Naomi Kewley, member of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), is managing director at Peak Super Audits. She is a Tax Masters graduate from the University of NSW and an active member of the SMSF Association, holding both the accreditations of SMSF Specialist Auditor and SMSF Specialist Advisor. Naomi received the Women in Finance award for “Auditor of the Year” in 2019 & 2020. She was a finalist for the award in 2021.
Below are highlights of the interview conducted between World’s Leaders and Naomi Kewley:
Describe who you are as a person, inside and outside of the workplace.
I’m a pretty focused person. I’m also a bit of a perfectionist. That combination means it’s critical I set aside time to stop and relax. It’s hard, especially with a young business where I still wear a lot of hats. I laugh about ‘building a wall’ around Sundays, but that’s basically what it takes. If I didn’t set this time aside, I would struggle to find the off switch. Without it, my subconscious keeps working in the background. I was once in Accident and Emergency, getting a broken wrist set. Highly amused staff afterwards informed me that I’d been muttering about Self Managed Super Funds the whole time they were re-setting the break under anaesthesia!
Describe your background and what did you do before you started/joined the company?
My first job after university involved Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs). I had specialised in Australian Taxation Law, but when an opening was presented in SMSF administration, I took it. I loved it from the start. SMSFs present a marvellous blend of practical and technical; there’s sameness and variety; the same rules apply to every SMSF, but we see everything from massive retirement funds to modest mum-and-dad savings.
I switched from fund administration to audit after about two years and had the privilege of working with one of the best SMSF auditors in Australia. Just watching her run a practice and manage a team taught me so much I didn’t even realise I was learning – until suddenly a chain of events and an interstate move to Tasmania left me seriously thinking of quitting the SMSF industry.
The facts hit pretty hard. SMSF auditing is highly specialised. There weren’t many firms in Tasmania with a dedicated audit team. I was a young professional without many local contacts. The thought of starting my own practice was slow to come. Could I do it? Grow a start-up practice in a mature industry from nothing?
Then the barriers went down by an invisible hand. In the space of weeks:
- I sat the ASIC exam at short notice (the next day!) and qualified as an SMSF auditor
- I was offered work as a contractor and the opportunity to purchase a client list
- I received (by surprise announcement) a national top achiever award that raised my industry profile in a way I could not have imagined.
It was incredible and totally beyond my power to arrange. Peak Super Audits was founded in March 2018.
What has made you successful? What do you value?
In this job, I need tenacity and curiosity in pretty much equal parts. Legislation and regulator guidance is constantly changing, not to mention caselaw and technology. I need a mind that keeps asking questions – and then perseveres in applying answers. A shout out to my educational background here: I was home educated and went on to complete my uni degrees by correspondence. No one was chasing me for deadlines and assignments, so I had to organise myself or pick up the pieces! It taught me to take responsibility for my time and goals and primed me in a unique way to be a compliance specialist. I love my job. I like doing this every day. I know this shows in day-to-day quality and consistency, and in team skills building too. My antenna is always up to learn and improve SMSF audit practice.
What are the most important aspects of a company’s culture? What principles do you believe in and how do you build this culture?
Respect for each other and the job we do is very important. Peak Super Audits is a family-run business, with several family members on the team. Family in business can be great: you know each other inside out, strengths and otherwise, and you carry each other all the way. But family at work can also be challenging. Everyone has to put family pressures aside to do their job well, and that can be difficult when the office and home are so close. So we leave home at home and the office at the office! That takes discipline, commitment, and grace all round.
What is the significance of innovative ideas in the company?
It made sense right from the start to embrace a wholly paperless approach to the audit process and audit file system. Specialist audit software makes this possible, and yes, I still use a green pen – an electronic version, using NitroPro PDF software. I know of several practices that have embraced this dynamic, paperless, real-time audit approach. We’re certainly not market leaders. But I’ve seen what works well and implemented this in Peak Super Audits from the ground up. We have a small team and flat management structure, so our practice has the muscle of an intelligent engine room while calls for help reach me at the top very quickly. I’m a real-time auditor every day. I resolve queries as they arise. By being on call and taking the opportunity to equip people with resources, I empower them to identify compliance issues before these things arrive as a big mess on the audit scene.
Give us your opinion on; do organizations rely heavily on individual heroics or team processes?
Both! Processes are a safeguard for trainees or tiredness, and they’re essential to ensure a high standard of work. But individual heroics are the fabric that knits a team together. And by heroics, I don’t necessarily mean grand gestures. It’s about going the extra mile – like washing up the coffee cups, volunteering to stay back for an urgent job, or re-arranging your schedule to make sure your team member can take that short-notice leave. We need these kinds of heroics.
What are your responsibilities as the Founder/CEO/Managing Partner of the company? What is the happiest part of your daily routine?
My auditing responsibilities combine with managing the firm’s marketing strategy, growing a client base, and continuing to develop myself as a professional. I am also responsible for staff training and supporting staff professional development. That’s a few hats!
I love technical writing in the SMSF space. I was recently asked to assist in preparing materials for a course that is (arguably!) the foremost SMSF auditor education program in Australia. A colleague and I completely re-wrote the program and have received great feedback from users following its release. We review and update the materials annually. It’s hugely rewarding to contribute to the industry in this way.
What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?
Leaders make hard calls. That’s part of the territory. But don’t react to authority by acting like you have to prove something. There will be times you’ll need to put your foot down. Do so, but make sure you lead from the front. Show a team what it means to knuckle in, to be courteous, and to learn from other people.
