Making Time For Strategy, Support And Soccer Season

Maria Livingstone

When Maria Livingstone first walked through the doors of Bennetts Proactive as a young accountant, she admits she was “very green”. She might also have been a little overconfident.

“If you’d asked me back then about becoming a Director, I probably would have arrogantly thought, ‘Oh yeah, I could do that. That looks like an easy job,’” she laughs.

“With more life experience and accounting experience, I can say it’s definitely not an easy job and it’s not an easy path to have gotten here. But it’s really cool to be in this spot, and I’m proud of the work I’ve put in.”

From left: Tom, Maria, and William on a day out at the Agrodome.

Maria’s journey from graduate to Director has taken around two decades and included two stints at Bennetts Proactive, with seven years at another Tauranga accountancy firm in between.

Leaving was a deliberate career move. Having built a strong grounding in horticulture and agriculture, Maria wanted exposure to a broader range of businesses and spent the next stage of her career working with clients across different sectors including construction, property development, retail and manufacturing.

“Working with more traditionally commercial clients, while still having that background in horticulture and agriculture, gives you a wider lens on what options are out there and what you can do for clients,” she says.

Knowing which questions to ask

Maria has learned that good accounting is as much about asking the right questions as producing the right numbers.

In her 20s, sitting opposite an experienced business owner or kiwifruit grower, she didn’t always know which questions to ask. Learning from good role models helped her develop a broader perspective.

Today, the questions coming Maria’s way are often strategic ones: Should I change my orchard from green to gold? Is my banking set up well? I’m thinking of opening a new branch in another city – how would that look and where should I start?

“Those are the questions we’re dealing with on a regular basis. It’s about working through them appropriately and making sure we give clients the advice they need,” she says.

For Maria, one of the clearest signs of a strong accountant-client relationship is simple: the client calls their accountant first.

“You want them to come to you with their questions instead of going to Bob over the fence and then coming in saying, ‘I’ve been told this and I’ve been told that.’ You want them to trust your judgement and your advice, and seek your opinion.”

Becoming a business owner herself has added another perspective. As a Director, Maria is responsible not only for clients but also for our firm and the people who work here.

“You’ve now got a lot of skin in the game, so we do everything we can to make it work.”

Maria out in Tauranga Harbour, swapping the spreadsheets for a fishing rod.

Supporting the team

The guidance Maria received early in her career has strongly influenced the type of leader she tries to be – and it’s a philosophy she is now passing on to the next generation of accountants.

Rather than working from separate offices, Maria and fellow Director Amanda Hodder deliberately sit out on the floor with the rest of the Bennetts Proactive team.

“We work on an open-desk policy. Essentially, the team can come and see us whenever they want or need to. We’ll put down what we’re doing to help them so they can continue with what they need to do, and we’ll catch up whenever we catch up.”

For Maria, making herself available to others has never depended on having “Director” in her job title. “Even when I wasn’t paying the bills, it was important to me that the people around me felt supported and had enough instruction to do what they needed to do.”

At home in Te Puke

After five years living in the middle of town, Maria is firmly embedded in the local community. She enjoys the convenience of having everything within easy walking distance and the familiar faces she bumps into regularly.

At home, life revolves around her two stepsons, aged eight and 13. While she is currently “in the trenches of soccer season”, come summer, boating and fishing will dominate the family’s weekends, often around Tauranga Harbour and the Coromandel.

“I live in a house of boys,” Maria says. “They are often in the shed building and making creations. They’re very hands-on children.”

Add two dogs and three cats – including two kittens that have taken over the dogs’ beds and weekends have a habit of disappearing.

Perhaps that’s why Maria’s approach to both work and home is refreshingly pragmatic. “I’m the kind of person who just goes with the flow pretty well. I just do what needs to happen.”

From left: Tom, Scott, William, and Maria on their annual family holiday to the Coromandel.