Michele A’Court
Master of Ceremonies 
Winner of “Female Comedian of the Decade” at the 2010 NZ Comedy Guild Awards, Michèle A’Court is a stand-up comedian, writer, social commentator and corporate MC.
Michèle is a frequent voice on RNZ National’s “9 to Noon” and “The Panel”; and she has been writing a weekly newspaper column on social issues since 2008, which is published in “Your Weekend” magazine with the Press, the DomPost and Waikato Times, and also on the Stuff website.
She has written two bestselling books: “How We Met” (2018) and “Stuff I Forgot To Tell My Daughter” (2015) both published by Harper Collins.
Her international experience as a stand-up comedian includes work in the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor. She has been working as an after-dinner speaker, event host and conference MC for more than 20 years.
Michèle is Chair of “The Aunties” Trust, a grassroots charity for women and children in need. She is also Patron of the Moving & Handling Association of NZ (MHANZ) which cares for carers in the health sector. Michèle is a proud member of Actors’ Equity, and a Life Member of the NZ Comedy Guild.
Sam Johnson 
Keynote speaker
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 9:10am
Sam Johnson has lived his life in the public eye and built a career doing service to others. His relentless energy to mobilise people around ideas has a magic ability in building movements that matter! Farm boy turned social entrepreneur, Sam’s kaupapa is using the power of the collective to overcome the bureaucratic - shifting our belief system about what is possible. Sam is the Chief Executive of the Student Volunteer Army, former Young New Zealander of the Year and most recently won the prestigious High-Tech Award for ‘Impact for Good’ with the SVA for their work during Covid19.
Amy Scott 
Keynote speaker
"Mastering Communication - The Key to Connecting & Collaborating in 2022"
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 9:10am
In today’s world we are under more pressure than ever to “connect” and "collaborate" with absolutely anyone - virtually & in person!
But we simply can’t connect or collaborate without being able to effectively communicate first!
Naturally different people connect & collaborate in different ways but how do we best adapt our communication style to get the best out of everyone around us? How do we manage our diverse professional relationships to ensure we have happier, collaborative & more productive workplaces?
The first step is understanding our own natural communication style and the communication styles of the people around us.
Mastering communication is your key to connecting and collaborating like a champion. It also helps you to unleash your true potential.
As a reformed lawyer & former NZ Women’s ice hockey representative Amy has key insights into how effective communication leads to better connection & collaboration.
Described as a “human dynamo” - Amy is engaging, entertaining & most importantly practical in her fresh approach.
Strap yourselves in for an epic experience!
Ethel & Bethel 
Conference close, brought to you by Xero
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 2:45pm
Ethel & Bethel are a couple of old biddies who love nothing more than a cup of tea and few rounds of bingo with a bunch of good folk looking for a fun filled night out! Their unique brand of bingo is coupled with humour and spontaneous performance outbursts. It’s all part of the entertainment and certainly makes your event far more than just bingo! They have been touting their crazy old lady ways at social and fundraising events all over New Zealand for nearly a decade now and are available to make your next occasion fun and fabulous. Laughter with love is their old school kiwi aim.
"Networking Masterclass "
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 3:30pm
Networking is about communicating what is special about you and your business. In this session you’ll learn tricks and tips about how to articulate your businesses uniqueness in a crowded marketplace, the importance of a Networking Plan and how Collaboration can be utlised as a growth as a growth strategy for your business.
Oh and there will be some ‘tips and tricks of the trade’ as well in order to help you make your Networking that little easier and little more fun!
"To err is human: common mistakes and long tails "
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 11:15am
Slips, lapses, mistakes… to err is human and we make, on average, 3-6 of them per hour. That’s 50 a day, five days a week. Worried? Don’t be. We’ll show you how you can protect your business from the people working in it and third parties, including your clients. We’ll look at common mistakes and pitfalls, and the long tail of liability. And we’ll wrap it up with some simple steps you can take to reduce your risk, today.
Charlie Nicholls, Xero
"Founding Sponsor Address"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 10:30am
Charlie is Director of Business Growth at Xero, responsible for leading client engagement in Xero’s home market of New Zealand. As a passionate leader and coach, Charlie has more than 20 years of sales experience across several industries including real estate and technology.
She is enthusiastic about supporting salespeople and sales leaders to achieve their goals, identifying opportunities to improve sales processes and sales culture, and coaching and developing sales teams.
