When property management specialists Hamish and Claire Wilson were looking for an accountant who would do more than just crunch the numbers, they came across Aaron Cassidy.
Since coming on board with their business, A1 Property Managers, Aaron has encouraged Hamish and Claire to push the boundaries.
“There’s the standard compliance side of it, in terms of tax and tax advice, that standard financial service, but [Aaron] is also good at challenging us and saying ‘well, what’s next’ … there is some forward thinking and planning and constantly being challenged,” Hamish says.
Aaron has been working with Hamish and Claire for the last three to four years and is always on hand to help them with anything that crops up.
“He’s always contactable, regardless of the firm he has been working for, we always feel that if we have a question we can contact him,” Hamish says.
“He’s also quite tenacious if there’s something he that needs to be sorted out he will find an answer, and you don’t usually have to remind him, he gets it the first time; he will chase it down until he finds an answer, which is refreshing.”
Aaron specialises in property accounting and business advisory, which has been instrumental in terms of helping A1 Property Managers to reach industry-specific goals.
“We needed someone with knowledge of and interested in property, it’s definitely helpful having someone who is on board with us rather than having to explain the terms and rationale behind things,” Hamish says.
Hamish and Claire joined the long-standing family-owned business, A1 Property Managers, in 1999 and now manage hundreds of properties across Christchurch and negotiate more than 800 tenancies a year.
While concentrating so hard on the day to day running of the business, Hamish has valued having business advice and a long-term perspective from Aaron.
“When you’re in business and working in the business, you don’t think of all the contingencies from the outside looking in. It is definitely valuable to consider other things that you hadn’t thought about as being important but as time goes on they come into fruition,” Hamish says.