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 Adelaide-based Terry Rodoni has gained a seat on the executive board of
national accounting firm RSM Bird Cameron as the SA office recorded
nearly 50 per cent growth in the past year.
During the past year, the Adelaide branch of RSM Bird Cameron has grown
from 15 employees to 21, with another two vacancies currently open. Mr.
Rodoni was elected to the national executive in May. As RSM’s , he also holds the national role of
managing the firm’s traditional business services including tax
accounting.
Mr. Rodoni, the third Adelaide based director to sit on the board, said
his directorship gave the South Australian offices, including Port
Lincoln and Mt Gambier, a seat at the national table. “A significant reason for this was my Business Solutions role, which
puts a large part of the practice under my responsibility. This
national role is very demanding as the firm aims to ‘lever off’ the
skills of its accountants around the nation.
“As a national firm, we have grown significantly through internal
growth and by the acquisition of firms in different cities that match
our own culture. We have managed to get the culture right, but
introducing techniques and tools on a national scale has been
challenging. The national coordination role of deploying those tools
and techniques, built around IT, comes out of Adelaide.
“Adelaide is seen as a great city to undertake the national role and
the firm sees major opportunities in this city with its developing
economy. We have observed the experiences in Perth and Queensland for
the impact the mining industry can have on the State. We see some
parallels with the developments in SA to complement the state’s
traditional strengths in manufacturing, education, defence and
services.”
RSM Bird Cameron is one of the largest mid-tier accounting firms in
Australia with national ownership and profit sharing. Most of the other
mid-tier accounting firms are loose federations with state-based
ownership. Generating more than $100 million in fees, the firm has more
than 850 employees working at 28 offices nationally.
RSM Bird Cameron‘s Adelaide presence dates back to 1976. It was boosted
by its 2003 merger with Adelaide-based firm Cashman & Bennett. The
firm now employs 21 people at its Adelaide office, offering services
ranging from traditional tax accounting, audit and financial planning
to strategic planning services relating to acquisitions and succession
planning and risk management services.
SME sector challenged by wealth and succession planning
Mr. Rodoni said a booming area of his business involved assisting
companies to plan and execute mergers and acquisitions and preparing
businesses for sale or transition to the next generation. “Whereas five
years ago, it took 10 per cent of my time, ’it’s now more than 40 per
cent,” he said.
Since 2005, RSM Bird Cameron has undertaken two national surveys of
SMEs which have identified that wealth and succession planning are
major hurdles facing the SME sector. The findings of the survey can be
found in the firm’s publication “Think Big”. An update of the survey is
planned for 2009.
“The biggest challenge at the moment is getting clients to think far
enough ahead, in terms of the next stage of business development,
retirement and succession, rather than just about the immediate
day-to-day running of the business.
“While the Baby Boomers are looking to exit their businesses in order
to fund their retirement, a large percentage of them may not have a
market to pass their business on to. They have to plan ahead to prepare
to cash out by shaping their businesses for sale. That means focussing
their attention and resources on achieving results that add value in
the eye of a potential purchaser.”
Mr. Rodoni said the three main requirements of “shaping a business for sale” were:
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Up-to-the-minute financial information: “While the demands of GST
compliance have helped, some people are still a long way behind in this
area,” Mr. Rodoni warned.
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Medium to long-term goals about when and how to exit the
business: This involves examining the four “exit” options: Selling to
family; to the market; listing on the stock exchange; or selling to
employees.
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Focus on the aspects of the business that add to its sale value:
Have management understand what constitutes the value of their
business. “A lot of business owners have either no concept of the value
of their business or unrealistic expectations of what their businesses
are worth,” he noted.
RSM Bird Cameron offers a full range of services that go beyond their
core strengths of taxation and business services to extend to a range
of specialist corporate advisory services including: Assurance and
advisory, taxation consulting, corporate consulting, risk management
services and business investigation and recovery.
Over the past 80 years, the firm has grown to cover strategic regional
centres as well as major cities across Australia with 28 offices
nationwide. Based on a culture of teamwork they service a client base
comprising large corporations, SMEs and government agencies across a
diverse range of industry groups. RSM Bird Cameron is a core member
firm of RSM International, the sixth largest accounting and consulting
organisation in the world.
For more information
Terry Rodoni,
National Director, Business Solutions,
RSM Bird Cameron
Tel: +61 8 8232 3000
For media assistance, call John Harris at Impress Media Australia on 08 8431 4000 or email
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