Having passionate young professionals on the team is proving a powerful differentiator for Ecovis director Elissa Lippiatt.

While making partner wasn’t necessarily part of Elissa Lippiatt’s game plan from the get-go, it didn’t take her long to realise that if she was to make an impact, she needed a seat at the board table.

In 2017 she got one, buying into Ecovis, the mid-sized financial services consultancy where she’d worked as an accountant for the previous eight years.

“I was in my mid-thirties by the time I achieved that milestone – and I’d spent the previous three or four years striving to position myself for the move by growing my book of clients,” Lippiatt says.

“While I always loved the actual job of being an accountant – helping people and businesses understand their money – I came to realise that there’s only so much you can influence from the sidelines.

“To be able to drive the future of a business, I needed to be in the room when strategy was being set and big decisions made.”

Shaking up a traditional profession

One of those decisions has been to take a fresh approach to the way young staff are upskilled and integrated into Ecovis.

Instead of having them do time in a back room crunching numbers and producing reports, as scores of other rookie accountants did back in the day, Lippiatt has championed a policy which sees them attending client meetings and getting involved in their businesses from day one.

For young staff, it means a faster, more interesting experience, and the benefits are far from one-way.

“We have a lot of Gen Zs and I love their innovative take on things,” Lippiatt says. “Many of them had their studies disrupted through Covid and had to finish online, using technology in ways other people may not have had to.

“When you’ve been in the business for a while, you’ve seen lots of client outcomes and bring a measure of wisdom to the table. But what they bring is freshness and enthusiasm and different approaches to solving problems. There are so many things they do well, and our business and our clients’ businesses are so much the stronger for harnessing their diverse skillsets.”

Investing in tomorrow’s leaders

Nurturing this cohort of young guns has helped fuel Ecovis’ steady expansion – thrusting young employees into the thick of it has encouraged them to stick around for the long haul and clients love that they do.

The firm’s $15 million annual turnover saw it ranked sixty-seventh on the Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Accounting Firms for 2024 list; it’s focused on maintaining that trajectory, challenging economic times notwithstanding.

“One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learnt as a leader is that if you want to do anything significant or difficult, you have to have a really good team,” Lippiatt says.

“I’m super optimistic about Ecovis’ future because we have a great set of upcoming leaders who will keep bringing their expertise to bear for the benefit of all the businesses that rely on our insights and knowledge.”

Forging ahead with NAB backing

Finance from NAB helped Lippiatt buy into Ecovis eight years ago.

Its support has also underpinned the firm’s growth, making possible a move to new pier-side headquarters in Sydney’s Walsh Bay in late 2022.

Having that space has been a game-changer.

“Whilst we are able to give our staff similar exposure to the client work that they would have in a larger firm,” Lippiatt says, “we wanted to create an environment where our staff could learn in person and wanted to return to.

“We are close to the city centre, we have windows that open, a view of the harbour bridge and a harbour pool  where staff can swim at lunch time – it’s a fabulous environment where people want to be!

“Owning the building has enabled us to adapt it to suit our needs and plan for growth well into the future. NAB financing the purchase was a real vote of confidence in the future we’re building for our business and the team.”