Starting in the real estate industry at just 19, Theo Smith’s determination and drive has seen him forge a hugely successful career over the past two decades, including being ranked as No.1 Residential Sales Person for Harcourts Advantage Realty for Mount Maunganui and Papamoa 2010-2019 and being ranked within the top 20 internationally from 2015-2019.
Theo now owns Team Theo, the award winning team ensures success by focusing on two key factors: their clients and the property market. With a strong emphasis on analysing the market conditions and trends, the team consistently provides brilliant results. That said, ‘work hard and play hard’ is one of the team’s mottoes and they get involved in community events which has even seen Theo strut his stuff on the catwalk for the Women’s Charity Luncheon.
You don’t however become so successful without making the most of the opportunities you have or constantly keeping things safe. ‘As a business owner you’re always wanting to push boundaries to get the most out of your finances. What you need though is a trusted accountant who will make sure that you don’t actually cross those boundaries,’ says Theo.
So, when it came to choosing an accountancy firm over a decade ago, Theo was looking for two things: an established company that could support him and his team with their work and, importantly, a company that focused on developing a rapport with the clients and Grace Team Accounting fitted this brief perfectly. ‘What you don’t want is to become just another client lost in the system. I really value that Grace Team Accounting prioritises 1:1 communication; it’s very reassuring to know that I can just pick up the phone and get the answers I need straight away,’ says Theo.
This relationship was paramount when Theo was chosen to be audited earlier this year as part of the Inland Revenue’s campaign targeting the real estate industry after it had boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘Being picked for the audit was an interesting process, it was the first time I had been audited, but having Grace Team Accounting’s support throughout it all made it much less daunting - we weren’t losing any sleep worrying!’ explains Theo.
And because Grace Team Accounting is so diligent and clear in all their record keeping, Theo was able to have all the information ready to hand to answer the IRD’s questions. In fact they were able to answer the questions so quickly that the whole process only took around six weeks to complete. And of course, since Grace Team Accounting had always ensured that Theo had stayed within the limits, Team Theo passed with flying colours.
As for the future, Team Theo, is currently in the middle of several big projects, including a seven unit development in Tauranga and a big townhouse development in the Mount and having access to Grace Team Accounting’s advice has helped them enormously during the designing process, allowing Team Theo to make sure all their numbers stack up across the board.
Grace Team Accounting works with businesses to provide coaching and planning, so that you can sustainably and successfully scale-up your business. To find out more get in contact.
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