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Nexia Sydney: ‘When Great People Align, Great Things Happen’

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When an accounting powerhouse like Nexia Sydney figures out how to solve a challenge like the talent shortage, the ripple effects lift other businesses connected to them. 
 
“With the war for talent and trying to resource staff, there’s a lot more that business owners and companies are putting back on us to help them be able to prepare more information and provide more analysis about the business,” explained Katie Lin, Employment Tax and Payroll Partner Specialist at Nexia Sydney.  
 
This independent chartered accountancy firm provides clients with accounting, audit, tax advisory, and consulting services. It’s affiliated with the global accounting and consulting network Nexia International and strives to be “in the Top 10 globally as an accounting practice.” 
 
As part of their services, Nexia Sydney advises clients on, among other challenges, getting the right mix of when to have people in the office and when to give them time to work from home.

Structuring employee incentives: good advice

They also provide insights that balance the needs of employers with those of their people—refer to the update Katie wrote in November 2023, on how benefits offered to encourage the best people to stay (such as school fee reimbursements, gym memberships, free car parking) can also lead to additional costs such as fringe benefits tax.  

When “advising clients on how best to structure employee incentives”, Nexia draws from its own research and experiences in supporting clients in construction, health, professional services, and more than 30 other sectors. The firm opened a new office in the last quarter of 2023, a 2,750 sqm space with views of Darling Harbour. 

 
Their offshore team with TOA Global in the Philippines includes intermediate accountants, assistants, auditors, intermediate auditors, and SMSF accountants.  
 
“We’re also working on our Employee Value Proposition because that’s key so that employees know what we stand for and what they can expect throughout their lifecycle,” Katie said in an interview during TOAcon 2023 on the Gold Coast. 
 
“We’re putting together programs so that our employees know that when they become a senior member, this is what they can expect when they get to supervisor or manager.” 

Intelligence applied

As Nexia Sydney puts it on their LinkedIn page: “Although our specialty is accountancy and advice, we’re actually in the business of people – because we believe that when great people align, great things happen.”

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“What we have decided to do as a firm is to bring together a technology and innovation committee, to examine what the divisions are doing and how we can leverage that,” Katie said.
 
“There’s a lot of Artificial Intelligence that we’re working with at the moment,” she added. “We think Copilot will be a game-changer.”
 
When Microsoft announced Copilot in March 2023, the company described it as a system that connects large language models securely with enterprise content—enabling users to lean on AI whether they’re writing, creating presentations, analyzing spreadsheets, summing up next steps in a meeting, or automating repetitive tasks.
 
What advice can Nexia Sydney share with firms that want to grow? “The focus will be on how we can automate more processes,” Katie said.
 
“The idea of an accountant preparing accounts and tax returns is going to be redundant at some point, so if we can document more processes and automate as much as we can, we can allow our staff to have more value-added conversations with clients. I think that’s the way to go. From a technology perspective, focus on that to help build the business.”

Talent acquisition for accounting practices

When he stepped into the role of managing partner in July 2023, Nexia Sydney’s Andrew Hoffman said that the firm would invest in developing its expertise in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance, cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and automation.  
 
“The new international sustainability disclosure standards could both be a major challenge and an opportunity for our clients,” he told Accountants Daily
 
Nexia Sydney’s commitment to adaptation and learning is summed up in its promise to be “ready for what’s next” and to equip its team “with the vital skills to thrive in tomorrow’s world.”  
 
To support learning and development programs, TOA Global clients like Nexia Sydney enjoy access to the Ab² Institute of Accounting, a registered training organisation in Australia. This provides both online and in-person courses designed and taught by accountants, for accountants to support them as they need to update their technical, software, and soft skills.

For 10 years now, TOA Global has helped accounting firms of various sizes achieve their growth targets, including a shift to higher-value advisory services. We do this by finding elite accountants and bookkeepers with the experience and skills that match each firm’s unique needs.  

We’d love to listen to your accounting firm’s talent acquisition challenges and explore how offshoring can solve those for you.