Harris Black is a member of the Brentnalls Affiliation.  The affiliation is a network of like-minded, independent Chartered Accounting firms across Australia and New Zealand. Member firms are in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hamilton VIC, Perth and Auckland NZ. Harris Black has been part of this dynamic group of professionals for 25 years. Each of the firms in the affiliation have a similar passion for improving client service and striving for best practice in all areas of business.

On Wednesday 19 October 2022, 3 Harris Black Directors (Brendan, Renee and Nathan) attended the 51st Brentnalls’ conference at the Doubletree Hilton overlooking the Swan River. It is only our second recent in-person conference after we held 3 virtual conferences during Covid.  It was so good seeing each other face-to-face.

Each practice provides an update of the last 6 months, and as we all know each other so well there are many honest success and failures disclosed, which is an amazing learning experience for all attendees. We also benchmark each practice’s financial and human resources circumstances against each other to gain insights into our strengths and weaknesses. These provide great discussion over our evening dinners and a glass of wine (perhaps).

A particular highlight at this conference were 2 external speakers.

Samantha Jackson spoke brilliantly on personal health and had some great stories about some of her client successes including being the Health Coach for Mel Gibson for the last 3.5 years. There was a lot of ferocious notes taking as she pushed us all to improve our eating and fitness habits.

Gihan Perera is a Futurist, and he spoke informatively about the changing world, with very simple examples of the massive changes that have occurred in the last 20 years, and possibly what to expect in the future. In particular, the different mindsets of the different generations (Millennials, GenY, GenX, Baby Boomers etc) and how they react and absorb change.

As always, we ate very well each evening, and the noise generated at dinner was an indication of the great camaraderie and discussions about what we had heard during the day. We are very lucky to be able to meet and share our resources across the Brentnalls group and learn much more quickly based on other practices wins and losses.

Harris Black is proud to be a founding member of the Brentnalls National Affiliation, which has just been ranked 31st in the Australian Financial Review Top 100 Accounting Firms of 2022.

The growth of Harris Black and all firms in the affiliation is a testament to the collaborative model and culture of the group, where the focus is on being better positioned to help our clients achieve their goals.

Harris Black was proud to be a sponsor of the recent Open Haven Gala evening.  Open Haven is a registered charity that provides a safe and confidential place for survivors of domestic violence abuse.  In addition to the weekly support Hubs, the organisation provides Restoration Plans and various Restoration Programs to assist victims regain their independence.

The event was a resounding success and raised in excess of $100,000 of much needed funds.

To learn more and offer your support, refer to Open Haven Domestic | Open Haven Domestic Violence Charity | Brisbane

This year, for our Melbourne Cup celebrations, the Harris Black office headed to the Story Bridge Hotel spending the day at The Corner Bar enjoying a great atmosphere with plentiful food and drinks. Although HB did not win the fashion show, and no one picked the winner, a good time was had by all, and another great HB function was added to the history books.