Focus is helping us!

Contract milkers Kirrily and Cody Hickey, and their family Mikayla (9), Chase (7), Tyler (5) and Oliver (6mths), moved north from Taranaki to Matauri Bay near Keri Keri, on 1 June this year.

The trip north was another considered step in their ultimate plan of owning their own business.

Kirrily says planning is everything as the couple work towards their own property but when their financial planner strongly recommended they get on board with Cash Manager Focus (Focus) she wondered if she could be out of her depth using the new application.

“She said if you are serious about planning and budgeting why not get the best package in place right from the start. Cody’s parents had been using Cash Manager RURAL (RURAL) so I was a little familiar with the concept although I couldn’t say totally confident with this new tool!”

As often happens Kirrily says she need not have worried. ‘Focus was quite easy to pick up – there’s much that’s simply common sense so you can’t go too wrong.

“One of my favourite things is as simple as being able to choose my own coding. “I enter the first letter of an invoice and a selection box pops up so I’m not trying to figure out where it belongs as was the case before, especially with codes I didn’t create.”

Completing GST returns has been another victory. “I wasn’t 100% confident when I set out but, with the information you need already loaded the tricky work is done. Apart from saving time there’s real satisfaction in easily completing tasks that used to routinely challenge.”

Kirrily says seeing their budget in black and white has been another positive change for the couple. “Cody is visual so he now can see exactly where we’re at – we’re always on the same page even though we absorb information in a different way.

“I’m glad we got on board with Focus. We’ve taken on a massive challenge here milking 700 cows, managing staff, and raising our four young children and Focus has really helped us keep planning and pushing forward to achieve our goals.”