Why Lowthers?
To many people starting out, we accountants all appear the same in what we do. It is only after they have one that they think maybe all accountants are that bad or uncaring. We are different because we respond to what clients see as problems in other accounting firms. We can do this because of our size and our efficient internal systems. Here are some ways we are different:
Price transparency
A common complaint we hear from businesses and individuals is not knowing how much their accountants charge. Some accounting firms randomly increase their fees year after year even though the business reduced in scale of operations. One of our clients was quoted $1,000 for their annual work and charged over $6,000 by their previous accountant!
As we have had many years of experience, we can make fairly accurate estimations of how much we will charge for jobs. On many occasions we can give a fixed price quote after a quick review of the business during our free consultation period. Some of our clients love us simply for our rationalised pricing and stability.
Personalised contact
When was the last time you saw your accountant? Market research shows that many small business owners seldom see their accountant, if at all. In fact, a number of our clients felt their previous accountants treated them as a pile of paperwork and a cheque.
We at Lowthers Chartered Accountants like to know who you are and where your business is heading. We feel this is important - especially for new businesses - so that we may be pro-active in helping you with things you might not even be aware of that needs doing. For certain clients we emphasise and notify them of important dates and matters because we know they are focused on their business - sometimes too much! We sometimes go out of our way to help where we can. For example, we often pick up on sloppy work by our client's lawyers which saves them not only legal fees but a lot of stress.
All this is only possible through understanding people like you and your needs well. We do all this while keeping everything strictly confidential and we go out of our way to ensure that client data is secure and certain knowledge confidential as we have people in delicate and sensitive situations. We do not allow any other parties access to your information unless explicitly authorised by you.
Flat hierarchy
Many accounting firms - especially larger ones - have layers of accountants, reviewers, managers and partners. This leads to large accounting fees and shoddy work. Miscommunication between staff leads to mistakes, for which they charge you extra to fix - without you knowing. Clients end up talking to people in the firm that did not do the actual work and therefore have little idea who you are and what you do. Everyone in the hierarchy only looks out after themselves and do not care for clients.
When you come to meet us in Lowthers, you are talking to the people that actually does the work for you and will keep in touch with you so that we know where you are in your business. Our internal systems are streamlined to reduce cross-communication mistakes and each accountant is ultimately responsible for their clients so that there is accountability.
Expertise knowledge
When business owners get papers back from their accountant with numbers they have given to the accountant year after year, many are left wondering what is so difficult about accounting.
Our qualified staff in Lowthers are not only deeply knowledgeable about aspects of accountancy and taxation, we pro-actively let you know what you can do that you are not currently doing to make, save and protect your money. We have had wonderful experiences with so many clients and we have done some really clever things for some, so why not share to benefit others? All our advice are legal tax minimisation methods and we do not engage in tax evasion - so please do not talk to us about that as we are not interested. Why risk it? Be legal and sleep better by worrying less.
Leveraging our expertise, we have given some clients tens of thousands of dollars they did not know they could get otherwise. If I told you how you can get $10,000 for a cost of $1,000 - would you be interested? It depends on each individual situation of course, but this is not uncommon especially if you have not received the right advice.
If you are interested in services such as this, see the Value Services we offer.
We are a New Zealand Chartered Accounting firm holding a Certificate of Public Practice offering accounting services to the public. We are a member of New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants.
- We are bound by the Institute's code of ethics and professional standards
- We are subjected to a three-year review to see our work meet professional standards
We are a wholly New Zealand owned and operated company. Unlike the growing trend of other accounting firms, we do not outsource any of our accounting work overseas to countries like India. As such, we have total control over the high quality of our work. Help us support New Zealanders.
Our Chartered Accounting staff are members of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants. They have studied a minimum of seven years to achieve this professional, international qualification and are required to undertake on-going professional training to keep up to date.