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Boutique firm eyes national presence with east coast expansion

Business

A Brisbane boutique accounting firm has made inroads into the national market with a new licensing agreement with two firms along the east coast.

By Jotham Lian 9 minute read

Brisbane firm businessDEPOT has announced the launch of two new offices in Sydney and Melbourne following the licensing agreement with firms Aptus Accounting and Advisory, and Results Based Business Coaching, respectively.

Rebecca Mehalic and James Solomons from Aptus Accounting and Advisory, and Paul Tucker from Results Based Business Coaching will now join the businessDEPOT team as directors.

While the licensing arrangement will see the firms operating under the businessDEPOT brand, Accountants Daily understands a formal merger has not yet been agreed to.

Speaking with Accountants Daily, businessDEPOT managing director John Knight said the agreement came after several years of discussion with the two firms and was a natural extension due to substantial amount of work it was undertaking in both Sydney and Melbourne.

“Our arrangement with Aptus and Results allows them to have the independence of running their own business while leaning on our front end and leaning on our back end, [including] back-office efficiency, systems and collaboration when they want to,” Mr Knight said.

“This expansion not only increases our geographical reach but also strengthens the services we can make available to the entire market. 

“Rebecca is an absolute gun at the tech advisory side of things — if you need someone to advise on what system to use or how to integrate different apps, she is the person to speak to,” he added.

“James, who spends much of his time at a global ASX-listed client in a long-term secondment as CFO, brings to our clients the experience needed to navigate the ASX regulatory regime should they wish to IPO or raise funds from the private market. Likewise, Paul Tucker bolsters our coaching and advisory offering, something that we intend to continue growing nationally.”

For Mr Knight, he believes the expansion provides an opportunity for businessDEPOT to specifically target the SME market on a national scale.

“I see the professional services space heading strongly into a big or boutique market, and we see that there is an opportunity for a truly national presence who loves dealing with the SMEs out there,” Mr Knight said.

“Our brand is squarely targeting the SME market, and I think there are many groups or national practices that are a little confused with who they want to work for. Often they will have a clear split within their target client base — audit, forensic and so forth targeting the big end of town, and accounting, bookkeeping and advisory potentially targeting both the smaller and bigger end of town. 

“We think there is a real opportunity for a trusted multidisciplinary service offering for SMEs nationally.”

Jotham Lian

Jotham Lian

AUTHOR

Jotham Lian is the editor of Accountants Daily, the leading source of breaking news, analysis and insight for Australian accounting professionals.

Before joining the team in 2017, Jotham wrote for a range of national mastheads including the Sydney Morning Herald, and Channel NewsAsia.

You can email Jotham at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

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