Taupō chartered accountant Gary Chapman, pictured with some of his staff, has been in the business 61 years. Photo / Laurilee McMichael
It was when Gary Chapman was out spraying ragwort on a farm that he was asked to become a partner in an accounting firm.
The young chartered accountant had recently moved to Tokoroa from Auckland and, finding he knew little of the profession of many of his clients - mostly farmers - was doing hands-on work to get a handle on the rural business.
Gary has been a chartered accountant 61 years but this month his 60-year anniversary, which had to be put off because of lockdown in 2020, was marked with a special gift from Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand.
Gary received a pin and a certificate and Central North Island regional manager Neal McDiarmid said Gary was one of the only a handful of members to achieve the 60-year milestone.
"I'm actually 60 years as a principal in an accounting firm now because I was a partner in Tokoroa when I was 22 years of age, and I'm now 82," Gary said.
Gary grew up in Auckland and attended Mt Albert Grammar before doing his Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants qualification at what was then Seddon Tech, which took him three years of part-time study.
"I was working fulltime in those days and I'd rush up to Seddon at 5pm and go to lectures."
In 1960 at age 21, Gary was qualified and he moved to Tokoroa for his first accounting job. That's how he found himself spraying ragwort.
"I went [to Tokoroa] in July. It was a steep learning curve. I was the only Pākehā in my rugby team and I didn't know much about farming because I'd worked in Queen St.
"I talked to the senior partner and said 'should I go to Massey and learn about farming?' and he talked to a friend and I ended up going and working on his farm for three weeks.
"The three partners I was working for arrived one day when I was out doing ragwort and I thought 'hello, what have I done wrong here?'. They came to say that the senior partner was going to Auckland and would I like to take over his share of the partnership."
Gary accepted and spent the next 18 years working in Tokoroa. In 1980 he moved to Taupō and set up his own firm, Gary Chapman & Associates Chartered Accountants. He still works fulltime.
He says if a person's health hasn't deteriorated and they still enjoy their work, there is no reason why they should not keep working after age 65 if they want.
"The farming clients I have got say their mates who retire, they read the newspaper until 11am, they mow the lawns three times a week and they're as boring as buggery. Most of my clients who're five years or so younger say they're still working, they enjoy working around the farm even if they can't run as fast as they used to or lift a hay bale."
As well as his accounting work, Gary has had extensive voluntary involvement with the Taupō community. He was chairman of Lake Taupō Hospice for seven years and was on the development trust which set up Izard Hospice House. He had a long involvement with the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge.
He's seen changes in accountancy over the years. The most obvious is the move from everything being done on Burroughs and NCR machines to computers - in Gary's early days the firm had to build an extra room especially to house the computer.
The nature of accounting services has also changed. Nowadays, besides book work, accountants work with businesses to help them increase their profits.
"What the accountants used to do was more historic accounting where we say 'last year you made x number of dollars', but [now] there's a lot more dynamic accounting where you're getting figures up to date for clients so you're producing cash flows every two months," Gary says.
"If, for example, you're talking about a clothing retailer, what's fundamental to them is what's the volume of sales and what's your margin ... it's how you get that margin increase for people.
"There's more business advice than in the old days, it used to be just get your tax returns out."
Gary says it doesn't matter whether people are rubbish collectors or brain surgeons, he is always grateful for the clients who have a passion for what they do because that allows him to have an input into their success.
He also loves the variety and the fact that he is able to help people get their businesses straightened out and come up with ideas for generating more income.
"They don't really thank you for completing their tax return for them because they didn't want to pay the tax in the first place, but they do thank you when you help them improve their business. And we get some clients that are stressed and we help them find a way through. Those are the sorts of things that push my buttons."
In accepting his 60-year pin from Mr McDiarmid, Gary said he appreciated his fantastic staff and clients and the support of wife Elaine throughout his career.
"I'm always grateful that somehow I chose the right job and I still enjoy it and I think the day I don't enjoy it I'll get the hell out of it."
