BUSINESS PROFILE
Creating a modern business landscape
Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe me maunga teitei
Pursue that which is precious, and do not be deterred by anything less than a lofty mountain
P HO T O G R A P H Y BY I S H NA JAC OB S
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op of the South iwi Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō has built strong relationships with accountants RWCA and IT firm BlueBerryIT to carry good old-fashioned values into a dynamic future. With a rohe (tribal area) that stretches from the Marlborough Sounds to Nelson Lakes, over to the Kawatiri (Buller) and up to Farewell Spit, and business interests that include investment, fishing, aquaculture, property and tourism, the iwi says its ‘office space’ is huge, “and comes with some pretty amazing views”. The Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō Trust represents the interests of 2800 iwi members, who expect robust 28
and credible financial reporting, effective budget control and clear accountabilities in the management of iwi wealth. Likewise, solid IT infrastructure has enabled the iwi to use the latest technologies and software to improve workplace efficiency and productivity across the board. Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō Trust’s relationship with RWCA is relatively recent at around 12 months, but the iwi identified with a company whose reputation for excellence and quality of service is founded on trust earned over the course of generations. The nature of those accounting services has changed massively, of course, from pencil and ledger to ‘cloud’ wizardry.
RWCA is a leading Xero Partner and a Gold Partner with CrunchBoards Reporting, both of which save time and money whilst tracking business performance, plus allowing the flexibility to work from anywhere. “The Trust’s operational team has more time to work on projects, whilst entrusting the compliance part of the business to us,” says RWCA. (The accountants, formerly Richards Woodhouse, have their own long links to Nelson, tracing their genealogy way back to Prosser, Alborough and Richards.) For their part, BlueBerryIT partnered with the Trust last year to upgrade their IT systems. This delivered better productivity, greater security and more flexibility in IT