Nicola Manchester works with farm businesses at HC Partners, a Timaru accounting firm with a large share of rural clients. She comes from a rural background herself, so she understands both the financial and the hands-on side of farming: both sides of the fence.
“Farm Focus is a company favourite because everything is included under the one log-in – you only need to purchase one application so there’s no add-ons to pay for and most importantly Farm Focus is user friendly … not too complex for users to pick up.”
Why do accountants favour one app for farm clients?
HC Partners’ clients are free to choose their own software, and the firm supports them whatever they choose. Farm Focus is still a company favourite. For the farmer, it’s one application with full capabilities and no add-ons to buy. For the accountant, it’s one system to know well and support across every client, from a small block to a large dairy operation.
“With a wide range of farm types and sizes it stands to reason customer requirements will differ greatly and this is well catered for within the Farm Focus package.”
Because Farm Focus is easy to pick up, clients keep their own books up to date. The accountant starts from tidy, current numbers instead of a pile of paperwork.
How does remote access help the accountant and the farmer?
For an accountant, remote access means keeping an overview of every client without leaving the office. Nicola can see how a client’s business is tracking and step in early, between the yearly accounts.
“When a customer ticks the box to allow remote access, we are able to maintain overview and see how they’re tracking without either party having to leave home.”
That saves time and travel on both sides. When we spoke with Nicola, fuel prices were climbing, and time was short for farmers and accountants alike.
“Recent increases in fuel prices and normal time restraints make logging into a clients account remotely with them cost effective – at the end of the day we’re both looking at the same sets of accounts in real time without the travel burden.”
Is GST easier for accountants with farm accounting software?
GST is where the accountant’s time savings show most. The farmer codes transactions as they go, so the information the firm needs is already in Farm Focus. There’s no chasing clients for invoices before a return is due.
“All the information we require is already saved in the system and, even if a mistake is made this can be corrected during the next period without the usual hassle.”
“Being able to quickly file using MyIRD log-in is the icing on the cake.”
Both sides of the fence, today
Nicola still works with farm clients in Farm Focus today, through HC Partners’ Focus Workspace. In a workspace, accountants and advisers manage all their client farms from one dashboard, see the same live numbers as their clients, and support them without a farm visit. Farmers keep everything in one place, from coding and GST to budgets and reports, and choose who can see it. Since July 2026, both can ask the AI Farm Assistant quick questions about actuals, plans and reports. Every Farm Focus customer gets free onboarding and phone support from a team that knows farming, in New Zealand and Australia.
