Right for the job

WHEN Stephen Shortis looked at setting up his own accounting business, he had one simple criteria – it had to be as far out of the city as possible but still have a metropolitan phone number.
That was 30 years ago and he chose Yarra Glen.
The new modern offices, incorporating two shop-fronts and including a new second storey meeting room and staff facilities, are a world away from the back room office he sub-let in a Bell Street real estate office all those years ago.
The business, SVS Management Services Pty. Ltd., now has 18 people on the payroll, more than 3000 clients and provides a range of services – some of which weren’t even thought of when Mr Shortis started out.
“We do the full gamut – tax management, accounting, financial planning, Centrelink, estate planning, superannuation and lending,” Mr Shortis said.
“We believe all the services work well together – we think of it more as total lifestyle management where you need to know where you are going and how you will finish up.”
Much of what SVS provides comes down to peace of mind for its clients.
For Centrelink clients SVS takes over managing the client’s whole Centrelink commitment.
“Centrelink is a big bureaucracy which can be daunting but we can get through that just by having regular appointments and getting to the right person to deal with particular issues.”
A solicitor is available one or two days a week to deal with estate planning and an accountant specialising in superannuation is part of the team to deal with another growing area of demand.
SVS is also an agency for the Bendigo Bank providing an alternative for Yarra Glen and district residents to the mainstream banking organisations.
The 3000 strong client base includes a large percentage of local and Yarra Valley residents but also has a large representation from metropolitan Melbourne and some overseas clients.
Mr Shortis is proud of the success which has enabled him to expand the services and provide modern, pleasant facilities for clients and staff.
“I am particularly proud of the service we offer and team we have delivering those services,” he said.
“We have a large team approach and we have a really terrific lot of people here.
“Our philosophy is that we appoint the right type of person and train them. We have two people doing their CPA at the moment,” he said.
“Personally, it’s about working with people – that’s what I love about the job.”