Thirty years in business and still growing

Running a family business can be challenging, keeping up with day to day operational demands, juggling personalities and trying to maintain a work/life balance for everyone. But when the business does it well, the rewards are plentiful.

“Something I really enjoy about our business is the great rapport we have with our customers” says Michelle Williams, of Williams Mitre 10 in New Norfolk.

“Most of our customers are from the Derwent Valley so we get to know them and understand their needs. We see a lot of DIYers and professional builders, and our staff are known for great service and really going that extra mile.”

Keeping this focus on delivering excellent service to customers while still working towards long term goals isn’t always easy.  Fortunately Ray and Lesley Williams made the smart decision to engage WLF Accounting & Advisory when they bought the business in the late 1980s, working with Partner Douglas Thomson to look at how they could best grow their business and achieve the results they wanted while still maintaining the focus on quality service.

Thirty years down the track most of the business’ finance and bookkeeping services are handled by WLF including payroll, superannuation compliance reporting, quarterly and annual reports and statements, tax obligations, BAS statements, bank reconciliations and more.

Douglas, Ivy and Oliver regularly visit the New Norfolk store to keep in touch with the team, and ensure they maintain a good understanding of the business itself. And while technology has made things much easier, Michelle believes the personal communication that comes from these office visits is still incredibly valuable “…the WLF team are always helpful and a pleasure to talk to.”

With the knowledge and comfort that Williams Mitre 10 ‘back of house’ management is in the professional hands of WLF, the Williams have been in a position to expand their business exponentially in store size and staff numbers, with approximately 25 employees today.

Michelle has been a big part of this growth over the past 15 years, having joined the business in 2003 when she married into the Williams family. She says one of her proudest moments during this time has been the opening of the new Charles Street store in 2016.

“Working with WLF frees up a lot of our time” remarks Michelle, “so we’ve been able to focus on growing our business and evolving to meet the needs of our customers.”

One thing that hasn’t changed over the 30 years since the Williams’ bought into their business is their commitment to supporting the local community and offering the best customer service.

“We are fortunate to be in a position to support local sporting clubs and also the Lions Club, and we think giving back is an important part of our business. We live and work in the Derwent Valley, and most of our staff do too, so we all care about this place and the people.”

WLF Bookkeeping

Many of our clients, including Williams Mitre 10, have been utilising our bookkeeping services for years and tell us this gives them so much more time each week to focus on their core business. Our bookkeeping will help you:

• Keep track of sales, purchases, receipts, payroll and superannuation records
• Ensure you are compliant with the single touch payroll requirements coming into place from 1 July 2018
• Eliminate double processing if you are not currently online – we will produce accurate records to use in the preparation of your yearly financial statements and tax returns
• Electronically lodge your superannuation payments from your accounting software package
• Lodge your IAS/BAS through our tax agent system
• Access our extra lodgment and payment timeframes for BASs, which can be really handy for cashflow
• Cover staff leave (maternity leave, annual leave), whether at your premises or ours

In addition, this may even reduce the cost of your end of year accounting requirements as your file will be up to date and reconciled every month or quarter.

We offer our bookkeeping services on a fixed monthly rate or hourly basis at competitive rates, so please contact us to find out more.