to do it all himself - for "lifestyle" reasons. Now we are all for a balanced life - money is not the only - or even main - goal we personally set. But this man had a world-wide opportunity for his goods - and would have had a much better life-style had he chosen a better balanced route.

Health: On another front, my health threw in a complication. I discovered that I have a hereditary condition that now requires ongoing treatment. Unfortunately I discovered this only when it caused a stroke. This forced us to re-evaluate our working life. Of course we had time while I was recovering - it took about nine months for my ability to handle my accounting work to return with enough confidence that I could start making plans for the future. And even then it was slow progress. Fortunately I had a miraculous recovery at 10.45pm on the Tuesday after Labour Day, 2009. In particular my mind returned to it's former way of thinking - something which I didn't expect. And with it came the same weaknesses in that style. My experience taught me a bit about the mind - so I'm now trying to minimise the weaknesses that were an unrecognised part of my life.

Of course marketing wisdom says I am unwise letting my clients know this up front. But if clients are going to rely on my judgement and experience, it's only fair to explain the factors that affect it. I regard myself as fortunate to have had this experience, and to gain insights of which I might still have been unaware.

Own practice: So we set up on our own. We had a clean slate - so started thinking what we really wanted in a practice. One of the first things we decided was what we didn't want - a general accounting practice with all sorts of messy work and deadlines. We'd leave that to our colleagues. Instead we wanted the sort of work that we find most rewarding - working with people who want some degree of control over their business - and who want to work with someone who will be a part of what is happening - and keep the IRD from their door. Usually this means they will run their own general ledger - but with our help. Of course we also do jobs for clients who want us to do everything for them - for which we use BankLink.

Lynette Astley

Born and bred in Taranaki, I came to Wellington for tertiary training as a computer programmer. We moved to Lower Hutt a couple of years after we married. Then I became a stay-at-home mum, focused on helping our children grow into adulthood - including raising them at home rather than sending them off to school. This was initially a nervous decision - but eventually it just became a natural part of our lives .

Hobbies: My hobbies include sewing and knitting and other "crafty" type things. I made a lot of the clothes our children wore, decorating t-shirts and sweatshirts with 'Tri-chem' paints before the variety available today was around. I also enjoyed a quilting course.

I have been involved in singing since my childhood, singing with cousins or sisters, and school productions. Later, I was involved in church and other Christian music groups. At present I am enjoying singing with David Dell's Take Note Singers.

With the advent of digital cameras, I enjoy taking photos that you can see straight away, without worrying about the cost of printing. Experimenting with close-ups of flowers etc is a favourite.

Over the years I have done some programming for Phil in his different places of work. Now I work with Phil, looking after the paperwork in small businesses, as well as looking after our own business, and working on this web site. It's been quite interesting working with our son on this - watching his abilities develop.