Meet the Team

Accountants & Business Advisors

We’re rather unstuffy. Hope you don’t mind.

Our tailored accounting packages have been put together with farms of all shapes and sizes in mind. The services included in your fixed fee package cover everything you need to run your business with total clarity.

The tools and software we provide you with will give you current figures and trends to work with, to make informed decisions for your farming business.

Relationships, trust and communication are at the very core of our company values, meaning your Accountant will be an integral member of your business, who's only a phone call away whenever you need.

As one of your biggest costs can be servicing debt, included in our packages is an independent review of your finance structure. The relationship with your bank and how your debt is structured is crucial to cashflow and business planning, and we are dedicated to helping you find the best possible banking solution.

TESTIMONIALS

CONTACT

Our Team

Make a booking with any one of our team members to begin your accounting journey today

AllDirectorsAccountantsAdministration

Client Services Administration
Karyn Ballantyne

Director

James Swaney

James is a fully qualified Chartered Accountant and studied at Lincoln University to gain a BCom majoring in Accounting, Finance and Information Technology.

James spent over four years working in the motor vehicle industry in Timaru, before moving to Christchurch for eight years, where he studied and working as an accountant. James moved back to Canterbury and now services Sidekick Ashburton clients in both South and Mid Canterbury.

Looking at the big picture, setting goals and helping clients plan to achieve those goals are what James enjoys most about his job.

When James is not in the office he is usually spending time with his wife and young family or on the squash court. James is also a big rugby, cricket and motor sport fan.

Senior Advisor

Richard Wheeler

Richard has over 15 years of Agri Banking experience in Canterbury, South Canterbury and North Otago.

His knowledge of agriculture and business is current and broad. Richard has successfully helped a range of farming systems from large to small, discover and achieve their goals.

Hailing from a family sheep and beef station prior to attending Lincoln, his roots are firmly grounded in agriculture. Helping farmers succeed is his passion.

With so many challenges facing farming businesses, Richard is uniquely placed to help you optimise your planning and financial needs.

Outside of work, Richard loves doing multi sport and mountain biking with his family and friends.

Accountant

Manish Rawat

Manish, one of our friendly Sidekick Timaru Accountants brings 6 years of experience in the accounting industry, as well as a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Commerce.

Manish’s role at Sidekick Timaru involves a variety of compliance work for our clients, such as end of year financials and GST Returns, and he particularly enjoys the challenging and interesting parts of accounting such as Budgeting and Forecasting.

Outside of work Manish enjoys both watching cricket games and playing cricket, chilling out and watching a movie and exploring new places around Canterbury and beyond.

Senior accountant

Maggie Harvey

With a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Taxation from the University of Canterbury, Maggie is well on her way to becoming a fully qualified Chartered Accountant in 2018. Maggie, a Senior accountant on our team, brings with her a wide variety of business accounting knowledge from previously working at a medium sized Chartered Accounting firm.

When Maggie isn’t working in the Sidekick office, out and about visiting clients, or studying towards gaining her CA qualification, she enjoys running around the beautiful streets of Timaru and cooking delicious meals. Originally from Ikawai (just out of Waimate), Maggie moved to Timaru in November 2017 and we’re so pleased she did!

Intermediate Accountant

Chloe Lea

One of our Sidekick Accountants, Chloe has many years of experience in the local accounting industry as well as customer service experience for a large New Zealand power company.

With both a Bachelor of Accountancy from Massey University and a Certificate in Professional Office Management from Timaru Polytechnic, Chloe has all the tools and knowledge to help our clients.

When she’s not working with the team at Sidekick Timaru, Chloe enjoys spending time with family, socialising with friends and walking her dog.

Administration

Lea Gibson

Helping out with many aspects of administration, Lea ensures all clients and staff are well taken care of. Lea has ten years of working in accounts based roles in both New Zealand and London, as well as 2 years experience working in the accounting industry.

With a bachelor of Tourism Management from Lincoln, Lea brings many skills to the Sidekick Timaru office. Helping our clients with everything from payroll and bookkeeping Lea is also the smiley face you’ll see at reception when you come to our office.

A local from a family farm south of Timaru, Lea enjoys spending her spare time gardening, walking her dog and spending time with her young daughter.

Senior Accountant

Jess Hampton

Jess has a varied accounting background, having worked in both accounting practices and commercial environments, in NZ and overseas.

Jess graduated from Otago University with an LLB and BCom, and then embarked on her accounting career in Wellington. After gaining her Chartered Accountancy, Jess worked in both Dublin and London, while enjoying life on the other side of the world. She eventually returned to her home province – now married with three boys, she loves working with the Sidekick team to help businesses achieve their goals.

Outside of work, Jess loves spending time watching her kids playing sport and heading to the beach in beautiful Kakanui

Administrator

Melissa Williams

Mel is the friendly face you’ll be greeted by at reception when you come to our office. Mel looks after anything from client queries to bookkeeping and payroll. With a background of working in the customer service industry, her top priority is maintaining great client and workplace relationships.

When Mel isn’t working she loves to spend time with her family on the farm at Tarras or the Ohau batch and catching up with friends.

Client Services Administration

Karyn Ballantyne

Working as Client Services Administrator, Karyn has come to us from a varied Administration background, including Manufacturing, Recruitment and more recently Agriculture. With over 20 years experience, Karyn brings many skills to the Sidekick Team. Karyn has extensive Xero experience in both Agri and Commercial businesses and is excited to bring that value to Sidekick clients.

A local from Timaru, Karyn enjoys everything South Canterbury has to offer. She spends her summer months camping in Twizel and when the weather is not so nice Karyn is often helping backstage for South Canterbury Drama League.
Karyn likes to spend quality time with her husband, daughter and son, extended family and fantastic friends.

Client Liaison

Lisa Dowling

Lisa joined the Sidekick Timaru Team coming from a varied background of Banking, Sales and still a small business owner.
Part of Lisa’s role includes on-boarding new clients and ensuring their transition is easy to becoming a Sidekick client. Lisa is also involved in organising many of our informative workshops that we run.

Outside of work, one of the many things Lisa enjoys doing is spending time with her partner and children.

Josh Wilson

Employment Lawyer

Kirsten Maclean

Kirsten specialises in dispute resolution, relationship property, HR, and employment law.

A litigator with over 20 years experience in all forms of dispute resolution both here and in England, Kirsten is also a qualified and admitted solicitor on the UK Solicitors’ roll. Kirsten has appeared at all levels of courts in the civil and employment jurisdiction, including the Court of Appeal in New Zealand and junioring in the House of Lords in the UK.

Her significant expertise enables her to provide a range of advice and guidance relating to everything from all aspects of health and safety, to assisting in the prevention and resolution of employment-related issues for both employers and employees, relationship property matters and complex commercial, civil and trust litigation and disputes.
With an outstanding track record for resolving complex litigation while previously working as a partner of a medium sized Canterbury firm and the head of an employment and dispute resolution team, she ensures her client’s business is future-proofed.

Try Sidekick Free

We’ll tailor a one-hour session to suit your business’ needs, showing you all the key features of Xero:

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