Our People
The Accelerate team is full of passionate ACC, software, accounting and business experts with experience in a wide range of industries.
Dean is passionate about business and has over 30 years experience in accounting, tax and business development. Dean has founded many successful businesses, including multiple accounting firms.
Mike is the Director of Cricket Operations for IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore. Mike is well known for his role as Head Coach of the Black Caps from 2012 – 2018, where he is considered one of the most successful coaches in the history of the national side. Mike’s strategic vision and team management enables Accelerate to be a market leader. Mike acts as Accelerate’s brand ambassador.
Adam heads the property investment activities of Mackersy Property and has significant knowledge of resource management, property law, finance and development projects, along with experience advising a wide range of clients and entities. He holds Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Science degrees, as well as a Masters in International Business and Law.
Julian leads and implements software development for Accelerate. Julian’s extensive software experience enables Accelerate to save thousands of hours in manual ACC invoice processing. Julian is a Partner at Jolly Good Software in Christchurch, alongside Sir Gil Simpson. Sir Gil founded Aoraki Corporation (later known as Jade Software Corporation). Jade is New Zealand’s most successful software export to date. Julian’s experience in Jade is the key to Accelerate’s innovative technology.
Deanna manages Accelerate’s key accounts ensuring relationships with accounting firms are strong. Deanna drives sales for Accelerate’s products and supports Accelerate marketing activities. Joining Accelerate from an accounting firm background, she understands the challenges firms can face with ACC.
Cass is responsible for refund administration, customer service and providing ACC support to clients. Cass is passionate about enabling New Zealand businesses to obtain refunds, and tackling all things ACC with a range of people across the country.
Emily looks after the finance side of Accelerate’s day-to-day business operations and assists with marketing activities. Emily’s organisational skills and attention to detail keep the wheels turning at Accelerate.
Kirsten is a key account manager at Accelerate, maintaining strong relationships with accounting firms. Kirsten drives sales for Accelerate’s products and supports Accelerate marketing activities.
Ashleigh is Accelerate’s client manager, providing support to all client’s on our ACC management service. She is our first point of contact for all management client queries, advocating on their behalf with ACC
The Accelerate team specialises in all things ACC.
In 2013, Accelerate (formally ‘Arrowform’) discovered inconsistencies in ACC’s invoicing system.
ACC levies are derived from earnings filed with New Zealand’s Inland Revenue Department (IRD), so ACC are forced to make several assumptions. These assumptions result in a percentage of clients overpaying ACC levies. The team began offering ACC refund services to self-employed workers and businesses across New Zealand.
The process of discovering refunds involved large amounts of paperwork and manual processing, so the team decided to make significant investments in software. Accelerate software connects with ACC’s large invoicing and client management system to automate refund discovery.
In addition to refund discovery, accounting firms requested a platform to manage client ACC accounts. Accountants are expected to manage, maintain and monitor client ACC accounts and invoicing. Accelerate began offering both ACC Refund Review and value-add ACC Support services to accounting firms and clients.
Since 2018, Accelerate has processed ACC Refund Reviews for over 250 accountants and provides ACC Support for over 10,000 clients. Accelerate is based in beautiful Alexandra, Central Otago.
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