Invercargill firm provides $67k of free advice during Covid-19

Friday, 3 July 2020

Invercargill firm McIntyre Dick provided $67,000 worth of free consultations, about the Government’s wage subsidy scheme, to its clients during Covid- 19. Pictured, client advisor Rebecca Fairweather and director Brad Phillips.

An Invercargill accountancy firm which has provided $67,000 worth of free professional advice during Covid-19 says there has been “limited carnage’’ among its hundreds of business clients.

McIntyre Dick Business Advisors and Chartered Accountants provided up to 500 of its clients free advice about the Government’s wage subsidy scheme during lockdown and beyond.

McIntyre Dick director Brad Phillips said the company knew its clients would be hurting, so he threw out the idea of giving the wage subsidy advice out for free.

All directors agreed.

‘’We felt that for businesses to get through the lockdown everybody had to feel a bit of the pain and we were prepared to share that pain by providing the free service.’’

* Big law firms repay millions of dollars in wage subsidies

* Southland businesses apply for millions in wage subsidies

Clients taking up the offer ranged from small businesses to businesses with hundreds of employees, and they were across many industries.

McIntyre Dick staff assisted the clients through the wage subsidy application process and worked out whether they qualified.

Phillips said the free service also gave McIntyre Dick staff the opportunity to talk to their clients and understand the impact Covid-19 was having on their businesses, ‘’without them thinking, I am on the clock here’’.

The impact of Covid on businesses had varied and there had been limited carnage, he said.

Businesses had experienced reduced turnover and reduced revenue and the future was uncertain.

The original 12-week Government wage subsidy scheme – designed to support employers and ensure an income for affected employees during the initial impact of Covid - had finished.

The secondary eight-week wage subsidy extension had kicked in, with McIntyre Dick also giving free advice on that.

Only five of its 1000 clients had taken up the secondary wage subsidy scheme, which was a good sign, Phillips said.

‘’It shows their revenue isn’t down by 40 per cent.’’

He believed the real impact of Covid would be understood in the next few months, when the wage subsidies, mortgage holidays and interest-free loans had finished.

‘’That may be when we see how bad things really are.’’

McIntyre Dick client advisor Rebecca Fairweather took on the bulk of the work providing the free advice, saying it was ‘’full on’’ for the first six weeks.

Working from home, Fairweather said the bulk of her work was assisting clients through the wage subsidy application process and working out whether they qualified.

It was a hectic time, with the wage subsidy rules changing regularly, but it felt good to help out businesses during a stressful time for them, she said.

McIntyre Dick chief executive Kris MacLellan said a lot of businesses were adjusting after lockdown and trying to determine their new normal.

It was unknown what that would look like until the dust had settled, he said.