IPSUM ADVISORS - Key Persons
As Director of Ipsum Advisors and Ipsum Wealth, Billy's 20+ years of industry experience means he's a fountain of knowledge for our team and clients. With his problem-solving mindset, Billy loves nothing better than to work with clients to help make their financial lives better and by connection, their personal lives too.
There's a saying about climbing the ladder and reaching your hand down to bring people up with you, and this represents Billy to a tee. He considers his specialty to be mentoring and developing up-and-coming accountants and tax advisors to help them realise their potential, take healthy risks, and step outside their comfort zone.
Not only that, but he also enjoys offering his clients financial analysis services to help reveal opportunities and assist with key decision making.
He has worked overseas in some high stakes roles, but considers becoming a director and equity holder in the Ipsum Advisors business his proudest accomplishment.
Something you may not know about Billy: he has been learning the piano since 2017 and attending weekly lessons, oh and he has stamina - he ran the Melbourne Marathon in 2019. High on his bucket list is to run the New York or London Marathons.
Brody has been with us since the beginning of his career (and we're never letting him go) and is currently completing his Chartered Accountant's accredited degree.
Brody has a keen interest in the preparation of financial statements and tax compliance for all types of entities, with particular focus on small to medium businesses. But what he loves the most is getting into the nitty gritty of Business Activity Statements for our primary production clients.
Brody's favourite part of Ipsum is the open-minded approach we have with our accounting software, our willingness to be expansive (shucks), and the friendly and easy-going staff.
Something you didn't know about Brody: He can complete a Rubik's cube in 45 seconds! Does that make him a genius…? We think it does.
Job Titles:
- Business Operations Manager
Having been with Ipsum for more than half a decade, Brylee has more recently stepped into a new role as Client Services Team Leader, mentoring and overseeing our Client Service Coordinators.
Prior to her step up into the Team Leader role, Brylee worked closely with all our clients as a Receptionist, SMSF Assistant and Client Services Coordinator making sure everyone had what they need, when they needed it and checking in regularly, so our clients always knew we are just a phone call away.
Carlie, also known as the bookkeeping bandit (she doesn't know this though), is our resident numbers whiz.
Carlie came to us with an impressive 13-year work history in business administration, where she dazzled us with tales of payroll, BAS's, bank reconciliations, and office management. To the regular Joe, this might not sound as exciting as it is; but for us, she had us on the edge of our seats. Carlie is a dynamo when it comes to business management and in her career has directly contributed to clients increasing their profit margins by up to 30%.
But if we're being honest, it's BAS that gets Carlie's brain working in overdrive. Each one is challenging, and no two are the same. Throw in some client funding applications, and she is happy as Larry. Nothing is more exciting to Carlie than letting the client know their application was successful.
Something you may not know about Carlie: During a casual stroll with some lions on a walking safari in South Africa, she came face-to-face with a family of White Rhino's in the wild. Oh, and she's petrified of flying.
Catherine loves nothing more than directing her razor-sharp focus on annual compliance for her clients, especially those in agriculture. Not only that, when she's not working on their tax returns, Catherine's also one to stay on top of current technologies and keeping her skillset in peak condition- because only the best for our clients will do.
No wonder Catherine was inducted into the Golden Key International Honor Society when she was studying, which recognises top performing students and graduates based solely on their academic achievements.
She also says that mentoring fellow students while completing her degree is one of her proudest achievements-which makes Catherine perfect for team Ipsum. We're all about supporting each other.
Darren's motivation is to help people achieve all they can (financially) to allow them to enjoy their life as much as possible both now, and into the future. With over 30 years' experience (yes, you read that right), Darren is the man to help you find your financial freedom.
Darren's passions lie in anything that helps people achieve their financial and life goals. Whether it's guiding them to better use their money, or just giving clients the confidence that they're on the right track, he always has their best interests in mind. He has helped clients with investment strategies, retirement strategies, cash flow and budgets, debt management, and on and on it goes.
One of Darren's career highlights before Ipsum was being promoted to Regional Manager for NAB, and at the time he was the youngest person to secure this position in Australia. We're not surprised by that in the least.
Outside of Ipsum, Darren is an avid fisher and traveler, and hopes to add the last seven remaining untraveled states in the USA to his list of achievements.
When we asked Emily what she considered to be her specialties at Ipsum, her list was too long to write. So, let's cut to the chase and say she has you covered, from bookkeeping, to managing different accounting software, to payroll, BAS, FBT, company and trust financial statements and tax returns. You name it! But her favourite thing to work on is those detailed business financial statements and tax returns.
Emily has developed a wealth of knowledge over her nine-year accounting career, and notes completing her CPA as a career highlight (who wouldn't?). The icing on the cake? She gets to learn from and work with a great group of people, every day.
Grace is a wealth of knowledge-just look at her list of qualifications!
