Beany has also announced that Julian Hutabarat CPA has been appointed General Manager, Beany Australia, as the company says it looks to hire local staff immediately to cater to the demand for its services, particularly among professional services and tradespeople.

Beany said Julian Hutabarat brings a decade of experience in leadership roles to the comany, having most recently worked as a manager for BPI Accounting Services. He holds a CPA, as well as a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) Degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of New South Wales.

“I’ve always worked with firms that had the traditional accounting process: hourly billing and a lot of compliance work,” said Hutabarat.

“But I always found that the traditional accounting process didn’t add long term value to a business; it wasn’t able to help a business project into the future.

“Beany has a huge opportunity to help Australian SMEs and sole traders both in the future and today, amid the latest lockdowns which are causing undue stress to companies across the country. Not only do we reduce the burden of accountant bill shock through a stable monthly fee, but we help people apply for disaster payments quickly and without hassle at no additional costs.”

Launched seven years ago in New Zealand, Beany describes itself as a “unique online-only accounting firm which now counts nearly 2,000 enterprises in New Zealand as clients, positioning it among the top two per cent of accounting practices across the Tasman”.

Beany says it leverages a team of experts working remotely to deliver a proactive service to its clients and has developed a “unique and world-leading software solution which, during the onboarding phase, collects all the necessary information required by accountants to undertake compliance, forecasts, budgets and more for SMEs”.

Sue de Bievre, CEO and founder of Beany, said the seamless process and unique software enables efficiencies which allows Beany’s team of experts to spend more time proactively catering to client needs, and the software also identifies when and where a client needs assistance.

“We’re seeing interest among professional services and tradies for our services, as we can come in and deliver value for them rather than just being a cost to help them with compliance,” she said. 

“Amid a protracted economic downturn, SMEs such as those in the trades, for instance, often don’t have the time in the day to invoice on time, let alone register for and access schemes as disaster payments, keep up with updated taxation rates and undertake financial health checks.

“We provide that to all of our clients for a stable monthly fee, which is why we’ve seen such quick early traction in Australia.”