Charlie will be presenting the Xero Founding Sponsor address.
"Storytelling and how it can be used for bridging the gap between data, insights and action "
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 11:45am
Chris is an Associate Professor of Accounting at the University of Canterbury and a member of CPA Australia, the Institute of Management Accountants (USA) and the Institute of Directors (NZ). He has a Master of Commerce degree from The University of New South Wales, an MBA from Kobe University and a PhD from The University of Auckland
In this session, Chris discusses how storytelling is an important way to learn about a business context and communicate data. He will show how storytelling can be used for bridging the gap between data, insights and action. Any good data story comes from first listening to what business owners think and pinpointing the relevant data. The presentation will cover what makes a data story effective and the need for a clear narrative along with visual tools to communicate the story. By doing this bookkeepers can demonstrate the value of their services and build a lasting relationship with their clients and stakeholders.
"The art of payroll compliance"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 11:45am
Payroll and compliance expert, Chris Mar has been working with Smartly from the beginning, with over two decades of experience leading and advising on payroll compliance. Join Chris as he shares about all the things that need to be considered to pay people correctly. From choosing the right software, setting it up and monitoring it for change. He will also be covering what to look out for to stay compliant with AML regulations and the liability that sits with the processing agent.
"The Future of Tax "
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:30pm
Cy Lochead is the Acting National Leader of Community Compliance. Community Compliance are located in 17 cities and town’s across New Zealand. They provide front-line services for customers at front of house, in communities and with intermediaries
Corey will be leading an Inland Revenue panel on The Future of Tax with colleagues Keith Taylor and Richard Braae, Policy Officers and Rogan Clarke.
Daniel West, MYOB
"How to thrive in our constantly changing world - Expert Panel Discussion"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 2:15pm
Daniel West, Chief Sales & Support Officer, MYOB is participating in the panel session led by Leanne Berry Director, Love Your Numbers Ltd and Partner Manager-Bookkeepers, MYOB. The team will be discussing the operating enviroment for bookkeepers and their clients being in a constant state of change – a global pandemic has only amplified that. Our panel will discuss how bookkeepers can best adapt and pivvot their business and services to seize the opportunities that change can bring. They’ll also discuss how you can most effectively support your clients through change, and provide you with tips and advice on successful change management you can implement right away.
Daniel West joined MYOB in September 2020 as the Chief Sales & Support Officer following sixteen years of working in Silicon Valley. Daniel previously worked for Oracle where he was responsible for defining, building the operational foundation and executing the go-to-market strategy for a Global Business Unit. He was also responsible for creating market awareness and pipeline, developing new opportunities to enable customers and improving customer retention.
Prior to his role at Oracle, he built and led go-to-market, sales operations, enablement and channel functions at companies like Salesforce.com, Infoblox, Mercury Interactive, HP Software and Informatica.
"Demystifying Leave Calculations"
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 10:00am
In this practical interactive payroll session we discuss the infamous leave acronyms – AWE, OWP, RDP, ADP, demystifying how to calculate them, where and when to use them, and includes lots of payroll tips. A must attend for anyone offering payroll as a service as #youdontknowwhatyoudontknow right?
"What is open banking, and why should I care?"
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 10:00am
Gary have been across technology in one form or other for over 25 years. His passion is helping to blend smart technology with people and process. Prior to joining Worldline he was deeply involved in digital transformation projects with Tier 1 & 2 ERP solutions from Infor & MYOB focused heavily on the SMB sector across ANZ.
The world of financial services is teemed with jargons. And open banking is yet another one. However, this new emerging trend has potential to change how you and your client does business in a fundamental way. In this session, which is presented with Gary's colleague, Will Miao, they will take you through what open banking is, some current and future use cases, and most importantly, how you can leverage open banking to make your and your clients’ lives easier.
"How I run my bookkeeping business"
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 12:30pm
In 2016, Irene Bennetts established Admin Army – a business support service with a strong focus on bookkeeping and payroll services.
With 5+ years of operation under her belt, Irene will be sharing how she (and her amazing team) run Admin Army.
This session will include:
- What systems they use
- How they delegate and/or share tasks amongst them
- Required training for all team members
- Their client onboarding process
- Some of the lessons they’ve learnt the hard way
- How to grow from sole operator to 20+ in the team (hint: diversification helps)
- What Irene considers to be the key to Admin Army’s success
"Successfully offering debtor management as a service - a first-hand account"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:30pm
Learn how to future proof your business from AR automation guru Matt McFedries and bookkeeping legend, and Certified Bookkeeper - Janice Hughes.
