My Account
Warkworth accountant Rick Middleton has numerous ‘second generation’ clients on his books these days – the children of the people he advised when he first moved to the district nearly 40 years ago. He says it underscores the undeniable fact that he is getting older and retirement is looming. As a sole practitioner, one of his main concerns was ensuring continuity of service for his clients. He joined accounting firm KGA two years ago with this in mind, and this week KGA merged with another long-standing Warkworth practice Nicholls Brown. Rick told Jannette Thompson that there’s not much on his bucket list except maybe some travel and he’s not in any hurry to hang up his calculator …
I probably shouldn’t admit to this, but I was a fairly average student at school and I went into accounting because I wasn’t any good at anything else. I grew up in New Lynn, just around the corner from Crown Lynn potteries and Crum Brick & Tile. My father was a sales manager for NZ Industrial Gases and Mum was a fashion buyer for Smith & Caughey’s, in Newmarket, for nearly 30 years. My first school was Avondale Convent and then I went on to St Paul’s in Ponsonby. Even when I started my accounting degree at Unitec, or the Auckland Technical Institute (ATI) as it was then, it wasn’t straightforward. I mucked around a bit, but I did eventually finish the degree and, thankfully, I found I enjoyed it.
After qualifying, I worked for KPMG for seven years, auditing some of the largest companies in NZ at that time, including NZ Forest Products, Winstones and R & W Hellaby. But I had a hankering to be my own boss so when I saw an advertisement for a sole practice in the ‘environs of Auckland’, it sounded just what I was looking for. I’d married Anne by this stage and started a family so there was also the thought that we’d like to raise the children in a semi-rural environment. The ‘environs of Auckland’ turned out to be Wellsford with clients in Warkworth as well. Thankfully, we had some knowledge of the area from holidays we’d spent up here. My sister Kristine is married to Mervyn Bayer, a builder at Snells Beach, so we’d visited on numerous occasions.
I loved the job immediately. It was right back to the basics of tax work, accounting and investment, and trusteeship advice. When I sold to KGA, the practice was four times the size it was when I took over and my clients are now spread the length and breadth of NZ. One of the pleasures of the work has been getting to know people from all walks of life and the sense of trust that develops over many years, which I believe is built on honesty and integrity. In the early days, it wasn’t unusual for clients to bring in something that they might have a bit extra of such as a side of venison, some fish or something from their garden. It still happens, but less often these days.
Outside of work, I guess my passion for many years was refereeing rugby. I wish I’d been an All Black but sadly, like so many, I just wasn’t good enough. I played in the First XV at St Paul’s, usually lock or flanker, but at 26 I decided to become a ref. You can’t print this, but it takes balls to be a ref and you’ve got to be fit. You’ve also got to have a steady nature, be fair-minded and have the ability to manage and control men. I remember being invited to ref a club final at Kawakawa once, where passions were running high on both sides. There was a big crowd and just after kick-off, a melee broke out with punches flying in all directions. In the end, I threw one player in the sin bin, only to find out later he was the local cop. I ref’d up until 1991 and got as far as refereeing at national provincial level and touring sides, as well as in Australia and the United States. I was a touch judge when South Africa played North Auckland during the infamous tour of 1981. We had to be identified to the police before the game and it was a bit disconcerting running out onto the field through barbed wire. Before I retired, I was chairman of the North Harbour Referees Association for five years. We were all part-timers then, of course. The professional era came a few years after I’d given the game away and a lot has changed as a result.
One of the great things about the game back then was that even the best players – I’m talking about the All Blacks of that time, players such as Adrian Clark, Sid Going, Ian and Eddie Dunn, and Joe Morgan – still played a lot of club rugby. It meant that fellas like myself got to referee the best and I believe the game of rugby overall was better for it. I think it’s a bit sad that young players these days don’t get that same opportunity.
I think if you want to feel like part of a community, then you have to get involved. One of the first organisations I joined when I came to the district was Warkworth Lions and over the years, I’ve held practically every office in the club. Lions was instrumental in getting Totara Park built, as well as many other activities for the betterment of Warkworth such as the wharf and walkway projects, and the Take a Kid Fishing event. Anne and I both belonged to the Rodney Badminton Association – she was a much better player than I was – and I joined the board of the Warkworth Wellsford Hospice at the invitation of Dave Parker. It’s a marvellous organisation, as Anne and I learned first-hand when our daughter Andrea was ill and, again, when my Dad was diagnosed with cancer. Most people, at some stage of their life, will have need of the Hospice service so there’s a lot of goodwill towards it. It’s an organisation that draws the community together with a very dedicated team of paid staff and volunteers. I think people realise that when they donate to Hospice, the money is being well-spent. It really is a very inspiring organisation to be involved with.
Anne and I met when we were teenagers and both still at school. Her people lived two streets up from Eden Park and some people said I married her for the good carparking, but she was pretty good looking and a good cook too. In a couple of years, we’ll celebrate our golden wedding anniversary. We had three children – a son Steven, who’s a police officer in Gisborne, Paula, who is the head nurse with the Warkworth Wellsford Hospice, and Andrea who died of cervical cancer when she was 38. We’ve had a lot of fun on our property at Pohuehue, where Anne bred Angora goats for many years. She’s got a great eye when it comes to animals and she won a lot of ribbons. She had 200 goats at one stage, but I’m pleased to say this is now down to six and three of those are corrugated. My interest in animals leaned more toward Hereford cows and one of my heifers won a national trophy. I’m also a past president of the Northland Hereford Breeders Association. Our interest in animals led to some of our travels, both around NZ and overseas.
Although I realise that the time to slow down and step down is drawing near, for now I’m still enjoying work. There’s no doubt that it is a lot more complex than it is used to be – any guide on taxation is twice the size it was 10 years ago. I also think Inland Revenue is very aggressive at the moment. Politicians are under pressure to recover as much taxation as possible and a lot of what’s happening is contrary to the accepted practice of the past 10 to 15 years. The goal posts keep shifting and it’s incumbent on accountants to keep up to speed. It’s a bit of a challenge but I enjoy it – you are never too old to learn something new. Aside from my accountancy work, I still audit about 70 organisations, ranging from RSAs and sports clubs to companies, and I think this will always keep me active and involved.
