Mixing Business and Pleasure!

I have just got back from a trip around the state of Victoria.  Hired a Camper Van for the first time and travelled with Lynda and the two kids on a circuit round Great Ocean Road, the Grampians, and back to Melbourne through Bendigo.  It is a beautiful part of Australia and the family have really enjoyed the trip.  We were fortunate to tag this on at the start of a trip for a conference in Melbourne as part of Campbell Tyson Cooper White membership with NZCA.   NZCA is an affiliation to which we belong where like minded accountants can share ideas, strategies, and knowledge in a casual and relaxed environment.  The Melbourne seminar is focussing on networking strategies and techniques, something most accountants ordinarily struggle with!

CTCW is the principal sponsor of the Business and Innovation Expo that was planned to be held on the 7 May.  While there has been incredible interest and early involvement from many organisations in the Franklin district (as well as some outside of the district), there is also many businesses who expressed their difficulties with preparing exhibitions for the 7 May date on which the event was planned to be held.  In order to ensure that the maximum participation possible can be achieved, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the event until an as yet undecided future date.  This new date will be set after consultation with interested parties to ensure that they have additional time to prepare their exhibitions as well as incorporate the cost of the event into their marketing budget.  With the difficult recessionary times, CTCW fully understands the difficulties of funding and staffing expo events and as part of our commitment to the community we are seeking to enable as much participation as possible with our clients and their related business community.

If any of you would like to consider putting in an exhibition at the Expo, or are keen to register your interest to attend, please do not hesitate to contact either our reception or Niru at Enterprise Franklin Development Trust.

Have a great week.

Lincoln

“Life is for Living”.

  

 Also thrown into the mix of the last month, was a John Shackleton seminar that was attended by a large group of our clients and their guests. Once again John really impressed with his talk on health, wealth and happiness. Our staff will be following up with those clients who set 10 week goals at the event, as we would expect our clients to follow up on us with our goals from the event! Those of you who were not lucky enough to get along to the event are invited to look in our library when you next come into our offices as John very kindly left some copies of his book titled “Life is for Living”. As I have mentioned before we have many excellent publications in our library and would encourage all our clients and interested parties to come along to see what is available.

Cheers

Lincoln

Running Accountants!

   Taupo – a beautiful lake, amazing views of Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe, central to the North Island and outdoor central for tourists and locals a like.  And for some strange reason, thousands of people go there once a year to run/walk around it!  CTCW are sending two (!!!!) teams down this weekend to participate in one of the several huge events that Taupo puts on.  We have over 27 staff, family and friends going down to slug it out during the night and complete the 155km course sometime on Saturday afternoon.  Needless to say, there may be a small but happy party following the efforts.  Again – we are raising money for the South Auckland Health Foundation in our last big drive for the financial year.  Feel free to make some donations to a very worthwhile cause – making Accountants sweat!  Email Diane on mclaughlin@ctcw.co.nz she will be happy to take your money on behalf of SAHF.

Goal Setting and Personal Achievement

Goal Setting and Personal Achievement.

At CTCW there is a strong emphasis on staff development. We provide comprehensive in-house training, ensure the staff attend courses put on by the Accountant’s Institute, IceHouse and other organisations that specialise in developing the right knowledge for your staff. We also like to help our staff develop personally. We recently had John Shackleton (http://www.johnshack.com.au/profile.asp) speak to our staff about Goal Setting and Personal Achievement. Everyone came away with a buzz from an afternoon session that had every single person there thinking about what they want and how they can get it. It was an infectious environment, with people setting goals, putting in place rewards (for achieving the goal) and consequences (for not achieving), and even supporting each other in pursuing the goals.

Not one single bean was counted in the entire afternoon. This was an opportunity for our staff to develop themselves as individuals, not accountants. And they loved it! We will be getting John back again on the 24 March 2010, although this time it will be for our clients and their friends. The skills and techniques that John passes on assist not only with clearly defining what is important, but promote the drive and ability to achieve them. We would love to help you and your colleagues get the same buzz that we did at an inspirational event.