Offering debtor management is a strategic way of deepening relationships with your existing clients and gives you a unique offering to market to new clients.
In this session Matt and Janice will arm you with the knowledge you need to successfully add debtor management to your services. This will be a fun, interactive session so make sure you bring your curliest questions to put to Matt and Janice
Jordan Redpath, Acume
"How will einvoicing affect me and my customers, the definitive answer."
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 11:15am
Jordan is the Service Delivery Manager, Product Guru and Serial Problem Solver for Acume.
As a reformed accountant and recent escapee from the Big4 he has always enjoyed gaining a deep understanding of his clients’ needs and wants. From strategy through to compliance, tax returns to business analysis, his background spans just about every element of a business you could think of.
This session focusses on eInvoicing. Everyone has now heard about einvoicing, but there are still a lot of questions about how it will affect both individual business and bookkeepers. In this presentation Jordan, together with Shane Willis, will go through the various scenarios that business will consider when looking for an einvoicing solution to best meet their needs. They will cover of the reporting scenarios that affect the way that information is received and processed by a business and look at the ways that this can be applied to einvoicing.
"The Future of Tax "
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:30pm
Keith is a Strategic Policy Advisor at Inland Revenue. Policy Advisors are not normally asked to speak at events, so when asked for his profile this is what he came up with: He is currently playing Dying Light 2 on a PC running an RTX 2070S. His hobbies include the R&D tax rules, the future of tax administration, and the idea that the private sector will carry the torch of innovation in tax in the future. His average Wordle score is four. He is a member of the PCMR on Reddit and is an Aries.
Keith will be participating in The Future of Tax Panel with colleagues, Cy Lochead, Rogan Clarke and Richard Braae.
Leanne Berry, MYOB
"How to thrive in our constantly changing world"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 2:15pm
In this panel session led by Leanne Berry Director, Love Your Numbers Ltd and Partner Manager-Bookkeepers, MYOB, the team will be discussing the operating enviroment for bookkeepers and their clients being in a constant state of change – a global pandemic has only amplified that. Our panel will discuss how bookkeepers can best adapt and pivvot their business and services to seize the opportunities that change can bring. They’ll also discuss how you can most effectively support your clients through change, and provide you with tips and advice on successful change management you can implement right away.
"The journey to good digitisation"
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 11:45am
Hear from MYOB’s Community Relations Manager - Partners, Leanne Berry on the journey to good digitisation for your bookkeeping practice, your clients, and MYOB. Leanne will share:
- What good digitisation looks like – and how you can avoid the pitfalls that bad digitisation can bring
- 3 key functions that a modern practice must focus on in 2022
- What MYOB is doing to help create good digitisation for your practice and your clients
"How to prepare your client’s accounts for end of financial year handover"
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 12:30pm
In this session, Lisa will demonstrate what you need to know when preparing to handover your clients' end of year information to a Chartered Accountant for financial statements and/or tax returns. This will be a practical demonstration showing you a step-by-step process for end of year.
"Zombie Companies – The Walking Dead"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 2:15pm
In this session Lynda will explain to us what a Zombie Company is, and how recent events have contributed to their existence and increase.
We’ll consider the effect that anticipated events may have on these companies and how we can expect them to react.
This session will help you to identify and advise any clients who are, or are at risk of becoming, a Zombie Company. We’ll also consider some steps that your clients can take to prevent losses from dealing with these walking dead.
"Successfully offering debtor management as a service - a first-hand account"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:30pm
Learn how to future proof your business from AR automation guru Matt McFedries and bookkeeping legend, and Certified Bookkeeper - Janice Hughes.
Offering debtor management is a strategic way of deepening relationships with your existing clients and gives you a unique offering to market to new clients.
In this session Matt and Janice will arm you with the knowledge you need to successfully add debtor management to your services. This will be a fun, interactive session so make sure you bring your curliest questions to put to Matt and Janice
"Accounting for cryptocurrencies"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 11:15pm
Bitcoin, Ethereum & Dogecoin are just three of the over 13,000 cryptocurrencies that currently exist. This rapidly growing asset class has created a unique set of accounting challenges, which will be covered in this session – including what are cryptocurrencies, revenue recognition, capital vs revenue, analyzing transactions and IRD enforcement activity.
