Gerardo and Adrienne Pascua milk 585 cows on 169 ha of mainly flat land at Centre Bush, near Winton in Southland, where they’ve farmed since June 2019. They first came to us on Cash Manager RURAL and moved to Farm Focus in March 2020. More than six years on, Farm Focus is still where Gerardo builds the budget, checks the numbers and plans the season. When we first spoke with him, about a year after the switch, he was clear about the difference it had made.
“I switched from Cash Manager RURAL to Focus and am so pleased with the result. I didn’t think it would make such a difference but switching over to Focus has been a positive move in many ways.”
Is Farm Focus easy to learn?
For Gerardo, the first thing he noticed was how quickly he could get going, and how much faster everyday work became. He prepares the budget himself, and it’s always ready when he needs it.
“Focus was easy to pick up and is a much faster application to use. For example, I prepare my own budget and when I open Focus my information is right there ready to go. I can make changes easily compared to RURAL when I had to print stuff out and it took time to find where we were at.”
Because everything works in real time, the numbers are up to date and he can log in from anywhere, on any device. That’s handy in the busy times of the dairy season.
Less paperwork, coding that makes sense
Gerardo sets up his own codes, so the accounts read the way the farm runs, and mistakes are easy to put right. Invoice scanning was new when we spoke, and he was quick to use it.
“With Focus you make up your own codes which makes sense and if I make a coding error it’s easy to go back in and quickly change it. The new invoice scanning capability also makes a difference! When an invoice comes in, I now download this straight to the invoice scanner which converts the detail and attaches the information to our bank feed.”
Today, much of that work looks after itself. Bank feeds bring in the transactions, the Invoice Scanner handles the bills, and their Farm Source and Farmlands accounts are connected, so the information flows straight into Farm Focus.
How does a dairy budget help you make decisions?
With the whole season laid out in front of him, Gerardo can see what’s coming and plan for it, rather than finding out when the bank balance drops. Cash forecasting and GST returns are easier too.
“The information you need is already in the system ready to use. Also, with YTD volumes I can see where things are at and the entire year is laid out so I can scroll across our income and outgoings and know where we headed, where things will get tight.”
He still works that way: the budget is kept current through the season, and GST is filed every two months straight from the same numbers. Since July 2026, he can also ask the AI Farm Assistant quick questions about actuals, plans and reports.
Working with the accountant
Their accountant is linked into the file, so she can review the accounts whenever she needs to, without having to arrange a visit. Farmer and accountant are always looking at the same, up-to-date numbers.
No surprises
For Gerardo, the result is simple: numbers he can trust, and decisions made with the full picture.
“The switch was easy and, because the information I’m seeing and using is right up to date, there’s no surprises.”
Every Farm Focus customer gets free onboarding and phone support from a team that knows farming, in New Zealand and Australia.