As a senior accountant, Grace focuses on building strong relationships with clients and loves a good challenge when it comes to solving problems and addressing business issues. Her 10-year work history encompasses financial accounting, tax compliance, cashflow budgeting, and business performance analysis. She believes it is critical as a business advisor to share industry trends, provide insights and be across technologies that grow wealth, while ensuring compliance. And we couldn't agree more.
What Grace loves about Ipsum is that the partners and staff are approachable, friendly, and ready to embrace new ideas and technologies to keep on improving and expanding the service suite for both businesses and individuals.
Something you didn't know about Grace? She rides a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Are you even surprised? Though if she could, she'd swap the bike for a recreational vehicle and explore our sunburnt country Australia indefinitely.
Job Titles:
- Chartered Accountant
- Director
As one of our Directors with over 25 years of industry experience, you're certainly in very good hands with Jason. He has a huge list of areas that he's an expert in, so we'll just name a few: hospitality, retail, medical, mining, agribusiness and real estate including land development, with an insight into building and heavy construction businesses-an area Jason's passionate about professionally and personally.
Adding to that list is Jason's love for successful start-up's and being part of a client's wealth empowerment journey. It's safe to say that we all love being on that journey with our clients.
Outside of work, Jason is a passionate motoring enthusiast and all round car guy, and on his ultimate bucket list is to attend all rounds of the F1 championship in one year..
Job Titles:
- Client Services Coordinator
One of the friendly faces that greet you when you visit the Ipsum office, Kelly's honed her client relationship guruness over 25 years' in customer service and client relations roles. She'll make you feel welcome and ensure everything is in order with your account, so it all runs smoothly.
Kelly's favourite part of the job is forming relationships and trust with clients, supporting them throughout their journey with Ipsum. She also loves "the great bunch of people I get to work with every day" - and you can quote her on that!
Job Titles:
- Accountant
- Graduate Accountant
After a career shift Kevin joined Ipsum Advisors as an accountant, making the transition to the world of numbers, dollars and taxes. He is enjoying the role so much that he is working to complete his CPA which will provide him with international recognition of his skills and credentials.
A proud continuous learner, Kevin is always looking to know more. He is also more than happy to sit down and get stuck into some Individual Tax Returns and Business Activity Statements (these are his favourites - go figure!).
It is a true feat of determination and skill to reach a major career milestone before the age of 30, and that is exactly what our Director, Louise did in achieving partnership - the highlight of her career. She applies the same level of passion and commitment to all her clients and has been a valuable part of our team for over 17 years.
Louise is a whiz at tax compliance, business services and advisory, and also has plenty of experience with the tax challenges associated with property and land development. Louise's true happy place is in the structuring and setup of new business ventures.
What Louise likes most about Ipsum is the diversity of people, and versatility to pursue a point of difference in the industry, not just accepting the status quo. You could say that she likes to take leaps-not just steps-outside of the box.
Job Titles:
- Client Services Coordinator
Mandy is absolutely the reason we run as smoothly as we do. Having worked with us for over 17 years, there's not a lot that happens that Mandy doesn't know about. From client management and administration to taxation coordination and secretarial duties, she does it all. You could say she's the oil in our engine.
For Mandy, the friendly team and variety of work is what she loves about Ipsum - and we couldn't agree more.
Job Titles:
- Client Services Coordinator
One of our future accountants (yep she's studying while working with us!), Natalia works with our team to support clients and is on track for a very successful career in the industry. An asset in her own right, Natalia's growing skill set and eagerness to learn the tricks of the trade, combined with years of customer service means she's always ready to help out.
A true sign of an accountant-to-be, Natalia's favourite thing to work on is Instalment Activity Statements (it's okay if you don't know what they are, because she's all over it).
We're excited to see Natalia continue to grow and thrive at Ipsum as she prepares for her accounting career.
Sarah has been with Ipsum before we were even Ipsum, joining us back in 2016 as our Receptionist. Since then, she's been a crucial part of the team as she's transitioned from Receptionist to Client Services Coordinator and now Finance Assistant.
Sarah will take on anything we throw her way - adaptable and quick to learn she's always up for a new challenges and responsibilities. She is a focused problem solver and can find a quick and effective resolution to anything she supports on.
An invaluable team member, Sarah works closely with our admin team to keep Ipsum running smoothly and keep clients and colleagues happy.
Her bucket list item? To explore the world and travel overseas with her beautiful daughter (she might even let her husband tag along…maybe…).
In a previous role, Scott honed his skills within one of the largest accounting firms in Australia. This included managing a number of graduate employees, providing training and mentoring to staff and assisting a broad variety of clients. So, when he came through our doors, we grabbed him with both hands and held on tight!
With over eight years of experience under her belt and a solid handful of qualifications to match, Tiffany is the go-to guru when it comes to Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF). Not only that, but she loves looking at ‘big picture' opportunities and strategies to help clients achieve the best outcomes.
Whether it's a quick question or a detailed special project, you can always rely on Tiffany to have you covered.
Fun fact: Tiffany is a big fan of art and loves to draw and paint - she'd love to visit the Louvre one day.