Lisa Blondell has worked with Southland farm businesses for years as a senior accounting technician, and she has known Farm Focus from the very beginning. When we spoke with her, she was based in the Gore office of Macdonald Perniskie, a chartered accounting firm with offices in Gore, Queenstown and Winton, working with a mix of rural and commercial clients.
“I watched with interest as Farm Focus was designed and built. Right from the start I was impressed with the farmer-focussed options the application delivered.”
Why do accountants and farmers both benefit from the same system?
For Lisa, the best part of Farm Focus is that it works for both sides of the relationship. The farmer keeps the books in one place, and the accountant can see what they need, when they need it.
“I don’t have to bother them by interrupting their busy schedule. I simply log in and download what I need because items such as invoices and payment details are all there at my fingertips.”
“I know farmers enjoy being out on the farm where they can make the biggest difference. They don’t want to be sitting in front of a computer in the office talking to their accountant so having on-line access is a real plus. Neither party has to drop tools which is definitely a step up in terms of improved efficiency.”
Invoices attached, no sifting through paper
Every accountant has a favourite feature. For Lisa, it’s having a copy of each invoice attached to the transaction.
“I’m a big fan of the report function that allows for a copy of invoices to be attached to the transactions within the software, no more sifting through folders of paper invoices for additional details. It’s very user friendly.”
Is it hard to move a farm client’s records to new software?
When a client moves to Farm Focus, their business information moves with them.
“When clients switch to Farm Focus all their business information goes with them, to the one place at one time straight away. No more time-consuming going back and forth between new and old packages to access files.”
Built for how farmers pay and plan
Because Farm Focus is in the cloud, farmers and accountants can work in it from any device. Lisa also rates the batch payments, which let farmers pay a run of invoices in one go.
“The batch payment option is great! Users can load upcoming invoices for payment, then upload a bank file to their internet banking and pay with simple push of a button. The fact this option has been included shows the whole Focus application has been tailored to meet future expectations of transactional processing.”
“To me Farm Focus is the full package and covers everything a farmer needs to run their business effectively and efficiently. I do see the application as a major improvement in efficiency for rural businesses.”
A good match for farmers and accountants
That early judgement has held up. Today accountants and advisers can manage all their client farms from one dashboard with Focus Workspaces, and farmers can give their accountant access to the same live numbers. Every Farm Focus customer gets free onboarding and phone support from a team that knows farming, in New Zealand and Australia.
“Being able to do my job with the least fuss and bother is the ideal and Farm Focus has made this possible for myself …and my Farm Focus customers!”
