Meet the Team: Suzie Monk
Meet Suzie. She is the Office Manager at Ōmokoroa Accounting. It’s her job to keep the office running smoothly, from welcoming and onboarding new clients to sorting through anti-money laundering documents, processing GST returns, and client queries. When she’s not working you can find her in the garden, out on the water, or exploring the cycling trails on her e-bike.
How long have you been working at Ōmokoroa Accounting?
I have been with Omokoroa Accounting for almost 3 years now. Previously, I worked at a design agency in the Mount, but I was a bit over the daily commute, so I looked for something closer to home. We are now settled in our new office at The Village and it’s a great hub of local businesses.
Tell us about your background.
I started to work with a finance company in Tauranga before moving to Fremantle. I then lived the dream in beautiful Vail, Colorado for several years, snowboarding daily in the winter and road-tripping in the summers. I spent some time in the UK, studying for my AAT qualification whilst working. That’s where I met my lovely English husband and had our first two children. I always joke that it was part of the dowry agreement that when I was ready to return to NZ, we would settle in Tauranga. Lucky for me, it happened. My brave mother-in-law, at 74, also emigrated with us (it was a package deal) and has had 21 years of loving life in Tauranga. We found our first NZ family home in Te Puna before moving to Omokoroa for more shed space in 2013.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love the team at OA. We have lots of laughs. I also enjoy the vast range of clients and the variety. No day is ever the same.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
The practice has grown so much. I have put in place many new systems for a team environment and created checklists to create a smooth workflow.
What’s the best piece of advice you would give a client considering accounting services?
Talk to your accountant about your accounting needs. What can you do to keep your records accurate and put practices into place? Find out what they need from you annually as this helps the accountant at year end and will help keep your costs down.
To contact Suzie email info@omokoroaaccounting.co.nz.
Outside of work, what can you be found doing?
I enjoy playing tennis and I’m a keen gardener. I live on a lifestyle property with native bush and avocado trees, and a home orchard and garden, so, this keeps me busy. My family loves water activities so we enjoy paddle boarding and boating in summer and mountain biking all year round, especially in Taupo. Hubby and I recently got Ebikes, so that opens up a whole other level of exploring. My husband has a few classic cars, so when he can extract himself from the workshop, we venture out and are looking forward to a few roadies this summer in our caravan.
Tell us something about you, that people might be surprised to know.
I’ve had a large variety of jobs. In Vail, I shovelled snow off roofs and decorated huge Christmas trees on a hoist with thousands of tiny white lights, and for one client I removed labels on any item in the house and was responsible for cleaning up fingerprints. I also worked for a very wealthy family who flew into Vail to ski for three weeks per year. They had a full-time housekeeper and groundsman and two full-time interior decorators who flew worldwide to ‘maintain’ their homes – certainly an eye-opener for the poor traveller!
