With the property boom in full swing and the Bay of Plenty already enjoying fast paced growth that would soon see it labelled the country’s fastest growing region, a change in health and safety regulations presented an opportunity and Sid Carter zeroed in on it. The new regulations meant the trusty old extension ladder was no longer up to spec on construction sites and had to go. The market needed safer, better technology and Sid banked on the fact that in the Bay and beyond there was a gap in the market and he knew just how to fill it.

Enter Height 4 Hire and their Elevated Work Platforms (EWP). With their promise of ‘modern machines at a price you would expect to pay for an old clunker’ Sid knew they had a chance at securing a solid chunk of market share and that’s exactly what they set out to do, with his trusty accountant, Karen Domett, at his side. Starting in May 2014 with just 14 machines in the fleet today Height 4 Hire boasts 140 machines with a head office in Tauranga, two branches in Auckland and expansion plans across the North Island of New Zealand and Fiji for good measure.

“Karen’s great to work with and she has her own team, like Lisa. She’s so efficient. She gets me and my business. I’ve been in business many years and I’ve worked with other accountants. What I like about Ingham Mora is that they have the right systems in place so that things don’t slip through the cracks. They’ve saved me a significant amount of money and increased my productivity like you wouldn’t believe.”

Sid describes his business as a young start up and credits Karen and the Ingham Mora team with lining him up with the right software tools that have saved him significant time, money and resources and increased his productivity ten-fold. Karen and her team introduced Sid to Xero bookkeeping and helped him integrate his machine rental programme with it seamlessly.

“Having real time rather than historical financial data is critical and it means I have really accurate info on what taxes I’m up for, right at my fingertips, wherever I am in the world. The real ground breaker for me though was Receipt Bank. Thanks to Karen’s advice I reckon it has reduced my administration costs by up to 90%. I wouldn’t have known about it or how to integrate it into my business most efficiently without Ingham Mora!”

Receipt Bank takes the emailed invoice or receipt and loads it automatically into Xero. For Sid this means with one push of a button he can match purchase orders to invoices, from anywhere in the world and he doesn’t have to keep a mounting and endless paper trail.

“I genuinely believe Karen’s advice on the right software tools to align with my business, has resulted in a massive saving in my time. I travel a lot and recently I was able to do all my end of month billing from Vietnam thanks to Receipt Bank and Xero. Without Karen I may not have stumbled across these awesome programmes quite so soon.”

In 2018 Sid was in the midst of the property transaction on a blank piece of land and he wasn’t too excited about the GST he was facing. The deal wasn’t as bright as he had hoped. Track to a conversation with his accountant Karen and kaching! Suddenly the numbers looked a whole lot better. What Sid hadn’t appreciated was that the GST rules had changed and he didn’t have to pay back the GST he had assumed. That critical piece of financial advice from Karen saved Sid Carter 15% on what was a significant sale of property.

“What that really heighted to me was both Karen’s immediate access to the most up to date financial information and the importance of keeping in regular contact with your accountant. If I hadn’t happened to have mentioned the property deal and my frustration over the GST portion I wouldn’t have garnered Karen’s advice that saved me a fortune.”

There’s a lot of seminars on offer for business owners, but for Sid the family trust advice he got from a recent Ingham Mora seminar ‘How robust is your family trust?’ was worth its weight in gold. “Due to a change in circumstances I was worried about exposure and needed to ensure my trust was as robust as I thought it was. The seminar was great and the news that my trust was rock solid, even better!” He’s now keeping his eye out for other seminars of interest. “I like that Ingham Mora takes a very proactive approach to providing specific business and personal financial advice. With the combination of their seminars and the one-on-one advice and support I get from Karen, Lisa and the team I know they have a genuine vested interest in future proofing my business. It’s good to know that!”