Accountant Geoff Young might be a semi-retired septuagenarian, but he shows no signs of slowing down.
Every day Geoff rises at 4am for a very early morning coffee before answering emails and generously sharing his decades of accounting experience with users of the MYOB Community Forum.
Geoff worked in Southern Rhodesia as a Cadet for the Department of Native Affairs in the late 1950s, and would later work for insurers Royal and Sun Alliance in London during the swinging sixties. When he moved to Australia in the 1970s he worked for shipping company P&O Lines and as the State Accountant for OCAL in Fremantle.
More recently, Geoff’s family ran shops in Western Australia for 20 years. “So I really have a great insight into running a successful business” – insight he has put to good use in his most recent career change. Since 2002, Geoff has had his own bookkeeping practice based in Busselton, a fast-growing coastal city south of Perth.
“I tried to get a job as an accountant with some of the local accountants when we retired from our pie shop in Kirup, but to no avail. I was too old and not subservient enough!” Geoff laughs. Geoff’s son suggested he open his own bookkeeping practice, and in “a rather interesting turn of events”, Geoff soon ended up taking clients from those who had earlier turned him away. “A case of the biter bit!”
Most days Geoff heads off to work around 6am, but is home by 11am to spend the rest of the day with his wife Ann. Geoff and Ann have been married for 47 years. He describes her as “a fantastic cook who greatly contributed to the successful running of their businesses”.
Geoff describes his current job as the best he has ever had. “My main client is absolutely terrific,” Geoff beams. “I have been with Dave for over 12 years, he is my friend. He always has a joke for me every day. Dave installs mining camps in the Northwest of Australia. He would be the most Christian-orientated person I have ever met.”
Geoff first started using MYOB software back in 2000 when returning to the world of accountancy. He says he contributes to the Community Forum because “I like to help others”.
He was initially drawn by “the friendly and helpful attitude of the fellow contributors and the moderators”. “No one will ever tell you what stupid question or answer that was!” But even with his decades of experience, Geoff says he still receives benefit from reading posts every day. “I help and I learn.”
Geoff strongly encourages beginners to post their questions. “Some of the seemingly naïve questions which seem a real problem for the person who posted it, may help someone who is too frightened to ask,” he says. “I was once also there myself and was asking similar questions. Never be frightened to ask a seemingly stupid question if you don’t understand something.”
Geoff’s top tip for beginners is to “try to keep it simple”. “Credits and debits - money in and money out…”
Passionate about his family, Geoff has three adult children. One is an officer in the RAAF who Geoff is looking forward to coming home at Christmas 2016. Geoff also enjoys public speaking, painting, reading, Geocaching, watching television, and certainly has no plans to slow down anytime soon.