If you would like to be part of the Health Wealth and Happiness event please get in touch with me and I will make sure there is a spot for you. John is a superb speaker, being voted 2007 Speaker of the Year by NSANZ, and I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Catch you next week

Lincoln

The Bean and The Coffee Bean

I’m going to have to run a poll on visitors to our office. We consistently get told we make wonderful coffee and even have clients who come in specifically to have a cup. It’s amazing what a hot drink (and caffeine!) can do for your disposition and state of mind. I think we would have a staff riot on our hands if our machine broke down! We also have an excellent business and personal development library in our reception that we make available to our clients. With the weather we have been having this October, there are worse things than sitting having a nice coffee and reading some interesting literature.

Good news in the paper this morning with employment starting an upward trend with more people leaving the unemployment benefit than signing up. Whether it is a seasonal thing or further evidence of an improvement in state of the economy is too soon to tell, but improving property prices (up a small percentage) will see some people with more of a “spring” in their step.

Have a great week.
Lincoln

A Stitch In Time, Saves Lives.

Choosing just one charity to support when there are so many worthy causes is not an easy task.  For us, South Auckland Health Foundation (SAHF) answered a lot of our criteria.  The Foundation raises funds which assists the community in which we live and is committed to improving all areas of health.  It is a charity that was established by the late Terry Harris (an ex-Partner of our Firm) and our ability to be involved has special meaning to a lot of our staff.   It is also a Charity where our support could be more than just financial.

 SAHF has a knitting programme and we have a small but dedicated number of staff (see our last MyAccountant newsletter!) who knit hats, booties and cardigans, supporting SAHF’s effort to ensure new born babies leave South Auckland Hospitals with warm clothes.

 Generalisations aside, our largely female staff contribute many pre-loved magazines to the cause.  These are used in waiting rooms in an effort to provide current reading material.

 SAHF is able to undertake some large fundraising events and is supported by the Auckland Blues and the Warriors.  Volunteers to “shake buckets” or assist at these events are always wanted.  CTCW staff have been able to volunteer their time at an Auckland Blues game and coming up will volunteer at a local event – “Kids in Cars” to be held at Pukekohe Raceway on 11 October 2009 (see our “Upcoming Events” on our website).

 CTCW are also committed to raising $7,500 this year to provide our local maternity hospital with much needed equipment.  We are achieving this by organising bake sales at work, a very successful auction and have a few projects in the pipelines, including a garage sale.

 Supporting SAHF allows all the staff at CTCW to contribute to our community and in doing so, fosters a sense of pride in what we are able to achieve.  IF you would like to join our effort, get in touch with our coordinator, Diane McLaughlin and see what we can do together.

 Have a great week.

Lincoln

And the Cow jumped over the moon.

I went to the Harrisville School Calf Club Day on Saturday and was blown away by the effort and enthusiasm that not only the children and parents throw in to the event, but also the local community.  It seems that everyone rolls up their sleeves for the Big Day and mucks in.  The kids clearly love it as they get to take Mum and Dad to school, show off their artwork and parade their pets in public. Not even the weather could dampen spirits, people moved in to the Hall to look at the artwork, further bolstering the sales of the stalls as people took shelter. 

It is this community spirit and goodwill that has enabled the Franklin District to come through the Recession largely intact.  It also means we can look forward to the good times as well.  Our staff who attended the Day clearly enjoyed themselves and got involved.  Congratulations to Niki’s daughter Madisyn for her ribbons won on the day and good luck for the next event. 

Our staff get involved in many local community events, most obviously where directly involved as a Member.  It’s the beauty of living in the community we work with. 

We also contribute regularly to public causes such as South Auckland Health, the Cancer Foundation, Area Schools, Local Community Trusts and many other worthwhile causes.  In my next blog I will talk about our current initiative for South Auckland Health. 

Look forward to seeing you around town.

Lincoln