Kevin Tuersley
Managing Director, Dexcore Group

Dexcore Group is an importer and distributor of paint and accessories to paint retailers. After a history of fluctuating business results our accountant, Tony Dormer , insisted that we speak to Makis Chyrsanthos as a consultant on improving our business profitability and viability.

In just two sessions, Makis was able to analyse some key financial data and diagnose where the source of some of our issues were.   He made some brief strategic recommendations and left my office manager and I to take responsibility for implementing this.

At first I found the process confronting, because I was hearing things I wasn't prepared to accept immediately.   It challenged some very basic assumptions about how we structured and managed our business.   However, after we took time to absorb the truth and enormity of it all we began to change our approach to our product range, pricing, servicing and improving our business processes.

Within 12 months we had turned around the company's profitability greatly and in the next year we improved by a greater margin again.

The past two years have been a tremendous success and this was greatly assisted by Makis and our accountants at Kreston Dormers for providing us with the information and knowledge to allow us to make the necessary changes.   

Peter Spillane

Doyle Spillane Real Estate

Peter Spillane, former co-owner of Doyle Spillane Real Estate says he has been a Kreston Dormers client for 24 years, from the era when Tony Dormer did his personal tax. Tony Dormer has advised Doyle Spillane during its journey from four staff and $20m sales to one of the North Shore 's most highly-regarded real estate agents, with 26 staff and $160m annual sales. Among independent agencies, it ranks in the top 2% in Australasia in best-practice performance.

Peter has become a specialist project marketer of home units in the Warringah Shire, including Collaroy, Narrabeen and Dee Why, and is known to Northern Beaches developers as Mr Units.   These projects range from four to 100 units.

The bedrock of the firm is its property management, involving 780 properties, and day-to-day residential sales.

Kreston Dormers has been great at putting up-to-the-minute systems and accounts into place here. He also showed us how to run operations via profit centres, Peter says. I feel really comfortable knowing that my back-office processes are state of the art. But we use the firm for a lot more than routine tax and accounting.   Tony helped us set up our family trusts, partnership agreements and super funds, and his ever-helpful staff keep them compliant on a day-to-day basis.   Peter describes Tony Dormer as a modern-thinking accountant in close touch with the latest trends and systems and regulatory needs. Peter has also enjoyed the seminars that Kreston Dormers run to showcase top-level international speakers, and to alert clients to investment opportunities.

He says he would talk to Kreston Dormers first before making any significant business decision, and he would have referred half a dozen friends and clients to Kreston Dormers.

Anne Manning

Financial Controller, Manning & Manning

Manning & Manning are an antiques and furniture dealer with 16 staff. The business is located at Military Road , Mosman.   They have been using Kreston Dormers for business advice for more than six years, and the firm has helped to more than treble the business turnover. Kreston Dormers has brought us from inefficiency into the modern age, with great strategic advice, she says. We really appreciate that.   One thing he did was set up our super fund. It's property based and has grown well - it's fantastic.

At the moment Tony is helping us develop a new wholesale and reproduction furniture business. It's wonderful to have his expertise. On detailed running of the business, Tony gives us advice on best practice which we always take into account though often there are other cultural issues which we need to consider as well. His input provides excellent guidelines.

The whole team at Kreston Dormers makes a genuine effort to look after us and keep us up to date, including training sessions and other innovations. When GST came in, we couldn't have done without their help.

David Leach

CEO of Look Print

"Working with Kreston Dormers and Makis Chrysanthos has been a marriage absolutely made in heaven, true!" says David Leach, CEO of Look Print at Leichhardt. "We found the perfect teachers, they found good pupils," David jokes. His company is an Australian leader in large-format digital inkjet printing work, and constantly imports the world's best printers at prices from $500,000 to $1m each. With 43 employees, the business can print for full-color outdoor signs, for example, in widths of up to 3200mm. And the output can last in the weather for 10 years. Four years ago David got proposals from five accounting firms to help his business. After brooding about the choice, he suddenly realised that it was business advice he wanted, not just accounting and tax, and he immediately knew Kreston Dormers was the firm to go with.

Eighteen months later, Tony Dormer recommended Makis to him. "Using Makis is one of the best decisions I have ever made. We've increased his hours this year and now we use him a couple of days a month.   Probably the most important thing he has taught us is to work out what we are trying to achieve, and then be focused on that and put it into practice. So many other businesses just fly by the seat of their pants. Even if they have a business plan, it may not be right because the plan has to be driven by goals further up." 

He says Makis has also been a strength in advice on the difficult area of people-management. "He's spent enormous effort helping us understand and better lead our team. These insights have helped raise our productivity and efficiency and team morale. Makis balances his theories nicely with a realistic approach and what I like, a lovely sense of humor."

Maybe this is all exaggerated. Look at the results, as provided by David: In fiscal year 2002, 11% increase in sales and 44% increase in net after-tax profit; In fiscal year 2003, 90% increase in sales and 193% increase in net profit. So far in fiscal year 2004, 112% increase in net profit.

"Really, we've been doubling profit every year," David says. "We are just about doubling output this year with only a 30% increase in staff. Three years ago we were just another me-too printer. Now we have the highest-capacity ink-jet digital machines in the country. We do things, others try to imitate us."