Lydia Chadfield and Jess Patterson are not quite what you think of when imagining traditional accountants studying screens of numbers, filing Inland Revenue tax returns and dealing with people’s financial crises. They do all that but with some extra skills in the mix that are making their clients very happy indeed.
Following several years in the accounting section for a legal firm, along with a spell in management and valuation of property, Lydia became a fulltime accountant twelve years ago. “I was born with a natural aptitude for numbers,” she says. “She must be the only person in New Zealand who actually read maths books in bed,” says Jess laughing. “She is a great clean-up person,” Jess continues. “She is the Marie Kondo of the accounting world. She likes to help people tidy up their accounting lives and get them clean and structured.”
Jess came to accounting via a different route. For seventeen years she worked in hospitality, noticing along the way that she had an aptitude for identifying the things that could help businesses improve their profitability. A complete change saw her transitioning to the role of dairy farm manager. It was during that time she met her husband to be. Together they developed their own very successful business ‘Total Breeding Services’ based on their Tail-mate® product which provided her with an abundance of practical business experience. The decision to study accountancy felt like the right step to bring all her skills together.
The pair makes a formidable team. With complementary skills across a wide range of business and industry types there is nothing more they love than getting to know how client’s businesses tick so that they can develop strategies to help them improve profitability. “Even in very sound businesses there can be ways to do things more easily and to improve results,” says Lydia. “Every business is different,” says Jess. “There is only so much you can see on paper. The numbers only tell so much of the story and having the opportunity to work with clients to take their businesses to a new level is something we love to do.”
They work across the whole of the top of the south from Nelson to Marlborough and even down the West Coast. “It is a tough time for many businesses at the moment,” says Lydia, “and this is when they need sound accountancy support. We can help them find solutions for eliminating waste and generating income along with planning for tax to avoid penalties and liaise with the IRD on their behalf. Mostly we want them to know that with us on their side and sound financial planning, their stresses can be relieved.”
With so much practical business and accountancy experience between them, Apex clients are already reaping the benefits of Lydia and Jess’s abundant energy and expertise.
Level 1, 218 Trafalgar Street, Nelson | apexaccounts.co.nz
