34 Acquisition International - Worldwide Finance Awards 2022 May22313 Tax Agents of the Year - VIC onest and Young Pty Ltd’s motto is encapsulated within its name – it prioritises honesty, respect, and responsibility. Diversity also features heavily within the company’s ethos. Indeed, the firm, which provides Accountants, Tax Agents, and Business Advisors, strives to provide its services in an ethical and socially aware manner. It believes that as people are the heart of the business, it should treat its clients with kindness, as such, it has cultivated numerous long-term relationships with its consumer base. The firm typically works with Australian small businesses and meets each one with innovation and efficacy. Indeed, Honest and Young approaches each client with an open mind and, in turn, it embraces collaboration and change in order to cultivate an effective result. Such solutions are supplied quickly and to a high standard – Honest and Young prides itself upon this fact. These high standards are reflected within the dozens of five-star reviews that the company has acquired. In a Google Review, one customer writes, ‘I have been dealing with Honest & Young for a lustrum and they have always been excellent value for money. I do not hesitate to recommend them to anyone needing knowledgeable, friendly, and efficient service. Five-star company!’ However, the firm’s success is not only due to its clientele – Honest and Young boast an impressive unique selling point. The company’s services extend far beyond tax and compliance services to ensure that revenue is generated throughout all seasons without reliance on just the tax season and annual compliance flow. In addition, the company makes use of artificial intelligence in order to optimise its tools and, ultimately, achieve better outcomes for clients. The accounting industry has changed greatly over the past ten years, and in turn, it is rapidly approaching complete automation. Sid Sharma states that ‘This profession has the highest risk of becoming automated. It is critical to move beyond compliance work to provide more value-add services. A shift in mindset is needed to foresee and understand how critical these value-added services are for the clients and are generating revenue streams from them.’ Over the past couple of years, Honest and Young has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic implications. The economic uncertainty has bolstered the number of individuals who enquire in and, subsequently, acquire financial advice. Consequently, the role of a trusted advisor has never been so vital in helping clients make prudent financial decisions in difficult and unpredictable times. Yet during this turbulent period, customer service was further complicated due to the need for remote working and communications. Adapting to the digital world did provide a few benefits – for example, it offered the company insights into various e-tools which jumpstarted innovation in the accounting and business advisory world. H Whilst Honest and Young Pty Ltd is, in its most basic form, an accountancy firm, it aspires to be something greater. The company wants to establish itself as a force for change – not only within the finance industry, but also in society. With the aftershocks of these changes rocking the industry, Honest and Young are considering moving towards a subscription-based model, as this will allow it to capture the full boom of the micro to small business sector. Further, in accordance with the pursuits of its purpose, the firm plans to contribute to the lives of its clients beyond its accounting and advisory services. It hopes to amplify awareness of and tackle the issues that matter, including sustainability, equal pay, gender equality, diversity, and climate change. Contact: Sid Sharma Company: Honest and Young Pty Ltd
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