He's an accountant by day and a farmer by - well, when he has the spare time.
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When David Bicket started his own accounting firm, it was only ever meant to be a little bit of side work, a tax return here and there, so he could spend more time on his farm.
But little did he expect he'd be celebrating his business coming of age after two busy and successful decades, and boasting a staff of three.
They cover everything from taxation and accounting to financial and business issues, and specialise in succession, retirement and estate planning matters.
July this year officially marks 21 years for the Parkes business and we've sat down with the man himself to ask some questions and learn a little more about who David Bicket is and his passion for the community he serves.
How did your business start 21 years ago?
I've grown up on the land and I run a farm of Merino sheep and wheat and barley crops at Coradgery with my brother Scott Bicket. Because farming can have its good and its bad years, when I was 29 years old I wanted to have something up my sleeve and I decided to take on a new challenge. I wanted to do something that would suit me.
I attended Charles Sturt University in Bathurst to complete a Bachelor in Business Accounting over three years. I married Michelle after I graduated in 1996 and we have a son Callum and a daughter Sheri.
When I graduated I went and worked with multiple accounting firms and a large mining firm in Parkes from 1996 to 2002, before I wanted to have a go at running my own business.
The whole idea of going out on my own was to give myself more time to spend on the farm, which didn't quite work out that way. It was much bigger than I had intended. Originally I just wanted it to be me doing a bit of accounting and some tax returns, but high demand saw me take on employees.
I was on my own for only one year before my sister-in-law Lisa Bicket came on board in 2003. So she celebrates 20 years this year. Over the years we've grown to having more employees and now we have three.
We started in what was then known as the Maccas party room, where the new McDonald's car park now is. It had bright yellow walls that took seven layers of paint to hide! We were there until moving to our current location at 60 Bogan Street around 2009.
Tell us a little about the business.
We understand every business is different and requires different levels of support as they progress through their business lifecycles. We can be relied upon for prompt, proactive and accurate advice delivered in a friendly and personal manner. We also believe in the importance of planning and forecasting, so that timely steps can be taken to maximise profitability and to achieve a client's personal, financial and business goals.
Our existing client base not only comes from Parkes itself but also from neighbouring towns and surrounding farming districts.
Ongoing staff of the business comprise Lisa Bicket, Trudy Floyd and Michael Reilly.
Since 2003 Lisa has been the backbone of the business as office administrator/all-rounder. And we've welcomed Michael to the team. Michael brings a wealth of professional, practical and commercial experience to our practice. He's a born-and-bred Parkes local and a qualified chartered accountant who spent time in Sydney before returning to the bush where he was part of a major Forbes-based accounting practice in the 90s. Michael's experience includes business acquisitions, mergers, sales transactions and financial negotiations with banks.
What's the life of an accountant like?
Well, that depends on what time of the year it is. We get the most traffic from July through to the end of September doing individual tax returns. We also deal with small businesses for their accounting and taxation needs.
It can be busy, I'm in meetings with clients from the moment I walk in to the moment I walk out. These days I spend a lot of my time doing tax law and research. With the growth of new computer programs a lot of the book-keeping side has been started by staff before it gets to me now.
But every day is different. I can't predict the day when I come in.
My biggest thing is I like to make people feel welcome when they come in, you've got to be approachable.
What do you love most about the job?
Helping people to do the things they can't and the characters I meet. I learn a lot about people that others wouldn't know. And I've made some great friends.
And then there's that sense of achievement, when you get something done, and you've brought the best outcome for your client.
What advice would you give someone thinking of going into accounting?
You're better off buying a business than starting off on your own, because you don't make much money in the first few years, that's from personal experience.
You've got to be dedicated to it. In order for me to maintain my CPA (Certified Practising Accountant) I have to keep up with my training and professional development. But with my CPA, it can take me all over the world. I can work any where.
When you're not crunching numbers, what are you doing?
I like to travel. I just love looking around, going on road trips, just getting out and going.
I've been overseas several times. I went to the Matterhorn three years ago. I went on a Rotaract Exchange at 26 years old to Scotland with six others.
What did we do? We learnt quickly that Glasgow had a lot of night clubs and the Scots like a good night out! It was so much fun.
It didn't ignite a passion to travel because I think I already had it.
I've been to New Zealand, Cook Islands, Canada with family, the UK and Ireland on a road trip with family, and I've done a road trip around Europe.
You and the business have been heavily involved in the community, what are some of the areas you are most passionate about?
Michelle and I have been doing Clean Up Australia Day for close to 28 years. It's a big passion for Michelle.
We've always involved ourselves in the Parkes Elvis Festival street parade, entering floats for many years. That's all Michelle's pushing! We've won it once, we've come second 10 times!
I'm a member of the Rural Fire Service, I've been with the Coradgery Rural Fire Brigade for 40 years, I started at 18.
We're lucky to be able to help others with our skills and expertise at a time when we can. There's that sense of achievement when you're helping the community, and I enjoy being around the people involved in such causes and projects.