Mel Morris, Xero
"Worklife balance and well-being for you and your bookkeeping business"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 11:15am
Melanie joined Xero as NZ Head of Bookkeeping in 2016 after a varied and successful work journey, that also led her to found Bookkeeping and Beyond (Xero NZ Gold Partner) and Training and Beyond (Xero Platinum Partner) both multi-awarding winning businesses. Both companies are pioneers in the cloud technology community and act as training partners and conversion specialists for selected Xero add-on partners.
After 4 years growing Bookkeeping and Beyond, literally inventing the wheel and working in silo, Melanie identified the need for a professional body that provided education, standards and support to other Bookkeepers. Bookkeeping and Beyond was sold in 2016 when Melanie joined Xero in a part time capacity as Head of Bookkeeping.
When it comes to bookkeeping and financial governance, Melanie has ‘skin in the game’. In 2010 she founded the New Zealand Bookkeepers Association or the (ICNZB) and consulted with both government agencies and private industry to provide strategic leadership and advice for small business development and cloud-based solutions. Her governance roles include, Chair of Finance Committee and Board Trustee of Hagley College and Current Treasurer and Trustee of the Royal New Zealand Ballet Foundation.
Melissa Cheals, Smartly
"From Fashion to Fintech"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 10:00am
From launching her own clothing label in 2006, to becoming a female CEO in a male dominated SAAS industry for New Zealand’s leading payroll company in 2019, Melissa Cheals brings a breadth and depth of experience and a unique perspective on effective leadership. During this 30 minute session, Melissa will reveal what made her jump ship, how she navigated her journey and why she believes the highs and lows throughout have shaped the leader she is today.
"Financial Crime"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 3:00pm
We are fortunate to have members of the Asset Recovery Unit, part of the Financial Crime Group of the New Zealand Police presenting to our delegates.
The Asset Recovery Units (ARU’s) were established in December 2009, specifically to implement the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 (CPRA).
The intention of CPRA is to disrupt, deter, and derail crime with an emphasis (but not limited to) on the areas of organised crime and methamphetamine offending. This is achieved by denying criminals the opportunity to either enjoy the benefits of offending or to reinvest those proceeds in further criminal activity.
Cases are investigated using complex forensic accountancy and financial analysis processes, which are undertaken as part of an all-of-government approach that includes other agencies such as Customs, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), and Inland Revenue. The ARUs also collaborate with overseas law enforcement agencies and provide advice on matters in relation to proceeds of crime policy and legislation.
- receiving, analysing and disseminating financial intelligence
- undertaking the restraint and forfeiture of criminally acquired or derived assets for all government law enforcement agencies
- investigating money laundering syndicates and professional money laundering facilitators.
"How to thrive in our constantly changing world - Expert Panel Discussion"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 2:15pm
Nicky Reynolds, Owner, Accountable Computer Solutions is participating in the panel session led by Leanne Berry Director, Love Your Numbers Ltd and Partner Manager-Bookkeepers, MYOB. The team will be discussing the operating enviroment for bookkeepers and their clients being in a constant state of change – a global pandemic has only amplified that. Our panel will discuss how bookkeepers can best adapt and pivvot their business and services to seize the opportunities that change can bring. They’ll also discuss how you can most effectively support your clients through change, and provide you with tips and advice on successful change management you can implement right away.
"Smartly product overview"
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 11:45am
Want to know how Smartly works for your clients? Join us for a live demo of Smartly to get a feel for the new layout and learn about some of our awesome features that make it simple to run a pay and more! We’ll cover:
- An overview of the Smartly product
- Employee self service and the Smartly app
- Submitting leave requests and timesheets
- Running a pay and One Touch Pay
- Reporting
- Setting up and terminating employees
- Xero integration, timesheet imports and labour costing
- Smartly’s new features
"The Future of Tax "
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:30pm
Richard has been a Policy Advisor at Inland Revenue for the past 6 years, following roles in the private and public sector, which spanned the health, transport and housing sectors. Proving that Policy Advisors can be fun, when asked for his profile Richard felt the most important thing to mention is that his average Wordle score is 4.5.
Richard will be participating in The Future of Tax Panel with colleagues, Cy Lochead, Rogan Clarke and Keith Taylor.
"The Future of Tax "
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 12:30pm
Rogan Clarke is currently working as Director of Digital Change at Inland Revenue where he has responsibility for driving the development of the organisation’s digital channels as part of Inland Revenue’s ongoing Business Transformation Programme. Before joining Inland Revenue Rogan was General Manager of Vector’s smart metering subsidiary, Advanced Metering Solutions (AMS) and prior to that Head of BNZ Digital at Bank of New Zealand. Before moving to New Zealand, Rogan was based in Sweden working in various digital change and leadership roles in the financial, retail and travel sectors.
Rogan will be participating in The Future of Tax Panel with colleagues, Cy Lochead, Keith Taylor and Richard Braae.
Shane Willis, Acume
"How will einvoicing affect me and my customers, the definitive answer."
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 11:15am
Shane is the Head of Finance Processing Disruption for Acume.
Shane has seen from the inside what the transformation of back office workflow consulting and the automation of manual business functions including accotuns payable and accounts receivable. Streamlining those process using powerful but simple software solutions has always been a good idea, but it has now shifted to a new phase with the adoption of Peppol by the NZ and Aus governments. Peppol has opened the door to fast, inexpensive and secure transactions for business of all sizes.
This session focusses on eInvoicing. Everyone has now heard about einvoicing, but there are still a lot of questions about how it will affect both individual business and bookkeepers. In this presentation Shane, together with Jordan Redpath, will go through the various scenarios that business will consider when looking for an einvoicing solution to best meet their needs. They will cover of the reporting scenarios that affect the way that information is received and processed by a business and look at the ways that this can be applied to einvoicing.
"The Mental Audit – Future Focused Thinking"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 3:00pm
An ex-bookkeeper and trained on the job accountant, Simonne supports her industry of more than 24+ years with profiling, training and coaching. A love of people and behavioural processes, Simonne recognises that increasing revenue is not the only part of the wealth equation. Extensive studies in Mental Fitness, Positive Psychology, Behavioural Profiling and a Master NLP Practitioner, Simonne is passionate in identifying, understanding and removing disempowering thought and behaviour patterns that get in the way of our full potential. Fulfilment and success are an inside job.
When we go to conferences and workshops, if we are lucky, we come away jazzed and pumped full of ideas. The best of intentions of implementing…and then, well even with all the best of intentions, we don’t. Find out why and more importantly how to change that. It isn’t what you think, it is HOW you think. A lively and engaging session to evaluate, understand, and gain simple, fast and effective tools to future proof your mental strategies for your future focus.
"How to thrive in our constantly changing world - Expert Panel Discussion"
Friday, 29 July 2022 at 2:15pm
Sue Inkersell, Managing Director, 3rd Arm Admin is participating in the panel session led by Leanne Berry Director, Love Your Numbers Ltd and Partner Manager-Bookkeepers, MYOB. The team will be discussing the operating enviroment for bookkeepers and their clients being in a constant state of change – a global pandemic has only amplified that. Our panel will discuss how bookkeepers can best adapt and pivvot their business and services to seize the opportunities that change can bring. They’ll also discuss how you can most effectively support your clients through change, and provide you with tips and advice on successful change management you can implement right away.
Following her many years working across industries including Government, construction and client service-based businesses, Sue wanted to make a difference to not just one but multiple businesses. So, in 2007, she founded 3rd Arm Admin Ltd. Since then she’s grown her team to 9 and has helped countless Kiwi businesses achieve success.
Sue’s passion is achieving success for small businesses in New Zealand. She firmly believes that her client’s success is her success. She’s big on relationships, collaboration and team work to help businesses achieve success.
"What is open banking, and why should I care?"
Saturday, 30 July 2022 at 10:00am
Will enjoys putting his innovative thinking and product design experience into solving complex problems with big impacts. This is why he has been revolutionising the way kiwis pay with new digital technologies. As the Head of Online Payments at Worldline New Zealand, he looks after new payments methods powered by New Zealand’s first open-banking platform, OPEN by Worldline. Will also sits on the business working group for Payments New Zealand’s API council where he actively contributes to the development of open-banking standards.
The world of financial services is teemed with jargons. And open banking is yet another one. However, this new emerging trend has potential to change how you and your client does business in a fundamental way. In this session, which is presented with Will's colleague, Gary Patterson, they will take you through what open banking is, some current and future use cases, and most importantly, how you can leverage open banking to make your and your clients’ lives easier.
